Search Results

Creator:

Stebbins, Emma, 1815-1882  Search this

Names:

Garland, Mary Stebbins  Search this

Extent:

0.3 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1858-1882

Summary:

The Emma Stebbins scrapbook measures 0.3 linear feet and dates from 1858 to 1882. Compiled by Stebbin's sister, Mary Stebbins Garland, the scrapbook includes artwork, biographical material, photographs, and printed material.

Scope and Contents:

The Emma Stebbins scrapbook measures 0.3 linear feet and dates from 1858 to 1882. Compiled by Stebbin's sister, Mary Stebbins Garland, the scrapbook includes artwork, biographical material, photographs, and printed material.

Arrangement:

Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.

Biographical / Historical:

Mary Stebbins Garland was the sister of sculptor Emma Stebbins (1815-1882) who was active in Rome, Italy and New York City, New York. Stebbins was the first woman to receive a public arts commission from the City of New York and is known for Angel of the Waters on top of the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.

Provenance:

Donated 1981 by Elizabeth Milroy, a relative of Stebbins.

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

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:

Sculptors -- Italy -- Rome  Search this

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Women sculptors  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Citation:

Emma Stebbins scrapbook, 1858-1882. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.

Identifier:

AAA.garlmary

See more items in:

Emma Stebbins scrapbook

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw94b27e5b2-8967-42d8-837e-404f17aa7599

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-garlmary

Creator:

Schmid, Elsa, 1897-  Search this

Names:

Neumann, J. B. (Jsrael Ber)  Search this

Poor, Henry Varnum, 1887-1970  Search this

Extent:

1.1 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1910-1967

Summary:

The papers of sculptor and mosaicist Elsa Schmid (1897-1970) measure 1.1 linear feet and date from 1910 to 1967. Found are biographical materials, correspondence including letters from Henry Varnum Poor, photographs of works of art, project files, printed material, and writings relating to Elsa Schmid's career as a mosaicist.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of sculptor and mosaicist Elsa Schmid (1897-1970) measure 1.1 linear feet and date from 1910 to 1967. Found are biographical materials, correspondence including letters from Henry Varnum Poor, photographs of works of art, project files, printed material, and writings relating to Elsa Schmid's career as a mosaicist.

Arrangement:

Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.

Biographical / Historical:

Elsa Schmid (1897-1970) was a mosaicist, painter, and sculptor in Rye, New York. Born in Germany, Schmid first studied art in Italy and immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. Concentrating on mosaic, her works decorated churches and memorialized famous figures. Schmid married art dealer J. B. Neumann.

Related Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds an interview of Elsa Schmid conducted 1968 August 1, by Butler Coleman, for the Archives of American Art.

Provenance:

The papers were donated in 1974 by Peter Neumann, Schmid's son. Two additional mosaic transparencies of Abraham Lincoln were transferred from the Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in 2010.

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

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:

Painters -- New York (State) -- Rye  Search this

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- Rye  Search this

Mosaicists -- New York (State) -- Rye  Search this

Topic:

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

Citation:

Elsa Schmid papers, 1910-1967. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Processing of this collection received support from the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.

Identifier:

AAA.schmelsa

See more items in:

Elsa Schmid papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw960ce0ecb-5b5f-49ee-9210-f5bedbeb3524

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-schmelsa

Creator:

Herbert, David, 1920-1995  Search this

Names:

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

David Herbert Gallery  Search this

Graham Gallery  Search this

Robert Fraser Gallery  Search this

Sidney Janis Gallery  Search this

Stewart Neill Gallery  Search this

Andrade, Jaime, 1931-  Search this

Berman, Aaron  Search this

Blaszko, Martin, 1920-  Search this

Blum, Irving, 1930-  Search this

Carrington, Leona  Search this

Carsman, Jon, 1944-  Search this

Cotsen, Lloyd E.  Search this

Draper, William F., 1912-2003  Search this

Feigen, Richard L., 1930-  Search this

Fraser, Robert  Search this

Hoffman, Martin  Search this

Hopps, Walter  Search this

Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this

Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923-  Search this

Kline, Franz, 1910-1962  Search this

Lukin, Sven  Search this

McKelvy, Douglas  Search this

Merck, Josephine  Search this

Namuth, Hans  Search this

Negret, Edgar, 1920-2012  Search this

Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988  Search this

Ossorio, Alfonso, 1916-1990  Search this

Padovano, Anthony  Search this

Ramirez, Eduardo  Search this

Reynal, Jeanne, 1903-  Search this

Smith, Leon Polk, 1906-1996  Search this

Sorel, Paul  Search this

Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980  Search this

Extent:

5.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Place:

Greece -- description and travel

Ecuador -- Description and Travel

Puerto Rico -- description and travel

Japan -- Description and Travel

Iwo Jima (Japan)

Date:

circa 1909-1996

bulk 1945-1995

Summary:

The papers of New York gallery owner and art dealer David Herbert measure 5.8 linear feet and date from circa 1909-1996, with the bulk of the material dating from 1945-1995. Herbert's papers document his years working for Betty Parsons Gallery, Sidney Janis Gallery, Graham Gallery, and others; the operation of the David Herbert Gallery from 1959-1962; Herbert's partnerships and agreements with Richard Feigen and others; and his activities as an independent dealer. Records include biographical material, correspondence, notebooks, subject files, artist files, exhibition files, business records, printed material, and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York gallery owner and art dealer David Herbert measure 5.8 linear feet and date from circa 1909-1996, with the bulk of the material dating from 1945-1995. Herbert's papers document his years working for Betty Parsons Gallery, Sidney Janis Gallery, Graham Gallery, and others; the operation of the David Herbert Gallery from 1959-1962; Herbert's partnerships and agreements with Richard Feigen and others; and his activities as an independent dealer. Records include biographical material, correspondence, notebooks, subject files, artist files, exhibition files, business records, printed material, and photographs.

Biographical material includes address books and calendars, educational records, records of Herbert's military service in the United States Naval Construction Battalion in Japan, and resume's charting his career.

Correspondence is with Herbert's parents, friends, business colleagues, and artists. It includes documentation of Herbert's partnership with Richard Feigen, and his cooperative work with Irving Blum and Walter Hopps of Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, and Robert Fraser in London. Also documented are Herbert's relationship with Jaime Andrade and Andrade's family, and a lawsuit Herbert brought against Aaron Berman relating to the ownership of an Ellsworth Kelly drawing. There are scattered letters and postcards from artists and collectors, including Martin Blaszko, Lloyd Cotsen, Martin Hoffman, Ray Johnson, Josephine Merck, Alfonso Ossorio, Paul Sorel, and Clyfford Still.

Notebooks provide brief notes on Herbert's day-to-day business dealings. Subject files, consisting primarily of printed material, document Herbert's interests in several art world figures, subjects such as ancient art, and travel to locations such as Ecuador, Puerto Rico, and Greece.

Exhibition files include installation shots and catalogs for many of the exhibitions held at the David Herbert Gallery between 1959 and 1962.

Artist files document Herbert's interest in individual artists, such as William Draper, Ellsworth Kelly, Franz Kline, Sven Lukin, Edgar Negret, Louise Nevelson, Anthony Padovano, Eduardo Ramirez, and Jeanne Reynal, through printed material, photographs of artwork, scattered artist letters, and sales documentation.

Business records document the financial details and overall goals of Herbert's various business ventures. There is a sales book for Betty Parsons Gallery and Sidney Janis Gallery; Herbert's appraisal, consignment, commission, sales, and loan records; Herbert's business plans and projections; financial statements from the David Herbert Gallery; sales records for Graham Gallery; and records of Herbert's partnership with Douglas McKelvy.

Printed material includes announcements and catalogs from galleries Herbert worked for or collaborated with, including Graham Gallery, Betty Parsons Gallery, Feigen/Herbert Gallery, Stewart Neill Gallery, and Robert Fraser Gallery. Also found are obituaries and other new clippings of interest to Herbert.

Photographs are of Herbert, family members, and friends and colleagues, including his companion, Jaime Andrade, Leona Carrington, William Draper, Jon Carsman, Hans Namuth, and Leon Polk Smith. Many are color snapshots collected in two photographs albums. Also found are photographs taken in Japan and Iwo Jima in 1945-1946 of street scenes, Naval Construction Battalion facilities, and Herbert's army colleagues and friends.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as nine series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1920-circa 1995 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1942-1996 (1 linear foot; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Notebooks, circa 1950s-circa 1995 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 4: Subject Files, 1950s-1992 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1959-1963 (0.25 linear feet; Box 3)

Series 6: Artist Files, 1950s-1993 (0.75 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)

Series 7: Business Records, 1950s-1992 (0.6 linear feet; Box 4)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1949-circa 1995 (1.4 linear feet; Boxes 5-7)

Series 9: Photographs, circa 1909-circa 1990 (0.4 linear feet; Box 7)

Biographical / Historical:

New York gallery owner and art dealer David Herbert (1920-1995, born David Herbert Schmerer), worked for a number of important galleries in New York, had his own eponymous gallery from 1959-1962, operated as a private dealer, and was in partnership with dealer Richard Feigen from 1962-1964.

Herbert served in the United States Naval Construction Battalion from 1943-1946 and was posted to Japan in 1945-1946. After receiving a BA in art history from Syracuse University in 1951, he worked for Betty Parsons Gallery (1951-1953) and Sidney Janis Gallery (1953-1959), selling the work of contemporary American painters and sculptors, handling publicity, and installing exhibitions.

Herbert forged strong connections with artists and collectors alike, and was instrumental in launching the careers of a number of important artists. One such artist was Ellsworth Kelly, whom he recommended to Parsons, triggering Kelly's New York career. He opened the David Herbert Gallery in 1959, with investment from Douglas McKelvy, promoting the works of artists including Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Louise Nevelson, to leading collectors and museums.

Herbert often worked in cooperation with colleagues Irving Blum and Walter Hobbs in Los Angeles, and Robert Fraser in London. After closing his gallery in 1962, Herbert entered a partnership with dealer Richand Feigen, operating the Feigen/Herbert Gallery from 1962-1964. From 1964-1969 he worked as a private dealer specializing in twentieth century works of art and serving as a consultant to collectors, museums, artists, and corporate interests. From 1969-1975 he was Director and Art Salesman of contemporary and 19th Century American Art at Graham Gallery. Herbert subsequently continued as a private dealer from 1975 until his death.

Herbert traveled extensively, visiting museums, collectors, and galleries in England, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Hawaii, and Japan. Through Edgar Negret, whom Herbert represented, he met Jaime Andrade, who became his assistant at the Feigen/Herbert Gallery in 1963. In turn Andrade shared with Herbert an interest in pre-Columbian art and contemporary Spanish and Latin America art, hosting multiple visits to his native Ecuador by Herbert and others, including artist William Draper.

Andrade served as executor of Herbert's estate, following Herbert's death in 1995.

Provenance:

The David Herbert papers were given to the Archives of American Art by Jaime Andrade, Herbert's companion, in 1999.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D. C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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:

Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

David Herbert papers, circa 1909-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.herbdavi

See more items in:

David Herbert papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9be75a48b-8da9-4d68-9952-9de8b2091c80

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-herbdavi

Artist:

Ethel Rich  Search this

Hugh Barclay Rich  Search this

Medium:

Painting, Oil on Board

Dimensions:

2-D - Unframed (H x W): 76.4 × 101.9cm (2 ft. 6 1/16 in. × 3 ft. 4 1/8 in.)

Type:

ART-Paintings

Country of Origin:

United States of America

Inventory Number:

A19370051000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv91dcea804-90d7-4950-86db-5764a436c20b

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19370051000

Creator:

Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2013-07-29T14:03:08.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

See more by:

americanartmuseum

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

YouTube Channel:

americanartmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_T27bAr1X6h4

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

Lectures

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2022-09-19T16:52:13.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_qq_lMrQEYfY

Creator:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2023-02-16T02:10:14.000Z

YouTube Category:

Entertainment  Search this

Topic:

Art, modern  Search this

See more by:

hirshhornmuseum

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

YouTube Channel:

hirshhornmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_vmvhzOWhOKs

Collection Creator:

Vonnoh, Bessie Potter, 1872-1955  Search this

Container:

Box 1, Folder 1

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1955, 19--

Collection Restrictions:

This bulk of the collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Thi 2022 addition to this collection is temporarily closed to researchers due to archival processing. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Bessie Potter Vonnoh papers, circa 1860-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

See more items in:

Bessie Potter Vonnoh papers

Bessie Potter Vonnoh papers / Series 1: Biographical Material

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9725fd33d-3529-4e19-a40a-018d5cef4809

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-vonnbess-ref14

Creator:

Cook Labs  Search this

Cook, Emory, 1913-2002  Search this

Names:

Cook Labs  Search this

Extent:

6.3 Cubic feet (Phonograph albums)

63.5 Cubic feet (Open-reel tapes)

8.75 Cubic feet (Business records)

78.55 Cubic feet

Culture:

Afro-Caribbean cults  Search this

10th Naval District Steel Band  Search this

Almerico, Tony, 1905-  Search this

American Indians  Search this

Audio Engineering Society  Search this

Ast, Anita  Search this

Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750  Search this

Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827  Search this

Big Shell Band  Search this

Boston Chorale  Search this

Brahms, Johannes, 1833-1897  Search this

Brokenshire, Norman, 1898-1965  Search this

Brundage, Al (Alfred)  Search this

Brute Force Band  Search this

Camp, Red  Search this

Carroll, Jimmy  Search this

Crowley, Daniel J., 1921-  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Audiotapes

Photographic prints

Business records

Artifacts

Contracts

Phonograph records

Correspondence

Christmas music

Place:

Cuba

West Indies -- Lesser Antilles

Caribbean Area

Antigua

Barbuda

Amazon River Region

Benítez (Venezuela)

Baja California (Mexico : Peninsula)

Brazil

Connecticut

Cuba

Haiti

Date:

1908-2002, bulk 1948-1965

Summary:

The Cook Labs records, which date from 1939-2002, document the activities of audio engineer Emory Cook and his label Cook Labs. The contents include business records, materials relating to recording artists, photographs, and production materials, as well as phonograph records, master recordings and unpublished recordings produced by or associated with the Cook Labs label. The collection also contains two interviews conducted with Emory Cook in 1990: one by Jeff Place and one by Anthony Seeger and Nicholas Spitzer. There are several physical objects relating to Cook Labs including a bag of powdered vinyl, a binaural playing arm, and a condenser microphone.

Scope and Contents note:

There are two primary components of the Cook Labs records: the records, master tapes and other audio recordings, and the related paper files.

The Cook Labs records contains about 150 of the 200 released Cook recordings, and 739 master tapes. In addition, there are 330 unpublished tapes.

The the paper files include acquisition materials; business correspondence; recording reports; various production notes on records produced; news articles both about and by Emory Cook and Cook Labs; copyright, licensing, and trademark materials; photographs, correspondence, contracts, and other materials relating to recording artists; production materials for each Cook Labs release; and other miscellany. Many contracts are signed by both Cook Labs and the artist. Correspondence is primarily between business associates.

Two interviews were done with Emory Cook in 1990: one by Jeff Place and one by Anthony Seeger and Nicholas Spitzer; both interviews are included in the Cook Labs records.

There are several physical objects relating to Cook Labs including a bag of powdered vinyl, a binaural playing arm, and a condenser microphone.

Arrangement note:

Many of the items in this list have been assigned an accession number, and like materials have been grouped together to create seven series:

Series 1: Business Papers, 1939-1990

Series 2: Recording Artists, 1949-1981, bulk 1950-1959

Series 3: Photographs, undated, 1957

Series 4: Production files, 1948-1995, bulk 1952-1963

Series 5: Objects, undated, 1908-1964

Series 6: Audio Interviews, 1990

Series 7: Audio Recordings

Biographical/Historical note:

Emory Cook (1913-2002) is widely regarded as a highly influencial audio engineer. Born and raised in Albany, New York, he joined the Army Air Corps in 1932. After his discharge in 1934 he obtained his degree from Cornell University and began working for Western Electric in the Audio Engineering Force. During World War II, while still at Western Electric, Cook supervised the creation of a fire-controlled radar "Trainer," for which he received a Commendation from the Service.

In the late 1940's, convinced he could do better than what was on the market, Cook began experimenting with making his own audio equipment. Cook Laboratories was started in 1945 when he developed a new cutting head to be used in record production. Future development of equipment brought about the discovery that he could record frequencies as high as 20,000 hertz, more than any other recording company at the time. He cut a record of piano and organ music to demonstrate this discovery, and took it to the 1949 Audio Fair in New York. When he demonstrated the record with the hopes to sell the recording equipment, he found that people were much more interested in buying the record itself. Shortly after, Sounds of Our Times, later called Cook Records, was born.

Cook Records collected many different sounds and was mostly aimed at the devoted high-fidelity listener. Cook believed that hearing was a sense often overlooked by people, and he wanted listeners of his albums to be able to hear things they might otherwise miss. In a New Yorker profile by Daniel Lang in 1956, Cook claimed that hearing was "always being kicked aside in favor of sight… There's a time and a place for everything, and that includes sound." In order to encourage listening, he put out many albums full of everyday sounds, such as Voice of the Sea, an album of noises of the ocean and Eye of the Storm, recorded during a thunderstorm. One of the most successful albums was Rail Dynamics, an album of steam trains pulling in and out of a station.

Cook Records also produced traditional music albums from its plant in Stamford, Connecticut. The label produced everything from organ music to folk, flamenco guitar, calypso and steel band. Cook had little interest in name musicians and instead searched high and low for anything he thought might be an interesting contribution to his label. He even invited listeners to send in their favorite sounds, some of which he eventually recorded.

Cook had such a large interest in Calypso music that he set up a second pressing plant in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. There he pressed calypso and steel band music for both a Trinidadian and American audience, and most albums sold well in both countries.

In addition to the wide range of music Cook recorded, he was also an inventor. It was Cook who first came up with the idea of pressing records with powdered, rather than solid, vinyl, a technique he dubbed "microfusion." This technique not only saved money, but cut out many of the traditional crackles and pops associated with records.

He also developed the binaural system of recording and playing records, which he thought was superior to the more commonly used stereo method. Binaural was more precise than stereo, and it required placing two microphones six inches apart, approximately the space between two ears, during the recording. It was then played back with a special two-needle playing arm. Binaural recordings were thought by Cook to best duplicate the original sound.

Emory Cook died at the age of 89 in 2002 after a long hospitalization.

Shared Stewardship of Collections:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.

COOK RECORDINGS - NUMERICAL LISTING:

001 20,000 Cycle Demo (1949) COOK00001

002 Night Rain and Surf COOK00002

003 Specimen Heart Beats COOK00003

004 Katydids, Frogs and Forrest Birds

E101 Grenada Stories and Songs (1957-58) COOK00101

E102 Amazon Sound: Yacu River Tribes (Rituals and Rites) (1954) COOK00102

E103 Music of St. Lucia (1953) COOK00103

E104 Rada (1958) COOK00104

E105 JOSE RAMON FORTUNE AND OLGA MAYNARD Nancy Stories (1956) COOK00105

106 Afro-West Indian Cultural Practices (1957-58) COOK00106

107 ESCOLA DE SAMBA DE BRAZIL The Boli, The Cocolute, and Brazil (1957-58) COOK00107

901 Steelband Jump Up Boys Town, Tropical Harmony, Silvertone COOK00901

904 THE ESSO STEEL BAND Esso Steelband of Bermuda (1958) COOK0904

906 LORD MELODY Lord Melody Sings Calypso (1958-59) COOK00906

911 TOM CHARLES AND HIS SYNCOPATER ORCHESTRA Fete for So! (1959) COOK00911

914 LORD MELODY Again! Lord Melody Sings Calypso (1957-58) COOK00914

916 Calypso Cross Section Young Killer, The Mighty Bomber, Small Island Pride, The Mighty Wrangler (1957-58) COOK00916

920 THE MIGHTY SPARROW King Sparrow's Calypso Carnival (1959) COOK00920

927 LORD MELODY Calypso through the Looking Glass (1959) COOK00927

928 CLARENCE CURVAN His Drums, His Orchestra COOK00928

930 Belly to Belly Clarence Curvan, Johnny Gomez, Tom Charles, Fitz Vaughn Bryan (1960-61) COOK00930

931 LORD MELODY Lord Melody, 1962 COOK0931

1000 TITUS MOODY DDDs of Binaural (1952) COOK01000

1011 The Christmas Music Box (1950) COOK01011

1012 Music Boxes of Long Ago (1950) COOK01012

1013 CHARLIE MAGNANTE Accordion Pops Concert (1954-55) COOK01013

1014 CHARLIE MAGNANTE AND LaVERGNE SMITH His and Hers (1954-55) COOK01014

1020 SAM ESKIN Sam Eskin's Songs of All Time COOK01020

1021 GROUPE MI-O Un Ti Bo (1958) COOK01021

1022 LAVINIA WILLIAMS' GROUPE FOLKLORIQUE Haiti Confidential (1958) COOK01022

1023 The Ramayana (Hindu Ceremony) (1961) COOK01023

1024 GUSTAVO ZEPOLI Concert Guitar (1954) COOK01024

1025 SEAN McGONIGAL AND ST. COLUMCILLE'S UNITED GAELIC PIPE BAND Kilts on Parade (1950) COOK01025

1026 ANITA AST AND THE VIENNA KONZERTSCHRAMMEREIN Inside Vienna (1952) COOK01026

1027 CARLOS MONTOYA AND THE JOSE GRECO TROUPE Fiesta Flamenca (1952) COOK01027

1028 CARLOS MONTOYA Montoya (1952) COOK01028

1030 EDWARD VITO The Harp (1951) COOK01030

1031 EDWARD AND JOSEPH VITO Dual Harp (1951) COOK01031

1032 RUTH WELCOME AND DICK MARTA Zither and Cimbalom (1951) COOK01032

1035 Barrelhouse Piano (1950) COOK01035

1036 FRANK GLAZER Liszt's Paganini Variations (1952) COOK01036

1037 GRETA AND JOSEF DICHLER Two Famous European Pianos (1952) COOK01037

1038 SAMUEL SORIN Piano: The Romantic Fabric (1953) COOK01038

1039 LEONID HAMBRO A Perspective of Beethoven (1953) COOK01039

1040 Steel Band Clash Brute Force Steel Band, Big Shell Band, and Hell Gate Band (1955)

1041 JIMMY CARROLL PERCUSSION EMSEMBLE WITH RED CAMP Speed the Parting Guest (1953) and The Hot Tempered Clavichord (1957) COOK01041

1042 BRUTE FORCE STEEL BAND Brute Force Steel Band of Antigua with Big Shell Band (1955) COOK01042

1043 Three Rituals (1955) COOK01043

1044 The Compleat In Fidelytie: Sounds Natural and Unnatural (1956) COOK01044

1045 Drums of Trinidad (1956) COOK01045

1046 Champion Steel Bands of Trinidad The Highlanders, Southern All Stars, The Katzenjammers, others (1957) COOK01046

1047 THE KATZENJAMMERS The Enchanted Steelband (1957) COOK01047

1048 BRUTE FORCE STEEL BAND Music to Awaken the Ballroom Beast (1957) COOK01048

1049 BRUTE FORCE STEEL BAND Beauty and the Brute Force (1957) COOK01049

1050 MICHAEL CHESHIRE The Pipe Organ, volume 1 (1952) COOK01050

1051 MICHAEL CHESHIRE The Pipe Organ, volume 2 (1952) COOK01051

1052 REGINALD FOORT Percussion and Pedal, volume 3 (1952) COOK01052

1053 REGINALD FOORT Reginald Foort at the Mosque, volume 4 (1952) COOK01053

1054 REGINALD FOORT Organ in Symphony Hall, volume 1 (1954) COOK01054

1055 REGINALD FOORT Organ in Symphony Hall, volume 2 (1954) COOK01055

1056 ALFONSO VEGA NUÑEZ Morelia Cathedral Organ (1954) COOK01056

1057 REGINALD FOORT Foort Pops (1956) COOK01057

1058 REGINALD FOORT Waltz and Ballet: The Mosque Organ (1956) COOK01058

1059 REGINALD FOORT Intermission at the Mosque (1956) COOK01059

1060 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Brahms First Symphony (1954) COOK01060

1061 FESTIVAL CASALS ORCHESTRA Hector Campos Parsi (1958) COOK01061

1062 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Stravinsky, Villa Lobos, and Bach (1955) COOK01062

1063 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Debussy (1955) COOK01063

1064 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Masterpieces of the Dance (1955) COOK01064

1065 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Mozart Symphony No. 40 (1955) COOK01065

1066 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Masterpieces of the Theater (1955) COOK01066

1067 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Beethoven Symphony No. 5 (1955) COOK01067

1068 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON New Orchestral Society of Boston (1966) COOK01068

1069 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Haydn Symphony No. 100: Military (1966) COOK01069

1070 Rail Dynamics: Steam Locomotives and Train Sounds (1950-54) COOK01070

1071 Burlesque Uncensored (1954) COOK01071

1072 Jump-up Carnival: Calypso Tent (1956) COOK01072

1073 Holy Week: Malaga (Spain) (1961) COOK01073

1074 Benevolent Society for the Preservation of Ancient Rhymes and Limerix Limerick Party COOK01074

1075 Voices of the Sky: Propellers and Jets (1957) COOK01075

1077 Voice of the Storm (1957-58) COOK01077

1078 A Double Barrel Blast: High Cost of Dying and Computer Conversations (1962) COOK01078

1079 Tour of High Fidelity (1965) COOK01079

1080 TRIO LEONES Trio Leones of Cabrito (1954) COOK01080

1081 LaVERGNE SMITH LaVergne Smith (01014B plus) (1954) COOK01081

1082 Le Jazz Primitif from Trinidad Rupert Clemendore and John Buddy Williams (1961) COOK01082

1083 Jawbone of an Ass: Musica de Cuba (1955) COOK01083

1084 SID DAVILLA AND FREDDIE KOHLMAN'S BAND WITH RED CAMP Blowout at Mardi Gras (1955) COOK01084

1085 TONY ALMERICO'S PARISIAN ROOM BAND Clambake on Bourbon Street (1954-55) COOK01085

1086 WILLIE RODRIGUEZ The Drums of Rodriguez (1953) COOK01086

1087 RED CAMP Camp Inventions: Jazz Piano and Zither Music (1955) COOK01087

1088 RED CAMP Red Camp Horizontal (1954) COOK01088

1089 RED CAMP Red Camp Upright (1954) COOK01089

1090 ARTHUR BILLINGS HUNT Arthur Billings Hunt Sings Hymns (1950) COOK01090

1091 ARTHUR BILLINGS HUNT Hunt Sings Old Favorites (1950) COOK01091

1092 HUFSTADER SINGERS Hufstader Singers (1953) COOK01092

1094 REGINALD FOORT AND THE BOSTON CHORALE The Seven Last Words of Christ (1954) COOK01094

1095 ST. JOHN'S RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHOIR Russian Christmas (Spring Valley, New York) (1961) COOK01095

1096 ST. JOHN'S RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHOIR Russian Easter Midnight Service (Spring Valley, New York) (1961) COOK01096

1097 ST. JOHN'S RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHOIR St. John's Russian Orthodox Choir (1961) COOK01097

1101 THE INVADERS FROM ST. CROIX Steel Band in San Juan (1964) COOK01101

1102 10TH NAVAL DISTRICT STEEL BAND New Paths for Steel Band (1965) COOK01102

1120 BENITEZ-VALENCIA TRIO Ecuador (1958) COOK01120

1121 Island in the Moonlight Trio Los Rubies, Grupo Paquito Lopez Cruz, Las Hermanas Colón, Martita Cuadrado (1958) COOK01121

1122 Hellish Calypso King Fighter, The Mighty Bomber, others (1962) COOK01122

1123 Calypso Atrocities King Fighter, The Mighty Bomber, others COOK01123

1124 HAYWIRE MAC McCook LabsINTOCK Haywire Mac (1951) COOK01124

1125 LORD MYRTLE, CECIL MITCHEL, AND JAMES CONVERY Calypso Jamaica (1960) COOK01125

1126 THE MIGHTY SPARROW Sparrow in Hi-Fi (1963) COOK01126

1127 STEVE CAMACHO Folk and Other Songs (1962) COOK01127

1131 BRUCE PRINCE-JOSEPH The Pedal Harpsichord (1953) COOK01131

1132 SHINCHI YUIZE The Japanese Koto (1955) COOK01132

1133 RED CAMP The New Clavichord (1957) COOK01133

1134 LUIS BONFA Guitar in Brazil (1959) COOK01134

1140 Steelband Promenade Brute Force Steel Band, The Merrymakers, Southern All Stars (1958) COOK01140

1150 BILL FLOYD The King of Organs (1957) COOK01150

1151 REGINALD FOORT The Theatre Organ, volume 2 COOK01151

1152 REGINALD FOORT The Theatre Organ, volume 3 COOK01152

1154 REGINALD FOORT The Theatre Organ, volume 5 COOK01154

1155 REGINALD FOORT The Theatre Organ, volume 6 COOK01155

1156 REGINALD FOORT The Baroque Organ, volume 1 COOK01156

1157 REGINALD FOORT The Baroque Organ, volume 2 COOK01157

1169 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet, Serenade for Strings (1962) COOK01169

1180 Dance Calypso Johnny Gomez Band, Small Island Pride, Dictator, others (1956) COOK01180

1181 LIZZIE MILES Lizzie Miles Buglin' Sam DeKemel and the Parisian All Stars (1954-55) COOK01181

1182 LIZZIE MILES Moans and Blues Red Camp and Tony Almerico's All Stars (1956) COOK01182

1183 LIZZIE MILES Hot Songs My Mother Taught Me Red Camp, Tony Almerico's All Stars, Albert French (1956) COOK01183

1184 LIZZIE MILES Torchy Lullabies My Mother Sang Me Red Camp and Tony Almerico's All Stars (1956) COOK01184

1185 Calypso Kings and Pink Gin: Trinidad Carnival Tent Lord Melody, The Might Sparrow, others (1957) COOK01185

1186 ENSEMBLE AUX CALEBASSES Meringue (1958) COOK01186

1187 A Night at the Tropicoro Juan Luis, Oswaldo Seda, and Lito Peña Band (1959) COOK01187

1188 Dirty Jazz from Down South: Trinidadian Instrumentals (1958) COOK01188

1189 Calypso Exposed Lord Melody, Brute Force Steel Band, King Sparrow, The Mighty Cypher, and Skipper (1961) COOK01189

1280 Caribbean Limbo Music Rupert Clemendore Orchestra, Cyril Diaz Orchestra, others COOK01280

1281 Songs from the Garden of Love Jefferson-Jones' Orchestra COOK01281

1282 Italian Moom Jefferson-Jones' Orchestra COOK01282

2004 Tour of Stereo (1958) COOK02004

2066 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Masterpieces of the Dance, volume 3 COOK02066

2070 Aboard a Fast Express / Jet Dynamics COOK02070

4057 REGINALD FOORT The Theater Organ COOK04057

4069 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Hayden Military Symphony COOK04069

5001 American Storytellers, Volume 1 Harry Wass, Master Marriner's Association (1952) COOK05001

5002 K.C. DOUGLAS K.C. Douglas (1952) COOK05002

5003 Caribeana: Hidden Music from the Caribbean (1949) COOK05003

5004 TIRORO Tiroro: Haitian Drummer (1948) COOK05004

5005 RED CAMP Camp Has a Ball (1954) COOK05005

5006 AL BRUNDAGE Square Dance (1951) COOK05006

5007 Mexican Marimba Band (1954) COOK05007

5008 American Storytellers, Volume 2 John Hawley Cook (1954) COOK05008

5009 American Storytellers, Volume 3 Captain Charles A. Chace, Matthew Richards (1954) COOK05009

5010 Calliope, Carousel, and Hand Organ (1953) COOK05010

5011 Voice of the Sea (1954) COOK05011

5012 Earthquake (1953) COOK05012

5013 Ionosphere (1955) COOK05013

5014 Mariachi Music of Mexico (1954) COOK05014

5015 Mexican Firecrackers (1951) COOK05015

5016 Calypso Lore and Legend (1956) COOK05016

5017 Bamboo-tamboo, Bongo, and Belair (1956) COOK05017

5018 East Indian Drums of Tunapuna, Trinidad (1956) COOK05018

5019 ALONZO CRUZ Blind Troubadour of Oaxaca (1956) COOK05019

5020 Epilogue to the String Band Tradition (1956) COOK05020

5022 ABCs of Hi Fi COOK05022

5025 BUCKMINSTER FULLER Buckminster Fuller Speaks His Mind COOK05025

5050 NORMAN BROKENSHIRE Radio Moscow and the Western Hemisphere COOK05050

5051 FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT The Four Inaugural Addresses COOK05051

6061 BUCKMINSTER FULLER The Clock Is Stopping COOK06061

8374 BUCKMINSTER FULLER Dymaxion Ditties: Buckminster Fuller Sings COOK08374

10001 Sound Effects, volume 1 COOK10001

10002 Sound Effects, volume 2 COOK10002

10003 Sound Effects, volume 3 COOK10003

10120 Music Boxes, Carousels, and Hand Organs (01012 and 05010) (1950-53) COOK10120

10248 The Voice of Mexico Gustavo Zepoli, Trio Leones (01024 and 01080) (1954) COOK10248

10251 SEAN McGONIGAL AND ST. COLUMCILLE'S UNITED GAELIC PIPE BAND Kilts on Parade (01025 plus solos) (1950-53) COOK10251

10271 CARLOS MONTOYA AND THE JOSE GRECO TROUPE Fiesta Flamenca (selections from 01027 and 01028) (1952) COOK10271

10289 CARLOS MONTOYA Montoya (selections from 01028 plus) (1952) COOK10289

10301 EDWARD AND JOSEPH VITO The Harp (selections from 01030 and 01031 plus) (1951-54) COOK10301

10326 Cafe Continental Ruth Welcome, Dick Marta, and Anita Ast (selections from 01026 and 01032) (1951-52) COOK10326

10350 Nickelodion and Calliope (selections from 01035 and 05010) (1950-53) COOK10350

10500 REGINALD FOORT The Theater Organ COOK10500

10501 MICHAEL CHESHIRE Pipe Organ in the Mosque (selections from 01050 and 01051) (1952) COOK10501

10523 REGINALD FOORT Percussion and Pedal (selections from 01052 and 01053) (1952) COOK10523

10545 REGINALD FOORT The Organ at Symphony Hall (01054 plus) (1954) COOK10545

10579 REGINALD FOORT Foort Pops (selections from 01057 and 01058) (1956) COOK10579

10646 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Tempo Vivace: Symphonic Masterpieces of Dance & Theater (selections from 01064 and 01066) (1955-56) COOK010646

10657 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Two Classical Symphonies: Mozart Symphony No. 40, Beethoven Symphony No. 5 (01065 and 01067) (1955) COOK10657

10659 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Two Classical Symphonies: Mozart Symphony No. 40, Haydn Symphony No. 100 (01065 and 01069) (1955-56) COOK10659

10683 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Modern Orchestral Textures (01068 and 01063) (1955) COOK10683

10850 RUPERT Cook LabsEMENDORE BAND Le Jazz Trinidad COOK10850

10867 Before and After Willie Rodriguez (selections from 01086 and 05007) (1953-54) COOK010867

10889 RED CAMP Horizontal & Upright & Downright & Dunright (01088 and 01089) (1954) COOK10889

10890 The Castiliane Johnny Gomez Band, John Buddy Williams Band, Girl Pat Steel Band, And Grand Curacaye String Orchestra (1956) COOK10890

11312 BRUCE PRINCE-JOSEPH AND HUFSTADER SINGERS The Forgotten Pedal Harpsichord and Hufstader Singers (01131 and 01092) (1953) COOK11312

11815 TONY ALMERICO'S PARISIAN ROOM BAND AND LIZZIE MILES Clambake on Bourbon Street (1954-55) COOK11815

50130 Tour of Cook Labs COOK50130

70889 RED CAMP Popular Piano and Combo COOK70889

80134 LUIZ BONFA Waterfall: Guitar COOK80134

80417 MARIMBA ORCHESTRA Waterfall: Children's Music COOK80417

80680 NEW ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON Waterfall: Symphonic COOK80680

XX1 Audio Follies Sampler COOK00XX1

XX2 Calypso Jazz Sampler COOK00XX2

Series 10 Cook Series 10 COOK_Series10

Series 30 Cook Series 30 COOK_Series30

Series 60 Cook Series 60 COOK_Series60

Series 70 Cook Series 70 COOK_Series70

Series 80 Cook Series 80 COOK_Series80

Series 90 Cook Series 90 COOK_Series90

Series 100 Cook Series 100 COOK_Series100

Series 300 Cook Series 300 COOK_Series300

Series 301 Cook Series 301 COOK_Series301

Series 302 Cook Series 302 COOK_Series302

Series 303 Cook Series 303 COOK_Series303

Provenance:

The Smithsonian Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections acquired the Cook Labs Records in 1990, when Emory and Martha Cook donated their company records to the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Anthony Seeger, then Director of Smithsonian Folkways Records, received a call from Mr. Cook in the summer of 1989 offering to donate the Cook label to the Smithsonian. Dr. Seeger visited him in August of that year to view the contents of the collection, and the Smithsonian received custody of the collection in May 1990. In return for the donation from Mr. Cook, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage agreed to keep the record titles available and to store the papers in the archives.

Restrictions:

Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

Popular music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Wit and humor  Search this

Calypso (Music)  Search this

Folk music -- Caribbean Area  Search this

Folk music  Search this

Sounds  Search this

Music -- 18th century  Search this

Folk music -- United States  Search this

Jazz -- Louisiana -- New Orleans  Search this

Jazz  Search this

Accordion music  Search this

Airplane sounds  Search this

Animal sounds  Search this

Audio equipment industry  Search this

Blues (Music)  Search this

Bonfá, Luiz  Search this

Calypso (Music)  Search this

Burlesque (Theater)  Search this

Calliope music  Search this

Calypso (Music)--Trinidad and Tobago  Search this

Campos Parsi, Héctor, 1922-  Search this

Catholicism  Search this

Christianity  Search this

Christmas  Search this

Cimbalom and zither music  Search this

Clavichord  Search this

Clemendore, Rupert  Search this

Drum  Search this

Genre/Form:

Audiotapes

Photographic prints

Business records

Artifacts

Contracts

Phonograph records

Correspondence

Christmas music

Citation:

Cook Labs records, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.COOK

See more items in:

Cook Labs records

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk50980aef1-30c4-4f77-9de4-97337007b9f0

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-cook

Creator:

Hadzi, Dimitri, 1921-2006  Search this

Names:

Harvard University -- Faculty  Search this

Foundry, Nicci  Search this

Extent:

37.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Interviews

Sound recordings

Video recordings

Diaries

Motion picture film

Date:

1910s-2007

Summary:

The papers of Greek American sculptor and educator Dimitri Hadzi measure 37.2 linear feet and date from 1910s-2007, with the bulk of records dating 1936-2007. The collection documents Hadzi's career through biographical material such as education records, World War II files, and some interviews; correspondence with family, artists, art historians, architects, and professional organizations; diaries, notebooks, and other writings; exhibition, gallery and museum, teaching, and project files; personal business records; clippings, exhibition ephemera, invitations, and other printed material; photographs of Hadzi, events and exhibitions, installations, foundries, and studios; some artwork; and audio recordings and motion picture films.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of Greek American sculptor and educator Dimitri Hadzi measure 37.2 linear feet and date from 1910s-2007, with the bulk of records dating 1936-2007. The collection documents Hadzi's career through biographical material; correspondence; diaries, notebooks, and other writings; exhibition, gallery and museum, teaching, and project files; personal business records; printed material; photographs, some artwork, audio recordings, and motion picture films.

Biographical material includes files pertaining to Hadzi's education at Cooper Union (1946-1950) and Polytechnion in Athens, Greece (1950-1951) as well as his high school years at Brooklyn Technical High School (1936-1940); years enlisted in the Army Air Force (1942-1946); and his hobbies of music, mineral collecting, and geology. Also found are address books, honors and awards, interviews, and resumes. Hadzi's professional correspondents include artists, art historians, architects, and professional organizations. Also found is personal correspondence with family, friends, and acquaintances, most extensively during his years in the military.

Diaries and notebooks consist of memoranda books, travel logs, and annotated calendars. Writings include drafts, correspondence, and some printed material from Dimitri Hadzi (1996) by Peter Selz. Material gathered for his incomplete memoir, artist statements, and writings about Hadzi are also present.

Exhibition files shed light on various group and solo exhibitions of Hadzi's work. The files mostly consist of shipping records, correspondence, press releases and other printed matter, photographs, and loan documents. Gallery and museum files include loan and sale agreements, price lists, clippings, newsletters, shipping information, and some papers related to exhibitions.

Project files include sketches and blueprints, correspondence, legal documents, shipping information, and some audiovisual material regarding the installation of Hadzi's sculptures. The files also pertain to recasted sculptures, small-scale projects, and unexecuted commissions. Teaching Files include administrative correspondence, clippings, lecture and discussion notes, course descriptions, and correspondence from Hadzi's tenure as Visual and Environmental Studies professor at Harvard University. Papers related to instructor positions, employment opportunities, and lectures outside of Harvard are also present. Personal business records include sales, inventories, and other financial material; correspondence, shipping information, and price lists from foundries and material distributors; studio logs, correspondence, and notes.

Printed materials consist of exhibition invitations, announcements, post cards, and books; news clippings and articles; printed matter from special events, exhibitions of other artists, press releases, and newsletters. Photographs include portraits and snapshots of Hadzi, depicting him working in studios and foundries, at installation sites and events, and with his family. Also included are photographs of other artists, Hadzi's travel in Japan, and his artwork. Artwork found in this collection consists of six sketchbooks, several small drawings, and one woodblock.

Audiovisual material is extensive and includes documentation of the creation, installation, and exhibition of some of Hadzi's work. The majority of the footage centers on the creation and installation of the Thermopylae sculpture in front of the JFK Federal Building in Boston, Massachusetts in 1968.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 13 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1910s, bulk 1936-2004 (Box 1-3, 33; 2.7 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1943-2007 (Box 3-6; 3 linear feet)

Series 3: Diaries and Notebooks, 1939-2006 (Box 6-9; 3 linear feet)

Series 4: Writing Files, 1945-2003 (Box 9; 10 folders)

Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1958-2002 (Box 9-10; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 6: Project Files, 1957-2002 (Box 11-15, 33; 4.7 linear feet)

Series 7: Teaching Files, 1955-2000 (Box 15-16; 12 folders)

Series 8: Museum and Gallery Files, 1947-2008 (Box 16-17; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 9: Personal Business Records, 1949-2007 (Box 17-20; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 10: Printed Material, 1949-2007 (Box 20-24, 33; 3.7 linear feet)

Series 11: Photographs, circa 1930s-2006 (Box 24-25, 33; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 12: Artwork, circa 1939-1998 (Box 25; 11 folders)

Series 13: Audiovisual Material (Box 26-40; 11.1 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

Dimitri Hadzi (1921-2006) was an Greek American sculptor who lived and worked in Rome from the 1950s to 1975, and then in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1975 to 2006. Born to Greek immigrants, Hadzi attended Brooklyn Technical High School before enlisting in the Army Air Force in 1942. After the World War II, Hadzi studied painting and sculpture at Cooper Union and graduated with honors in 1950. He was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to study at the Polytechnion, Athens, Greece, and subsequently moved to Rome where he remained until the mid-1970s. Hadzi worked mostly with stone and bronze, from which he created semi-abstract shapes and structures drawn from his Greek heritage. His work was selected for the Venice Biennale in 1956, and and his first solo-exhibition came two years later at the Galeria Schneider, Rome, Italy. Throughout his career, Hadzi held solo exhibitions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Philips Collection, Athens Gallery in Greece, Rikugie Gallery in Japan, and many others. His group exhibitions include Recent Sculptor USA (1959), Museum of Modern Art, New York; Annual Exhibition, The Whitney Museum (1961); Seven Sculptors at Harvard, Harvard University (1983); and American Academy of Arts & Letters Centennial Portfolio, Pace Prints, New York (1998). Hadzi's public commissions include those at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1963), St. Paul's Church, Rome, Italy (1966-1976), Dallas Center, Texas (1980). His artwork is held in permanent collections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Scultpure Garden, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Hakone Museum of Sculpture in Japan, and the Montreal Museum of Art, among others. Hadzi was professor of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University from 1975-1989, and was named Professor Emeritus in 1989.

Provenance:

Donated 1989 and 1998 by Dimitri Hadzi and in 2008 and 2011 by Cynthia Hadzi, Dimitri Hadzi's widow.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Archival audiovisual recordings must be digitized for research access. Researchers may access digitized audiovisual materials in the Archives' Washington, D.C. or New York, N.Y. Research Centers by appointment. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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:

Educators -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge  Search this

Sculptors -- Italy -- Rome  Search this

Sculptors -- Massachusetts -- Cambridge  Search this

Topic:

Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

World War, 1939-1945  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drawings

Interviews

Sound recordings

Video recordings

Diaries

Motion picture film

Citation:

Dimitri Hadzi papers, 1910s-2003. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.hadzdimi

See more items in:

Dimitri Hadzi papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9cee20746-bba7-4f55-9b4d-68aa26f19cc0

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-hadzdimi

Choreographer:

Ailey, Alvin  Search this

Photographer:

Mitchell, Jack, 1925-2013  Search this

Dancer:

Allen, Sarita  Search this

Chaya, Masazumi  Search this

DeLavallade, Carmen , 1931-  Search this

DeLoatch, Gary, 1953-1993  Search this

Jamison, Judith  Search this

Roxas, Elizabeth  Search this

Truitte, James  Search this

Tyson, Andre  Search this

Williams, Dudley, 1938-2015  Search this

Wood, Donna, 1954-  Search this

Extent:

16 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Modern dance

Dance photography.

Date:

1961-2004

Summary:

Jack Mitchell (1925- 2013) was an acclaimed photographer who began chronicling the work of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1961. Alvin Ailey (1931- 1989), one of the most influential African American choreographers of modern dance, dedicated himself and his dance company to creating ballets that not only accelerated the careers of young African American dancers, but also stole the attention of national and international audiences in displaying the racial perspective of dance in the African American experience. This collection serves as Mitchell's documentation of the dance company's evolution while capturing the true idiosyncrasies and physicality of movement through still images. Through Alvin Ailey and Jack Mitchell's partnership, they were able to collaborate and produce a unique production of art, fusing the meaning and movements of dance and the techniques of photography.

Scope and Contents:

The Jack Mitchell Photography of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Collection is comprised of approximately 10,000 black and white prints of solo and ensemble acts, portraits of principle dancers and various associates of the company, color slides and transparencies for private photo sessions and performances, black and white film strips and their corresponding contact sheets, and reference materials.

Arrangement:

The material in this collection has been kept primarily at the folder level in the order that was declared by the initial owner and photographer, Jack Mitchell. Oversize prints were separated and housed in an associated series in the collection. The order of the material has been organized based on the medium of the material. Each subseries has been organized based on the following:

Series I: Black and White Prints Subseries A: Solo and Ensemble Images and Portraits were organized alphabetically by ballet name. Subseries B: Prints for Jack Mitchell Publication were organized by page number in the publication.

Series II: Color Photography Subseries A: Original Slide Boxes were organized numerically based on Jack Mitchell's label assignments. Subseries B: Color Slides were organized numerically based on subseries A's label assignments. Subseries C: Color Transparencies were organized numerically based on subseries A's label assignments.

Series III: Black and White Negatives Subseries A: Black and White Film Strips were organized chronologically by date. Subseries B: Contact Sheets were organized chronologically by date.

Series IV: Reference Material

OVERSIZE Series I: Black and White Prints were organized chronologically by date.

Biographical / Historical:

Jack Mitchell was born on September 13, 1925 in Key West, Florida. Although he was not in the field of photography, Mitchell's father bought him his first camera when Jack was a teenager. His first published photograph was of actress, Veronica Lake, for a War Bond Tour, a tour issued by the government that promoted debt securities to soldiers to finance military operations and expenditures He enlisted in the United States army and became a photographer in Italy at the end of World War II. In 1949, Ted Shawn, a dancer and choreographer who is respected among the dance community as a pioneer of American modern dance, invited Mitchell to Massachusetts photograph his dancers at his dance center, Jacobs's Pillow. It was during this time where Mitchell's interest and appreciation for moving bodies was realized. In the lifespan of his career, Mitchell created over 150 covers for Dance Magazine1, the New York Times, Time, Life, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Vogue.2

As Jack Mitchell started to photograph the poses and ballets of the American Ballet Theater throughout the late 1950s, Alvin Ailey saw some of Mitchell's photographs. By 1961, Mitchell had established himself as a distinguished photographer of dance, coining the term, "moving stills". His photographs became the benchmark and standard that other dance photographers measured their work. In November 1961, Ailey invited Mitchell to a performance space in Clark Center, NY, and with his dancers, they performed for Mitchell's camera; some of the photographs from that first photo session can be found in this collection.

Alvin Ailey was born on January 5, 1931 in in Rodgers, Texas, during the Great Depression. As his repertory reflected, the beginning of his life was defined by a tight-knit, predominantly African American folk culture. At age 12, Ailey and his mother, Lula Cooper, moved Los Angeles, California. It is here that he was exposed to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which led him to study under the Lester Horton Dance Theater, where he danced with Carmen DeLavallade, James Truitte, and Joyce Trisler. After 3 years of performing and training, he was positioned as a choreographer and later became the director of the company when Lester Horton suddenly died in 1953. His influence from Lester Horton, Martha Graham, and Katherine Dunham help to establish his philosophy that "Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings, the abstraction of many moments. Each movement is the sum total of moments and experiences".3 After Horton's death, Ailey went to perform at Ted Shawn's Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and then on to New York with his longtime schoolmate and fellow dancer, Carmen DeLavallade, to perform in the 1954 Broadway production of "House of Flowers". The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Company was established in 1958.

From the beginning of his journey as a dancer and choreographer, Ailey wanted to show African American experience in his performances. He embedded folk culture in his early works "Revelations" and "Blue Suites". In reflection, before his first South Asian Tour, Alvin expressed, "The cultural heritage of the American Negro is one of America's richest treasures. From his roots as a slave, the American Negro- sometimes sorrowing, sometimes jubilant but always hopeful -has touched, illuminated, and influenced the most preserved of world civilization. I and my dance theater celebrate this trembling beauty."4 "Revelations" was well- received by national and international audiences, Ailey recognized by the dance community as a choreographer with promise and his company and ballets he created were highly anticipated. By 1965, Ailey went from being a dancer to being the company's choreographer. From the onset, Ailey embraced diversity and invited interracial and interdisciplinary perspectives at of the company. He also created ballets for other notable companies including the American Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, London Festival Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, and LaScala Opera Ballet.5 He was invited to choreograph Samuel Barber's Anthony and Cleopatra for the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center in 19666, and Leonard Bernstein's Mass for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1971.7

As the company embraced racial diversity, Ailey never lost his sense of obligation to the African American community. In 1969, he established the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, which became the Ailey School, formed the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble, and pioneered programs promoting arts in education, particularly those that benefitted deprived communities. Among his numerous distinctions were the Dance Magazine Award (1975), the NAACP Spingarn Medal (1976), given for "the highest and noblest achievement by an American Negro during the previous year or years"8 , the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award (1987), the most prestigious award for modern dance for a lifetime contribution to the field, the Kennedy Center Award (1988) and Honorary Doctorates from Princeton University (1972)9 , Bard College (1977)10 , and Adelphi University (1977). President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Ailey the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014, the country's highest civilian honor, in recognition of his contributions and commitments to civil rights and dance in America.11

Through Jack Mitchell and Alvin Ailey's work, they were able to collaborate and create something "rich in historical connotations, the liveliest kind of permanent record of the works of important creators and creations that formed the nucleus of Ailey's remarkable vision of American dance and what it could be"12. Alvin Ailey's reputation for creating eclectic dance methods produced movements and poses that are still studied and idolized today. Mitchell was able to pay homage to many of the world's best dance artists from James Truitte, Carmen DeLavallade, Dudley Williams, Donna Wood, Renee Robinson, Gary DeLoatch, as well as Ailey, through his photography. With Ailey's longstanding and established stature within the dance community, and Mitchell's pronouncement of the detailed through his use of lighting in his photographs, this collection highlights the incredible collaboration between Ailey and Mitchell, and serves as a unique document of one of the world's most renowned American dance company's.

Alvin Ailey's vision for a dance company was dedicated to enriching the American modern dance heritage and preserving African American culture. In a 1989 interview with Dance Magazine, shortly before his death, Ailey discussed how he took pride in knowing that "No other company around [today] does what we do, requires the same range, and challenges both the dancers and the audience to the same degree." Ailey searched for a collaborator that would help him display the value of communicative movement; he found his match in Mitchell. Ailey's influence went beyond the stage and Jack Mitchell's images in this collection document that evolution. With Alvin Ailey's passing in 1989 at age 58 and Jack Mitchell's death in 2013 at age 88, these photographs of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Collection serves as one of the few sources of this dynamic dance company, from its early days to an internationally recognized troupe.

Footnotes

2. Jack Mitchell. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Jack Mitchell Photographs. (Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1993), viii

3. Bruce Weber, "Jack Mitchell, Photographer of the Arts, Dies at 88", The New York Times Obituaries (November 9, 2013): -- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/arts/jack-mitchell-photographer-of-the-arts-dies-at-88.html

4. Jennifer Dunning, Alvin Ailey: A Life in Dance. (New York; Addison- Wesley, 1996), 123

5. Ibid, 146.

6. Alvin Ailey, Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey. (New York: Birch Lane, 1995), 6-7.

7. Alvin Ailey, Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey. (New York; Birch Lane, 1995), 7.

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

10. Dunning, Jennifer. -- Alvin Ailey: A Life in Dance -- . (New York: Addison-Wesley, 1996), 286.

11. "Bard College Catalogue 2016-17: Honorary Degrees": -- https://www.bard.edu/catalogue/index.php?aid=1205177%26sid=670501

12. Office of the Press Secretary, "President Obama Names Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom" (November 10, 2014): -- https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/10/president-obama-names-recipients-presidential-medal-freedom

13. Jack Mitchell. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Jack Mitchell Photographs. (Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1993), ix.

General:

COLLECTION LIST OF FEATURED REPERTORY

After Eden, Archipelago, Been Here and Gone, Black Belt, Blues Suite, Butterfly, Caravan, Carmina Burana, Caverna Magica, Chelsea's Bells, Come and Get the Beauty of It Hot, Concert in F, Congo Tango Palace, Crossword, Cry, Dance at the Gym, District Storyville, Divining, Episodes, Escargot, Facets, Fever Swamp, Flowers, Folkdance, Fontessa and Friends, For Bird – with Love, Forgotten Time, Frames, Gazelle, Hermit Songs, Hidden Rites, Hobo Sapiens, How to Walk an Elephant, Hymn, Icarus, Journey, Jukebox for Alvin, Lament, Landscape, Mary Lou's Mass, Masekela Langage, Memoria, N. Y. Export, Op. Jazz, Night Creature, North Star, Opus McShann, Pas de Duke, Passage, Pigs 'n Fishes, Portrait of Billie, Prodigal Prince, Quintet, Rainbow 'round my Shoulder, Revelations, Rift, Roots of the Blues, Sarong Paramaribo , Satyriade, Seven Journeys, Shards, Shelter, Spectrum, Speeds, Speeds, Streams, Suite Otis, The Beloved, The Lark Ascending, The Letter, The Mooche, The River, The Road of the Phoebe Snow, The Stack-Up, The Winter in Lisbon, Three Black Kings, Tilt, Toccata, Treading, Variegations, Vespers

Separated Materials:

There were 3 inscribed copies of "Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Jack Mitchell Photographs" originally stored in the collection. One copy of this text can be found in Series IV: Reference Materials with the publication draft, another copy is housed in the National Museum of African American History and Culture Library, and the last copy has been designated to serve as an archival reference text.

Provenance:

Acquired from the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. in 2013.

Restrictions:

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

Rights:

Jack Mitchell Photography of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Collection is jointly owned by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation. Permission for commercial use or publication of the digital images may be requested from the Smithsonian Institution.

Occupation:

Dancers -- Photographs  Search this

Topic:

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater  Search this

Choreography -- United States  Search this

Dance  Search this

Dance schools -- United States  Search this

Dance -- Production and direction  Search this

Dance companies  Search this

Dance -- North America  Search this

Genre/Form:

Modern dance -- United States -- 20th century

Dance photography.

Citation:

Photography by Jack Mitchell © Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. and Smithsonian Institution, All rights reserved.

Sponsor:

Processing of the collection was funded by the Smithsonian Collection Information Systems IRM Funds.

Identifier:

NMAAHC.A2013.245

See more items in:

Jack Mitchell Photography of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Collection

Archival Repository:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/io3812c282c-a067-45e4-9a3b-001b1c51731b

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmaahc-a2013-245

Creator:

Baldwin, James, 1924-1987  Search this

Names:

Baldwin, Daniel  Search this

Baldwin, David  Search this

Dandridge, Frank  Search this

Evers, Charles  Search this

King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968  Search this

Whaley, Paula Baldwin  Search this

Extent:

4.29 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Place:

Harlem (New York, N.Y.)

France

Turkey

Venice (Italy)

Date:

1935-1988

Summary:

James Baldwin was a writer and an activist and is one of the most prominent voices from his generation to bring light to issues of racial and sexual discrimination. This collection contains correspondence, photographs, manuscripts, and awards. The collection provides insight into his family, writing process, and travels during his lifetime.

Scope and Contents:

The James Baldwin Collection provides insight into Baldwin's life as a writer and activist. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, manuscripts, and awards. A significant portion of the collection are photographs by photojournalist Frank Dandridge. The collection focuses on Baldwin's grade school educational career, his writing process, as well as his thoughts about social equality and civil rights.

Arrangement:

The materials in this collection have been kept at the folder level and separated into six series. The materials have been ordered and organized based on the content. Series 6 has been broken down into a smaller subseries dedicated to the Frank Dandridge photographic prints. Series 8: Oversize Materials acts as an extension of the first five series, with materials that could not be housed with their corresponding materials due to size constraints. Within each series and subseries, the folders are organized as close to the collection's original order as when it was acquired.

Biographical Sketch:

James Arthur Baldwin (1924–1987) was born in Harlem, New York, on August 2, 1924, to Emma Berdis Jones, originally from Princess Anne, Maryland. He was reared by his mother and stepfather David Baldwin, whom Baldwin referred to as his father and whom he describes as extremely strict. He did not know his biological father. As the oldest of nine children, Baldwin took seriously the responsibility of being a big brother and his mother's right hand. He cared for and protected his three younger brothers and five sisters in a household governed by the rigid rules of their father, a Baptist preacher, originally from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Between the ages of fourteen and sixteen, Baldwin, himself, became a preacher at the Fireside Pentecostal Assembly, where he developed a celebrated preaching style. Baldwin's brief experience in the church would have a sustained impact on his rhetorical style and on the themes, symbols, and biblical allusions in his writings. Baldwin's Pentecostal experience is, in fact, essential to understanding his complex views on Christianity, which he espoused in his speeches and publications. His experience would also serve in part as the underpinnings of his stance on religion. In The Fire Next Time, Baldwin proclaims, "If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, it is time we got rid of Him." During his early teen years, Baldwin attended Frederick Douglass Junior High School, where he met his French teacher and mentor Countee Cullen, who achieved prominence as a poet of the Harlem Renaissance. Baldwin went on to DeWitt Clinton High School, where he edited the school newspaper The Magpie and participated in the literary club, just as Cullen had done when he was a student there. By high school graduation, he had met his close friends at DeWitt Clinton—Richard Avedon, Emile Capouya, and Sol Stein.

The 1940s marked several turning points in Baldwin's life. In 1942, he graduated from high school, and a year later he witnessed the New York Race Riots and experienced the death of his father. After this emotional loss, Baldwin felt more than ever it was important to play father figure to his siblings. He worked at menial jobs during the day, and at night he played guitar in Greenwich Village cafes and wrote long hours, trying to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer.

In 1944, Baldwin met Richard Wright, whose written work spoke to his heart and who would also become a mentor. Baldwin appreciated Wright's strong opinions about race in America, and he greatly valued their intellectual exchange. Wright helped Baldwin to obtain a fellowship to write his first novel, which enabled him to leave for Paris in 1948, where the older writer had relocated a few years earlier. However, the two were often at odds about the ways in which they approached race in their work. Baldwin wrote three essays explicating his critique of Wright's "protest art." This conflict eventually led to the demise of their friendship.

In 1948, at age twenty-four, Baldwin left the United States to live in Paris, France, as he could not tolerate the racial and sexual discrimination he experienced on a daily basis. Professor Kendall Thomas of Columbia Law School explains that Baldwin left his country because of racism and Harlem because of homophobia--two aspects of his identity that made him a frequent target of beatings by local youth and the police. Years later, when asked about his departure, Baldwin explained in a Paris Review interview: "My luck was running out. I was going to go to jail, I was going to kill somebody or be killed" (1984). In Paris, Baldwin began to interact with other writers. He reconnected with Richard Wright, and for the first time, he met Maya Angelou, with whom he maintained a close relationship.

Baldwin would spend the next forty years abroad, where he wrote and published most of his works. Between 1960 and 1970, Baldwin lived regularly in Istanbul, Turkey. Still, the violence and assassinations in the United States during the politically turbulent 1960s took an emotional toll on Baldwin. After the assassination of his three friends—Medgar Evers in 1963, Malcolm X in 1965, and Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968—Baldwin suffered an emotional breakdown and eventually moved to the South of France to recuperate. In 1970, he settled in a house in the village of St. Paul de Vence, where he would live the rest of his life.

During his years abroad, Baldwin returned to the United States frequently and considered himself a "transatlantic commuter." In 1955, he signed a lease for an apartment at 63 West 97th Street in New York, and from the mid 1960s on, he maintained a home at 137 West 71st Street in Manhattan. When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, Baldwin was actually living in California. Many of Baldwin's extended visits were to spend time with his large and beloved family and to participate in Civil Rights Movement events. He attended the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. Baldwin also participated in literary events, such as the 1965 conference titled "The Negro Writer's Vision of America" sponsored by the New School of Social Research in New York. During his presentation, Baldwin addressed the conference theme, stating, "I know a story which America denies. And it denies it for the very good reason that my story, once told, confronts it with the truth about itself. In fact, my story, once told, will liberate America. The possibility of liberation—the necessity of becoming responsible for one's own life—is what most people most profoundly fear."

Baldwin passed away on November 30, 1987, in his house in St. Paul de Vence after a short battle with stomach cancer. A week later, he was laid to rest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery in New York. Family members and friends participated in a large service during which Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, and Maya Angelou delivered touching remarks about their friend and brother. Angelou stated that Baldwin's love "opened the unusual door for me, and I am blessed that James Baldwin was my brother."

Literary and Civil Rights Timeline

1924 -- Born August 2nd

1938 -- Graduates from Frederick Douglass Junior High School, where his early ambitions in writing were encouraged by his teacher Countee Cullen, the Harlem Renaissance poet

1942 -- Graduates from DeWitt Clinton High School, where he was a member of the literary club and edited the school newspaper The Magpie

1944 -- Meets writer Richard Wright, who refers Baldwin's first draft of Go Tell It On The Mountain to Harper and Brothers publishing house

1945 -- Receives a $500.00 Saxton Fellowship from Harper and Brothers; the first draft of Go Tell It On The Mountain is rejected by Harper and Doubleday; Baldwin begins writing reviews for The Nation and The New Leader

1947 -- Publishes essay "History as Nightmare" in The New Leader

1948 -- Publishes essay "The Harlem Ghetto" and short story "Previous Condition" in Commentary; Baldwin moves to Paris

1949 -- Publishes "Everybody's Protest Novel," in which he critics Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Richard Wright's Native Son; jailed in Paris for eight days for theft (falsely accused of stealing hotel bed sheets)

1951 -- Publishes "Many Thousands Gone" in the Partisan Review; attack on Richard Wright leads to breakup; Baldwin completes Go Tell It On the Mountain in Switzerland, where he stayed three months with Swiss friend and lover Lucien Happersberger

1953 -- Publishes "Stranger in the Village" in Harper's Magazine; the essay is based on his stay in Switzerland

1954 -- Wins Guggenheim Fellowship; attends MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire

1955 -- Attends Yadao, an artists' community in Sarasota Springs, New York; revises Amen Corner during Howard University rehearsals and publishes it the same year; also publishes the collection of essays Notes of a Native Son and an autobiographical narrative "Equal in Paris," about being jailed in Paris in 1949, originally published in Commentary magazine

1956 -- Publishes Giovanni's Room with Dial Press; accepts National Institute of Arts and Letters Award and a Partisan Review fellowship; covers First Conference of Negro and African Writers and Artists at the Sorbonne, sponsored by Presence Africanize

1957 -- Publishes "Sonny's Blues" in the Partisan Review; Travels to the South on assignment for the Partisan Review, where he interviews student protests and meets with Martin Luther King, Jr.

1959 -- Awarded a two-year Ford Foundation grand to complete Another Country; Interviews film director Ingmar Bergman in Sweden; publishes essay "A Letter From the South: Nobody Knows My Name" in the Partisan Review ; apprentice on Elia Kazan's productions of Sweet Bird of Youth and J.B.

1960 -- Covers sit-ins in Tallahassee, Florida; interviews student at Florida A & M; published "They Can't Turn Back" in Mademoiselle Magazine; Richard Wright dies suddenly

1961 -- Publishes second collection of essays Nobody Knows My Name, Dial Press; publishes the essay "Alas, Poor Richard," another scathing critic of Richard Wright's work; appears on radio and television to promote Nobody Knows My Name and to speak about civil rights; meets Elijah Muhammad and Malcolm X; completes Another Country; Swiss television produces "Stranger in the Village"; publishes the "Black Boy Looks at the White Boy"; makes first visit to Turkey at the invitation of Turkish actor Engin Cezzar

1962 -- Publishes Another Country, Dial Press, and it becomes a national best seller; Baldwin travels to West Africa; "Letter from a Region in My Mind" published in The New Yorker, later printed in The Fire Next Time as "Down at the Cross"

1963 -- Publishes The Fire Next Time to national acclaim; appears on the cover of May 17th issue of Time magazine; NAACP Field Secretary and friend Medgar Evers is assassinated on June 12 outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi; starts lecture tour for CORE in the South and the North; registers voters in Alabama for SNCC; wins Polk Memorial Award for outstanding magazine journalism; participates in March on Washington; travels to Nairobi, Kenya, with Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier to celebrate Kenya's independence

1964 -- Elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters; publishes the play Blues for Mr. Charlie, Dial Press, and theater production of Blues for Mr. Charlie appears at the historic American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) in New York; publishes Nothing Personal with photographer and high school friend Richard Avedon, Atheneum Books

1965 -- Debates William F. Buckley at Cambridge and receives standing ovation for his response to "Is the American Dream at the Expense of the American Negro?"; Malcolm X is assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity; Baldwin attends Selma to Montgomery March; publishes Going to Meet the Man, Dial Press; The play The Amen Corner is performed in New York, Israel, and Europe

1968 -- Publishes the novel Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, Dial Press; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; Baldwin speaks at the World Council of Churches in Sweden against apartheid in South Africa; testifies at a Congressional hearing in support of a commission to establish a national museum of African American history and culture; receives personal attacks from Soul on Ice author Eldridge Cleaver

1969 -- Publishes New York Times article "The Price May Be Too High" about black writers in a white publishing industry; directs John Herbert's "Fortune and Men's Eyes" in Istanbul, Turkey

1970 -- Becomes the subject of photographs and a short film From Another Place , both by Sedat Pakay in Istanbul; holds conversations with anthropologist Margaret Mead titled "A Rap On Race"

1971 -- Baldwin and anthropologist Margaret Mead publish the transcript of conversations held in New York in 1970 in a co-authored book titled A Rap On Race; publishes "An Open Letter to My Sister Angela Davis" in New York Times Review of Books; moves to a house in St. Paul de Vence in the South of France

1972 -- Publishes No Name In The Street, Dial Press; publishes the screenplay One Day When I Was Lost, based on Alex Haley's bestselling classic The Autobiography of Malcolm X .

1973 -- Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates secures rare interview with James Baldwin and Josephine Baker together in James Baldwin's house in St. Paul de Vence, France; Baldwin appears with television host and poet Nikki Giovanni on "Soul," and the transcript is published as a dialogue

1974 -- Publishes If Beale Street Could Talk, Dial Press; becomes the third recipient (after writer Tennessee Williams and dancer Martha Graham) of the prestigious Centennial Medal awarded to "The Artist As Prophet" by the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York

1976 -- Publishes what would be his only children's book Little Man, Little Man: A Story of Childhood, with illustrations by Yoran Cazac, Dial Press; publishes the book-length essay The Devil Finds Work

1978 -- Teaches a spring course in contemporary literature at Bowling Green State University in Ohio (returns in the fall of 1979 and 1981); awarded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Medal

1979 -- Publishes Just Above My Head, his sixth and last novel, Dial Press; goes into seclusion after friend and mentor Beauford Delaney dies in March; teaches at UC Berkeley in the spring and speaks in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Barbara; begins writing and lecturing on black English; publishes "Open Letter to the Born Again" in The Nation; meets Chinua Achebe at the University of Florida, African Literature Association; travels throughout the South

1982 -- Film makers Dick Fontaine and Pat Harley release television documentary of Baldwin' trip through the South "I Heard It Through The Grapevine"

1983 -- Publishes selected poems in Jimmy's Blues, St. Martin's Press; teaches Afro American Studies at University of Amherst in the fall

1984 -- Hospitalized for exhaustion; works on the play The Welcome Table

1985 -- Publishes "Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood" in Playboy; American Playhouse dramatizes Go Tell It On The Mountain; publishes The Evidence of Things Not Seen, Holt, Rinehart & Winston Publishing; publishes The Price of the Ticket: Collected Non-Fiction, 1948–1985, St. Martin's Press

1986 -- Receives France's highest civilian recognition, the Legion of Honor; travels to the Soviet Union for an international conference and to London for a production of Amen Corner ; suffers fatigue and becomes ill

1987 -- Returns to St. Paul de Vence and is diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, which spreads to the stomach; grants his last interview to poet and journalist Quincy Troop in mid-November in bed at his home; dies November 30 and his friend and assistant publicly announces his death December 1; memorials are held in St. Paul de Vence and Harlem; is eulogized by Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Amiri Baraka at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York; body buried at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York

Provenance:

Acquired as a purchase from Baldwin's sister, Paula Baldwin Whaley in 2017.

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.

Topic:

Literature  Search this

Architecture  Search this

Civil rights  Search this

Theater  Search this

LGBTQ+  Search this

Activism  Search this

Awards  Search this

Education  Search this

Communication  Search this

Families  Search this

finance  Search this

Funeral rites and ceremonies  Search this

Journalism  Search this

Justice  Search this

Mass media  Search this

Photography  Search this

Politics  Search this

Poverty  Search this

Race discrimination  Search this

Sexuality  Search this

Travel  Search this

Identity  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence

Citation:

James Baldwin Collection, National Museum of African American History and Culture

Identifier:

NMAAHC.A2017.47

See more items in:

James A. Baldwin Collection

Archival Repository:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/io3721df784-2906-46b1-9424-8cf154ce1eb8

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmaahc-a2017-47

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Names:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (approximate)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Business records

Correspondence

Memorandums

Sound recordings

Audiocassettes

Contracts

Negatives

Video recordings

Slides (photographs)

Plans (drawings)

Videotapes

Audiotapes

Digital images

Notes

Photographic prints

Place:

Caribbean Area

Trinidad and Tobago

Puerto Rico

Date:

June 23-July 4, 1988

Summary:

The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1988 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.

Arrangement note:

Arranged in 6 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera

Series 2: American Folklore Society Centennial

Series 3: Festival Music Stage

Series 4: Ingenuity and Tradition: The Common Wealth of Massachusetts

Series 5: Migration to Metropolitan Washington: Making a New Place Home

Series 6: Music from the Peoples of the Soviet Union

Historical note:

The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.

The 1988 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Programs and cosponsored by the National Park Service.

For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.

Introduction:

The 1988 Festival celebrated the centennial of the American Folklore Society, founded one hundred years earlier because of the need to document and study cultures that were seen as disappearing. Much of the Society's attention today, however, is engaged in the documentation and interpretation of emerging traditions and cultural expressions. Folklorists work in inner cities, conduct research on occupational groups, analyze processes of traditionalization and cooperate with other professionals in devising natural conservation and historical preservation strategies, which also promote cultural continuity, equity and integrity. Visitors to the 1988 Festival could learn about what it is that folklorists do and what impacts they have on the communities with which they work.

The other living exhibitions that made up this year's Festival also provided ample illustrations of this same view of the traditional. The Massachusetts program told a paradigmatic American story. Gay Head Wampanoag, Yankee settlers, Afro American migrants, and immigrants from Italy, Greece, Poland, the Cape Verde Islands, Puerto Rico, and Southeast Asia have not only preserved their traditions; through ingenious acts of individual and community creativity they have adapted them and endowed them with new meanings, as circumstances have changed. The Metropolitan Washington program pointed to the heightened consciousness of cultural issues associated with the migration experience. The program asked how immigrants from El Salvador, Ethiopia, China, Trinidad and Tobago, as well as domestic Anglo and Afro American groups historically migrating from nearby states, discard, reinvent, and reconstitute their traditions as they actively make a new place home. A varied contingent of musicians and performers from several republics of the Soviet Union demonstrated how truly ancient traditions nurtured in various pastoral, tribal, and religious environments have not merely survived but actually flourished in contemporary Soviet life. Also at the Festival were American musicians who, as part of a groundbreaking cultural exchange with the Soviet Union, would later travel to Moscow to participate in the International Folklore Festival in August 1988 and be reunited with the Soviet musicians participating in the Smithsonian's Festival.

The 1988 Festival took place for two five-day weeks (June 23-27 and June 30-July 4) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 10th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan).

The 1988 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; the Program Book essays provided a larger context for the Festival presentations, extending beyond the traditions actually presented at the 1988 Festival.

The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Office of Folklife Programs.

Office of Folklife Programs

Richard Kurin, Acting Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Anthony Seeger, Curator, Folkways Records; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Marjorie Hunt, Phyllis M. May-Machunda, Heliana Portes de Roux, Frank Proschan, Nicholas R. Spitzer, Folklorists; Jeffrey Place, Assistant Archivist

National Park Service

William Penn Mott, Jr., Director; Manus J. Fish, Jr., Regional Director, National Capital Region

Shared Stewardship of Collections:

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://folklife.si.edu/archives#shared-stewardship.

Forms Part Of:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1988 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers

1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]

Related Archival Materials note:

Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.

Restrictions:

Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.

Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

World music  Search this

Food habits  Search this

Folk art  Search this

arts and crafts  Search this

Folk festivals  Search this

Folk music  Search this

Folklore  Search this

Genre/Form:

Business records

Correspondence

Memorandums

Sound recordings

Audiocassettes

Contracts

Negatives

Video recordings

Slides (photographs)

Plans (drawings)

Videotapes

Audiotapes

Digital images

Notes

Photographic prints

Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1988 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1988

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1988 Festival of American Folklife

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk59e9f3773-cd55-493f-94e0-c53650d914c4

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-sff-1988

Creator:

Parsons, Betty  Search this

Names:

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Bess, Forrest, 1911-1977  Search this

Congdon, William, 1912-1998  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Extent:

61.1 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Video recordings

Drawings

Date:

1916-1991

bulk 1946-1983

Summary:

The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection.

Scope and Content Note:

The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection. Personal papers also include personal photographs.

Artists files, the largest and most extensive series, consist of a wide variety of documents, including biographical materials, correspondence with or related to the artist, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales and expense invoices, clippings, price lists, and photographs of the artist, exhibitions, and artwork. The files reflect Parsons's close personal relationships with certain artists, particularly Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnett Newman. Extensive documentation is also found for Forrest Bess, William Congdon, Paul Feeley, Thomas George, Alexander Liberman, Seymour Lipton, Richard Pousette-Dart, Jesse Reichek, and Jack Youngerman. Historians and researchers will find these files to be an invaluable resource both in tracing Betty Parsons's role in promoting Abstract Expressionism and researching individual artists.

Exhibition files primarily document the gallery's infrequent group or themed exhibitions. Of particular note are the files on The Ideographic Picture, which was organized by Barnett Newman and included his work, as well as that of Pietro Lazzari, Boris Margo, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Theodoros Stamos, and Clyfford Still. Price lists, artist biographies and exhibition schedules are housed in the general exhibition files. Loan exhibition files provide documentation of artwork borrowed by other galleries or institutions for exhibitions, as well as shows outside of the gallery that were organized by Betty Parsons. Also found are gallery exhibition guest books, and announcements and catalogs.

Gallery correspondence is primarily with galleries and dealers, museums, arts organizations, and collectors. Scattered letters from artists are also found, although the bulk of the artists' correspondence is filed in the Artists Files. Also found here are memoranda and letters between Betty Parsons and her staff that contain detailed information concerning Parsons's schedule and gallery activities. Similar correspondence is found amongst the correspondence files within the series Betty Parsons papers.

Appraisal and conservation files include correspondence, appraisal invoices, forms, and appraisal requests and other information from the Art Dealers Association of America, and conservation invoices and reports. The majority of the appraisal records contain information about the specific works of art, including artist, title, date, current owner and the estimated value at the time of the request. Conservation records document conservation treatments undertaken by outside conservators to gallery stock.

Sales, purchases, stock and inventory are well documented in the sales and inventory records. The records provide detailed information about individual sales, prices of individual pieces of artwork, consignments, and loans. Most sales records also include detailed information about the buyer and are a valuable resource for provenance research. Files documenting the general administration, routine business operations, and financial transactions (not individual sales) of the gallery are housed in the general business and financial records. These records include ledgers, receipts, tax records, and banking records. There is some limited information about works of art scattered amongst the receipts and in the "in/out slips" files. Legal records house general legal documents and those concerning specific lawsuits. Of particular note is the file detailing the lawsuit between Betty Parsons and Sidney Janis over the fifth floor of 24 West 57th Street.

The remainder of the collection consists of Betty Parsons's personal papers which document her career prior to opening her own gallery, her work as an artist, and her personal art collection.

Some information about Parsons's work prior to opening her own gallery is found in the early curatorial files she retained from her curatorial and administrative work at the Wakefield Gallery and the Mortimer Brandt Gallery. Clippings, correspondence, announcements, exhibition lists and exhibition files are found. For both positions, she kept only the exhibition files for a small group of exhibitions organized around a specific theme, the most notable being the exhibition of Pre-Columbian Sculpture at the Wakefield Gallery.

Biographical materials include copies of her biography, family genealogies, photographs of Parsons, interviews with Colette Roberts and WYNC radio, memberships, photographs, and ephemera, including a collection of programs and invitations from events that she attended. Throughout her life Parsons gave generously of her time to various cultural and charitable institutions and was awarded for her contributions. There are also a number of files that document her speaking engagements, her participation as a juror in numerous juried exhibitions, charitable work, and awards that she received.

Parsons's personal correspondence files reflect how deeply Parsons's life was intertwined with the gallery. There are letters from museum directors, dealers, artists seeking representation, and personal letters from artists with whom she had close personal relationships, most notably Larry Bigelow, Alexander Calder, William Condon, and Ad Reinhardt. There are also letters from the English artist Adge Baker, with whom Parsons was romantically involved. Correspondence also includes several files of postcards and Christmas cards.

Pocket diaries and engagement calendars, spanning from 1933-1981, record social engagements, meetings, vacations, and telephone numbers. Also found are circa two linear feet of notebooks and sketchbooks, many of which are annotated with addresses, poetry, journal entries, and other observations of people, places, and travels. Writings by others include writings about Betty Parsons or the Betty Parsons Gallery, such as Lawrence Alloway's unpublished typescript titled "An American Gallery" and other topics.

Printed material consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs, art magazines, and newspaper and magazine clippings about Betty Parsons, her family and acquaintances, artists, and other art related topics, coupled with a miscellaneous selection of clippings, and a video recording, on topics that presumably captured Parsons's attention.

Personal art work records document Betty Parsons's career as an artist through inventories, group and solo exhibitions files, price lists, appraisals, sales and consignment invoices. Photographs are primarily reproductions of her works of art, although there are scattered photographs of exhibition installations.

Betty Parsons's private art collection files document her extensive personal collection of art that included works by Jackson Pollock, Agnes Martin, Romare Bearden, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, in addition to Amlash sculpture from ancient Persia and primitive sculpture from New Hebrides. These files include inventories, lists, exhibition records, sales and purchase invoices, and photographs. There are also files for donations and loans from Parsons's personal collection to museums and fund raising auctions for several non-profit institutions.

Finally, the personal financial records provide information about the Parsons's family finances and her personal financial success as an art dealer. In addition to her own investments, Parsons inherited shares in family investments through the estates of her parents, J. Fred Pierson, Jr. and Suzanne Miles Pierson, and younger sister, Emily Rayner. Real estate files include correspondence, utility bills, receipts, area maps, and land plots for houses in Sheepscot, Maine and St. Maartens, Netherlands Antilles. Tax returns, ledger worksheets, receipts, banking statements, deposit slips, and cancelled checks are among the other financial records.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as seven series. Many of the series are further divided into subseries.

Missing Title

Series 1: Artists Files, 1935-1983 (19.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-18, 51, 55-56, OVs 53, 65)

Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1941-1983 (2.9 linear feet; Boxes 18-21, 51, 55, OVs 54, 66)

Series 3: Correspondence Files, 1941-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 21-24, 52, 56)

Series 4: Appraisal Files, 1954-1983 (0.7 linear feet; Box 24)

Series 5: Sales and Inventory Records, 1946-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 25-28, 51)

Series 6: General Business and Financial Records, 1946-1983 (9.3 linear feet; Boxes 28-38, 51, 56)

Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers, 1916-1991 (21 linear feet; Boxes 38-51, 55-64, OVs 65-67)

Historical Note:

Betty Parsons (1900-1982) was one of the leading art dealers in New York City specializing in modern art, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists, and an abstract painter and sculptor in her own right. She opened Betty Parsons Gallery in 1946 at 15 E. 57th St., later moving to 24 W. 57th St.

The history of the Betty Parsons Gallery is inextricably bound to the life and experiences of its founder. Betty Parsons was born Betty Bierne Pierson on January 31, 1900 in New York City. She enjoyed a privileged childhood, which included vacation homes in Newport and Palm Beach. Her only formal education was a five-year stint at the prestigious Chapin School from 1910-1915, where she met many of the women who would become life-long friends and supporters. In the spring of 1920, she married Schuyler Livingston Parsons from one of New York's oldest families. The marriage ended after only three years and the couple traveled to Paris where they could obtain a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. She retained her married surname and purchased a house on the rue Boulard in Paris, where she remained for ten years, pursuing studies in painting and sculpture.

Financial constraints forced Parsons to return to the United States in 1933. She first traveled west to California, but it was her return to New York in 1935 that marked the start of her career as an art dealer. Her first opportunity to connect with the New York art world came after a successful exhibition of her watercolors at the Midtown Galleries where the owner, Alan Gruskin, noted Parson's faithful and wealthy group of supporters and offered her work installing exhibitions and selling paintings on commission. Her work for the Midtown Galleries led to a second position in the Park Avenue gallery of Mary Sullivan, one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art. Here, Parsons learned the business of running a gallery. By 1940 Parsons was ready to take on more independent responsibility and agreed to manage a gallery within the Wakefield Bookshop. In this job, she exercised full curatorial control by selecting artists and organizing exhibitions. She championed then unknown contemporary American artists and the gallery's roster soon included Saul Steinberg, Hedda Sterne, Alfonso Ossorio, Joseph Cornell, Walter Murch, and Theodore Stamos. Although the majority of the exhibitions were solo shows, there were a few group shows and themed exhibitions, such as Love in Art (1941) and Ballet in Art (1942). Under Parson's direction, the gallery hosted an important exhibition of Pre-Columbian sculpture, curated by Barnett Newman.

When the owners of the Wakefield Bookshop decided to close the gallery late in 1944, Mortimer Brandt, a dealer who specialized in Old Master paintings and drawings, offered her a position as head of the newly created contemporary section of his gallery. Many of the artists who had shown with Parsons at the Wakefield Gallery followed her to her new gallery, where they were joined by Ad Reinhardt, Boris Mango, and Hans Hofmann. While the exhibitions garnered attention from the press and the interest of contemporary artists, the contemporary section was not a financial success and Brandt opted to close his gallery in 1946.

Using $1000 of her own money and an additional borrowed $4000, Parsons sublet the space that previously housed Mortimer Brandt's contemporary section, on the fifth floor of 15 East 57th Street, and opened the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In many respects the early years of the Betty Parsons Gallery were the most vital, as it was during the period of 1947-1951 that the gallery became linked with the Abstract Expressionists and the history of post-WWII American Art. In an unpublished history of the gallery, noted art critic Lawrence Alloway stated that the significance of the gallery's early exhibitions ranks with Durand-Ruel's Impressionists exhibitions or Kahnweiler's shows of the Cubists. Betty Parsons Gallery quickly became one of the most prestigious galleries in New York City associated with new American Art of all styles. Her close friend Barnett Newman organized the gallery's inaugural exhibition of Northwest Coast Indian Art and he soon began to exhibit his own work at the gallery. When Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery closed, Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, and Mark Rothko joined Parsons' growing stable of artists. Although Parsons continued to promote and exhibit many of the artists whom she had previously discovered, these four artists dominated this period. Newman, Pollock, Still, and Rothko worked closely together, holding themselves apart from the other artists somewhat. They were actively involved in the curatorial process and often hung their own shows. For these artists, the exhibition itself was an artistic act of creation.

Parsons provided a supportive environment and allowed her artists enormous freedom in planning and designing their exhibitions. She was not, however, an aggressive salesperson. During this early period the gallery ledgers document sales to an impressive array of museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as important collectors such as Edward Root and Duncan Phillips. Nevertheless, the art that the gallery promoted was not yet widely accepted. Sales were few, prices were low and the business would not turn a profit for several years. Meanwhile, there was mounting pressure from Pollock, Newman, Still, and Rothko to drop some of the other artists from Parsons' stable and focus all resources on them. They wanted to be promoted to a larger audience and have their work sold at higher prices, but Parsons enjoyed discovering new artists and did not want to be restricted in this endeavor. The year 1951 marks the last time that Pollock's drip paintings or the monumental works of Newman, Rothko or Still were shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In the following years the Betty Parsons Gallery continued to attract a diverse group of talented artists. Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Tuttle, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jack Youngerman had their first New York exhibitions at the Betty Parsons Gallery. Parsons opened Section Eleven in 1958, a short-lived annex to the main gallery, so that she could promote younger, less well-known artists. It closed in 1960 due to the administrative difficulties in running two essentially separate galleries.

In 1962, Sidney Janis, another prominent art dealer, started proceedings to evict Parsons from the floor that they shared on 15 East 57th Street. The Betty Parsons Gallery moved to 24 West 57th Street in 1963, where it remained until it closed in 1983, following Parsons' death the preceding year. Throughout the gallery's history, Parsons continued to promote faithful artists such as Hedda Sterne and Saul Steinberg, who had been with her from the beginning and to seek out new talent, both for her main gallery and for other venues, such as the short-lived Parsons-Truman Gallery, which she opened in 1974 with former Parsons Gallery director Jock Truman to show works on paper by emerging artists.

In addition to being an art dealer, Betty Parsons was a respected artist and collector. With her connoisseur's eye and connections, Parsons amassed an impressive private collection of art. She bought her first piece while an art student in Paris in the 1920s, a small gouache by Zadkine, but did not begin acquiring works in earnest until she was established as an art dealer. Partial inventories of her personal collection show that the majority of her collection contained works by artists associated with the gallery. Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Ad Reinhardt, Agnes Martin, and Kenzo Okada were among the artists represented. Many were gifts from the artists, such as an ink drawing by Jackson Pollock, inscribed "For Betty." Selections from her collection appeared in small museums across the United States, including a traveling exhibition organized by Fitch College, New York, in 1968. In her role as a promoter of contemporary American art, Parsons lent generously from her collection, particularly to the federal Art in the Embassies Program. Throughout her life she also donated works to a variety of museums, most notably, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark.

Parsons frequently claimed that her desire to pursue a career as an artist stemmed from a visit to the Armory Show when she was thirteen. In her late teens, after pressuring her father for art lessons, she studied with the sculptor Gutzon Burglum of Mount Rushmore fame. In Paris, she continued her studies first with Antoine Bourdelle, whose sculptures she had admired at the Armory Show, and later with Ossip Zadkine. The first exhibition of her work, figurative watercolors and sculptures, took place in Paris in 1927. As she matured as an artist, her art became more abstract. Her late works were painted wood sculptures that she pieced together from wood that she found near her studio in Long Island. Parsons's work was exhibited in more than thirty solo exhibitions, including, Betty Parsons; Paintings, Gouaches and Sculpture, 1955-1968, at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. During her lifetime, she would not allow her works to be shown in her own gallery. Shortly after she died of a stroke in 1982, In Memoriam, Betty Parsons: Late Sculptures, opened at the Betty Parsons Gallery.

Related Material:

Also found in the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews with Betty Parsons, June 4-9, 1969, by Paul Cummings, and June 11, 1981 by Gerald Silk.

Separated Material:

Some of the material originally loaned for microfilming in 1968 and 1969 was not included in later donations and can be viewed on microfilm reels N68/62-N68/74 and N69/105-N69/106. Loaned materials are not described in the container listing in this finding aid.

Provenance:

The gallery donated some records in 1974, many of which had been loaned earlier for microfilming. The bulk of the collection was donated in 1984 and 1986 by William Rayner and Christopher Schwabacher, executors of the Estate of Betty Parsons. Additional material was donated by William Rayner in 1998 and Christopher Schwabacher in 2017. Additional material was donated in 2018 by the Lee Hall estate via Carolyn Crozier and Deborah Jacobson, co-executors. Hall was Parsons's biographer and had the material in her possession at the time of Parsons's death. An additional photograph of Parons and Marie Carr Taylor by Henri Cartier-Bresson was donated in 2021 by Mary Carpenter, who inherited the photograph from her mother, Nan Thorton Jones, who received it as a gift from Taylor.

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.

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:

Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Women art dealers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Abstract expressionist  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Video recordings

Drawings

Citation:

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.parsbett

See more items in:

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw956c1036f-b673-4dc1-8c1b-cde0bd641c60

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-parsbett

Creator:

Stebbins, Emma, 1815-1882  Search this

Subject:

Garland, Mary Stebbins  Search this

Citation:

Emma Stebbins scrapbook, 1858-1882. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Women sculptors  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Theme:

Women  Search this

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8553

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210731

AAA_collcode_garlmary

Theme:

Women

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210731

Creator:

Tilton, John Neal, 1860-1924?  Search this

Names:

Akers, Benjamin Paul, 1825-1861  Search this

Browning, Robert, 1812-1889  Search this

Carlyle, Thomas, 1795-1881  Search this

Coleman, H.  Search this

Hotchkiss, Thomas H., 1837-1869  Search this

Stebbins, Emma, 1815-1882  Search this

Story, William Wetmore, 1819-1895  Search this

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892  Search this

Tilton, John Rollin, 1828-1888  Search this

Tilton, Paul H., b. 1859  Search this

Extent:

1 Volume ((on partial microfilm reel))

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Volumes

Scrapbooks

Date:

[ca. 1860-1880]

Scope and Contents:

One scrapbook compiled by Tilton containing photographs of artists John Rollin Tilton and William Wetmore Story in their studios in Rome, of Paul Akers, of writers Robert Browning, Thomas Carlyle, and Alfred Tennyson; photographs of views of Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, Gibraltar, and New York state; photographs of works of art by Emma Stebbins, Tilton's aunt, and by old masters; watercolors by Tilton, H. Coleman, Thomas Hotchkiss, and Tilton's brother Paul H. Tilton.

Biographical / Historical:

Architect; Chicago, Illinois. John Rollin Tilton was Tilton's father. He was a painter and settled in Rome.

Provenance:

Donated 1981 by Elizabeth Milroy, a descendant of Tilton.

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.

Topic:

Architecture  Search this

Function:

Artists' studios -- Italy

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Identifier:

AAA.tiltjohn

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw952d521c3-ceed-4486-bbbf-624475bbebe1

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-tiltjohn

Creator:

Poor, Henry Varnum, 1887-1970  Search this

Names:

Montross Gallery  Search this

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture  Search this

Benton, William, 1900-1973  Search this

Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this

Billing, Jules  Search this

Burchfield, Charles Ephraim, 1893-1967  Search this

Caniff, Milton Arthur, 1907-1988  Search this

Ciardi, John, 1916-  Search this

Czebotar, Theodore  Search this

Deming, MacDonald  Search this

Dickson, Harold E., 1900-  Search this

Dorn, Marion, 1896-1964  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this

Esherick, Wharton  Search this

Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973  Search this

Garrett, Alice Warder  Search this

Houseman, John, 1902-1988  Search this

Marston, Muktuk  Search this

Meredith, Burgess, 1907-1997  Search this

Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990  Search this

Padro, Isabel  Search this

Poor, Anne, 1918-  Search this

Poor, Bessie Breuer  Search this

Poor, Eva  Search this

Poor, Josephine Graham  Search this

Poor, Josephine Lydia  Search this

Poor, Peter  Search this

Sargent, Elizabeth S.  Search this

Smith, David, 1906-1965  Search this

Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968  Search this

Watson, Ernest William, 1884-1969  Search this

Extent:

12.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Motion pictures (visual works)

Diaries

Drawings

Sketchbooks

Date:

1873-2001

bulk 1904-1970

Summary:

The papers of Henry Varnum Poor measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1873-2001, with the bulk from the period 1904-1970. Correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material and photographs document Poor's work as a painter, muralist, ceramic artist and potter, architect, designer, writer, war artist, educator and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is extensive information about the design and construction of Crow House, his home in New City, New York, commissions for other architectural projects, and his personal life.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of Henry Varnum Poor measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1873-2001, with the bulk from the period 1904-1970. Correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material and photographs document Poor's work as a painter, muralist, ceramic artist and potter, architect, designer, writer, war artist, educator and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is extensive information about the design and construction of Crow House, his home in New City, New York, commissions for other architectural projects, and his personal life.

Henry Varnum Poor's correspondence documents his personal, family, and professional life. Correspondents include family and friends, among them George Biddle, Charles Burchfield, John Ciardi, Marion V. Dorn (who became his second wife), Philip Evergood, Lewis Mumford, John Steinbeck, David Smith, and Mrs. John Work (Alice) Garrett. Among other correspondents are galleries, museums, schools, organizations, fans, former students, and acquaintances from his military service and travels. Family correspondence consists of Henry's letters to his parents, letters to his parents written by his wife, and letters among other family members.

Among the writings by Henry Varnum Poor are manuscripts of his two published books, An Artist Sees Alaska and A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality. as well as the text of "Painting is Being Talked to Death," published in the first issue of Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions, April 1953, and manuscripts of other articles. There are also film scripts, two journals, notes and notebooks, lists, speeches, and writings by others, including M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston's account of Poor rescuing an Eskimo, and Bessie Breuer Poor's recollections of The Montross Gallery.

Subject files include those on the Advisory Committee on Art, American Designers' Gallery, Inc., William Benton, Harold Dickson, Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions Sales, and War Posters. There are numerous administrative files for the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Artwork by Henry Varnum Poor consists mainly of loose drawings and sketches and 45 sketchbooks of studies for paintings, murals, and pottery. There is work done in France, 1918-1919, and while working as a war correspondent in Alaska in 1943. There are commissioned illustrations and some intended for his monograph, A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality. Also found are a small number of watercolors and prints. Work by other artists consist of Anne Poor's drawings of her father's hands used for the Lincoln figure in The Land Grant Frescoes and interior views of Crow House by Ernest Watson.

Documentation of Poor's architectural projects consists of drawings and prints relating to houses designed and built for Jules Billing, MacDonald Deming, John Houseman, Burgess Meredith, Isabel Padro, and Elizabeth S. Sargent. Also found is similar material for the new studio Poor built in 1957 on the grounds of Crow House.

Miscellaneous records include family memorabilia and two motion picture films, Painting a True Fresco, and The Land Grant Murals at Pennsylvania State College.

Printed material includes articles about or mentioning Poor, some of his pottery reference books, family history, a catalog of kilns, and the program of a 1949 Pennsylvania State College theater production titled Poor Mr. Varnum. Exhibition catalogs and announcements survive for some of Poor's shows; catalogs of other artists' shows include one for Theodore Czebotar containing an introductory statement by Henry Varnum Poor. Also found is a copy of The Army at War: A Graphic Record by American Artists, for which Poor served as an advisor. There are reproductions of illustrations for An Artist Sees Alaska and Ethan Frome, and two Associated American Artists greeting cards reproducing work by Poor.

Photographs are of Henry Varnum Poor's architectural work, artwork, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects. This series also contains negatives, slides, and transparencies. Images of architectural work include exterior and interior views of many projects; Poor's home, Crow House, predominates. Photographs of artwork by Poor are of drawings, fresco and ceramic tile murals, paintings, pottery and ceramic art. People appearing in photographs include Henry Varnum Poor, family members, friends, clients, juries, students, and various groups. Among the individuals portrayed are Milton Caniff, Marcel Duchamp, Wharton Esherick, M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston, and Burgess Meredith. Among the family members are Bessie Breuer Poor, Marion Dorn Poor, Anne Poor, Eva Poor, Josephine Graham Poor, Josephine Lydia Poor, Peter Poor, and unidentified relatives. Photographs of places include many illustrating village life in Alaska that were taken by Poor during World War II. Other places recorded are French and California landscapes, and family homes in Kansas. Miscellaneous subjects are exhibition installation views, scenes of Kentucky farms, and a photograph of Poor's notes on glazes.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 9 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1919-1987 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, OV 18)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1873-1985 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1944-1974 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)

Series 4: Subject Files, 1928-1975 (0.8 linear feet; Box 3, OV 23)

Series 5: Artwork, circa 1890s-circa 1961 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, 9-10, OV 19-22)

Series 6: Architectural Projects, circa 1940-1966 (0.7 linear feet; Box 6, OV 24-26, RD 14-17)

Series 7: Miscellaneous Records, 1882-1967 (Boxes 6, 11, FC 30-31; 0.5 linear ft.)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1881-2001 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 11, OV 27-29)

Series 9: Photographs, 1893-1984 (2.3 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 12-13)

Biographical Note:

Henry Varnum Poor (1888-1970), best known as a potter, ceramic artist, and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, was also an architect, painter, muralist, designer, educator, and writer who lived and worked in New City, New York.

A native of Chapman, Kansas, Henry Varnum Poor moved with his family to Kansas City when his grain merchant father became a member of the Kansas Board of Trade. From a young age he showed artistic talent and spent as much time as possible - including school hours - drawing. When a school supervisor suggested that Henry leave school to study at the Art Institute of Chicago, the family disagreed. Instead, he enrolled in the Kansas City Manual Training High School where he delighted in learning skills such as carpentry, forge work, and mechanical drawing. In 1905, he moved with his older brother and sister to Palo Alto, California and completed high school there. Because Poor was expected to join the family business, he enrolled at Stanford University as an economics major, but much to his father's disappointment and displeasure, soon left the economics department and became an art major.

Immediately after graduation in 1910, Poor and his major professor at Stanford, Arthur B. Clark, took a summer bicycling tour to look at art in London, France, Italy, and Holland. As Poor had saved enough money to remain in London after the summer was over, he enrolled in the Slade School of Art and also studied under Walter Sickert at the London County Council Night School. After seeing an exhibition of Post-Impressionism at the Grafton Galleries in London, Poor was so impressed that he went to Paris and enrolled in the Académie Julian. While in Paris, Poor met Clifford Addams, a former apprentice of Whistler; soon he was working in Addams' studio learning Whistler's palette and techniques.

In the fall of 1911, Poor returned to Stanford University's art department on a one-year teaching assignment. During that academic year, his first one-man show was held at the university's Old Studio gallery. He married Lena Wiltz and moved back to Kansas to manage the family farm and prepare for another exhibition. Their daughter, Josephine Lydia Poor, was born the following year. Poor returned to Stanford in September 1913 as assistant professor of graphic arts, remaining until the department closed three years later. During this period, Poor began to exhibit more frequently in group shows in other areas of the country, and had his first solo exhibition at a commercial gallery (Helgesen Gallery, San Francisco). In 1916, Poor joined the faculty of the San Francisco Art Association. He and his wife separated in 1917 and were divorced the following year. Poor began sharing his San Francisco studio with Marion Dorn.

During World War I, Poor was drafted into the U. S. Army, and in 1918 went to France with the 115th Regiment of Engineers. He spent his spare time drawing; soon officers were commissioning portraits, and Poor was appointed the regimental artist. He also served as an interpreter for his company. Discharged from the Army in early 1919, Poor spent the spring painting in Paris. He then returned to San Francisco and married Marion Dorn.

Once Poor realized that earning a living as a painter would be extremely difficult in California, he and his new wife moved to New York in the autumn of 1919. They were looking for a place to live when influential book and art dealer Mary Mowbray-Clarke of the Sunwise Turn Bookshop in Manhattan suggested New City in Rockland County, New York as good place for artists. In January of 1920, the Poors purchased property on South Mountain Road in New City. The skills he acquired at the Kansas City Manual Training High School were of immediate use as Poor designed and constructed "Crow House" with the assistance of a local teenager. Influenced by the farmhouses he had seen in France, it was made of local sandstone and featured steep gables, rough plaster, chestnut beams and floors, and incorporated many hand-crafted details. Poor designed and built most of their furniture, too. Before the end of the year, he and Marion were able to move into the house, though it remained a work in progress for many years. Additions were constructed. Over time, gardens were designed and planted, and outbuildings - a kiln and pottery, work room, garage, and new studio - appeared on the property.

In 1925, two years after his divorce from Marion Dorn, Poor married Bessie Freedman Breuer (1893-1975), an editor, short story writer, and novelist. Soon after, he adopted her young daughter, Anne (1918-2002), an artist who served as his assistant on many important mural commissions. Their son, Peter (b. 1926) became a television producer. Crow House remained in the family until its sale in 2006. In order to prevent its demolition, Crow House was then purchased by the neighboring town of Ramapo, New York in 2007.

Between 1935 and 1966 Poor designed and oversaw construction of a number of houses, several of them situated not far from Crow House on South Mountain Road. Poor's designs, noted for their simplicity, featured modern materials and incorporated his ceramic tiles. Among his important commissions were houses for Maxwell Anderson, Jules Billig, Milton Caniff, MacDonald Deming, and John Houseman.

Poor's first exhibition of paintings in New York City was at Kevorkian Galleries in 1920, and sales were so disappointing that he turned his attention to ceramics. His first pottery show, held at Bel Maison Gallery in Wanamaker's department store in 1921, was very successful. He quickly developed a wide reputation, participated in shows throughout the country, and won awards. He was a founder of the short-lived American Designers' Gallery, and the tile bathroom he showed at the group's first exposition was critically acclaimed. Poor was represented by Montross Gallery as both a painter and potter. When Montross Gallery closed upon its owner's death in 1932, Poor moved to the Frank K. M. Rehn Gallery.

Even though Poor's pottery and ceramic work was in the forefront, he continued to paint. His work was acquired by a number of museums, and the Limited Editions Club commissioned him to illustrate their republications of Ethan Frome, The Scarlet Letter, and The Call of the Wild.

Poor's first work in true fresco was shown in a 1932 mural exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Between 1935 and 1949 he was commissioned to produce several murals in fresco for Section of Fine Arts projects at the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior, The Land Grant Frescoes at Pennsylvania State College, and a mural for the Louisville Courier-Journal. Ceramic tile mural commissions included: the Klingenstein Pavilion, Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City; Travelers Insurance Co., Boston; the Fresno Post Office, California; and Hillson Memorial Gallery, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, Mass.

As a member of the War Artists' Unit, Poor was a "war correspondent" with the rank of major in World War II, and for several months in 1943 was stationed in Alaska. An Artist Sees Alaska, drawing on Poor's observations and experiences, was published in 1945. A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality, his second book, was published in 1958. It remains a standard text on the subject. While on the faculty of Columbia University in the 1950s, Poor and other artists opposed to the growing influence of Abstract Expressionism formed the Reality Group with Poor the head of its editorial committee. Their magazine, Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions, first appeared in 1953 featuring "Painting is Being Talked to Death" by Poor as its lead article. Two more issues were published in 1954 and 1955.

Along with Willard Cummings, Sidney Simon, and Charles Cuttler, in 1946 Henry Varnum Poor helped to establish the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. He served as its first president. Poor and his daughter, Anne, were active members of the Board of Trustees and were instructors for many years. The summer of 1961 was Henry Varnum Poor's last as a full-time teacher, though he continued to spend summers at Skowhegan.

Henry Varnum Poor exhibited widely and received many awards, among them prizes at the Carnegie Institute, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Architectural League of New York. Poor was appointed to the United States Commission of Fine Arts by President Roosevelt in 1941 and served a five year term. He was elected a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1943. The National Academy of Design named him an Associate Artist in 1954 and an Academician in 1963. He became a trustee of the American Craftsman's Council in 1956. The work of Henry Vernum Poor is represented in the permanent collections of many American museums including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Addison Gallery of American Art, and Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts.

Henry Varnum Poor died at home in New City, New York, December 8, 1970.

Related Material:

An oral history interview with Henry Varnum Poor was conducted by Harlan Phillips for the Archives of American Art in 1964.

Provenance:

Gift of Henry Varnum Poor's son, Peter V. Poor, in 2007. A smaller portion was loaned to the Archives in 1973 by Anne Poor for microfilming and returned to the lender; this material was included in the 2007 gift.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy 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:

War artists  Search this

Educators -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Ceramicists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Designers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Architects -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

World War, 1914-1918  Search this

Pottery -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Motion pictures (visual works)

Diaries

Drawings

Sketchbooks

Citation:

Henry Varnum Poor papers, 1873-2001, bulk 1904-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Identifier:

AAA.poorhenr

See more items in:

Henry Varnum Poor papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw96265d653-098f-4ccc-abed-0bc649c50516

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-poorhenr

Creator:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2019-07-24T18:37:07.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, modern  Search this

See more by:

hirshhornmuseum

Data Source:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

YouTube Channel:

hirshhornmuseum

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_d80lchBTpkE

Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Festival of American Folklife. Maryland Program 1972 Washington, D.C.  Search this

Artist:

Stackhouse, Houston, 1910-1980  Search this

Taylor, Hound Dog, 1915-1975  Search this

Raim, Ethel  Search this

Koenig, Martin  Search this

Tarasco, Francis, 1912-1990  Search this

Paragios, Sophia  Search this

Deckert, Wanda, 1921-2002  Search this

Farinacci, Mike, 1902-1975  Search this

Brotto, Sergio  Search this

Jones, Bessie, 1902-1984  Search this

Tarasco, Elsa  Search this

Ribero, John  Search this

Monaldi, Orlindo  Search this

Iocco, Gina  Search this

Calcara, Cruni  Search this

Gunduz, Emin  Search this

Olympian Brothers of America, Inc.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Extent:

1 Sound recording (7 inch reel, 1/4 inch tape)

sound-tape reel (analog, 7 in.)

Culture:

Americans  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Sound recordings

Place:

United States

Washington (D.C.)

Maryland

Illinois

Mississippi

Georgia

Italy

Greece

Date:

1972 July 4

Contents:

Going to America discussion; Houston Stackhouse--Anna Lee--Instrumental; Hound Dog Taylor--Walking the ceiling--Give me back my wig; Bessie Jones--Intro--Ronald McDonald--Cynthia had a party--Josephine; Northern Italian Singers(Francis and Elsa Tarasco, Sergio and Anna Brotto, Wanda Deckert, John Robero, Orlindo Monaldi, Gina Iocco, Cruni Calcari); Olympian Brotherhood of Baltimore--Song 1; Turkish group- Emin Gunduz and group--song

General note:

DPA number 72.103.15

Local Numbers:

FP-1972-7RR-0036

General:

CDR copy

72.103.15

Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:

Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, July 4, 1972.

Restrictions:

Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Rights:

Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.

Topic:

Blues (Music)  Search this

Music -- Juvenile  Search this

Games  Search this

Oral history  Search this

Migration  Search this

Emigration & immigration  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1972 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1972, Item FP-1972-7RR-0036

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1972 Festival of American Folklife

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1972 Festival of American Folklife / Series 2: Maryland / 2.3: Audio

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk55b065779-68af-4522-aed6-7ee18eaff912

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-cfch-sff-1972-ref882

Creator:

Stella, Joseph, 1877-1946  Search this

Names:

United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this

Extent:

2.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

circa 1900-1970

Summary:

The papers of artist Joseph Stella measure 2.8 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 1970. The papers shed light on his life and career through biographical materials, mixed personal and professional corresponence, writings by Stella and others, printed materials, and photographic materials.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of artist Joseph Stella measure 2.8 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 1970. The papers shed light on his life and career through biographical materials, personal and professional corresponence, writings by Stella and others, printed materials, and photographic materials.

Biographical materials include address books and loose addresses for contacts in the U.S. and abroad, calling cards, business cards, inventories of Stella's artwork, financial papers, drawings and artwork by children and others, several oversized sketches by Stella, papers from the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors Inc., a ration book from World War II, one contract from the Cooperative Gallery, and other miscellaneous personal papers. Correspondence includes mostly letters received by Stella from art organizations, museums, dealers, family members, and colleagues including the Museum of Modern Art, Artists for Victory, ACA Gallery, M. Knoedler & Co., the Whitney Museum, Andrew Bondi, Marie Dumoulard, Katherine Dreier, August Mosca, and Charmion von Wiegand. An invitation to a lecture on Joseph Stella by Phyllis Ackerman is also present. Writings in Italian and English include an autobiography by Stella, essays about his life and work, poems, loose notes about his paintings and materials, and three notebooks. Writings about Stella by others, drafts of letters (especially in Italian), and some sketches are also present. Printed materials consist of newspaper clippings mostly concerning Stella's career, exhibition invitations and catalogs, printed reproductions of Stella's artwork, reference material, and more. Photographic materials include portraits of Stella, photos from his studio and travels, and the artist with friends and family; images of his artwork; and several photos from exhibitions.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as five series.

Series 1: Biographical Materials, circa 1915-1970 (Boxes 1, 4, OV 5; .3 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1921-1960 (Box 1; .8 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, circa 1920s-1940s (Box 2; .5 linear feet)

Series 4: Printed Materials, 1896, 1912-1963 (Boxes 2-4, OV 5)

Series 5: Photographic Materials, circa 1900-1960 (Boxes 3-4, OV 5; .5 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

Joseph Stella (1877-1946) was a New York City Painter and draughtsman who immigrated from Muro Lucano Italy in 1896. He received a traditional education while in Italy. At the suggestion of his brother, a medical doctor, Stella studied medicine for two years before leaving that path for his art. His primary subjects to draw and paint during this time were immigrants, laborers, and others he saw in the streets of New York City. Giotto, Masaccio, and Andrea Mantegna were his primary influences at the time. In circa 1899, Stella began taking classes at the Art Students League of New York, studying under William Merritt Chase. He received a scholarship for a year's tuition and began exhibiting his artwork shortly after. In 1902, Stella was sent to Pittsburgh by the periodical The Survey to paint scenes of that city. Illustrating for periodicals became his primary source of income during this period. In 1909, Stella moved to Italy to study glazing, and in 1911, he moved to Paris, where he encountered Fauvism, Cubism, and Futurism for the first time. During these few years in Europe, he befriended Marcel Gromaire, Jules Pascin, Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini, and Amedeo Modigliani. Stella returned from Europe in 1912 and had three paintings exhibited in the 1913 Armory Show. Several years later, his subject matter shifted towards New York architecture, and he created some of his most well-known works including Brooklyn Bridge (1919-20) and New York Interpreted (1922). Bourgeois Gallery exhibited Stella's work from the late teens until the artist went to Dudensing Galleries in 1925. The following year, he moved to Naples and returned to the U.S. in 1934. In 1936, Stella had a solo exhibition at Cooperative Gallery in Newark, New Jersey; and the gallery exhibited his work for the rest of his life. There was a retrospective of Stella's work at The Newark Museum in 1936 and solo shows at Associated American Artists (1941) and Knoedler Galleries (1942). Other galleries who exhibited Stella's work include Valentine Gallery, New York, Galerie Sloden, Paris, Galerie Jeune Peinture, Paris, and Zabriskie Gallery, New York. From 1935 to 1937, he worked for the Works Progress Administration in the easel division. Stella served on the exhibition committee of Societe Anonyme, was a director of the Salons of America, and a member of the Federation of Painters and Sculptors Inc. He died of heart failure in 1946.

Separated Materials:

The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reel 5137 (frames 1-63) including 29 loose sketches and a 16-page sketchbook by Joseph Stella. The materials were returned to Alan Pensler after microfilming, and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

The Joseph Stella papers were donated in three installments. Stella's nephew, Sergio Stella, donated records in 1971 and 1986. Alan Pensler, a Washington, D.C. art dealer who acquired the papers from a woman who purchased the home and its contents of Dr. Giovanni Stella, Stella's brother, donated records in 1996.

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

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:

Draftsmen (artists) -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Painting, American  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Italian American artists  Search this

Citation:

Joseph Stella papers, circa 1900-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.steljose

See more items in:

Joseph Stella papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d19f6f14-d66b-42eb-b54a-4ffabe80fc62

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-steljose