Massachusetts Institute of Technology, vol. 32, no. 8, July 1930; vol. 63, no. 7, May 1961; and vol. 64, no. 1, November 1961.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Arthur Raymond Brooks Collection, NASM.1989.0104, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Sturgis, R. Clipston (Richard Clipston), 1860-1951 Search this
Extent:
10 Items
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Interviews
Date:
1900-1980
Scope and Contents:
Biographical material, correspondence, subject files, drawings, photographs, and printed material concern Maginnis' architectural projects.
Reel 3134: Reel 3134: A 2-page biographical sketch contains comments about American architecture; two letters concern a speech Maginnis gave at the Eire Society of Boston (1941, 1980); photographs of Maginnis at the construction site of the Lenox Street Housing Project, Boston, and with Joseph Leland; and four clippings date from 1941 to 1978. Also included on reel 4314 is a photograph of R. Clipston Sturgis is autographed "To Robert Walsh from his friend R. Clipston Sturgis". A clipping concerns Boston College's architecture (1963).
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Donagh Maginnis (1867-1955) was an architect, Boston, Mass. Maginnis was born in Londonderry, Ireland, and was educated at Cusack's Academy in Dublin. In 1885, he settled in Toronto, Canada, moving to Boston, Massachusetts three years later. In 1890, Maginnis began working for Edmund M. Wheelwright, becoming head draftsman in 1891. In 1898, Maginnis joined Timothy Walsh of Peabody and Stearns and Matthew Sullivan of Wheelwright's company to form their own company. In 1905, Maginnis, Walsh, and Sullivan became Maginnis and Walsh. Maginnis married Amy Brooks in 1908. He was the author of a book, PEN DRAWING, and served as chairman of the Boston Art Commission, president of the American Institute of Architects, and trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among other activities.
Related Materials:
Reel 1451: The Archives also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (Reel 1451), comprising: 4 brief biographical accounts on Maginnis, an interview transcript (1952-1953), and certificates; correspondence (1909-1978), primarily about architectural projects, including letters from John Angel, Giovanni Castano, Charles Connick, Walter Gropius, and Aimée Lamb; two photographs of Maginnis (ca. 1936); two subject files (1945-1948) containing letters, announcements, proposals, and lecture notes concerning work on St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, and construction at Boston College; art works consisting of 10 drawings (1913-1929) and a heliotype print of a landscape by Maginnis, and 2 drawings by Bertram Goodhue; and printed material including booklets on Catholic architecture (1900) and Maginnis (1956), 2 clippings (1955), invitations and a program.
located at Business records of the firm Maginnis & Walsh are located at the Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts.
Provenance:
The lender and donor, Alice Maginnis Walsh, is Charles Donagh Maginnis' daughter and the wife of his junior partner, Robert Walsh.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of Southern California architectural historian, critic, and writer Esther McCoy measure 44.4 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1990 (bulk 1938-1989). McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. The collection documents McCoy's career, as well as her family and personal life through biographical material, extensive correspondence, personal and professional writings, project files, Southern California architects' files, clippings and other printed material, a large collection of photographs and slides, and taped interviews of Southern California modern architects.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Southern California architectural historian, critic, and writer Esther McCoy measure 44.4 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1990 (bulk 1938-1989). McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. The collection documents McCoy's career, as well as her family and personal life through biographical material, extensive correspondence, personal and professional writings, project files, Southern California architects' files, clippings and other printed material, a large collection of photographs and slides, and taped interviews of Southern California modern architects.
Biographical and family material consists of awards, resumes, identification documents, and other documentation of McCoy's personal life. Included are a transcript of a 1984 interview of McCoy by Makoto Watanabe and material relating to her friend, Theodore Dreiser.
Correspondence focuses on her personal relationships with family, friends, and lovers, and general correspondence relating primarily to her work as a writer. McCoy's personal correspondence is valuable to researchers who are interested in her personal life, her struggles as a young writer, and the way in which her family, friends, lovers, mentors, and colleagues helped to shape her work and career. As documented in this correspondence, her life offers a glimpse into twentieth-century American social and political history, especially the radical leftist movements of the 1920s and 1930s. Researchers interested in the roots of feminism in the United States should also find these papers useful in documenting the life of a creative and productive woman who was successful in a field then almost entirely dominated by men. Correspondents of note include her husband Berkeley Tobey, lovers Geoffrey Eaton and Albert Robert, writers Ray Bradbury and Theodore Dreiser, and artists and architects, such as Dorothy Grotz, Craig Ellwood, A. Quincy Jones, Hans Hollein, and J. R. Davidson. General correspondence is primarily with researchers, professors, architects, publishers, and professional organizations.
Personal writings include McCoy's diaries, notebooks, and memoirs, and writings by others including friends, lovers, and colleagues. Also included are drafts of McCoy's fictional works, both published and unpublished, including short stories, teleplays, and novels.
The collection contains in-depth documentation of McCoy's pioneering study of the modernist work of twentieth-century architects in Southern California. The bulk of her papers consist of her writing files for books, exhibition catalogs, articles, and lectures on architecture. Because many of the architects about whom McCoy wrote were her contemporaries, she developed personal relationships with several of them through her research and writing. Her writing files include drafts, notes, research material, photographs, and correspondence. McCoy also traveled extensively, particularly in Italy and Mexico, and wrote about architecture, craft, and culture in those countries. Project files document McCoy's other activities related to architectural history, such preservation projects, juries, grants, the Dodge House Preservation Campaign and related film project, her work for the Society of Architectural Historians and the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), and her work at the UCLA School of Architecture and Urban Planning, compiling a slide library and cataloging the Richard Neutra's papers. McCoy also maintained architect files which may contain correspondence, notes, photographs, research material, interview transcripts, about architects and their works. Among these extensive records, the files documenting the careers of R. M. Schindler, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and Juan O'Gorman are particularly rich.
Printed material in this collection documents McCoy's career as well as her personal interests. Included are books, clippings, magazines, newsletters, press releases, as well as publications arranged by subject such as architecture, art, Italy, and Mexico. McCoy also collected literary and leftist publications. The small amount of artwork in this collection consists of artwork sent to her by friends, including a drawing of her by Esther Rollo and etchings by various artists including Thomas Worlidge.
There are personal photographs of family and friends and of McCoy at different times in her life, as well as photographs gathered during the course of her research on architecture. Found here are photographs of architects and their works, including a large number depicting the work of Gregory Ain, Luis Barragan, J. R. Davidson, Irving Gill, Bernard Maybeck, Juan O'Gorman, R. M. Schindler, and Raphael Soriano. Many of these photographs were taken by notable architectural photographers Julius Shulman and Marvin Rand. Also found are photographs of architecture designed for the Case Study House program of Arts & Architecture magazine; exhibition photographs, primarily for the exhibition "Ten Italian Architects" in 1967; and other research photographs primarily documenting architecture and craft in other countries and the history of architecture in California. This series also includes approximately 3,600 slides of architecture.
Audio and video recordings include a videocassette of McCoy's 80th birthday party and 55 taped interviews with architects, people associated with architectural projects, and artists.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 10 series:
Series 1: Biographical and Family Material, 1881-1989 (boxes 1, 48; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1896-1989 (boxes 1-6, 4.9 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Writings, 1919-1989 (boxes 6-14; 8.1 linear feet)
Series 4: Architectural Writings, 1908-1990 (boxes 14-24, 42, 49, 50; 10.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Projects, circa 1953-1988 (boxes 24-26, 47, FC 53-56; 2.5 linear feet)
Series 6: Architect Files, 1912-1990 (boxes 26-28, 42; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1885-1990 (boxes 28-31, 42; 2.9 linear feet)
Series 8: Artwork, 1924-1967, undated (box 31; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 9: Photographs and Slides, circa 1876-1989 (boxes 31-38, 41-46, 51; 8.7 linear feet)
Series 10: Audio and Video Recordings, 1930-1984 (boxes 38-40, 47; 2.5 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Esther McCoy (1904-1989) is remembered best for her pioneering work as an architectural historian, critic, and proponent of Southern California modern architecture of the early to mid-twentieth century. McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. Although her professional interests ranged from writing fiction to studying the folk architecture and crafts of Mexico, McCoy achieved her most notable success for her numerous articles, books, and exhibitions about Southern California architecture and the architects associated with the modernist movement.
Born in Arkansas in 1904, Esther McCoy grew up in Kansas and attended various schools in the Midwest. In 1926 she left the University of Michigan to launch a writing career in New York, where she moved in avant-garde literary circles and conducted research for Theodore Dreiser. She began writing fiction in New York and continued to write after moving to Los Angeles in 1932, working on short stories, novels, and screenplays. She published numerous short stories between 1929 and 1962, with works appearing in the New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, and university quarterlies. Her short story, "The Cape," was reprinted in Best Short Stories of 1950. Many of the novels that she wrote from the mid-1960s through the 1980s were related thematically to architects and architecture.
During the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s, McCoy participated in the politically radical movements of the period and wrote for leftist publications. Her interest in the lowcost housing projects of modern architects was prompted by one of her articles about slums for Epic News. During World War II she entered a training program for engineering draftsmen at Douglas Aircraft and in 1944 was hired as an architectural draftsman for the architect R.M. Schindler. As she became increasingly interested in modern architecture and design, she combined her two major career interests and began to focus her energies on architectural research, writing, and criticism. Her first article on architecture, "Schindler: Space Architect," was published in 1945 in the journal Direction.
McCoy began writing about architecture in earnest in 1950 as a free-lance contributor to the Los Angeles Times. From then until her death in 1989, she wrote prolifically for Arts & Architecture magazine, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Architectural Record, L'Architectura, Zodiac (Italy), Progressive Architecture, Lotus (Italy), and Architectural Forum. In addition to her numerous articles, McCoy wrote several books on Southern California modern architecture and architects. Her first major work, Five California Architects, published in 1960, is now recognized as a classic work in modern architectural history. It promoted a serious study of modern architecture in Southern California and introduced to the world several leading California architects and their work: Bernard Maybeck, Irving Gill, Charles and Henry Greene, and R.M. Schindler. That same year, she published another important book focusing on the work of the California architect Richard Neutra. Other books by McCoy include Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses (1962), Craig Ellwood (1968), Vienna to Los Angeles: Two Journeys (1979), and The Second Generation (1984).
In addition to these books, McCoy organized and wrote catalogs for several significant exhibitions focusing on contemporary architects. Her first was the R.M. Schindler Retrospective, a 1954 exhibition at the Landau Art Gallery in Los Angeles. Her other exhibitions and accompanying catalogs include Roots of California Contemporary Architecture, 1956, Los Angeles Municipal Art Department; Felix Candela, 1957, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Irving Gill, 1958, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Juan O'Gorman, 1964, San Fernando Valley State College; and Ten Italian Architects, 1967, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Moreover, McCoy contributed numerous essays to other exhibition catalogs and publications, lectured at the University of Southern California, participated in preservation projects, organized tours for the Society of Architectural Historians, and contributed to a number of documentary films. Her energy and interests also led her to catalog and transcribe Richard Neutra's papers at the University of California Los Angeles Archives.
McCoy received national recognition from the American Institute of Architects for her seminal and prolific work in the field of Southern California modern architectural history and criticism. Her interests, however, were not exclusively bound to California. She traveled the world and was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. She made five extended trips to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s, publishing regularly about the architecture there and curating the exhibition Ten Italian Architects. She was a contributing editor to two Italian journals, Zodiac and Lotus, and was awarded the Star of Order of Solidarity in 1960 by the Republic of Italy for her research and writing.
Esther McCoy died of emphysema on December 30, 1989, at the age of eighty-five. Her last contribution was an essay for the exhibition catalog Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study House. The show opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles one month before her death.
1904 -- Born November 18 in Horatio, Arkansas. Raised in Kansas.
1920 -- Attended preparatory school at Central College for Women, Lexington, Missouri.
1922-1925 -- College education: Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas; University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri; University of Michigan.
1924 -- Visited Theodore Dreiser in Michigan.
1926-1938 -- Began writing in New York City.
1926-1938 -- Researched and read for Theodore Dreiser.
1926-1938 -- Worked for editorial offices and publishers.
1926-1938 -- Traveled to write in Paris (1928), Key West, Florida (1930), and Los Angeles, California (1932-1935).
1938 -- Moved to Santa Monica, California.
1941 -- Married Berkeley Greene Tobey.
1942-1944 -- Employed as engineering draftsman at Douglas Aircraft.
1944-1947 -- Worked as architectural draftsman for R.M. Schindler.
1945 -- Began architectural writing career.
1950 -- Wrote script for film Architecture West.
1950 -- Joined editorial board of Arts & Architecture.
1950-1968 -- Worked as free-lance writer for the Los Angeles Times.
1951-1955 -- Traveled to, researched, and wrote about Mexico and Mexican art and architecture.
1954 -- R.M. Schindler Retrospective exhibition at the Landau Art Gallery, Los Angeles.
1956 -- Roots of California Contemporary Architecture exhibition, Los Angeles Municipal Art Department.
1957 -- Felix Candela exhibition, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
1958 -- Irving Gill exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Traveled to Italy.
1959-1968 -- Contributing editor to Italian periodicals Zodiac and Lotus.
1960 -- Five California Architects (New York: Reinhold).
1960 -- Richard Neutra (New York: G. Braziller).
1960 -- Awarded Star of Order of Solidarity by the Republic of Italy for reporting on arts and crafts in Italy.
1962 -- Death of Berkeley Greene Tobey.
1962 -- Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses (New York: Reinhold) (reprinted as Case Study Houses, Los Angeles: Hennessey and Ingalls, 1978).
1963 -- Resident Fellow at Huntington Hartford Foundation.
1964 -- Juan O'Gorman exhibition, San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge, Calif.
1965 -- Consultant for the California Arts Commission.
1965-1966 -- Wrote and produced the film Dodge House.
1965-1968 -- Lecturer at University of California at Los Angeles, School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
1966 -- Resident Fellow at MacDowell Colony, New Hampshire.
1967 -- Ten Italian Architects exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
1967 -- Honorary Associate of the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
1967 -- Regents' Lecturer at University of California, Santa Barbara.
1968 -- Craig Ellwood (New York: Walker).
1968 -- Distinguished Service Citation from the California Council of AIA.
1969-1970 -- Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
1969-1989 -- Contributing editor of Progressive Architecture.
1971-1978 -- Graham Foundation Grants.
1974 -- Regents' Lecturer at the University of California,Santa Cruz.
1979 -- Vienna to Los Angeles: Two Journeys (Santa Monica, Calif.: Arts & Architecture Press).
1979 -- Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.
1981 -- Los Angeles Chapter Women's Architectural League Honorary Member.
1982 -- Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Modern and Contemporary Art Council Award for Distinguished Achievement.
1983 -- Home Sweet Home: The California Ranch House exhibition at California State University.
1984 -- The Second Generation (Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books).
1985 -- American Institute of Architects, Institute Honor.
1986 -- High Styles exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
1987 -- Vesta Award for outstanding scholarship.
1989 -- Award from the Historical Society of Southern California.
1989 -- Award from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
1989 -- Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study House exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Died in Santa Monica, California, December 30.
Related Material:
Also in the Archives of American Art are eight sound cassettes of a transcribed interview with Esther McCoy conducted by Joseph Giovannini, June 8-November 14, 1987.
Provenance:
The collection was given to the Archives of American Art by Esther McCoy in 1986. Before her death in 1989, McCoy assisted in the organization and identification of the papers. Original pre-print film elements for Dodge House 1916 were donated to the Archives of American Art by the Academy Film Archive in 2018.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual recordings without access copies requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Architectural historians -- California Search this
Esther McCoy papers, circa 1876-1990, bulk 1938-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Two urbanists: the engineering-architecture of R. Buckminster Fuller and Paolo Soleri. A loan exhibition of the Poses Institute of Fine Arts. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., Dec. 21, 1964-Jan. 17, 1965
Correspondence; diaries; writings; photographs; and printed material.
REELS 944-949: Correspondence; diaries, 1918-1945 and 1947-1959; articles, lecture manuscripts, book reviews, book notes, various writings; family, chilhood, and professional photos, including portrait shots from silent movies in Berlin in 1924-31; course outlines; Architectural League papers, 1970-71; AIA medal; correspondence files; South American travel diary, 1959; and miscellaneous papers.
REELS 951-952: Correspondence; photographs of Laszlo, his Hungarian family, and of his work; clippings and press notices of his 1969-1970 retrospective.
REELS 1005-1006: Undated writings, notes, and printed material relating to Sibyl Moholy-Nagy's unpublished book, "Pragma."
Biographical / Historical:
Sibyl: architectural historian, critic, educator. Birthdate also cited as 1903. Died 1971. Laszlo: sculptor, designer, painter & photographer; Chicago, Illinois. Sibyl was born Dorothea Maria Pauline Alice Sybille Pietzsche in Dresden, Germany. An actress in Berlin during her twenties, she used the stage name Sibyl Peech. Eventually she shifted to a career in the scenario office of the Tobis [Moving] Picture Syndicate where she met Moholy-Nagy in 1929. They married in 1932. Came to U.S. 1934. Laszlo taught at Walter Gropius's first Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau, 1920's, and was one of the founders of the Institute of Design, Chicago, 1939.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1971 by Hattula Hug, daughter of Sibyl and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. [Microfilm reels 1005-1006 erroneously labeled a gift.]
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview of Denise Scott Brown conducted 1990 October 25-1991 November 9, by Peter Reed, for the Archives of American Art.
Scott Brown discusses her family background and growing up in South Africa; her education at the University of Witwatersrand, the Architectural Association, London, a summer school in Venice, sponsored by Congres Internationale d'Architecture Moderne, and the University of Pennsylvania, recalling some of her teachers (including Arthur Korn and Louis Kahn); her first husband, Robert Scott Brown, and their travels throughout Europe and experiences in Pennsylvania; her teaching philosophy and experiences at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, Harvard, UCLA, and Berkeley; the architecture program at Penn from her perspective as a student and as a member of the faculty; meeting Robert Venturi, their work together, the firm and the difficulties encountered in the 1970s and 1980s, some of their projects such as the National Gallery, London, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and planning work; publications such as "Complexity and Contradiction," "Urban concepts," "Worm's Eye View," and "Learning from Las Vegas;" postmodern architecture; critics; and her experiences as a woman in the field.
Biographical / Historical:
Denise Scott Brown (1931- ) is an architect of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
General:
Originally recorded on 10 sound cassette. Reformatted in 2010 as 19 digital wav files. Duration is 13 hr., 45 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Vision der Moderne : das Prinzip Konstruktion / herausgegeben von Heinrich Klotz, unter Mitarbeit von Volker Fischer, Andrea Gleiniger-Neumann und Hans-Peter Schwarz
Exposition universelle internationale de 1900 (Paris, France) Search this
Collector:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Domestic Life Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Domestic Life Search this
Extent:
0.1 Cubic feet (2 boxes
, paper prints, 7-3/8 x 9-3/8," Silver gelatin, on mounts)
199 Photographic prints
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Place:
Tour Eiffel (Paris, France)
Paris (France) -- 1900-1910
Date:
1900
Scope and Contents:
Photographs of the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900, which record many buildings and pavilions that were among the chief points of interest, including the Monumental Entrance, Art Palaces and the Bridge of Alexander III, national pavilions lining the Seine River, and the Palace of Machinery; also, views of Paris from the Eiffel Tower, and statuary. Photographer unidentified; images appear to be an official documentation, perhaps commissioned by the exposition organizers.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Numerical by original museum catalogue numbers.
Biographical / Historical:
L'Exposition Universelle de Paris, 1900, represented a desire to awe and mystify a new generation in a new century.,In 1892 the Republic of France announced her intention to host the Universal Exposition and dreamed of uniting the nations in a common project; many promptly accepted and planned exhibits enthusiastically. Central Paris was chosen as the fairgrounds, an area containing three great buildings, such as the Eiffel Tower, constructed for past world's fairs; an area on the right bank of the Seine was later added. Exhibits included the "Cineorama," with hand-colored films, phonograph music, and live commentary, which was the first of many developments in film technique and presentation which had their first public showing at world exhibitions, the Mareorama, and other attractions. Art Nouveau, the creative rage of the exhibition, seemed to symbolize its theme.
Provenance:
Division of Domestic Life.,National Museum of American History.,Transfer.,1990/05/31.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site.,Photographs must be handled with gloves.
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:
Exhibitions -- 1900 -- Paris -- France Search this
Architecture, Modern -- 1900 -- Paris -- France Search this
Both Henry John Drewal and Margaret Drewal traveled to Nigeria, Ghana and Togo (West Africa) for extended periods from 1967-1986. During their trips to Nigeria they conducted research into the ritual performance, masking traditions, and traditional sacred rites of the Yoruba people as well as Mami Wata devotes of Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria. They are the co-authors of Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba (1993).Both Henry John Drewal and Margaret Drewal traveled to Nigeria, Ghana and Togo (West Africa) for extended periods from 1967-1986. During their trips to Nigeria they conducted research into the ritual performance, masking traditions, and traditional sacred rites of the Yoruba people as well as Mami Wata devotes of Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria. They are the co-authors of Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba (1993).
Photographs taken by Henry John and Margaret Thompson Drewal during the 1970s and 1980s of Yoruba and Ewe art and culture.
Scope and Contents:
The Drewal collection is a photographic documentation of several trips made to the West African countries of Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo to conduct field research. This collection, which consists of over 10,000 color slides (35mm), represents a major portion of the photographs taken by the Drewals during their visits to West Africa from 1967-1986 to conduct field work.
There are several subjects present in this collection. The most prominent being the Egúngún and Gelede rituals and festivals of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. Other subjects found in the collection are Ifá initiation, Òrìsà and Mami Wata festivals, Òrìsà shrines, sacred arts, beading techniques, and traditional and modern architecture. There is a large selection of images specifically of shrines and festivals for Òrìsà such as Sango, Ògún, Agemo, Eyinle and others. Details of implements like the ose Sango, opa Osanyin, and opa Osun can also be seen in the collection.
The Drewals also photographed and documented Yoruba sacred art (i.e. shrine objects; masks) in a number of international museums in Africa, Europe and the United States. Their collection contains images of Yoruba art in the British Museum, London; Nigeria National Museum, Lagos; National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C.; Everton Museum, New York; and Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. For a complete listing of slides depicting museum collections see pages 28-33. These images are restricted and can not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder.
Organization of the Finding Aid:
Drewal, Margaret Thompson. "Symbols of Possession: A Study of Movement and Regalia in an Anago-Yoruba Ceremony." -- Dance Research Journal -- 7, no. 2 (1975).
Drewal, Margaret Thompson and Henry John Drewal. "Gelede: Dance of the Western Yoruba," -- African Arts -- 8, no. 2 (Winter 1975).
Drewal, Henry John. "Efe: Voiced Power and Pagenatry." -- African Arts -- 7, no. 1 (Autumn 1973).
Drewal, Margaret Thompson and Henry John Drewal. "More Powerful than Each Other: An Egbado Classification of Egungun." -- African Arts -- 11, no. 3 (April 1978).
Drewal, Margaret Thompson. "Projections from the Top in Yoruba Art." -- African Arts -- 11, no. 1 (October 1977).
Drewal, Henry John. "Gelede Masquerade: Imagery and Motif." -- African Arts -- 7, no. 4 (Summer 1974).
Drewal, Henry John. "Pageantry and Power in Yoruba Costuming." Justine M. Cordwell and Ronald M. Schwarz, ed. -- The Fabrics of Culture -- . Hauge: Mouton, 1979.
Drewal, Margaret Thompson. "Art and Trance Among Yoruba Sango Devotees." -- African Arts -- 20, no. 1 (November 1986).
Drewal, Henry John. "Flaming Crowns, Cooling Waters: Masquerades of the Ijebu Yoruba" -- African Arts -- 20, no. 1 (November 1986).
Drewal, Henry John. "Mermaids, Mirrors, and Snake Charmers: Igbo Mami Wata Shrines" -- African Arts -- 21, no. 2 (February 1988).
Drewal, Henry John. "Performing the Other: Mami Wata Worship in Africa" -- TDR -- 32, no. 2 (Summer 1988).
Drewal, Henry John. "Beauty and Being: Aesthetics and Ontology in Yoruba Body Art." Arnold Rubin, ed. -- Marks of Civilization: Artistic Transformation of the Human Body -- . Los Angeles, CA, 1988.
Drewal, Henry John, John Pemberton III, Rowland Abiodun. -- Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought -- . NY: Center for African Art in Association with H.N. Abrams, 1989.
Homberger, Lorenz ed. -- Yoruba Art and Aesthetics -- . Zurich: Museum Rietberg; New York: Center for African Art, 1991.
Drewal, Margaret Thompson. -- Yoruba Ritual: Performers, Play, Agency -- . Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1992.
Drewal, Henry John and Margaret Thompson Drewal. -- Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba -- . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993.
Abiodun, Rowland, Henry J. Drewal, and John Pemberton III, editors. -- The Yoruba Artist: New Theoretical Perspectives on African Arts -- . Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994.
This finding aid was organized according to the inherent value of the Drewal collection to art historians, ethnographers, anthropologists, and cultural historians. It has been kept simple but made as detailed as possible while still providing the researcher with references to the images and other valuable research information. The finding aid has been organized into three principal sections:
A. Bibliography of Drewal publications with image numbers;
B. Primary keyword subjects: Field images;
C. Primary keyword subjects: Art images; and
D. Restricted images: B/W copy slides and non-Drewal color slides
A. Bibliography of Drewal publications:
The first section contains a bibliography of primary Drewal publications and lists the image numbers for reproductions that appear in either black-and-white or color. These publications are listed chronologically with a corresponding list of image numbers. For the researcher's convenience, all images from the Drewal collection that have been published are listed in a separate column beside the publication in which the picture appears. Due to space restrictions, only the last five digits of the accession numbers are listed in the Image # column.
**Please note that some of the color slides in the collection have been reproduced as black-and-white images in several Drewal publications. A separate column in the bibliographic section indicates whether the image was reproduced in black-and-white or color in the publication. The Elisofon Archives does not currently possess any of the Drewal's black-and-white negatives. For additional information on these images, please contact Drs. Henry John Drewal and Margaret Thompson Drewal.
Example:
Publication Title Image #
Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba, 1993
To further assist researchers, two additional columns have been created to indicate if the image is published in color or black/white.
Example:
Publication Title Image # Color
Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba, 1993 • 00000
B & C. Primary keyword: Field and Art images
The second section contains a complete list of images available in the collection, subdivided by field and art images. Field images refer to cultural or natural landscapes shot in Africa and Art images refer to images of objects in museums (or photographed in the field as an object by itself). These images have been categorized by primary keywords (i.e. artisan; leadership; masquerade) and subdivided into subcategories or type within these general keyword subjects (i.e. carvers; chiefs; Egungun).
Example:
Primary Keyword Subcategory Image #
Architecture • Modern • 00000
D. Restricted images:
The final section lists restricted images in the collection: b/w copy slides from publications and color slides not produced by the Drewals. These images are for study purposes only and not for reproduction.
Arrangement note:
The slides were sent to the Elisofon Archives in several batches. They were arranged according to the Drewals' own system of classification and field notes (see below). This arrangement is roughly by subject and further subdivided by subcategory or type. Slides of museum objects are grouped with field images of similar subject matter. For instance, museum object related to Sango worship can be found with the field images of Sango devotees and shrines.
The Drewals donated copies of their field notes (Red and Blue Books) which correspond to most of the slides found in the collection. The Red and Blue books are arranged in reverse chronological order starting with Blue Book 1977-78.1. Reference numbers to these books appear on the upper left hand corner of the slide (e.g. 78.34.6; 28-11). The majority of the field notes give the date and place where the photos were taken as well as a brief descriptive of the subject of the image related to the note. In some cases, the Òrìsà of a particular town was recorded in addition to how many Òrìsà are worshipped. The Drewals attended several private ceremonies and there are some descriptions of their experiences, however, in most cases not in extensive detail.
There is an additional notebook containing more field notes for years prior to 1975. This notebook has information about the images of museum objects and is a collection of Xeroxed copies of notes on index cards. There are no dates on the copies, but there are reference numbers as with the Red and Blue Books.
Images indexed by negative number.
Biographical / Historical:
Art historian Henry John Drewal received his BA from Hamilton College and two Masters' degrees and a PhD from Columbia University (1973). In between college and graduate school, Drewal served in the Peace Corps, where he taught French and English, organized arts camps in Nigeria, and apprenticed himself to a Yoruba sculptor.
He taught at Cleveland State University (Chair of the Art Department), and was a Visiting Professor at UC-Santa Barbara and SUNY-Purchase. Since 1991 he has been the Evjue-Bascom Professor of Art History and Afro-American Studies at UW-Madison. He has published several books, edited volumes, exhibition catalogues, and many articles and produced a number of films documenting African and African Diaspora arts, and lectured widely on these topics. He has received several NEH and NEA grants, three Fulbright Research Awards (Brazil, Benin, Morocco), a Metropolitan Museum of Art Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Dr. Margaret Thompson Drewal is an ethnographer, performance theorist, and dance historian. She has conducted extensive research on Yoruba and Afro-Brazilian ritual dance with a special interest in the poetics and politics of performance discourse. She is the author of Performers, Play, and Agency: Yoruba Ritual Process (1989). She has also authored numerous articles that have appeared in such journals as TDR: A Journal of Performance Studies, African Arts, and The Journal Ritual Studies. She is also a trained dancer and choreographer. At present, Dr. Drewal is the Chair of the Department of Performance Studies at North Western University.
There are also video productions by Henry John Drewal and Margaret Thompson Drewal available in the Warren M. Robbins Library. The videos available are "Ẹfẹ/Gẹlẹdẹ Ceremonies among the Western Yoruba," by Henry John Drewal; "Yoruba Performance," by Henry John Drewal; and "Yoruba Ritual: A Companion Video," by Margaret Thompson Drewal.
Cultural Information and Background:
The information found here goes slightly beyond the notes of the Red/Blue Books and index card that accompany the images. Because the Drewal Collection primarily centers on the Yoruba and Mami Wata spiritual traditions and material cultures, the focus of images are of specific implements of the deities and priests, such as staffs, pots, stools, thrones, statues, and bells. Also included in the collection are images of divination, sacrifice, and other important rituals, festivals and ceremonies. What is given here is pertinent background information on the cosmology of the Yoruba and Mami Wata spiritual traditions as it relates to the iconographical focus of the slides.
In Yoruba cosmology, there is a supreme being commonly referred to as Ọlọdumare. Ọlọdumare is essentially understood as being genderless or androgynous. There are no shrines or spiritual implements dedicated to Ọlọdumare. The Yoruba believe that Ọlọdumare is too vast and its power too strong to be channeled into one building or space. Everything is a part of or expresses an aspect of Ọlọdumare. Through the appeasement of the Òrìsà Ọlọdumare is served. The Òrìsà are the emissaries of Ọlọdumare sent to the world to assist their devotees in every day life. There are hundreds of Òrìsà within the Yoruba pantheon. Deities such as Ọbatala, Ifá, Èshù, Ọshún, Shango, Ọsanyin, Yemọja and Oya are worshipped throughout Yorubaland; there are also deities that are specific to particular locations and are not as popular as the aforementioned eight.
Implements of the priests are classified as sacred art. These spiritual tools are not only instruments of the priests, but ultimately, they are tools for the Òrìsà. It is important to understand that the shrines are not the Òrìsà. This very prominent misconception has plagued traditional practitioners both in and out of Yorubaland for centuries. The emphasis of reverence is placed on the spirit associated with the materials used to construct a shrine or ceremonial item and not the item itself. The shrine and other sacred tools serve as vortices to channel the ashe or power of the Òrìsà into the physical world.
Ifá is a term that has been used to refer to the Yoruba traditional spiritual system. However, Ifá also refers to the Òrìsà of divination, Ọrunmila, as well as the system of divination used by the priests of Ọrunmila. Ifá's role as a diviner is so important in Yoruba cosmology that he is referred to as Ẹlẹri ipin, ibikéjì Ọlọdumare (witness to all destinies, second only to Ọlọdumare). The Drewals were allowed to follow the process of three initiations and other sacred rituals performed by priests. Certain rituals cannot be witnessed by non-initiates; however the Drewals were able to photograph many of the sacred rites of the initiation process. The roles of the Ifá priest vary. Divining is a very important role of the Ifá priest, and the tools used to divine are also sacred. There is a section of the collection dedicated to images of divination tools and the Ifá shrine.
Èshù is another one of the most important deities within Yoruba cosmology. Èshù is the keeper of ashe and the inspector of all sacrifices. His image is carved into the top of the Ifá divination tray (ọpọn Ifá) because he is a witness to all actions, thoughts, and events. According to Yoruba cosmology, he is an unbiased observer who will convey only the truth of any subject. Both Ifá and Èshù assist devotees in overcoming unsavory circumstances and bad luck, according to the Yoruba. There are many roads (aspects) of Èshù, each performing a specific duty in a devotee's life. Shigidi is one of the more powerful aspects of Èshù. One can see the noticeable differences between the Shigidi and the yangi (laterite or sculpted clay used to create an Èshù shrine).
The implements that are found on traditional Òrìsà shrines are based on Yoruba mythology. For instance, the odo Shango, ritual mortar, is found on almost all shrines dedicated to this particular Òrìsà. The legend goes that he used an inverted mortar to kill a leopard that was terrorizing the people of Enpe. The odo Shango is sometimes used to support the container that holds the "thunderstones" (lightning struck stones) of Shango's shrine. The inverted mortar is also used as a stool for priests or initiates to sit. Shango's priests usually keep their hair braided, even if the priest is male. Equestrian figures are utilized in both Shango and Oya sacred art. Oya is the only female deity in the Yoruba pantheon that has ever been depicted riding a horse. Yoruba mythology states that Oya is a warrior goddess who accompanies her husband, Shango into battle and fights by his side. Together the husband and wife team is associated with thunderstorms. Oya is mythically related to the winds that precede the thunder and lightning that are both said to be associated with Shango.
There are several types of staffs or dance wands seen in the Drewal collection. In the case of dance wands, they are often times utilized during spirit possession. In some instances, the shrine of the Òrìsà is only the staff of that particular deity. Such is the case with the ọpa Osun, a deity associated with Ifá and his devotees and the ọpa Òrìsà Oko, the deity of agriculture.
The Ogboni society (also known as Osugbo) possesses a mixture of spiritual and governmental power within the traditional Yoruba community. It was the foundation of order in traditional Yoruba society. The focus of worship and veneration amongst Ogboni members is Onilẹh, the Owner of the land or Earth. Sometimes one may hear the term Onileh, Owner of the house, instead. Both pronunciations can be used and carry significant meaning in either case. However, the consensus of scholarly research associates Ogboni with the Earth. In that case the term Onilẹh is more suitable.
Egúngún and Gelede festivals are of significant importance amongst the Yoruba. The Egúngún society is dedicated to the veneration and appeasement of honorable ancestors. This can take place in private or public. Families celebrate their deceased relatives' lives and accomplishments privately through sacrifice, prayer and celebration. In a public arena ancestors from the community are given recognition. The Yoruba have long believed that community solidarity and welfare begins with the family. In honoring one's personal ancestors as well as benevolent community ancestors, the family receives the blessings of those that reside in the spiritual realm—those who have become ara ọrun, or the people of heaven. Because the Yoruba believe in reincarnation, it is thought that the ancestors will one day return to the material world in a future lifetime. If proper rituals and prayers are performed, the spirits returning will have a better chance of being assets to society by hopefully making positive contributions to the elevation of the Yoruba people.
Gelede is always a public event. The time of year which the festival will take place is dependent on the locality in which the festival is being held. Gelede focuses mainly on the feminine and the role of women in society. Female deities such as Yemọja, Olókun, and Ilẹh are associated with Gelede. Another aspect of major importance to Gelede is the inclusion of Ìyánla, the Great Mother, which is a reference to Onilè. This reference is but one facet that connects Gelede to the Ogboni society. It is also during the Gelede festival that Awọn Ìyá Wa, Our Mothers or the Mothers, are petitioned and appeased so that they may not interfere with the positive efforts of the community.
Both the Egúngún and Gelede festivals help to ensure prosperity, abundance, and fertility of the people. It is through these festivals that indecent conduct is addressed in hopes of exorcising the root of such behavior. It is believed that bringing any disgraceful and inhumane acts to the forefront encourages individuals to act responsibly in all matters.
The final subject presented in the Drewal Collection is of the Mami Wata traditions in West Africa. Representations of Mami Wata often include foreign images, usually of Indian gods, to describe the attributes of Mami Wata as a deity. The term Mami Wata refers to a water spirit or a collective of water spirits. The names associated with the original African water spirit(s) have long been forgotten in some regions of West Africa where Mami Wata is worshipped. However, in other areas, the term Mami Wata is interchangeable with the indigenous name used to identify the water spirit(s). There are variations to the worship of Mami Wata throughout West Africa, yet similarities prevail. Togo is most popularly associated with the Mami Wata tradition. Most of the slides featuring Mami Wata devotees in the Drewal Collection were taken in Togo.
Related Materials:
Additional photographs by Henry John Drewal held at the EEPA are located within the collection: Henry John Drewal Collection, EEPA 2010-010.
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. Copyright held by John and Margaret Drewal. To publish images from this collection, permission must be given by Henry and Margaret Drewal. Contact Archives staff for further information. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Genre/Form:
Color slides
Citation:
Henry and Margaret Drewal Photographs, EEPA 1992-028, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Biographical material, correspondence with architects and artists (1903-1978), writings (1923-1969), a diary, an autograph book, subject files, printed material, photographs (1883-1979) and 5 photograph albums reflect the career of Walter Gropius, the activities of his wife Ise, and her recollections of the Bauhaus. Also included are 5 cassette tapes, untranscribed and unmicrofilmed.
REELS 2270-2283: Walter Gropius' correspondence concerns family matters (1903-1933), locating his sister in Berlin after World War II (1945-1946), and the Bauhaus Archiv (1957-1968). Ise Gropius' correspondents (1969-1978) include Alvar Aalto, Herbert Bayer, Hannes Beckmann, Arcangelo Cascieri, Ivan and Serge Chermayeff, Adolf Klarmann, Helmut Koch, Gerhard Marcks, Jack Pritchard, Hans Scharoun, and Konrad Wachsmann. Other correspondence concerns exhibitions about Gropius (1969-1976). Writings by Walter Gropius include lecture notes and short essays on architecture and design. A subject file (1945-1954) concerns visits to Japan. Printed material (1910-1978) includes galley proof sheets and clippings (1913-1957).
REELS 2284-2286: Photographs (1896-1937) show family members including Gropius' first wife Alma Schindler and their daughter Manon; Gropius' architectural projects including finished buildings, models, blueprints, and drawings (1906-1952); and an exhibition in London on Gropius.
REEL 2287: Biographical material (1883-1979) consists of Gropius' birth, marriage and death certificates, his military record (1914-1917), contracts, U.S. naturalization papers (1941-1944), financial documents (1945), Ise Gropius' will (1979), a list of works, a history of the Gropius family, real estate records, and membership cards. Excerpts from letters written by Marcel Breuer describe his European travels (1931-1937). A file on the Walter Gropius Foundation contains letters and notes (1969). An autograph book kept by Ise Gropius (1924-1981) contains illustrations by Herbert Bayer, Gyorgy and Juliet Kepes, Joan Miro, Kurt Schwitters, and Phyllis Terry, as well as autographs, notes and photographs. Writings by Ise Gropius include lecture notes and printed essays (1935-1943).
REEL 2287a: Twenty-six letters (1932-1952) from Herbert Bayer, written in German and English, to Gropius. Thirteen excerpts from Bayer's letters (1932-1949) are translated into English.
REELS 2330-2331: Photographs (1883-1979) show Walter Gropius, family members, and colleagues including Alvar Aalto, Bela Bartok, Herbert Bayer, Marcel Breuer, Alexander Calder, Arcangelo Cascieri, Naum Gabo, Julian Huxley, Gyorgy Kepes, Paul Klee, Le Corbusier, I. M. Pei, Diego Rivera, Jose Luis Sert, Kenzo Tange, Frank Lloyd Wright, and members of Gropius' firm, The Architects Collaborative. Other photographs show a skit by students of the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Bauhaus (1979).
REEL 2393: English translations of correspondence between Ise and Walter Gropius (1931-1969) and Ise's 1928 letter to a journalist commenting on Walter Gropius' resignation from the Bauhaus. A handwritten German copy (with a typewritten English translation) of a section of Ise Gropius' unpublished memoir describes her first meeting with Gropius and their courtship and marriage (1923-1929). A German transcript was not filmed. A typewritten English translation of Ise Gropius' diary (1924-1928) describes activities at the Bauhaus and mentions Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Marcel Breuer, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Otto Klemperer, Alma Mahler, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Georg Muche, Kurt Schwitters, Igor Stravinsky, and Franz Werfel. A handwritten translation is filmed on reel 4130.
REEL 2764: One photograph album (1925-1930) contains photographs of Walter and Ise Gropius and colleagues including Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Marcel Breuer, Lyonel Feininger, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Georg Muche, Claude Petit, and Joost Schmidt; construction of the Bauhaus (1925-1926); and sights in Germany and Italy. Four albums on the United States contain Gropius' photographs of New York City architecture, the Brooklyn Bridge, Chicago, California housing and industry, the Grand Canyon, and American Indians.
UNMICROFILMED: 5 cassette tapes, untranscribed, including a lecture delivered by Walter Gropius as part of "The Heritage of Man" lecture series, Cleveland, Ohio, February 13, 1952; an interview of Ise conducted by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, October 28, 1977; and 3 of a monologue delivered by Ise, 1978, in which she speaks of her early childhood.
Biographical / Historical:
Architect, educator and founder of the Bauhaus school. Born in Berlin, Walter Gropius studied at the University of Charlottenburg-Berlin and Munich. Following European travel and apprenticeship with Peter Behrens in Berlin, he established his own practice in 1910. After military service in WWI, he became director of the School of Applied Arts and the Academy of Arts, united the two and named the new institute Bauhaus Dessau in 1925. Between 1934 and 1937, he had a private practice in London. From 1938 to 1952, Gropius was chairman of Harvard's Graduate School of Design and maintained a private practice with Marcel Breuer from 1938 to 1941. Gropius married Alma Schindler, Gustav Mahler's widow, in 1915. In 1923, he married Ise (or Ilse) Franck (1897-1983).
Related Materials:
Additional photographs of Alma (Schindler) Mahler Werfel located at Bauhaus Archiv, Berlin, Germany.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming by Ise Gropius and her daughter, Beate Gropius Forberg Johansen, 1982-1983, except for selected items on reel 2393, the handwritten translation of Ise's diary on reel 4130 and cassette tapes, which were donated in 1981, 1983 and 1987, respectively. Some photographs from albums on reel 2764 which would not reproduce were not microfilmed.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
