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Ruth Leah Bunzel Papers

Creator:
Bunzel, Ruth Leah, 1898-1990  Search this
Extent:
16 Linear feet (29 boxes, 2 audio reels)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1921-1979
Summary:
The bulk of this collection documents the professional life of Ruth Leah Bunzel from the 1940s to 1970s. The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, notes, research files, teaching materials, card files, artwork, and sound recordings.
Scope and Contents:
The bulk of this collection documents the professional life of Ruth Leah Bunzel from the 1940s to 1970s. The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, notes, research files, teaching materials, card files, artwork, and sound recordings. A large portion of the collection is comprised of work from the Chinese project that Bunzel led as part of Columbia University Research in Contemporary Cultures [RCC]. The collection also contains her paper for the Bureau of Applied Social Research, "Interviewing in National Character Research" (in which she analyzes the methods used in RCC), as well as materials from two spin-offs of RCC--Studies in Soviet Culture and Studies in Contemporary Cultures. Bunzel's relationship with Columbia University is also represented in the collection through her notes as lecturer and adjunct professor at Columbia University, correspondence with her students, and her students' papers. Among her students was Ethel Cutler Freeman, whose letters and assignments can be found in the collection. There are also memos and other materials documenting the activities of the anthropology department and university, as well as their responses to the 1968 student uprising at Columbia. In addition, the collection contains notes from courses Bunzel took with Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict as a graduate student at Columbia.

Other items of significance are the drawings of Hopi and Zuni kachinas that Bunzel collected while in the field in the Southwest and a map of a Tewa village sketched in pencil. The collection does not contain any of her field notes from her work in the Southwest nor from her work in Guatemala or Mexico.

Although Bunzel's writings are not well represented in the collection, there are items of interest such as typescript copies of "Tentative Questionnaire for Handbook of Psychological Leads for Ethnological Field Workers: Economics," her handwritten reminiscence of Boas, and drafts of papers she presented at conferences. Also of interest are notes on her memories of the Abram Kardiner psychocultural seminars (in which she was an early participant), notes from various seminars, and two 1963 sound recordings from an Anthropology and World Affairs regional conference.

Among her notable correspondents in the collection are David F. Aberle, Franziska Boas, Steve Boggs, Paul Bohannan, Joseph Casagrande, Vincent Crapanzano, Harold Driver, Abe Edel, Raymond Fogelson,Morton H. Fried, Ethel Cutler Freeman, Alexander Lesser, Oscar Lewis, George Marcus, Catharine McClellan, Margaret Mead, Lita Fejos Osmundson, George Spindler, Leslie White, Helene Boas Yampolsky, and Mark Zborowski.
Arrangement:
Arranged into 9 series: (1) Correspondence, 1957-1977; (2) Research in Contemporary Cultures, 1947-1954; (3) Columbia University, 1925-1941 & 1956-1969; (4) Writings and Projects, 1929-1968 [Bulk 1960-1968]; (5) Associations, Conferences, & Seminars, 1940-1973; (6) Writings by Others, 1921-1979; (7) Card Files; (8) Artwork; (9) Sound Recordings, 1963
Biographical Note:
Ruth Leah Bunzel was born on April 18, 1898 in New York City. Known as "Bunny" by her friends, she attended Barnard College where she received her B.A. in European History in 1918. With no thought of continuing her education, she acquired a job in 1922 as secretary and editorial assistant to Franz Boas at Columbia University. Esther Goldfrank, who had resigned as Boas's secretary to study anthropology at Columbia, was a friend of one of Bunzel's sisters.

By 1924 Bunzel, herself, was considering a career in anthropology and wanted to observe an anthropologist at work in the field. Since Boas traveled to Europe every summer, Bunzel decided to spend her vacation that year in Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico as a secretary to Ruth Benedict, who would be collecting Zuni mythology. When she informed Boas of her plan, Boas encouraged her to work on her own research rather than spending her time on secretarial work. He suggested that she study art, specifically potters and their pottery. Elsie Clews Parsons objected to Bunzel (who lacked formal training) conducting her own research in Zuni and threatened to withdraw her financial support of Benedict's mythology project. With Boas's firm backing, Parsons eventually relented and Bunzel was allowed to go to Zuni.

That summer, Bunzel arrived in Zuni with papier maché pots she had made for her informants to paint designs on. She observed the potters at work and also made pottery alongside them. After five weeks she felt she had gathered enough information on the Zuni and moved on to study Hopi, San Ildefonso, and Acoma potters. The results of her research would later produce her dissertation, The Pueblo Potter, A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art, published in 1929.

When she returned to New York, she began work on a draft of The Pueblo Potter and in 1925 resigned as Boas's secretary to become his student at Columbia University. Although she completed her doctoral work and dissertation in 1927, she was not awarded her PhD until 1929 when the The Pueblo Potter was published. (At the time, the university did not confer doctorates until a student's dissertation had been published.) The Pueblo Potter, a landmark work, was the first anthropological study of art and the individual in culture.

From 1924 to 1929 Bunzel spent several summers and winters in Zuni. Parsons, who had initially opposed her first trip, sponsored Bunzel's second trip, this time to study ceremonialism, and other trips and projects. Bunzel's papers on Zuni ceremonialism as well as creation myths, kachinas, and poetry were published in the 47th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology (1932). Flora Zuni and her family, with whom Bunzel lived when she was in the field, formally adopted her and initiated her into their clan, the Beaver clan. They gave her the Zuni name Maiatitsa, which means "blue bird," a reference to the blue smock that Bunzel often wore while making pottery. Bunzel's second Zuni name, Tsatitsa, was given to her by her primary informant and former governor of the pueblo, Nick Tumaka. After a decade long absence, Bunzel returned to Zuni for her last time in 1939 to study child development.

Having studied the Southwest, Bunzel felt it was natural to also study Mexico. During her interview for a Guggenheim Fellowship, however, the chairman of the foundation persuaded her to study Guatemala, instead, as no American anthropologist had done much work in the area. As a result, from 1930 to 1932 she studied the Highland Mayan village of Santo Tomas Chichicastenango. Her work there resulted in Chichicastenango, A Guatemalan Village, published in 1952. From 1936 to 1937 she also did fieldwork in the village of Chamula in Chiapas, Mexico. Her 1940 article "The Role of Alcoholism in Two Central American Communities" was a comparative study of Chichicastenango and Chamula. During World War II, Bunzel worked in England for the U.S. Government Office of War Information from 1942 to 1945. Having spent some time in Spain during the late 1930s improving her Spanish, she translated broadcasts for Spain as well as incoming broadcasts.

When she returned to New York after the war, she became involved in the Columbia University Research in Contemporary Cultures project [RCC]. Directed by Ruth Benedict and funded by the Office of Naval Research, RCC was composed of research groups, each studying a different culture. From 1947 to 1951, Bunzel led the group studying China, which involved interviewing Chinese immigrants in New York City. The project produced several papers, including her unpublished manuscripts, Explorations in Chinese Culture and An Anthropological Approach to Chinese Communism, which she co-authored with John Hast Weakland.

Early in her career, Bunzel was a lecturer at Barnard College (1929-1930) and at Columbia University (1933-1935, 1937-1940). It was not until 1953 that she was hired as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia. Although the university's official appointment card lists Bunzel as having retired in 1966, she continued to teach at Columbia University after her retirement.

On January 14, 1990, Bunzel passed away at the age of 91.

Sources Consulted

Babcock, Barbara A. and Nancy Parezo. "Ruth Bunzel." Daughters of the Desert. University of New Mexico. 1988.

Fawcett, David M. and Teri McLuhan. "Ruth Leah Bunzel." Women Anthropologists: Selected Biographies. Ed. Ute Gacs, et al. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989.

Chronology

1898 -- Born April 18 in New York, New York

1918 -- Earns B.A. from Barnard College in European History

1922-1924 -- Secretary and editorial assistant to Franz Boas

1924 -- First trip to Zuni, New Mexico

1925 -- Enrolls in Columbia University's graduate program in anthropology

1925-1929 -- Spends summers and winters conducting fieldwork among the Zuni

1927-1928 -- Studies at University of Chicago

1928-1943 -- Executive Committee Board of AAA

1929 -- Studies at the National University of Mexico Publication of dissertation, The Pueblo Potter, A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art Receives Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University

1929-1930 -- Lecturer at Barnard College

1930-1932 -- Fieldwork in Chichicastenango, Guatemala

1933-1935 -- Lecturer, General Studies and Summer Session, Columbia University

1936-1937 -- Lecturer, General Studies and Summer Session, Columbia University

1939 -- Fieldwork in Zuni studying child development

1942-1945 -- Social Scientist U.S. Government Office of War Information, Propoganda Analysis

1947-1951 -- Director of Chinese Project of Columbia University Research in Contemporary Cultures

1951-1952 -- Works on Bureau of Applied Social Research project on techniques of interviewing

1953 -- Adjunct Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University

1955 -- Research Associate, Institute of Intercultural Studies

1962 -- Teaching-consultant, Columbia University School of Nursing

1969-1987 -- Senior Research Associate, Columbia University

1974-1976 -- Chair, Section H, AAAS

1990 -- Dies January 14 in New York City at the age of 91

Selected Bibliography

1929 -- The Pueblo Potter, A Study of Creative Imagination in Primitive Art. New York: Columbia University Press.

1932 -- "Zuni Ritual Poetry." Ibid. "Introduction to Zuni Ceremonialism." 47th Annual Report, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Government Printing Office. "Zuni Creation Myths." Ibid. "Zuni Katchinas." Ibid.

1933 -- Zuni Texts. Publications of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. 15. New York: G.E. Stechert and Company.

1938 -- "Zuni Grammar." Handbook of American Indian Languages, Vol. 3. New York: Columbia University Press. "The Economic Organization of Primitive People." Ibid. "Primitive Art." General Anthropology. Boston: D.C. Heath .

1940 -- "The Role of Alcoholism in Two Central American Communities." Psychiatry, Vol 33, pp. 361-387.

1950 -- Explorations in Chinese Culture. Research in Contemporary Cultures, Columbia University. (unpublished report)

1952 -- Chichicastenango, A Guatemalan Village. Publications of the American Ethnological Society, Vol 22. Locust Valley, New York: J. J. Auigustin. with John Weakland. An Anthropological Approach to Chinese Communism. Research in Contemporary Cultures, Columbia University. (unpublished report)

1960 -- edited with Margaret Mead. The Golden Age of American Anthropology. New York: George Braziller.

1966 -- "May Mandelbaum Edel 1909-1964." American Anthropologist, Vol 68, No. 4, pp. 986-989.

1976 -- "Chamula and Chichicastenango: A Reexamination." Cross-Cultural Approaches to the Study of Alcohol. The Hague: Mouton.
Related Materials:
Other materials relating to Ruth Bunzel at the National Anthropological Archives include correspondence with the Bureau of American Ethnology in MS 4846 and the Records of the Bureau of American Ethnology; the Ruth Leah Bunzel photographs of Quiche peoples of Guatemala (Photo Lot 2007-10); and a photograph of Bunzel in Photographic Lot 92-35. The Human Studies Film Archive has a video oral history of Bunzel (HSFA 89.10.8) which was created as part of the "History of Anthropology Series" produced by the University of Florida's Department of Anthropology.
Provenance:
The bulk of these papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Columbia University's Department of Anthropology.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.

Access to the collection requires an appointment.

Materials with student grades were separated and have been restricted. Most of the restricted materials are not open for access until 2030.
Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Identifier:
NAA.2006-22
See more items in:
Ruth Leah Bunzel Papers
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw34e2f32aa-f779-467d-97b8-590122f214fd
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-2006-22

Teaching Files and Class Notes

Collection Creator:
Rosenblum, Robert  Search this
Extent:
4.3 Linear feet (Boxes 27-31)
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1955-2006
Scope and Contents:
Teaching files and class notes document permanent and visiting professorships at Barnard College, Columbia University, Duke University, New York University, Princeton University, University of Michigan, Yale College, and Yale University. Materials include course outlines, exam materials, course lecture schedules, class notes by Rosenblum and students, syllabi, and submitted student papers and assignments.
Collection 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 archival audiovisual recordings and electronic media with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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:
Robert Rosenblum Papers, circa 1927-2009, bulk 1950-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.roserobe, Series 7
See more items in:
Robert Rosenblum Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw953d1abd9-296a-4c25-a18d-23b381e728a1
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-roserobe-ref16

Oral history interview with Barbara Novak

Interviewee:
Novak, Barbara  Search this
Interviewer:
McElhinney, James Lancel, 1952-  Search this
Names:
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.) -- Students  Search this
Barnard College -- Students  Search this
Brooklyn Museum  Search this
Harvard University -- Students  Search this
Aaron, Dan  Search this
Bochner, Mel, 1940-  Search this
Bosa, Louis, 1905-  Search this
Coremans, Paul B., 1908-1965  Search this
Davis, Meredith (Meredith J)  Search this
Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this
Feldman, Morton, 1926-1987  Search this
Ferber, Linda S.  Search this
Goetzmann, William  Search this
Hayes, Bartlett H., 1904-1988  Search this
Held, Julius Samuel, 1905-  Search this
Hesse, Eva, 1936-1970  Search this
Hopper, Edward, 1882-1967  Search this
Hutchinson, Peter A., 1930-  Search this
Icahn, Belle  Search this
Karolik, Maxim  Search this
Kaufman, William  Search this
Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984  Search this
Lane, Fitz Henry, 1804-1865  Search this
Lawrence, Marion  Search this
LeWitt, Sol, 1928-2007  Search this
McCoy, Ann Wyeth  Search this
Melkoff, Edward  Search this
Nevins, Kate Lockwood  Search this
O'Doherty, Brian  Search this
Presser, Josef, 1909-1967  Search this
Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008  Search this
Reff, Theodore  Search this
Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this
Rowland, Ben  Search this
Scharf, William, 1927-  Search this
Shapiro, Marge  Search this
Smithson, Robert  Search this
Watts, Marissa  Search this
Wyeth, Andrew, 1917-2009  Search this
Extent:
4 Items (Sound recording: 4 sound files (4 hr., 26 min.), digital)
89 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place:
Europe -- description and travel
Utah -- Description and Travel
Date:
2013 October 8-17
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Barbara Novak conducted 2013 October 8-17, by James McElhinney, for the Archvies of American Art, at Novak's home in Manhattan, New York.
Novak speaks of her early art training; learning to draw at the age of eight with help from her uncle William Kaufman and later taking art classes with Belle Icahn; Edward Melkoff; Joseph Presser; and classes at the Art Students League; becoming Expressionist in her painting; her year in Europe as a Fulbright student from Harvard University; the powerful lectures of Julius Held at Barnard College that launched her career; feeling that she devised a system by which works of art can be understood through looking closely at their physical properties and how she tries to develop the individual in her students; her time as a docent at the Brooklyn Museum in the American art collection; which led her to becoming an Americanist; her book, "Alice's Neck" and the inspiring Utah landscape; the importance of Fitz Henry Lane's work; the embodiment in American art of Pragmatism and Transcendentalism; and being led to Luminism; her books showing how to understand American culture through art, covering formal, contextual, and spiritual elements; hosting the first television show on art, "Vision of Art"; her husband Brian O'Doherty's background in art; the importance of nature for Cole and Durand; that common sense should be used in describing works of art, rather than assuming current events influenced the artist; her education at Harvard; Margaret Fuller and writing "The Margaret-Ghost"; Marcel Duchamp; Andrew Wyeth; Edward Hopper; Robert Rauschenberg; Mark Rothko; and Lee Krasner; and that the most exhilarating time intellectually for her was the 1960s with a group that included Robert Smithson, Sol LeWitt, Eva Hesse, Peter Hutchinson, Morton Feldman, Mel Bochner, and others. Barbara also recalls Mrs. Nevins, William Scharf, Paul Cormans [ph], Marion Lawrence, Marge Shapiro, Maxim Karolick, William Goetzmann, Ann McCoy, Ben Rowland, Bart Hayes, Ted Reff, Dan Aaron, Louis Bosa, Linda Ferber, Meredith Davis, Marissa Watts, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Barbara Novak (1929- ) is an art historian in New York, New York. James McElhinney (1952- ) is a painter and educator in New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded as 4 sound files. Duration is 4 hr., 26 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Art historians -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Fulbright scholars  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Art, American  Search this
Expressionism (Art)  Search this
Luminism (Art)  Search this
Pragmatism  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Identifier:
AAA.novak13
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw98b209753-c622-42d5-aad3-a2049f54363c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-novak13
Online Media:

Correspondence

Collection Creator:
Jacques Seligmann & Co  Search this
Container:
Box 136, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1943
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
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:
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records / Series 1: Correspondence / 1.5: Germain Seligman's Correspondence
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw95b8362b3-e7b2-4a89-a5ba-7052c22379d7
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-jacqself-ref12170
1 Page(s) matching your search term, top most relevant are shown: View entire project in transcription center
  • View Correspondence digital asset number 1

Smith, Vincent

Collection Creator:
Donaldson, Jeff, 1932-2004  Search this
Container:
Box 4, Folder 38
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1967-1976
Collection 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 archival audiovisual recordings and born-digital records with no duplicate access copies requires advance notice.
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:
Jeff Donaldson papers, 1918-2005, bulk 1960s-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Jeff Donaldson papers
Jeff Donaldson papers / Series 5: Artist Files
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw97a5bbc84-bbda-4767-a018-51f9077a8409
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-donajeff-ref131
1 Page(s) matching your search term, top most relevant are shown: View entire project in transcription center
  • View Smith, Vincent digital asset number 1

Oral history interview with Victoria Barr

Interviewee:
Barr, Victoria  Search this
Interviewer:
Cummings, Paul  Search this
Extent:
222 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1977 January 11-February 18
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Victoria Barr conducted 1977 January 11-February 18, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Barr recalls how she became very interested in theater set and lighting design; the thrill of learning about Greek history and myths and her painting being influenced by dance; studying graphic design and advertising at Parsons School of Design and Cy Sillman as a teacher; at Yale, Neil Welliver influencing her to become a painter; her first trip to Europe with her parents at the age of 14 and spending time with Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, and Henri Matisse; fellow Yale students Victor Moscoso, Eva Hesse, Sylvia Mangold, Bob Mangold, and Louise Nevelson; moving to Aspen, Colorado in 1961 and how her brief experience with marijuana influenced her painting more than anything previously; the family friendship with Philip Johnson and building the Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; spending time with Johnson, Meis van der Rohe and Phyllis Lambert during the construction of the Seagram Building in Montreal, Canada; Vincent Scully and Bill McDonald as teachers at Yale; visiting Peggy Guggenheim in Venice; going to Budapest, Hungary 1963, right after the Cuban Missile Crisis, to make a film; being awarded the Fulbright to go to France in 1964; her trip to Greece on scholarship and how at home she felt; that it is no longer relevant to paint from nature; meeting Lillian Lynn and becoming great friends; moving back to New York in 1966 and working for the Museum of Natural History in the exhibits department; her work becoming less painterly, more abstract; beginning her teaching career at Barnard College in 1967; the upheaval of student riots at Columbia University and her involvement in the Peace Movement; moving to stain painting; vacationing in Santa Fe, New Mexico and the hippie culture there; how her trip to India in 1971 influenced her to use more color and primitive motifs in her work; embracing the Women's Liberation Movement; summers in Long Island and her trip to Bali. Barr also recalls Gwen Davies, John McAndrew, Alexander Calder, Chick Austin, Sydney Friedberg, Leo Steinberg, Peggy Guggenheim, Diana Cowan, Bob Chamberlain, Joey Cabell, Peter Blum, Marino Marini, Ben Shahn, Mark Rothko, Jack Tworkov, Fritz Bultman, Alice Katz, Jim Brooks, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Mark Rauschenberg, Jim Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg, Bernard Berenson, Millard Meiss, Sydney Freedburg, Aline Saarinen, John Johansen, Jim Sobey, Nancy Graves, Richard Serra, Robert Fiore, Philip Glass, Peter Worshall, Michael Helminski, Marcia Tucker, Elke Solomon, Joan Snyder, Nancy Azara, Jane Kaufman, Pat Steir, Susan Hall, and John Giorno.
Biographical / Historical:
Victoria Barr (1937- ) is a set designer and painter from New York, New York.
General:
Originally recorded on 6 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav files. Duration is 10 hr., 6 min.
Sound quality is poor.
Provenance:
These interviews are 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 others.
Restrictions:
This transcript is open for research. Access to the entire recording is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Set designers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Women designers  Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Identifier:
AAA.barr77
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a75a1389-fdf3-459e-a79b-fc4234a33973
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-barr77
Online Media:

Teaching files

Collection Creator:
Arensberg, Conrad M. (Conrad Maynadier), 1910-1997  Search this
Extent:
11.6 Linear feet
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1938-1983
Scope and Contents:
This series contains Arensberg's files from his years as a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brooklyn College, Barnard College, and Columbia University. Throughout his extensive career in the university setting, Arensberg developed and refined many courses, advised numerous doctoral candidates, and engaged in intellectual endeavors with his colleagues through attending Columbia University seminars.

Each subseries represents a course topic Arensberg taught over the years in various forms. The bulk of material consists of resources Arensberg gathered for his classes.

Materials in this series consist of articles, papers, bibliographies, lecture notes, reading lists, assignments, exams, correspondence, meeting minutes, project proposals, and course syllabi.
Arrangement:
The series is divided into the following 11 subseries: (5.1) Applied Anthropology, 1953-1976; (5.2) Urban Anthropology, 1964-1977; (5.3) The People of the United States, 1946, undated; (5.4) Ethnic Groups, 1938-1961; (5.5) Peoples of the Old World-Europe and the Middle East, 1952-1979; (5.6) Peoples of the Old World-India and Asia, 1952-1979; (5.7) Community Studies in Complex Cultures, 1948-1977; (5.8) Industrial Society, 1938-1980; (5.9) Political Anthropology, 1955-1979; (5.10) Seminars, 1950-1983; (5.11) General, 1938-1979, undated.
Restrictions:
The grades of Arensberg's students are restricted.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Conrad M. Arensberg papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NAA.2011-17, Series 5
See more items in:
Conrad M. Arensberg papers
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3d4f3749e-f7f3-45b1-829c-e9c64e48e33d
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-2011-17-ref765

Esther Schiff Goldfrank papers

Creator:
Goldfrank, Esther Schiff  Search this
Extent:
7 Linear feet
Culture:
Niitsitapii (Blackfoot/Blackfeet)  Search this
Lakota (Teton/Western Sioux)  Search this
Diné (Navajo)  Search this
Indians of North America -- Great Plains  Search this
Kainai Blackfoot (Kainah/Blood)  Search this
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New  Search this
Sihasapa Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux)  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Manuscripts
Letters (correspondence)
Date:
1920-1980
Summary:
The Esther Schiff Goldfrank papers, 1920-1980, document her professional life in anthropology. Much of the field material and reading notes relate to Goldfrank's work on the Pueblos, Navahos, Blood, and Teton Dakota. There is also considerable material of colleagues. Some of this seems to have been given to her directly. Other material, particularly that of Ruth Benedict's Blackfoot project, was acquired by Margaret Mead and then sent to Goldfrank. Included are field notes or manuscript articles concerning the Blackfoot Indians by Benedict, Harry D. Biele, Marjorie Lismer, Jane Richardson, and George D. Spindler. Most of the photographs in the collection concern Goldfrank's early travels with Franz Boas or Harvey Biele's work with the Bloods. Copies of illustrations used in her autobiography are also included.
Scope and Contents:
These papers document the professional life of anthropologist Esther Schiff Goldfrank (b. 1896) through correspondence, arranged both alphabetically and chronologically; correspondence specifically referencing the Isleta paintings; manuscripts by Goldfrank; field, reading and typescript notes; material from other anthropologists; miscellaneous printed material such as articles, reports, papers and invitations; transparencies of artwork from Isleta paintings; facsimiles of the Joe B. Lente letters; and, photographs, mostly concerning Goldfrank's early travels with Franz Boas and Harvey Biele's work with the Bloods. The collection dates from 1920 through 1980.

Among correspondents whose letters are included in the papers, are David F. ABERLE, John ADAIR, M. F. ASHLEY-MONTAGUE, Victor BARNOUW, Ruth F. BENEDICT, Franz BOAS, Charles E. BORDEN, Henry B. COLLINS, Carlton S. COON, George DEVEREUX, Rene d'HARNONCOURT, Edward P. DOZIER, Fred R. EGGAN, Ward H. GOODENOUGH, Alfred I. HALLOWELL, June HANKS, Byron HARVEY III, Florence M. HAWLEY, E. Adamson HOEBEL, Alfred V. KIDDER, Solon T. KIMBALL, Clyde KLUCKHOLN, R. Weston LABARRE, Oliver LAFARGE, Dorothea C. LEIGHTON, Oscar LEWIS, Edward M. LOEB, John P. LUCERO, Margaret MEAD, Robert MURPHY, Morris OPLER, Elsie Clews PARSONS, Herbert PARSONS, Jane RICHARDSON, M. Estellie SMITH, Frank G. SPECK, Leslie SPIER, Morris SWADESH, Sol TAX, Mischa TITIEV, Caroline TRUJILLO, Leslie A. WHITE, Nathalie F. S. WOODBURY, and Richard B. WOODBURY.

The bulk of the material concerns Goldfrank's work on the genesis and publication of the Isleta paintings and her research on and fieldwork with the Pueblo, Navaho, Blood and Teton Dakota. Additionally, there are field notes and manuscript articles by Ruth F. Benedict, Harry D. Biele, Marjorie Lismer, Jane Richardson, and George D. Spindler.

There is also a good deal of autobiographical material and information about her interaction with other anthropologists (Franz Boas and Ruth F. Benedict among others) in the various drafts of Goldfrank's privately published autobiography, "Notes on an Undirected Life" (1978).
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into the following series: (1) Correspondence arranged by correspondent or subject; (2) Correspondence arranged in chronological order, 1922-1950; (3) Correspondence arranged in chronological order, 1951-1980; (4) Manuscripts by Goldfrank; (5) Isleta paintings, 1949-1976, undated; (6) Blackfoot and Blood Indians; (7) Navajo and Pueblo Indians; (8) Teton Dakota (Sioux) Indians; (9) Miscellany; (10) Photographs.
Biographical Note:
Esther Schiff Goldfrank took an undergraduate course under Franz Boas when she was a student at Barnard College. This led to her becoming his secretary between 1919 and 1922 and, at the same time, taking graduate courses in anthropology at Columbia University. With the financial and intellectual assistance of Elsie Clews Parsons, she also traveled with Boas and his wife in the Southwest and carried out anthropological field work at Laguna and Cochiti Pueblos between 1920 and 1922. Out of this work came her Social and Ceremonial Organization of Chochiti, Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, number 23, 1927.

Although she married Walter Goldfrank in 1922 and became a homemaker, her interest in Pueblo life continued. In 1924, she carried out field work at Isleta for the Southwest Society under arrangements made by Parsons.

After her husband's death in 1935, Goldfrank worked for Caroline Zachry's Study of Adolescents for the Commission on Secondary School Curriculum of the Progressive Education Association and, later, became a nondegree graduate student in anthropology, again at Columbia University, In 1939, she took part in a program of field studies of four Blackfoot tribes that was directed Ruth Fulton Benedict. The purpose of the program was to determine differences in the effects of American and Canadian policies on similar cultures.

Goldfrank's work was among the Blood Indians of Canada, and she reported it in her Changing Configurations in the Social Organization of a Blackfoot Tribe during the Reserve Period, J. J. Austin, 1945.

In 1940, Goldfrank married Karl A. Wittfogel and, in 1943, became staff anthropologist for the Chinese History Project, which her husband directed. Shortly after her marriage, she undertook work on historical aspects of Teton Dakota culture through library studies. Her interest in Pueblo cultures continued, however, and she contributed two major publications concerning them. In 1962, under her editorship, Elsie Clews Parsons' Isleta Paintings was published as Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 181. In 1967, her own The Artist of "Isleta Paintings" in Pueblo Society was issued as Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, volume 3.

Under the influence of her husband, she also became interested in the implications for southwestern cultures of the need to control water.

Goldfrank was active with several anthropological organizations but especially with the American Ethnological Society. She served as its secretary-treasurer in 1945-1947 and its president in 1948. In the latter position, she was particularly concerned with the constitution of the society and, especially, its anomolous relationship with the American Anthropological Association. She was also the society's editor from 1952 to 1956.

Chronology

1896 -- Born

1918 -- Bachelor of Arts, Barnard College

1919-1922 -- Took graduate courses in anthropology at Columbia University Became secretary to Franz Boas Conducted field work with Franz Boas among the Indians at Laguna and Cochiti

1922 -- Married Walter S. Goldfrank

1924 -- Pursued field work at Isleta for the Southwest Society

1927 -- Published Monograph, "The Social and Ceremonial Organization of Cochiti," Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, number 23, 1927

1935 -- Death of Walter S. Goldfrank

1939 -- Took part in a study of four Blackfoot tribes directed by Ruth F. Benedict

1940 -- Married Karl A. Wittfogel

1943 -- Became staff anthropologist for Wittfogel's Chinese HistoryProject

1944 -- Published Monograph, "Changing Configurations in the Social Organization of a Blackfoot Tribe During the Reserve Period," J. J. Austin, 1945

1945-1947 -- Served as Secretary-Treasurer of the American Ethnological Society

1948 -- Served as President of the American Ethnological Society

1952-1956 -- Publication of "Isleta Paintings,"Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 181, with Introduction and Commentary by Elsie ClewsParsons and edited by Esther S. Goldfrank Served as editor for the American Ethnological Society

1967 -- Goldfrank's "Artist of 'Isleta Paintings' in Pueblo Society" was issued as Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, volume 3

1978 -- Publication of the Memoirs of Esther S. Goldfrank, entitled, "Notes on an Undirected Life," New York, Queens College, 1978

1988 -- Death of Karl A. Wittfogel

1997 April 23 -- Died
Provenance:
The papers were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Esther Schiff Goldfrank in 1982. A small addition was made in 1984.
Restrictions:
The Esther Schiff Goldfrank papers are open for research.
Rights:
Restrictions on the use of the material specify that living informants are not to be mentioned in publications; no material is to be used to defame any individual; and, transparencies of the Isleta Paintings and copies of Joe B. Lente's letters cannot be reproduced (copies should be obtained from the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia).
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Manuscripts
Letters (correspondence)
Citation:
Esther Schiff Goldfrank papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NAA.1982-24
See more items in:
Esther Schiff Goldfrank papers
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3a4a9fcf3-c1a3-4b8f-a8a9-11f5ee68f8ec
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-naa-1982-24

Boas Conference-Barnard College

Collection Creator:
Sturtevant, William C.  Search this
Container:
Box 352
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1992
Collection Restrictions:
Files containing Sturtevant's students' grades have been restricted, as have his students' and colleagues' grant and fellowships applications. Restricted files were separated and placed at the end of their respective series in boxes 87, 264, 322, 389-394, 435-436, 448, 468, and 483. For preservation reasons, his computer files are also restricted. Seminole sound recordings are restricted. Access to the William C. Sturtevant Papers requires an apointment.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
William C. Sturtevant papers, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
William C. Sturtevant papers
William C. Sturtevant papers / Series 4: Professional Activities / 4.2: Lectures & Conferences
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3e69eb83a-722f-4a98-93ee-91c610ba58ef
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-2008-24-ref9846

Student Files

Collection Creator:
Kerewsky-Halpern, Barbara  Search this
Halpern, Joel Martin  Search this
Extent:
1.5 Linear feet
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1946-1955, 1968-1979
Scope and Contents note:
Halpern was a student at New York University, University of Michigan, and Columbia University, while Kerewsky-Halpern studied at Barnard College and University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This series contains their files as students at these universities. Halpern's files include his notes and syllabi from courses taught by a number of prominent anthropologists such as Conrad Arensberg, Morton Fried, Alfred Kroeber, and Margaret Mead. Additional syllabi from his professors at Columbia University can also be found in Series 6. Teaching Files.
Collection Restrictions:
All except Series 9. Photographs is stored off-site. Advance notice must be given to view off-site materials.

Access to materials containing social security numbers; Halpern's students' graded materials; and manuscripts and grant applications sent to Halpern for review is restricted. Additional materials have also been restricted at Halpern's request.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.

Please note that some of the materials in the collection are copies made by Joel M. Halpern; the originals are most likely deposited at other archives. For these materials, permission will need to be obtained from the repositories where the originals are held. See Related Collections for a list of repositories.
Identifier:
NAA.1986-17, Series 5
See more items in:
Joel Martin Halpern and Barbara Kerewsky-Halpern papers
Archival Repository:
National Anthropological Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw331472708-7849-451d-a1ca-152b75614e43
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-naa-1986-17-ref1132

Newspaper Clippings

Collection Creator:
Beach, Chester, 1881-1956  Search this
Container:
Box 4, Folder 29
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1945-1966
Collection 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. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and not served to researchers.
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:
Chester Beach papers, 1846-1999, bulk circa 1900-1999. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Chester Beach papers
Chester Beach papers / Series 9: Printed Material / About/Mentioning Beach
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9fa28f41e-db4d-4a82-98b5-415c0e53844c
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-beacches-ref327
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Playbill for Guys and Dolls

Published by:
Playbill, American, founded 1884  Search this
Used by:
Broadway Theatre, American, founded 1924  Search this
Subject of:
Norma Donaldson, American, 1928 - 1994  Search this
Robert Guillaume, American, born 1927  Search this
Ernestine Jackson, American  Search this
Jimmy Randolph  Search this
Edye Byrde, American, 1929 - 1999  Search this
Clark Morgan, American, 1920 - 1996  Search this
Christophe Pierre  Search this
Emmett "Babe" Wallace, American, 1909 - 2006  Search this
Ken Page, American, born 1954  Search this
Medium:
ink on paper
Dimensions:
H x W: 9 x 5 5/8 in. (22.9 x 14.3 cm)
Type:
theater programs
Place used:
New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
Date:
1977
Topic:
African American  Search this
Actors  Search this
Broadway Theatre  Search this
Musical Theatre  Search this
Credit Line:
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Kayla Deigh Owens
Object number:
2011.45.38
Restrictions & Rights:
Playbill used by permission. All rights reserved, Playbill Inc
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
See more items in:
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification:
Memorabilia and Ephemera
Data Source:
National Museum of African American History and Culture
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5d6e9033a-9b65-43c0-b18e-71b65302bd03
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmaahc_2011.45.38
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  • View Playbill for Guys and Dolls digital asset number 1
Online Media:

Biographical Data and Chronologies

Collection Creator:
Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this
Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984  Search this
Container:
Box 7, Folder 14
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1964-1983, undated
Collection Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website.
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:
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner papers, circa 1914-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner papers
Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner papers / Series 2: Lee Krasner Papers / 2.1: Biographical Material
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw94b0d8ec7-f1fe-4d08-b41c-2ba3d8d636e1
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-polljack-ref235
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Ukeles, Mierle Laderman

Collection Creator:
Lippard, Lucy R.  Search this
Container:
Box 19, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1977-1988
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. 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:
Lucy R. Lippard papers, 1930s-2007, bulk 1960s-1990s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Lucy R. Lippard papers
Lucy R. Lippard papers / Series 2: Correspondence / 2.1: Correspondence by Name
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw95f02fe06-c71b-4dc4-a46a-d4790ab69956
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-lipplucy-ref2036
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Student Appraisals and Other Material

Collection Creator:
McCausland, Elizabeth, 1899-1965  Search this
Container:
Box 27, Folder 17
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1956-1957
Collection 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.
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:
Elizabeth McCausland papers, 1838-1995, bulk 1920-1960. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Elizabeth McCausland papers
Elizabeth McCausland papers / Series 10: Teaching Files / Barnard College
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9bf74a499-4466-42f2-99c4-0a994847dac6
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-mccaeliz-ref1004

The girl explorers the untold story of the globetrotting women who trekked, flew, and fought their way around the world Jayne Zanglein

Author:
Zanglein, Jayne 1954-  Search this
Physical description:
1 online resource (xxxvii, 376 pages) illustrations, maps
Type:
Electronic resources
Electronic books
Date:
2021
Topic:
Women explorers  Search this
Exploratrices  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1155937

Clippings

Collection Creator:
Reid, Robert Dennis, 1924-2000  Search this
Container:
Box 1, Folder 3
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1963-1975, circa 1960s
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
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:
Robert Dennis Reid papers, 1961-1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Robert Dennis Reid papers
Robert Dennis Reid papers / Series 3: Printed Material
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9aea43517-5361-4151-9396-9ea9910d83bc
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-reidrobd-ref20
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Zora Neale Hurston critical perspectives past and present edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and K.A. Appiah

Author:
Gates, Henry Louis Jr  Search this
Appiah, Anthony  Search this
Physical description:
xv, 330 pages 24 cm
Type:
Texts
Aufsatzsammlung
Criticism, interpretation, etc
History
Place:
Southern States
Date:
1993
20th century
Topic:
Women and literature--History  Search this
African Americans in literature  Search this
Folklore in literature  Search this
Noirs américains dans la littérature  Search this
18.06 Anglo-American literature  Search this
Women and literature  Search this
Aufsatzsammlung  Search this
Hurston, Zora Neale--Criticism and interpretation  Search this
Women and literature--History--20th century--Southern States  Search this
Data Source:
Smithsonian Libraries
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_sil_1112970

Elayne Zorn Collection

Author:
Zorn, Elayne  Search this
Names:
American Anthropological Association  Search this
Brooklyn Museum of Art  Search this
University of Central Florida. Department of Sociology & Anthropology  Search this
Cahlander, Adele  Search this
Former owner:
California Academy of Sciences. Anthropology Department  Search this
Textile Museum (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Cutipa Lima, Juan de Dios  Search this
Extent:
1,474 Photographic prints
11526 Negatives (photographic)
10 Videocassettes
11 Linear feet
57 Sound recordings (57 cassette tapes.)
11412 Slides (photographs)
Culture:
Quechua  Search this
Aymara  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographic prints
Negatives (photographic)
Videocassettes
Sound recordings
Slides (photographs)
Negatives
Research
Audiocassettes
Writings
Field notes
Place:
Sacaca (Bolivia)
Potosí (Bolivia : Dept.) -- Description and travel.
Puno (Peru : Dept.)
Andes Region -- Economic integration.
Taquili (Peru) -- Economic conditions
Peru
Taquili (Peru) -- Social life and customs
Date:
1971-2010
Summary:
The Elayne Zorn Collection measures 11 linear feet and contains thousands of photographic objects including negatives, slides and prints. The collection material spans the years of Zorn's professional and student activity in the fields of anthropology and Latin American studies from around 1975 until 2010. The material in this collection reflects Zorn's long association with the community in Taquile, Peru which led up to the publication of her book, Weaving a Future, in 2004. Zorn also spent a significant amount of time conducting field research in Andean communities in Bolivia examining the relationships between tourism and textiles. Zorn's additional professional activities included serving as a textile collector and expert advisor for museum collections and exhibitions as well as performing academic duties at the University of Central Florida.
Scope and Contents:
The Elayne Zorn Collection spans the years of Zorn's professional and student activity in the fields of anthropology and Latin American studies from 1975 until 2010. This includes material from Zorn's field research in the Andean Regions of Peru and Bolivia as well as her professional activities as a textile collector and expert advisor for museum collections and exhibitions. This collection is arranged into six series with additional subseries. Series 1, Field Research, includes field notebooks, correspondence, and general research from Taquile, Peru, Sakaka, Bolivia and La Paz, Bolivia. Series 2, Professional Activities, includes presentation and lecture notes, object catalogs for various museum collections and Zorn's academic work conducted at the University of Central Florida. Series 3, Publications and Writings, contains both articles written by Zorn, including her Master's thesis and dissertation, and articles published by colleagues. Series 4, Ephemera and Miscellaneous, contains a variety of materials including posters, postcards, datebooks and calendars as well as material gathered by Zorn's former husband, Juan Cutipa. Series 5, Photographs, includes negatives, slides, prints and digital media that document Zorn's work in the field. The bulk of the photographs capture the daily lives of weavers as well as important community holidays and festivals. Series 6, Audio-Visual Materials, includes a small amount of VHS tapes as well as audio-cassettes on which Zorn recorded traditional Andean music performed at festivals she attended in Peru and Bolivia.
Arrangement:
Series 1: Field Research, 1975-2006

Subseries 1.1: Taquile, Peru, 1975-1994 [1977-1981]

Subseries 1.2: Sakaka, Bolivia, 1985-1994

Subseries 1.3: La Paz, Bolivia, 2006

Subseries 1.4: Miscellaneous Field Notes, 1976-2006

Series 2: Professional Activities, 1978-2010

Subseries 2.1: Conferences and Presentations, 1977-2009

Subseries 2.2: Museum Work, 1976-2008

Subseries 2.3: General, 1976-2010

Series 3: Publications and Writings, 1979-2009

Subseries 3.1: Elayne Zorn, 1979-2009

Subseries 3.2: Other Authors, 1979-2005

Series 4: Ephemera and Miscellaneous, 1975-2009

Series 5: Photographs, 1970-2006

Subseries 5.1: Negatives, 1976-1997

Subseries 5.2: Slides, 1970-2002

Subseries 5.3: Prints, 1978-2000

Subseries 5.4: Digital Media, 2002-2006

Series 6: Audio-Visual Materials, 1983-1994

Subseries 6.1: Cassette Tapes, 1983-1991

Subseries 6.2: Videotapes, 1991-1994
Biographical / Historical:
Elayne Leslie Zorn was born on February 3, 1952 in New York City. She attended Hunter College High School and Barnard College. She received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree in Textile Arts from the California College of the Arts in 1975. She then began a long association with the community on the Island of Taquile, in the Puno region of Peru, conducting fieldwork on native weaving techniques. She also began a long-term affiliation with the Museo Nacional de Etnografia y Folklore in La Paz, Bolivia and collected textiles in the Macusani region of Peru for an exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences. She received her Master's degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas, Austin in 1983, with fieldwork concentrated on economic development and tourism in Taquile, Peru. During her time in Peru in the 1970's and 1980's, Zorn became an accomplished musician, playing the charango and Bolivian mandolin in performances in Andean towns as well as in New York City. Zorn resumed graduate studies in 1985 at Cornell University where she received her Master of Arts degree in anthropology in 1987 followed by her Ph.D. in 1997. At Cornell she worked under the supervision of Professor Billie Jean Isbell and conducted much of her dissertation fieldwork in Sakaka, Bolivia focusing on the global transformation of cloth and identity in highland Andean regions. Zorn worked as a visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Colgate University from 1997 to 1998 and then hired as Professor of Anthropology at the University of Central Florida from 1998 until 2010. While at the University of Central Florida, Zorn received both teaching-related and research-related awards as well as grants to continue her fieldwork in the Andean regions of Peru and Bolivia. She also co-directed the PeruVine/PeruDigital Project, an interactive and immersive website to present field data from Peru's Institute of Ethnomusicology online. In 2004 Zorn published her book, Weaving a Future: Tourism, Cloth and Culture on an Andean Island (University of Iowa Press), an analysis of textile traditions as it relates to global change.

In addition to her academic duties, throughout her career Zorn collaborated with various museums and cultural institutions as a consultant and collector. These included, but are not limited to, The Brooklyn Museum, The Textile Museum, Smithsonian Center for Folklife Programs, UNICEF and the Inter-American Foundation. She was also a member of various professional societies including the American Anthropological Association, the Bolivian Studies Association, the Society for Latin American, Carribean, and Latino Studies as well as the Textile Society of America. Zorn passed away June 15, 2010 and was survived by her mother, Sandra Gordon, and her son, Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn.

Sources: http://anthropology.cos.ucf.edu/include/file/people/cv/zorn_elayne.pdf (Accessed May 01, 2012) http://digitalethnography.dm.ucf.edu/pv/Zorn.html (Accessed May 1, 2012)
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn, Elayne Zorn's son in April of 2011.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Due to their fragile nature, the Audio-Visual materials in this collection are closed to researchers until they have been digitized.
Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadbast materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
Tourism -- Andes Region  Search this
Women weavers -- Social life and customs -- Photographs  Search this
Festivals -- Bolivia -- Potosí  Search this
Textile fabrics -- Andes Region  Search this
Genre/Form:
Negatives
Research
Slides (photographs)
Audiocassettes
Writings
Field notes
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Collection Title, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NMAI.AC.022
See more items in:
Elayne Zorn Collection
Archival Repository:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4782fec11-25d0-4543-98fc-6cda92209c5d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmai-ac-022
Online Media:

Grace under pressure

Creator:
National Museum of American History  Search this
Type:
Blog posts
Smithsonian staff publications
Interviews
Blog posts
Published Date:
Mon, 24 Sep 2018 16:28:00 +0000
Topic:
American History  Search this
See more posts:
Blog Feed
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:posts_e220f9027e196ed44e484257eef96806

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