This Collection contains in 24 albums over 5,500 color 35mm slides of Western-style architecture created during Japan's modernization, primarily druing Meiji Period (1868-1912). Taken throughout Japan between 1975-1990 by Dallas Finn, they were research materials in prepration for her book, Meiji Revisited: the Sites of Victorian Japan (New York, Weatherhill, 1995). Though the bulk of the slides are by Dallas Finn, the collection also contains copies of historic black and white photos showing lost buildings, Meiji personalities, and contemporary life. Also includes period photographs of foreighers in Japan and views of the foreign treaty ports Kobe, Yokahama, and Nagasaki. In addition to architectural sites, the collection covers industrial equipment and transportation like railroads, locomotives, bridges, canals, blast furnaces, and textile factories.
Arrangement:
The slides are generally organized by prefecture and cities and town therein.
Biographical / Historical:
Dallas Finn was an historian educated at Radcliffe and Harvard. After living many years in Japan, she became fluent in the language and taught at universities in Tokyo. She became an authority on Japanese design, with a specialty in how Western architecture was adapted by the Japanese. In 1995, Ms. Finn published "Meiji Revisited," a book about how Victorian architectural styles were modified and adopted in 19th-century Japan. She lectured widely on this subject and published magazine articles about Japanese design and historical encounters between Japan and the West.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2010.03
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Dallas Finn Slide Collection of Meiji Architecture,FSA.A2010.03. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Gift of Dallas Finn, 2010.
Identifier:
FSA.A2010.03
Archival Repository:
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
The Edgar A. Albin Slide Collection includes images of architecture and sights of India taken in 1954 by Professor Edgar A. Albin, A Fullbright Scholar. A second set shows notable contemporary Indian artists in their studios, as well as examples of their works.
Arrangement:
One series organized by locations within India; second series organized by artist.
Biographical / Historical:
Edgar A. Albin was professor of Art at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, from 1947 to 1962. Born December 17, 1908 at Columbus, Kansas, he attended the University of Tulsa, receiving a BA in Art and Education in 1936 and then an MA from the State University of Iowa in Art History and Painting in 1946. From 1931 to 1939, Albin taught in the Tulsa Public School System, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Later, he was instructor and Associate Professor of Art from 1939 to 1947 at the University of Tulsa, where he created the Art History program. From 1947 to 1962, Albin was Professor of Art at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and chairman of the Humanities program from 1958 to 1962. He taught the history of art, integrated general education courses, and art criticism in addition to setting up and supervising the art slide and film library. Albin joined the faculty of Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, in 1962 and served as chairman of the Art Department until his retirement in 1974. In addition to his academic work, Edgar A. Albin wrote a weekly arts column from 1965 to 1986 for the Springfield Leader and Press. He also wrote numerous letters to the editor from 1972 to 1983, some of which he signed in his own name others with the pseudonym, "Ezra Kornscrabble". He also lectured at various universities, institutions, and conventions.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2010.02
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Due to cold storage requirements, digital surrogates are prefered for access. One week's notice is required prior to access originals.
Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
