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Author:

Shapiro, Emily D.  Search this

Editor:

Crosman, Christopher B.  Search this

Shapiro, Emily D.  Search this

Object Type:

Smithsonian staff publication

Year:

2011

Note:

Not written while at SI

Citation:

Shapiro, Emily D. 2011. Celebrating the American Spirit: Masterworks from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Crosman, Christopher B. and Shapiro, Emily D., editors. Manchester, VT: Hudson Hills Press.

Identifier:

147773

ISBN:

1555953719

Data source:

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:slasro_147773

Maker:

Ali Omar Ermes, born 1945, Zliten, Libya  Search this

Medium:

Acrylic and ink on paper

Dimensions:

Frame: 153.7 x 181.6 x 8.3 cm (60 1/2 x 71 1/2 x 3 1/4 in.)

Type:

Painting

Geography:

Libya

Date:

1993

Topic:

Writing  Search this

Credit Line:

Purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Collections Acquisition Program

Object number:

96-22-1

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

Copyright:

© 1993 Ali Omar Ermes

See more items in:

National Museum of African Art Collection

On View:

NMAfA, Second Level Gallery (2193)

Data Source:

National Museum of African Art

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys7ec697767-729b-4289-8e29-0fe34d4623d2

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmafa_96-22-1

Print Maker:

Remigio Cantagallina, Italian, ca. 1582–1656  Search this

After:

Giulio Parigi, Italian, 1571–1635  Search this

Patron:

Medici Family  Search this

Cosimo II de' Medici, Italian, 1590 – 1621  Search this

Medium:

Etching on laid paper

Object Name:

Print

Type:

Print

Made in:

Italy

Date:

1608

Credit Line:

Gift of Mrs. William Greenough

Accession Number:

1941-49-32

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection

Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Department

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kq426032591-e9bc-4734-9cdb-ed517fbce8f4

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:chndm_1941-49-32

Print Maker:

Remigio Cantagallina, Italian, ca. 1582–1656  Search this

After:

Giulio Parigi, Italian, 1571–1635  Search this

Patron:

Medici Family  Search this

Cosimo II de' Medici, Italian, 1590 – 1621  Search this

Medium:

Etching on laid paper

Dimensions:

Platemark: 18.2 × 27.2 cm (7 3/16 × 10 11/16 in.)

Sheet: 26.8 × 40.2 cm (10 9/16 × 15 13/16 in.)

Object Name:

Print

Type:

Print

Made in:

Italy

Date:

1608

Credit Line:

Gift of Mrs. William Greenough

Accession Number:

1941-49-38

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection

Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Department

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kq44f967621-34f1-4e7d-8705-fff85b61dd3d

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:chndm_1941-49-38

Medium:

Medium: silk Technique: printed on plain weave

Dimensions:

H x W: 81.3 × 90.2 cm (32 in. × 35 1/2 in.)

Type:

printed, dyed & painted textiles

Square

Made in:

England

Date:

1866

Credit Line:

Gift of Stanley Herzman

Accession Number:

1976-28-1

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection

Textiles Department

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kq42a58bcbb-e68e-4b19-a5ee-82b3b500f681

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:chndm_1976-28-1

Artist:

Raghubir Singh (Indian, 1942-1999)  Search this

Printer:

Everett Studios, Inc. (American)  Search this

Medium:

Chromogenic print on paper

Dimensions:

H x W (overall): 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in)

Type:

Photograph

Origin:

India

Date:

1968, printed 1989

Topic:

marriage  Search this

celebration  Search this

bridge  Search this

India  Search this

South Asian and Himalayan Art  Search this

Contemporary Art  Search this

Credit Line:

Gift of the Artist

Accession Number:

S1993.39.51

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Data Source:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye3a6ce4700-6357-448c-a247-18968e4d8fb6

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:fsg_S1993.39.51

Printer:

Ashton-Potter USA (Ltd)  Search this

Medium:

paper; ink (multicolor); adhesive

Dimensions:

Height x Width: 1 3/16 × 1 3/16 in. (3.02 × 3.02 cm)

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

United States of America

Date:

September 17, 1999

Topic:

Contemporary (1990-present)  Search this

Object number:

2000.2020.167

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm860a22a83-ff3c-4224-a7e2-8357e6ce0d53

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_2000.2020.167

Printer:

Ashton-Potter USA (Ltd)  Search this

Medium:

paper; ink (multicolor); adhesive

Dimensions:

Height x Width: 1 3/16 × 1 3/16 in. (3.02 × 3.02 cm)

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

United States of America

Date:

November 18, 1999

Topic:

Contemporary (1990-present)  Search this

Object number:

2000.2020.184

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8f120e2f4-30e7-4d9b-8cad-00bfa2ec3fad

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_2000.2020.184

Artist:

Carl T. Herrman  Search this

Medium:

paper; ink

Dimensions:

Height x Width: 11 x 8 1/2 in.

Type:

Postage Stamps

Date:

January 5, 1998

Object number:

2012.2021.27.96

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8d73c23cc-06f0-4701-9eaf-cd1bb7673443

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_2012.2021.27.96

Medium:

paper; ink (multicolored);

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

VATICAN CITY (independent city state)

Date:

June 25, 1979

Topic:

International Stamps & Mail  Search this

Object number:

1983.0147.19508

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8183fa999-3b00-4816-887c-0e75fe304480

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_1983.0147.19508

Medium:

paper; ink (black & brt blue); adhesive

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

SIERRA LEONE (independent state; republic)

Date:

June 8, 1989

Topic:

International Stamps & Mail  Search this

Object number:

1990.0517.10467

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm89a0c6b03-e9b6-4f6f-835e-154637e19eaa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_1990.0517.10467

Printer:

Avery Dennison  Search this

Medium:

paper; ink (multicolor); self-adhesive

Dimensions:

Height x Width: 1 7/16 × 1 9/16 in. (3.65 × 3.97 cm)

Type:

Postage Stamps

Place:

United States of America

Date:

October 25, 2002

Topic:

Contemporary (1990-present)  Search this

Holidays & Celebrations  Search this

U.S. Stamps  Search this

Credit line:

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Object number:

2002.2036.54

See more items in:

National Postal Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Postal Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8dca59538-728a-4f28-9e29-b6ad554f2107

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npm_2002.2036.54

Associated person:

Lincoln, Abraham  Search this

Physical Description:

paper (overall material)

white with black type (overall color)

Measurements:

overall: 6 3/4 in x 24 in; 17.145 cm x 60.96 cm

Object Name:

broadside

banner

Date made:

ca 1863

Subject:

Slavery  Search this

African American History  Search this

Related event:

Emancipation Proclamation (2)  Search this

Related Publication:

Rubenstein, Harry R.. Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life

Credit Line:

Ludlow

ID Number:

PL.012132

Catalog number:

12132

Accession number:

52752

See more items in:

Political and Military History: Political History, Reform Movements Collection

Government, Politics, and Reform

Selections from the Abraham Lincoln Collection

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a3-66c9-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_529602

Created by:

Delta Air Lines, American, founded 1925  Search this

Worn by:

Eugene Harmond, American, born 1947  Search this

Medium:

metal

Dimensions:

H x W x D: 7/8 × 7/8 × 9/16 in. (2.2 × 2.2 × 1.5 cm)

Type:

pins (jewelry)

Place used:

United States, North and Central America

Date:

1979

Topic:

African American  Search this

Aeronautics  Search this

Business  Search this

Labor  Search this

Transportation  Search this

Travel  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Casey Grant in honor of Patricia Banks Edmiston, Patricia Grace Murphy and Eugene Harmond

Object number:

2018.50.14.5

Restrictions & Rights:

No known copyright restrictions

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Awards and Medals

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5ee25e9b3-20f4-4f35-ad00-7b600eafa2d8

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2018.50.14.5

Creator:

Archives of American Art  Search this

Names:

Archives of American Art  Search this

Abramsky, Linda  Search this

Barr, David, 1939-  Search this

Cirgenski, Charles F.  Search this

Extent:

1 film reel (25 min.) : sd., col. ; 16 mm. + transcript (47 p.), 1 sound cassette, 1 summary (8 p.)

1 Film reel (Duplicate (25 min.), sd., col., 16 mm.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Film reels

Video recordings

Date:

1985

Scope and Contents:

Motion picture made in cooperation with the Michigan Foundation for the Arts and the support of the Michigan Council for the Arts. The film documents the sculpture project undertaken by David Barr, an invisible tetrahedron spanning the inside of the Earth with the outer four corners just protruding from the crust of the Earth. The visible corners are located in Easter Island, South Africa, New Guinea, and Greenland. Barr chose the locations as areas untouched by Western technology and in remote areas in order to bridge diverse cultures. Also included is a cassette and transcript of a portion of the sound portion of the film, and a summary of the project by Barr.

Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):

s.l. : Crescent Films, 1985.

Topic:

Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Genre/Form:

Video recordings

Identifier:

AAA.archiv101

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9de2d2099-c06e-4fc7-afa5-bc472144ed47

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-archiv101

Creator:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History  Search this

Names:

Harvard University  Search this

Extent:

13 Cubic feet (51 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Advertising cards

Brochures

Diaries

Letterheads

Menus

Newspaper clippings

Pamphlets

Postcards

Scrapbooks

Stationery

Trade cards

Place:

Asia

Ausable Chasm (N.Y.)

California

Canada

Colorado

Coney Island (New York, N.Y.)

Connecticut

Europe

Hawaii

Illinois

Indiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Mexico

Michigan

Middle East

New England

New York

New Hampshire

New Jersey

North Carolina

Ohio

Panama

Pennsylvania

Plymouth (England)

Rhode Island

Rochester (N.Y.)

South Carolina

Tennessee

Vermont

Virginia

Washington (D.C.)

Date:

circa 1880s-2002

Summary:

Collection consists of miscellaneous late nineteenth/early twentieth century scrapbooks containing postcards, trade cards, greeting cards, decals, and other ephemera.

Scope and Contents note:

Miscellaneous late nineteenth/early twentieth century scrapbooks containing postcards, trade cards, greeting cards, decals, and other ephemera. Included are: (1) trade cards for thread, tobacco, barbers, sewing machines, toiletries and shaving products, tobacco, undertakers and patent medicine; (2) images of women, children, pets, and flowers; (3) greeting cards celebrating Christmas, birthdays, Halloween, and St. Patrick's Day; and (4) postcards from the United States and around the world. Some of the items in the scrapbooks are comical or picturesque. Most of the scrapbooks were created by women. Also included are several twentieth century diaries, including two travel diaries written by women.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged into one series.

Provenance:

Scrapbook donated by Mike Blakeslee on September 19, 1997. The collection continues to add accruals.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Barbering  Search this

Greeting cards -- 20th century  Search this

Lighthouses  Search this

Shaving  Search this

Travel  Search this

Wit and humor  Search this

Women -- History -- 20th century  Search this

Women -- History -- 19th century  Search this

Women -- Social life and customs -- 19th century  Search this

Genre/Form:

Advertising cards

Brochures

Diaries -- 20th century

Letterheads

Menus

Newspaper clippings

Pamphlets

Postcards

Scrapbooks -- 19th century

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Stationery

Trade cards

Citation:

Archives Center Scrapbook Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0468

See more items in:

Archives Center Scrapbook Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8c03232e1-be37-4838-91c9-12318c18e192

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0468

Collection Creator:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History  Search this

Container:

Box 29

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

circa 1930

Scope and Contents:

Newspaper clippings pasted into a book "Johns Manville Service to Industry." The creator seems to have resided in Marion, Ohio as there is much material about local persons, civic and sporting events and homicides. There is also much material on national events and celebrities including presidents, the Lindbergh kidnapping, dirigible disaster, Winnie Ruth Judd's trial, Wiley posts round the world flight and a number of sports figures. A number of poems are also present.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Collection Citation:

Archives Center Scrapbook Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Archives Center Scrapbook Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep87acc517b-ce5d-4c70-b5d2-a3ba49762409

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0468-ref553

Collection Creator:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History  Search this

Container:

Box 45, Folder 1

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

circa 1905-circa 1919

Scope and Contents:

Coverless scrapbook of postcards which is devoted to images of Ausable Chasm, New York and greetins card postcards celebrating New Year's birthdays and Christmas.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Collection Citation:

Archives Center Scrapbook Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Archives Center Scrapbook Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8c5b45e8c-de5e-48a5-984c-6a2cb3270b62

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0468-ref579

Collection Photographer:

Skinner, G. Gage  Search this

Extent:

1 Photographic slide

Container:

Box 1

Type:

Archival materials

Slides

Photographic slides

Date:

1965

Scope and Contents:

Hosting Quetrahue Reservation invites local Mapuches and those from neighboring reservations to enjoy a shared feast to celebrate the harvest and the culmination of the Nguillatún ceremony. Host members seated on ground, visitors pass along in orderly line to greet hosts, Quetrahue Reservation near Lumaco, Chile.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).

Collection Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.

Collection Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); G. Gage Skinner collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NMAI.AC.116, Item 116_001_004_012

See more items in:

G. Gage Skinner collection

G. Gage Skinner collection / Series 1: Chile

Archival Repository:

National Museum of the American Indian

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv409f6724c-ed04-40f2-a63e-6acc5d2b8771

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmai-ac-116-ref74

Creator:

Freelon, Philip G., 1953-2019  Search this

Names:

American Institute of Architects  Search this

Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup  Search this

Freelon Bond Architects  Search this

Freelon Group  Search this

Hampton University (Va.)  Search this

Harvard University  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. School of Architecture  Search this

National Museum of African American History and Culture  Search this

National Organization of Minority Architects (U.S.)  Search this

North Carolina Board of Architecture  Search this

NorthStar Church of the Arts  Search this

PPG Industries, Inc.  Search this

Perkins & Will  Search this

Adjaye, David, 1966-  Search this

Bond, J. Max, Jr.  Search this

Freelon, Allan Randall, 1895-1960  Search this

Extent:

5.1 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Place:

North Carolina -- United States

United States of America -- North Carolina -- Durham County -- Durham

United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Suffolk County -- Boston

United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia County -- Philadelphia

United States of America -- New York -- New York

Date:

bulk 1939-2017

Scope and Contents:

The Philip G. Freelon Architectural Archival Collection documents the life and career of architect, educator, cultural heritage preservation advocate and artist Philip G. Freelon. The collection highlights his distinguished career from its inception to his role as the "architect of record" for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Freelon was one of the leading African American architects of his generation and he created a focus designing and constructing buildings that paid reverence to African Americans and other underrepresented communities. This collection is comprised of business records, photographic materials, ephemera, correspondence, architectural drawings, and clippings.

Arrangement:

The materials in this collection have been separated into seven series. The materials have been ordered and organized based on the content and chronology. Within each series and sub-series, the folders are organized as close to the collection's original order as when it was acquired.

Biographical / Historical:

Philip Goodwin Freelon was born March 26, 1953, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Allan Freelon, Jr. and Elizabeth Neal Freelon. Freelon was greatly influenced by his grandfather, Allan Freelon Sr., a notable Harlem Renaissance visual artist, educator, and civil rights activist. His grandfather's values and artistry inspired him to create a career that focused on creating historical and cultural spaces in African American communities. Freelon attended high school at the former predominantly white elite all-boys school, Central High School located in upper North Philadelphia from 1967 to 1971. His attendance at this school during of the Civil Rights Movement afforded him the unique experience that inspired him to attend a historically Black college (HBCU). Freelon selected Hampton Institute (Hampton University) to develop his veneration of the composition and design of the buildings that held cultural and artistic treasures. Located in the Tidewater area of Virginia, Hampton was renowned among HBCUs for its architecture program. His professor and mentor at Hampton, John Spencer, pushed Freelon academically as he moved easily through the school's curriculum. After two years at Hampton, Spencer helped Freelon transition to a more challenging program at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Freelon graduated in 1975 with a bachelor's in environmental design in architecture.

Later in the fall of 1975, Freelon enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to pursue a master's in architecture. During the summers, Freelon worked with one of former his NC State professors at the architectural firm of John D. Latimer and Associates. After graduating from MIT in 1977, Freelon returned to North Carolina to take his Architecture Registration Examination (ARE), becoming the firm's youngest person to receive licensure. He also began teaching classes at his alma mater, NC State. It was there that Freelon met his future wife, Nnenna Pierce. Pierce, a Massachusetts native was attending Simmons College in Boston at the time. The connection was immediate, and the pair was married in 1979 and welcomed their first son, Deen in 1980. After a brief employment for a large Texas firm 3/D International, Freelon returned to Durham to join O'Brien Atkins Associates. He was the firm's youngest partner, eventually serving as principal and vice president of architecture. Freelon worked on a wide variety of projects throughout the state including learning centers, university buildings, churches, and parking garages. Along with Freelon's budding career, his family was expanding as well. Phil and Nnenna welcomed their daughter Maya in 1982 and their son, Pierce in 1983. During this time, Freelon was being highly recognized for his work. The American of Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded him the Honor Award for his design of Terminal 2 of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, which has since been rebuilt.

By the end of the decade, Freelon and his wife Nnenna needed a change of pace. Nnenna pursued a professional career in music while Phil took a break from his career to expand his skillset and reinforce his intellectual approach to design. In 1989, Freelon was granted the Loeb Fellowship for one year of independent study at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He also pursued a longtime hobby of furniture design, calling the practice "small architecture". He received industry awards like first prize in the PPG Industries, Inc. Furniture Design Competition as well as AIA Honor Award for conference table designs. With a year away from the field to clarify his vision, Freelon opened his own firm, simply titled, the Freelon Group in 1990. Beginning as a one-man operation, the Freelon Group grew to become one of the largest African American owned architectural firms in the country with over 50 employees, forty percent of which were women, and thirty percent were people of color. With freedom within his own firm, Freelon focused on designing learning centers, libraries and museums and vowed to never build anything that did not bring cultural and intellectual value to a community.

Over the next twenty years, Freelon would assert himself as a force in designing notable cultural institutions and community-driven projects in and around the country including the Sonja Haynes Stone Center at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC), Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture (Baltimore, MD), Museum of African Diaspora (San Francisco, CA), Harvey B. Gantt for African American Arts and Culture (Charlotte, NC), the Anacostia and Tenley-Friendship branches of the District of Columbia Public Library , National Center for Civil Rights and Human Rights (Atlanta, GA), Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (Jackson, MS) and Emancipation Park (Houston, TX). Alongside his architectural career, Freelon served as a lecturer and adjunct professor at several colleges and universities including North Carolina State University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Maryland College Park, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, and the Florence, Italy program at Kent State University. Freelon was awarded a full-time appointment as professor of Professional Practice at MIT in 2008. The Professional Practice (4.222) course was a requirement for the master's in architecture and he used examples from his extensive career and personal experience to illustrate legal, ethical, and management concepts. Nnenna's music career was also thriving. She would go on to record twelve albums and be nominated for six Grammys. This fusion of education, the arts, and music inspired another generation of Freelons: their son, Pierce Freelon is a hip-hop artist, educator, and political activist; daughter Maya Freelon is a visual artist; and son Deen Freelon is a professor.

In 2001, George W. Bush established a commission to create a new museum on the National Mall. Freelon wanted to enter his firm to participate in the international design competition. Freelon would partner with famed African American New York City architect, J. Max Bond, Jr. and by 2006 the two officially formed the Freelon Bond Architects.The Freelon Bond group submitted their proposal and soon after were elected to create programming and pre-design work for the museum. When the official design competition for the museum was announced in 2008, UK-based architect David Adjaye joined the team as the lead designer, and along with the partnering firm SmithGroup, the new architectural team became Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup. The three black architects combined a variety of distinctive elements from Africa and the Americas to create the building's unique, historically significant design. The Freelon Group served as the "architect of record" and were responsible for ensuring that key design ideas were upheld. Freelon and key firm members such as Zena Howard were active as on-site project managers during the museum's construction process to certify that the building would be developed according to plan. Freelon, Adjaye, and Bond were tasked with taking the collective history of the African American experience-- generations of pain, triumph, and perseverance-- and forming it into a structure. The team looked to African sources, such as Yoruban architecture, for inspiration. They sought to connect the building's design to the geographic and cultural roots of African Americans. Their design choices also reference the contributions of enslaved and free black metalworkers made to the landscape of the American South. Their goal was to make the museum an extension of its contents, and an expression of the stories told inside. By the groundbreaking for NMAAHC in 2012, Freelon had been appointed to the U.S. Commission of the Fine Arts by President Barack Obama. In an effort to broaden his resources and expand his firm, The Freelon Group merged with Perkins & Will, a firm originating in Chicago that grew to have offices across the United States. Freelon was appointed the managing director and later lead design director at the firm's North Carolina offices in Charlotte and Durham in 2014. By the next year, Freelon understood that his work in architecture and education was a necessary voice to preserve, which he did through donation of the bulk of his personal papers to his alma mater, NC State University. The year 2016 proved to be a year of triumph for Freelon as NMAAHC opened its doors on September 24th to much jubilation and celebration. That same year, Freelon's legacy was further cemented as the Phil Freelon Fellowship Fund was established at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a fellowship designed to broaden opportunities for African Americans and other underrepresented communities in architecture and design.

Unfortunately, this triumphant year was met with difficulty as Freelon was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive disease that affects the nervous system. He would continue to work and lecture for the next two years until it became too challenging. One of those projects was the renovation and opening of The NorthStar Church of the Arts in early 2019. A passion project with his wife and son, Pierce, a former church was renovated and repurposed as an arts and cultural space for all. This space was created in an effort to support the Durham cultural community as it began to feel the effects of gentrification. When Freelon lost his battle with ALS on July 9, 2019, in his home in Durham, North Carolina, the family requested that in lieu of flowers that donations be sent to the NorthStar Church to continue the center's mission and Phil's dream to give back to the Durham community.

Historical Timeline

1953 -- Philip Goodwin Freelon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Allan Freelon Jr. and Elizabeth Neal Freelon.

1971 -- Freelon graduated from Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and entered School of Architecture, Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia as a design student.

1973 -- Freelon transferred to College of Design at the North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

1975 -- Graduated with a Bachelor's in Environmental Design in Architecture from NC State University. He received the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Book Award for Outstanding Work in Architectural Design. In the fall, he began his master's program in architecture at MIT.

1976 -- Began working as aide for architectural firm, John D. Latimer and Associates.

1977 -- Graduated with a Master's in Architecture and Design from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT.)

1978 -- Freelon became youngest architect to pass the North Carolina Architecture Registration Exam. Freelon started teaching at North Carolina State University.

1979 -- Married Chinyere "Nnenna" Pierce. Freelon began working for, 3/D International in Houston, Texas.

1980 -- Son Deen Freelon was born.

1981 -- Freelon returned to Durham, NC to join O'Brien Atkins Associates as the firm's youngest partner.

1982 -- Daughter Maya Freelon was born.

1983 -- Son Pierce Freelon was born.

1989-1990 -- Received Loeb Fellowship for independent study at Harvard University. Freelon received AIA Honor Award for American Airlines Terminal 2 at Raleigh-Durham Airport, NC (RDU).

1990 -- Freelon left O'Brien Atkins Associates to open his own firm The Freelon Group.

1991 -- Won first prize in the PPG Furniture Design Competition.

1992 -- Won the AIA Honor Award for Conference Table Designs.

2001 -- Won the AIA Firm Award for The Freelon Group and the AIA Design Award for Parking Structure, RDU Airport. Began attending meetings of President George W. Bush's commission on new National Mall museum dedicated to African American history and culture.

2003 -- Freelon merged his firm with New York architect Max Bond to create Freelon Bond Architects.

2004 -- Sonja Haynes Stone Center at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC) was completed.

2005 -- Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture (Baltimore, MD) and Museum of African Diaspora (San Francisco, CA) were both completed.

2008 -- UK-based architect David Adjaye and Washington, DC based architecture firm, Smithgroup joined the team, creating the Freelon Adjaye Bond Group/SmithGroup Freelon began teaching at MIT's school of Architecture and Design.

2009 -- Freelon Adjaye Bond/Smithgroup won the official design for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). Harvey B. Gantt for African American Arts and Culture (Charlotte, NC) was completed.

2010 -- Anacostia branch of the District of Columbia Public Library (Washington, DC) was completed.

2011 -- Tenley-Friendship branch of the District of Columbia Public Library (Washington, DC) was completed.

2012 -- Construction began on NMAAHC.

2014 -- The Freelon Group merged with Perkins & Will, a much larger architectural firm. Freelon became managing director and lead design director of the North Carolina branches in Durham and Charlotte. National Center for Civil Rights and Human Rights (Atlanta, GA) was completed.

2016 -- Freelon was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

2017 -- Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (Jackson, MS) and Emancipation Park (Houston, TX) were completed.

2019 -- Freelon died in his home in Durham, North Carolina at age 66 on July 9.

Related Materials:

Phil Freelon Papers, 1975-2019 at North Carolina State University Libraries.

Provenance:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Philip G. Freelon.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Access to collection materials requires an appointment.

Rights:

The NMAAHC Archives can provide reproductions of some materials for research and educational use. Copyright and right to publicity restrictions apply and limit reproduction for other purposes.

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Genre/Form:

Correspondence

Citation:

Philip G. Freelon Archival Collection, 1939-2017. National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NMAAHC.A2017.51

See more items in:

Philip G. Freelon Architectural Archive

Archival Repository:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/io3ba3ca2a2-5495-45cf-801c-f3d66a7002fd

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmaahc-a2017-51