Search Results

Creator:

Smithsonian Magazine  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Podcast

MIME Type:

audio/mpeg

Uploaded:

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST

Topic:

Inventions  Search this

Innovations  Search this

See more episodes:

Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day September 25th 2010

Data Source:

Smithsonian Magazine

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:podcasts_60a49e02b493eb0fd60dbe066fbae08a

Creator:

Smithsonian Magazine  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Podcast

MIME Type:

audio/mpeg

Uploaded:

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Topic:

Inventions  Search this

Innovations  Search this

See more episodes:

Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day September 25th 2010

Data Source:

Smithsonian Magazine

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:podcasts_65a1c6f12a982d59edc68d472e5e1824

Creator:

Smithsonian Magazine  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Podcast

MIME Type:

audio/mpeg

Uploaded:

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST

Topic:

Inventions  Search this

Innovations  Search this

See more episodes:

Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day September 25th 2010

Data Source:

Smithsonian Magazine

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:podcasts_9de310a8baf63dce46531d9f012f484a

Creator:

Smithsonian Magazine  Search this

Type:

Video recordings

Podcast

MIME Type:

video/mp4

Uploaded:

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Topic:

Inventions  Search this

Innovations  Search this

See more episodes:

Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day September 25th 2010

Data Source:

Smithsonian Magazine

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:podcasts_ca74c20f793947602a0c769b94b70a7a

Creator:

Smithsonian Magazine  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Podcast

MIME Type:

audio/mpeg

Uploaded:

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Topic:

Inventions  Search this

Innovations  Search this

See more episodes:

Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day September 25th 2010

Data Source:

Smithsonian Magazine

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:podcasts_e96d4c177d8fdb7ed961188518b06d1a

Creator:

Dreva, Jerry, 1945-1997  Search this

Names:

Gronk, 1954-  Search this

Extent:

1 Linear foot

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1964-1984

Summary:

The Jerry Dreva papers measures 1.0 linear foot and dates from circa 1963-1982. The papers include biographical information; rare printed material; scrapbooks; correspondence consisting of letters of support for the exhibition DREVA/GRONK 1968-78: Ten Years of Art/Life (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, 1978) and mail art; zines and small artist books exchanged with collaborators and friends; material documenting Dreva's relationship with performance artist, Gronk, including staged photographs, candid snapshots, correspondence, and ephemera, chronicling their shared practice, and the glam Hollywood, activist Chicana/o, and queer scenes in 1970s and 80s Los Angeles. Also included are two small labeled vinyl albums, one of which appears to have been used in a piece of artwork.

Scope and Contents:

The Jerry Dreva papers measures 1.0 linear foot and dates from circa 1963-1982. The papers include biographical information; rare printed material; scrapbooks; correspondence consisting of letters of support for the exhibition DREVA/GRONK 1968-78: Ten Years of Art/Life (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, 1978) and mail art; zines and small artist books exchanged with collaborators and friends; material documenting Dreva's relationship with performance artist, Gronk, including staged photographs, candid snapshots, correspondence, and ephemera, chronicling their shared practice, and the glam Hollywood, activist Chicana/o, and queer scenes in 1970s and 80s Los Angeles. Also included are two small labeled vinyl albums.

Correspondence consists of letters to friends and institutions for which Dreva created mail and graphic art for. Some of the indiduals include: Vittore Baroni, John Jack, The Gay Activists Alliance, Michael Scott, and Sandy Robertson. Also included are files of mail art created by Dreva or sent to him by friends and other artists.

Professional files consist of some invoices and receipts, material related to the "Dreva/Gronk 1968-1978 Ten Years of Art/Life" exhibition, work for Mohammed publication company in Italy, certificates, a vinyl record produced by Le Petite Bon-Bons, and a scrapbook.

Printed material consists of clippings, announcements and posters, editions of Mainman Newsletter, "Despair" comic book, "How I Became Rich and Famous" by Captain Zerox, and "Mail Art Show" exhibition catalog.

Photographic material consists of photographs of Dreva, photographs of Dreva and Gronk, photographs of Le Petite Bon-Bons band members and various famous rock stars, and candid shots.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into four series

Series 1: Correspondence, 1972-1983 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 2: Professional Activity Files, 1975-1984 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 3: Printed Material, 1964-1979 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1)

Series 4: Photographic Material, circa 1975-1979 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)

Biographical / Historical:

Jerry Dreva (1945-1997) was a performance artist, writer, activist, and teacher based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Los Angeles, California. Dreva was a leader in the mail art movement during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a founding member (together with Robert J. Lambert) of Les Petites Bon-Bons, a flamboyantly attired musical group that never played a single concert. In fact, they never so much as picked up an instrument. Instead they dressed as glitter rock musicians of the era (1970's) and were frequently featured in newspapers and magazines.

Provenance:

Donated in 2020 by Patrick Veda, a family attorney and the executor of Dreva's mother's estate.

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:

Performance artists -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Authors -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Educators -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Performance artists -- Wisconsin -- Milwaukee  Search this

Topic:

Gay artists  Search this

Mail art  Search this

Activists (LGBTQ)  Search this

Artists (LGBTQ)  Search this

Latino and Latin American artists  Search this

Sound recordings  Search this

Citation:

Jerry Dreva papers, 1964-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.drevjerr

See more items in:

Jerry Dreva papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93651c7ad-554e-49e2-987f-1a12d12cd12e

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-drevjerr

Creator:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2022-05-27T17:36:40.000Z

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_bimSUTUX21I

Creator:

National Museum of the American Indian  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2021-10-25T16:17:34.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Native Americans;American Indians  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianNMAI

Data Source:

National Museum of the American Indian

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianNMAI

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_lHawUkRcr-Q

Creator:

National Museum of the American Indian  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2021-10-25T16:17:42.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Native Americans;American Indians  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianNMAI

Data Source:

National Museum of the American Indian

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianNMAI

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_pb-52zLV1aM

Author:

Sanchez, George J  Search this

Physical description:

1 online resource (xvii, 364 pages) illustrations, maps

Type:

Electronic resources

Electronic books

History

Place:

California

Los Angeles

Boyle Heights (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Boyle Heights

Date:

2021

Topic:

Neighborhoods--History  Search this

SOCIAL SCIENCE--Sociology--Urban  Search this

Neighborhoods  Search this

Race relations  Search this

History  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1156492

Author:

Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette  Search this

Pastor, Manuel 1956-  Search this

Physical description:

1 online resource (xii, 355 pages) illustrations

Type:

Electronic resources

Electronic books

Place:

California

Los Angeles

Californie

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Date:

2021

Topic:

Community development  Search this

Communities  Search this

Minorities  Search this

Communauté  Search this

SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban  Search this

Ethnic relations  Search this

Race relations  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1156502

Interviewee:

Broad, Eli  Search this

Interviewer:

Berman, Avis  Search this

Names:

Art Collectors: A Project in Partnership with the Center for the History of Collecting in America at The Frick Collection  Search this

Extent:

2 Items (sound files (2 hrs., 34 min.) Audio, digital, wav)

53 Pages (Transcript)

Culture:

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

2012 Jan. 30-April 16

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Eli Broad conducted 2012 Jan. 30 and April 16, by Avis Berman, for the Archives of American Art and the Center for the History of Collecting in America at the Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection, at the Frick Collection and at Broad's home in New York, N.Y.

Biographical / Historical:

Interviewee Eli Broad (1933-2021) was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and the founder of the Broad Art Foundation in Los Angeles, Calif. Interviewer Avis Berman (1949- ) is an art historian and author in New York, N.Y.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Restrictions:

The transcript and recording are open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by Barbara Fleischman.

Identifier:

AAA.broad12

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92881346d-6faa-494e-996d-1866f2b80807

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-broad12

Author:

Preble, Michael 1947-  Search this

Wores, Theodore 1858-1939  Search this

Huntsville Museum of Art  Search this

Subject:

Wores, Theodore 1858-1939  Search this

Shenson, A. Jess Art collections Exhibitions  Search this

Shenson, Ben Art collections Exhibitions  Search this

Physical description:

[54] p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm

Type:

Exhibitions

Place:

California

San Francisco

Date:

1980

[1980?]

Topic:

Painting--Private collections  Search this

Call number:

ND237.W86 A4 1980

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_653291

Creator:

Karger, Fred, 1950-  Search this

Extent:

5 Cubic feet (15 boxes, 2 map folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Brochures

Magazines (periodicals)

Newsletters

Newspaper clippings

Posters

Television scripts

Place:

California -- Motion pictures

Date:

1950-2015, undated

Summary:

Papers documenting Fred Karger's acting career, his activism for marriage equality, preservation of the Boom Boom Room (Laguna Beach, California) and other LGBT concerns, Karger's political consulting, and his candidacy for United States President, 2012, as the first openly gay candidate of a major political party.

Content Description:

The Fred Karger Papers consist mostly of secondary materials, film scripts, newspapers, periodicals, and clippings documenting activist and former presidential candidate Fred Karger's brief film and television acting career, his activism for preservation of the Boom Boom Room (originally the South Seas) at the Coast Inn, "Save the Boom", and material from his candidacy for president in 2012. The papers contain material related to Karger's activism for marriage equality and other LGBT concerns.

The collection includes material relating to his childhood education, such as school photographs; his acting career, scripts from television shows and motion pictures he appeared in; and brochures and flyers from his political activism, including boycotts of businesses supporting Proposition 8 (protecting "traditional marriage") in California. The bulk of material relates to Karger's efforts to save the Boom Boom Room (Laguna Beach, California) credited with being the oldest gay bar in West of the Mississippi. The collection includes protest posters, some hand made; columns, articles, clippings and magazines containing articles by and about Karger, some gay-oriented, others not. Material from his presidential campaign is also included such as yard signs, posters, and posters from the 2014 documentary, Fred. There is also a framed letter from Richard M. Nixon.

There are also vintage magazines and newspaper articles covering major events, such as President John F. Kennedy's assassination and the attack on 9/11.

Arrangement:

These papers are arranged into four series.

Series 1: Activism and Presidential Campaign, 1988-2014, undated

Series 2: Theatrical Scripts, 1971-1976

Series 3: Newspapers and Magazines, 1963-2025

Series 4: Photographs and Ephemera, 1950-2010, undated

Biographical / Historical:

Portions of this biography were supplied by the donor, Fred Karger.

Fred S. Karger was born on Januray 31, 1950 in Glencoe, Illinois, the son of Richard (1911-1998) and Jean Foreman Karger (1918-2003). He attended primary and secondary schools in Glencoe. In the mid-1970s Karger pursued an acting career in Los Angeles, California. He later pursued a career in political consulting.

"Fred Karger is an American political consultant, LGBTQ rights activist, author, political pundit, writer, public speaker, former actor and 2012 presidential candidate for the Republican nomination for President. Karger has worked on ten presidential campaigns and served as a senior consultant during the campaigns of President's Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford.

Karger was a partner in the Dolphin Group, a California based political consulting firm for 27 years. He retired in 2004 and has since worked as an LGBTQ activist. He began in 2006 trying to save a Laguna Beach, California landmark gay bar, the Boom Boom Room.

In 2008 he founded Californians Against Hate, now Rights Equal Rights and led boycotts of four of the biggest donors to California's Proposition 8. He successfully settled three of those boycotts. Immediately after Prop 8 passed, Fred called for the State of California to investigate The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Church) and later the states of Maine, Iowa, Hawaii and California to investigate the rabidly anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM). In the summer of 2012, he launched the ongoing global Boycott of Amway after its owners, the DeVos family, contributed $750,000 to NOM.

Fred's running for the Republican nomination for president in 2012 made him the first openly gay presidential candidate from a major political party in American history, helping to pave the way for Mayor Pete Buttigieg's run in 2020." [Fred Karger Biography, AC/NMAH Control File, AC1439]

During his presidential campaign Karger appeared on six ballots; New Hampshire, Michigan, Puerto Rico, Maryland, California, and Utah. He campaigned in over 30 states and received, "widespread praise for paving the way for future LGBT candidates." Karger has been interviewed on many local, national, and international television, radio, and webcast programs. His autobiography, Fred Who? was published in 2011.

Provenance:

Donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution by Fred Karger in November 2017.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

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

Topic:

Gay activists  Search this

Homosexuality  Search this

Lesbian and gay experience  Search this

LGBT  Search this

Political activists  Search this

Political campaigns  Search this

Presidential campaigns  Search this

Presidential candidates  Search this

Protest  Search this

Genre/Form:

Brochures

Magazines (periodicals)

Newsletters

Newspaper clippings

Posters

Television scripts

Citation:

Fred Karger Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1439

See more items in:

Fred Karger Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep83a324618-1842-4d58-891e-d85129e19037

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1439

Creator:

National Museum of the American Indian  Search this

Type:

Symposia

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2019-09-25T19:57:13.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Native Americans;American Indians  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianNMAI

Data Source:

National Museum of the American Indian

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianNMAI

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_3xOW8kTYz6s

Pilot:

Amelia Earhart  Search this

Manufacturer:

Lockheed Aircraft Company  Search this

Materials:

Fuselage: wooden monocoque

Wings: wooden cantilever

Dimensions:

Wingspan: 12.49 m (41ft.)

Length: 8.38 m (27ft. 6in.)

Height: 2.49 m (8ft. 2in.)

Weight: Empty 748kg. (1,650lbs.)

Gross: 1,315-1,450kg. (2,900-3,200lbs.)

Type:

CRAFT-Aircraft

Country of Origin:

United States of America

Date:

1927-1929

Credit Line:

Gift of the Franklin Institute

Inventory Number:

A19670093000

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv908b322a7-9925-4071-b2b2-26a162dc0fce

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19670093000

Creator:

National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

Blog posts

Smithsonian staff publications

Blog posts

Published Date:

Wed, 11 Jan 2023 16:31:17 +0000

Topic:

American History  Search this

See more posts:

Blog Feed

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:posts_cca20ace87214f6f49c7581cd3ba61bb

Author:

Park, Kyeyoung 1956-  Search this

Physical description:

1 online resource (331 pages)

Type:

Electronic resources

Electronic books

History

Place:

California

Los Angeles

Californie

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Date:

2019

20th century

20e siècle

Topic:

Korean Americans--History  Search this

Hispanic Americans--History  Search this

Black people--History  Search this

Américains d'origine coréenne--Histoire  Search this

Américains d'origine latino-américaine--Histoire  Search this

Black people  Search this

Ethnic relations  Search this

Hispanic Americans  Search this

Korean Americans  Search this

Race relations  Search this

History  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1156460

Creator:

National Museum of the American Indian  Search this

Type:

Symposia

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2016-03-28T17:38:48.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Native Americans;American Indians  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianNMAI

Data Source:

National Museum of the American Indian

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianNMAI

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_cWwibTk2MnM

Creator:

McCoy, Esther  Search this

Names:

Historic American Buildings Survey  Search this

Society of Architectural Historians  Search this

University of California, Los Angeles. School of Architecture and Urban Planning  Search this

Ain, Gregory, 1908-1988  Search this

Barragán, Luis, 1902-  Search this

Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012  Search this

Davidson, Julius Ralph, b. 1889  Search this

Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945  Search this

Ellwood, Craig  Search this

Gill, Irving, 1870-1936  Search this

Grotz, Dorothy  Search this

Hollein, Hans, 1934-2014  Search this

Jones, A. Quincy (Archie Quincy), 1913-1979  Search this

Maybeck, Bernard R.  Search this

Neutra, Richard Joseph, 1892-1970  Search this

O'Gorman, Juan, 1905-  Search this

Rand, Marvin  Search this

Schindler, R. M. (Rudolph M.), 1887-1953  Search this

Shulman, Julius  Search this

Soriano, Rafael, 1920-  Search this

Watanabe, Makoto  Search this

Worlidge, T. (Thomas), 1700-1766  Search this

Extent:

44 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Diaries

Etchings

Photographs

Sound recordings

Interviews

Video recordings

Slides (photographs)

Transcripts

Drawings

Memoirs

Date:

circa 1876-1990

bulk 1938-1989

Summary:

The papers of Southern California architectural historian, critic, and writer Esther McCoy measure 44.0 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1990 (bulk 1938-1989). McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. The collection documents McCoy's career, as well as her family and personal life through biographical material, extensive correspondence, personal and professional writings, project files, Southern California architects' files, clippings and other printed material, a large collection of photographs and slides, and taped interviews of Southern California modern architects.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of Southern California architectural historian, critic, and writer Esther McCoy measure 44.0 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1990 (bulk 1938-1989). McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. The collection documents McCoy's career, as well as her family and personal life through biographical material, extensive correspondence, personal and professional writings, project files, Southern California architects' files, clippings and other printed material, a large collection of photographs and slides, and taped interviews of Southern California modern architects.

Biographical and family material consists of awards, resumes, identification documents, and other documentation of McCoy's personal life. Included are a transcript of a 1984 interview of McCoy by Makoto Watanabe and material relating to her friend, Theodore Dreiser.

Correspondence focuses on her personal relationships with family, friends, and lovers, and general correspondence relating primarily to her work as a writer. McCoy's personal correspondence is valuable to researchers who are interested in her personal life, her struggles as a young writer, and the way in which her family, friends, lovers, mentors, and colleagues helped to shape her work and career. As documented in this correspondence, her life offers a glimpse into twentieth-century American social and political history, especially the radical leftist movements of the 1920s and 1930s. Researchers interested in the roots of feminism in the United States should also find these papers useful in documenting the life of a creative and productive woman who was successful in a field then almost entirely dominated by men. Correspondents of note include her husband Berkeley Tobey, lovers Geoffrey Eaton and Albert Robert, writers Ray Bradbury and Theodore Dreiser, and artists and architects, such as Dorothy Grotz, Craig Ellwood, A. Quincy Jones, Hans Hollein, and J. R. Davidson. General correspondence is primarily with researchers, professors, architects, publishers, and professional organizations.

Personal writings include McCoy's diaries, notebooks, and memoirs, and writings by others including friends, lovers, and colleagues. Also included are drafts of McCoy's fictional works, both published and unpublished, including short stories, teleplays, and novels.

The collection contains in-depth documentation of McCoy's pioneering study of the modernist work of twentieth-century architects in Southern California. The bulk of her papers consist of her writing files for books, exhibition catalogs, articles, and lectures on architecture. Because many of the architects about whom McCoy wrote were her contemporaries, she developed personal relationships with several of them through her research and writing. Her writing files include drafts, notes, research material, photographs, and correspondence. McCoy also traveled extensively, particularly in Italy and Mexico, and wrote about architecture, craft, and culture in those countries. Project files document McCoy's other activities related to architectural history, such preservation projects, juries, grants, the Dodge House Preservation Campaign and related film project, her work for the Society of Architectural Historians and the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), and her work at the UCLA School of Architecture and Urban Planning, compiling a slide library and cataloging the Richard Neutra's papers. McCoy also maintained architect files which may contain correspondence, notes, photographs, research material, interview transcripts, about architects and their works. Among these extensive records, the files documenting the careers of R. M. Schindler, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and Juan O'Gorman are particularly rich.

Printed material in this collection documents McCoy's career as well as her personal interests. Included are books, clippings, magazines, newsletters, press releases, as well as publications arranged by subject such as architecture, art, Italy, and Mexico. McCoy also collected literary and leftist publications. The small amount of artwork in this collection consists of artwork sent to her by friends, including a drawing of her by Esther Rollo and etchings by various artists including Thomas Worlidge.

There are personal photographs of family and friends and of McCoy at different times in her life, as well as photographs gathered during the course of her research on architecture. Found here are photographs of architects and their works, including a large number depicting the work of Gregory Ain, Luis Barragan, J. R. Davidson, Irving Gill, Bernard Maybeck, Juan O'Gorman, R. M. Schindler, and Raphael Soriano. Many of these photographs were taken by notable architectural photographers Julius Shulman and Marvin Rand. Also found are photographs of architecture designed for the Case Study House program of Arts & Architecture magazine; exhibition photographs, primarily for the exhibition "Ten Italian Architects" in 1967; and other research photographs primarily documenting architecture and craft in other countries and the history of architecture in California. This series also includes approximately 3,600 slides of architecture.

Audio and video recordings include a videocassette of McCoy's 80th birthday party and 55 taped interviews with architects, people associated with architectural projects, and artists.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 10 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical and Family Material, 1881-1989 (boxes 1, 48; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1896-1989 (boxes 1-6, 4.9 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Writings, 1919-1989 (boxes 6-14; 8.1 linear feet)

Series 4: Architectural Writings, 1908-1990 (boxes 14-24, 42, 49, 50; 10.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Projects, circa 1953-1988 (boxes 24-26, 47, FC 53-56; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 6: Architect Files, 1912-1990 (boxes 26-28, 42; 2.2 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1885-1990 (boxes 28-31, 42; 2.9 linear feet)

Series 8: Artwork, 1924-1967, undated (box 31; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographs and Slides, circa 1876-1989 (boxes 31-38, 41-46, 51; 8.3 linear feet)

Series 10: Audio and Video Recordings, 1930-1984 (boxes 38-40, 47; 2.5 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Esther McCoy (1904-1989) is remembered best for her pioneering work as an architectural historian, critic, and proponent of Southern California modern architecture of the early to mid-twentieth century. McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. Although her professional interests ranged from writing fiction to studying the folk architecture and crafts of Mexico, McCoy achieved her most notable success for her numerous articles, books, and exhibitions about Southern California architecture and the architects associated with the modernist movement.

Born in Arkansas in 1904, Esther McCoy grew up in Kansas and attended various schools in the Midwest. In 1926 she left the University of Michigan to launch a writing career in New York, where she moved in avant-garde literary circles and conducted research for Theodore Dreiser. She began writing fiction in New York and continued to write after moving to Los Angeles in 1932, working on short stories, novels, and screenplays. She published numerous short stories between 1929 and 1962, with works appearing in the New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, and university quarterlies. Her short story, "The Cape," was reprinted in Best Short Stories of 1950. Many of the novels that she wrote from the mid-1960s through the 1980s were related thematically to architects and architecture.

During the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s, McCoy participated in the politically radical movements of the period and wrote for leftist publications. Her interest in the lowcost housing projects of modern architects was prompted by one of her articles about slums for Epic News. During World War II she entered a training program for engineering draftsmen at Douglas Aircraft and in 1944 was hired as an architectural draftsman for the architect R.M. Schindler. As she became increasingly interested in modern architecture and design, she combined her two major career interests and began to focus her energies on architectural research, writing, and criticism. Her first article on architecture, "Schindler: Space Architect," was published in 1945 in the journal Direction.

McCoy began writing about architecture in earnest in 1950 as a free-lance contributor to the Los Angeles Times. From then until her death in 1989, she wrote prolifically for Arts & Architecture magazine, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Architectural Record, L'Architectura, Zodiac (Italy), Progressive Architecture, Lotus (Italy), and Architectural Forum. In addition to her numerous articles, McCoy wrote several books on Southern California modern architecture and architects. Her first major work, Five California Architects, published in 1960, is now recognized as a classic work in modern architectural history. It promoted a serious study of modern architecture in Southern California and introduced to the world several leading California architects and their work: Bernard Maybeck, Irving Gill, Charles and Henry Greene, and R.M. Schindler. That same year, she published another important book focusing on the work of the California architect Richard Neutra. Other books by McCoy include Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses (1962), Craig Ellwood (1968), Vienna to Los Angeles: Two Journeys (1979), and The Second Generation (1984).

In addition to these books, McCoy organized and wrote catalogs for several significant exhibitions focusing on contemporary architects. Her first was the R.M. Schindler Retrospective, a 1954 exhibition at the Landau Art Gallery in Los Angeles. Her other exhibitions and accompanying catalogs include Roots of California Contemporary Architecture, 1956, Los Angeles Municipal Art Department; Felix Candela, 1957, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Irving Gill, 1958, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Juan O'Gorman, 1964, San Fernando Valley State College; and Ten Italian Architects, 1967, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Moreover, McCoy contributed numerous essays to other exhibition catalogs and publications, lectured at the University of Southern California, participated in preservation projects, organized tours for the Society of Architectural Historians, and contributed to a number of documentary films. Her energy and interests also led her to catalog and transcribe Richard Neutra's papers at the University of California Los Angeles Archives.

McCoy received national recognition from the American Institute of Architects for her seminal and prolific work in the field of Southern California modern architectural history and criticism. Her interests, however, were not exclusively bound to California. She traveled the world and was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. She made five extended trips to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s, publishing regularly about the architecture there and curating the exhibition Ten Italian Architects. She was a contributing editor to two Italian journals, Zodiac and Lotus, and was awarded the Star of Order of Solidarity in 1960 by the Republic of Italy for her research and writing.

Esther McCoy died of emphysema on December 30, 1989, at the age of eighty-five. Her last contribution was an essay for the exhibition catalog Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study House. The show opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles one month before her death.

Missing Title

1904 -- Born November 18 in Horatio, Arkansas. Raised in Kansas.

1920 -- Attended preparatory school at Central College for Women, Lexington, Missouri.

1922-1925 -- College education: Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas; University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri; University of Michigan.

1924 -- Visited Theodore Dreiser in Michigan.

1926-1938 -- Began writing in New York City.

1926-1938 -- Researched and read for Theodore Dreiser.

1926-1938 -- Worked for editorial offices and publishers.

1926-1938 -- Traveled to write in Paris (1928), Key West, Florida (1930), and Los Angeles, California (1932-1935).

1938 -- Moved to Santa Monica, California.

1941 -- Married Berkeley Greene Tobey.

1942-1944 -- Employed as engineering draftsman at Douglas Aircraft.

1944-1947 -- Worked as architectural draftsman for R.M. Schindler.

1945 -- Began architectural writing career.

1950 -- Wrote script for film Architecture West.

1950 -- Joined editorial board of Arts & Architecture.

1950-1968 -- Worked as free-lance writer for the Los Angeles Times.

1951-1955 -- Traveled to, researched, and wrote about Mexico and Mexican art and architecture.

1954 -- R.M. Schindler Retrospective exhibition at the Landau Art Gallery, Los Angeles.

1956 -- Roots of California Contemporary Architecture exhibition, Los Angeles Municipal Art Department.

1957 -- Felix Candela exhibition, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

1958 -- Irving Gill exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Traveled to Italy.

1959-1968 -- Contributing editor to Italian periodicals Zodiac and Lotus.

1960 -- Five California Architects (New York: Reinhold).

1960 -- Richard Neutra (New York: G. Braziller).

1960 -- Awarded Star of Order of Solidarity by the Republic of Italy for reporting on arts and crafts in Italy.

1962 -- Death of Berkeley Greene Tobey.

1962 -- Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses (New York: Reinhold) (reprinted as Case Study Houses, Los Angeles: Hennessey and Ingalls, 1978).

1963 -- Resident Fellow at Huntington Hartford Foundation.

1964 -- Juan O'Gorman exhibition, San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge, Calif.

1965 -- Consultant for the California Arts Commission.

1965-1966 -- Wrote and produced the film Dodge House.

1965-1968 -- Lecturer at University of California at Los Angeles, School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

1966 -- Resident Fellow at MacDowell Colony, New Hampshire.

1967 -- Ten Italian Architects exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

1967 -- Honorary Associate of the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

1967 -- Regents' Lecturer at University of California, Santa Barbara.

1968 -- Craig Ellwood (New York: Walker).

1968 -- Distinguished Service Citation from the California Council of AIA.

1969-1970 -- Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

1969-1989 -- Contributing editor of Progressive Architecture.

1971-1978 -- Graham Foundation Grants.

1974 -- Regents' Lecturer at the University of California,Santa Cruz.

1979 -- Vienna to Los Angeles: Two Journeys (Santa Monica, Calif.: Arts & Architecture Press).

1979 -- Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.

1981 -- Los Angeles Chapter Women's Architectural League Honorary Member.

1982 -- Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Modern and Contemporary Art Council Award for Distinguished Achievement.

1983 -- Home Sweet Home: The California Ranch House exhibition at California State University.

1984 -- The Second Generation (Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books).

1985 -- American Institute of Architects, Institute Honor.

1986 -- High Styles exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

1987 -- Vesta Award for outstanding scholarship.

1989 -- Award from the Historical Society of Southern California.

1989 -- Award from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

1989 -- Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study House exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Died in Santa Monica, California, December 30.

Related Material:

Also in the Archives of American Art are eight sound cassettes of a transcribed interview with Esther McCoy conducted by Joseph Giovannini, June 8-November 14, 1987.

Provenance:

The collection was given to the Archives of American Art by Esther McCoy in 1986. Before her death in 1989, McCoy assisted in the organization and identification of the papers. Original pre-print film elements for Dodge House 1916 were donated to the Archives of American Art by the Academy Film Archive in 2018.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual recordings without access copies requires advance notice.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Architectural historians -- California  Search this

Art critics -- California  Search this

Topic:

Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- Mexico  Search this

Architects -- Italy  Search this

Architecture, Domestic -- California  Search this

Authors -- California  Search this

Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- California  Search this

Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- Europe  Search this

Architects -- California  Search this

Feminism and art  Search this

Latino and Latin American artists  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries

Etchings

Photographs

Sound recordings

Interviews

Video recordings

Slides (photographs)

Transcripts

Drawings

Memoirs

Citation:

Esther McCoy papers, circa 1876-1990, bulk 1938-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

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

Identifier:

AAA.mccoesth

See more items in:

Esther McCoy papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93ee58e3b-f2fc-4d98-acf9-de6f76bfed63

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-mccoesth