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:
Janice Lowry papers, 1957-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Descriptive Summary: An Ernie Smith compilation reel:
1. Nautical and Nice: A Musical Review
Copyright: 1946
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Bob Kennedy and the Seashore Sweeties
Song Title(s): "She Looks Cute in Her Bathing Suit", vocals by Kennedy
2. Minnie the Mermaid
Copyright: 1942
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Redd Harper and Julianne Merritt
Song Title(s): "Minnie the Mermaid", vocals by a male chorus
3. Treasure Chest
Copyright: 1945 Performance Date:
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Fred Scott and crystal White
Song Title(s): "Treasure Chest"
4. Music With Spice Reel Four - Blushing Bride
Performer(s): Jack Gately
Song Title(s): "Blushing Bride" sung by an unidentified male trio
5. I'd Love to Know You Better
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Gayle Mellott and Ralph Young
Song Title(s): "I'd Love to Know You Better"
6. Dance of Shame
Performer(s): Faith Bacon
7. Music With Spice Reel Five - Who's Yehoodi?
Copyright: 1943
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Lane Truesdale
Song Title(s): "Who's Yehoodi?", performed by an unidentified male trio and Truesdale
8. There'll Be Some Changes Made
Copyright: 1941
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Ginger Harmon
Song Title(s): "There'll Be Some Changes Made", vocals by Harmon
9. Artist Model
Copyright: 1942
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Sally Rand
Song Title(s): unidentified string composition
10. Music With Spice Reel Six - Give This Little Girl a Great Big Hand
Copyright: 1942
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Ann Pennington and unidentified others
Song Title(s): "Give This Little Girl a Great Big Hand"
11. But What Are These?
Copyright: 1946
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Grace Barrie
Song Title(s): "But What Are These?", vocals by Barrie
12. A Lady With Fans
Copyright: 1942
Corporate Creator: Official Films
Performer(s): Faith Bacon
Descriptive Summary: a fan dance
Video reference copy available.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the films are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
America's Jazz Heritage: A Partnership of the The Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and the Smithsonian Institution provided the funding to produce many of the video master and reference copies.
The Maid of Cotton (MOC) beauty pageant was sponsored by the National Cotton Council, Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans from 1939-1993. The contest was held annually in Memphis, Tennessee until the National Cotton Council and Cotton Council International moved to Dallas, Texas. Beginning with the 1985 pageant (held December 1984) the competition was held in Dallas. The pageant was discontinued in 1993 due to lack of funds, a sponsor, and changes in marketing strategies. The records include files on contestants, photographs, and scrapbooks.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains the records for the Maid of Cotton pageant (1939-1993) sponsored by the National Cotton Council (NCC), Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans. The collection consists of approximately 38 cubic feet of records created by the NCC in the course of operating the Maid of Cotton contest from 1939 to 1993. The records form the complete archive of this fifty-four year program. The records include administrative files, scrapbooks, photographs, slides, and videotapes.
"One of the main values of the Maid of Cotton collection is its completeness. These are all of the official records of the program, documenting all of its activities throughout its entire existence from 1939 to 1993. As such, it represents a truly unique documentary record and opportunity for research.
Beauty contests have been the subject of serious scholarly study for many years. A search of WorldCat reveals over fifty books on the topic. Scholars have found the subject to be a fruitful springboard from which to study a wide variety of topics, primarily centered around issues of beauty, femininity, culture values, national identity, racism, and feminism.
Beauty pageants serve as symbols that reflect the values of American culture. For example, pageant winners have symbolized the advances made by formerly disenfranchised groups. Vanessa Williams, the first African American to win the Miss America crown (1983), rewrote the definition of beauty in America, and Heather Whitestone, the first deaf Miss America (1995), proved that physical handicaps need not hold anyone back from their dreams. Pageants can provide a focus for the re-examination of our society and culture. The tragic murder of six-year-old Jonbenet Ramsey in 1996 provided a window into what author Susan Anderson calls "the extravagant world of child beauty pageants," that led to public debate about issues of motherhood and adolescence.
In addition, beauty pageants can be viewed in advertising terms: they are the ultimate expression of the tried and true adage that sex sells. All pageants have sponsors and all sponsors want their products to be seen in a positive light. Some sponsors are content to contribute goods and services to the contestants --a new car, a trip to the Caribbean, a fur coat, etc. --so that their generosity can be noted in the publicity surrounding the contest. Others prefer to sponsor the entire program. The Miss Universe contest, for example, was created in 1952 by the Jantzen Company specifically to enable the company to showcase pretty girls wearing its swimsuits. Jantzen abruptly withdrew its previous support of the Miss America pageant when Yolande Betbeze refused to wear a bathing suit during her reign as Miss America 1951. The Maid of Cotton pageant is a highly organized, year-long, very visible public relations program that allows the National Cotton Council to showcase the wonders of cotton through the wonders of young beauty queens. Attractive young women are the perfect vehicle for promoting fashionable fabrics made from cotton.
Cotton --the product at the heart of the Maid of Cotton program --has been central to American economic and political history. NMAH's collecting and research interests reflect this. The Division of Work & Industry contains numerous cotton-related objects and much documentation on the subject. The Archives Center holds several cotton-related collections, including the Peter Paul Haring Papers, 1897-1935, documenting Haring's development of cotton picking machinery; the Lockwood Greene collection of thousands of engineering drawings, many of which were for textile mills; the Robert L. Shurr Script and Scrapbook for a 1939 biographical motion picture on Dr. George Washington Carver; and the Southern Agriculture Oral History Project Records, 1985-1992, which documents modern cotton farming through photography and oral history interviews. In addition, all aspects of cotton production, from farm to factory to finished goods, are documented in several hundred photos in the Underwood & Underwood Agricultural Photonegative Collection, the Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, the Division of Work & Industry Lantern Slide Collection, and the Donald Sultner-Welles Photograph Collection. Cultural aspects of cotton can be discovered in both the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana and in the DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music." (Orr, Craig. "NMAH Collections Committee", memorandum, 2009)
Series 1, Organizational and Pageant Files, 1939-1993, undated., is arranged chronologically by year. Files may contain correspondence, photographs, news clippings, radio commercial scripts, tear sheets, itineraries, trip reports, sheet music, legal documents, waivers, and permissions, and other material related to the Maid of Cotton pageant for that year. Files may also contain subsequent personal information on the Maid of Cotton for that year, for example change of address, news clippings, and the like. This series contains finalist files, trip files and tour report files.
Series 2, Photographs, Slides, and Transparencies, 1939-1994, undated., is arranged chronologically by year. This series contains photographs, slides, and transparencies related to the Maid of Cotton and her travels throughout the United States and overseas. It also contains photographs of the fashions worn by each Maid.
Series 3, Scrapbooks, 1951-1988, contains the scrapbooks created by the National Cotton Council office as well as scrapbooks created by the Maids themselves or others for her. Scrapbooks most often contain news clippings, ephemera, and sometimes correspondence.
Series 4, Audio-Visual, 1991-1993. This series contains video and audio related to the Maid of Cotton. It is currently unprocessed.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1: Organizational and Pageant Files, 1939-1993, undated
Subseries 1.1: Maid of Cotton files, 1939-1993
Subseries 1.2: Little Miss Cotton, 1956-1963, undated
Series 2: Photographs, Slides, and Transparencies, 1939-1994, undated
Subseries 2.1: Photographic Negatives and Transparencies, 1939-1993, undated
Subseries 2.2: Slides, 1939-1993, undated
Series 3: Scrapbooks, 1951-1988
Series 4: Audio-Visual, 1991-1993, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The Maid of Cotton pageant began in 1939. The annual pageant was sponsored by the National Cotton Council (NCC), Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans. The pageant was held in Memphis, Tennessee, in conjunction with the Carnival until the 1980s.
In mid-December every year the NCC released a list of contestants. Contestants were required to have been born in one of the cotton-producing states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas or Virginia. They might have also been born in the cotton-producing counties of Alexander, Jefferson, Massac, Pulaski, Williamson or Madison, Illinois or in Clark or Nye counties of Nevada. There were usually twenty contestants each year.
Contestants were judged on personality, good manners, intelligence, and family background as well as beauty and an ability to model. A Top Ten were chosen and then a Top Five, and finally second and first runners up and a winner. Winners served as goodwill and fashion ambassadors of the cotton industry in a five-month, all-expense tour of American cities. In the mid-1950s the tour expanded globally. In the late 1950s a Little Miss Cotton pageant was begun but lasted only until 1963 before being discontinued. In the mid-1980s Dallas,Texas took over the pageant, in conjunction with the NCC and its overseas division, Cotton Council International. In 1986, to bolster interest and participation, the NCC eliminated the rule requiring contestants to be born in a cotton-producing state. The pageant was discontinued in 1993, one of the reasons being that Cotton Inc. stopped contributing scholarship money as well as waning public interest and changing marketing strategies. (pageantopolis.com website accessed April 2012.)
"The National Cotton Council is the official trade association of the cotton industry. The NCC was founded in 1939 to promote the interests of cotton farmers, ginners, brokers, and manufacturers from the Southern, cotton-growing states. Its mission evolved over the years as new uses for cotton and its byproducts have been found; as competition from synthetic fibers developed; as fashion tastes changed; as government regulation increased; and in response to foreign competition in both farming and manufacturing . The NCC website states that its modern-day mission is "to ensure the ability of all U.S. cotton industry segments to compete effectively and profitably in the raw cotton, oilseed and U.S.-manufactured product markets at home and abroad." Throughout its existence, the NCC has been the contact point for issues affecting its members, legislators in Congress, allied agribusiness, and consumers.
One of the first NCC programs undertaken by to promote the versatility and value of cotton to consumers was the Maid of Cotton program, begun in 1939. This consisted of a beauty pageant open to young women born in one of the seventeen southern cotton growing states. The contestants were evaluated on the basis of beauty, personality, poise, good manners, and intelligence; a family background in cotton production was especially helpful. The girls had to apply for selection to compete in the program. At first this was done directly to the Memphis-based program but eventually a system of state Maid of Cotton programs were established, whose winners went on to compete in the national Maid of Cotton contest. The Maid of Cotton received numerous prizes, whose value and variety tended to increase over the years. In the late 1940s, the program added a scholarship prize, probably in emulation of the Miss America contest. The Maid of Cotton pageant was held each December in Memphis as part of that city's Cotton Carnival festivities. The winner was featured prominently on her own float in the Cotton Carnival parade, was feted at prestigious Carnival events, and was treated as royalty wherever she went. Selection as the Maid of Cotton carried a high degree of status and mature ladies in the South to this day proudly identify themselves as such.
The Maid of Cotton's main function, once crowned, was to serve as a goodwill and fashion ambassador for cotton; any publicity she gained was automatically positive publicity for the cotton industry. Accompanied by an NCC-appointed manager, the Maids embarked on an all-expenses-paid tour. The Maids appeared in full regalia at public events such as county fairs, parades, and holiday events; starred in fashion shows featuring all-cotton outfits; gave speeches to local chambers of commerce and other groups; and in general were the attractive personification of the cotton industry wherever they went. At first, the tours concentrated on the cotton states but they were later extended to major cities outside the cotton belt and came to include visits to legislators on Capitol Hill. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Maids began touring internationally and in the 1970s and 1980s they frequently headed up fashion shows in Asia.
Over time, however, the publicity value of an industry-anointed beauty queen lost its attraction both to the public and --more importantly --to the press. In addition, the role of cotton in the South, particularly in Memphis, declined. In 1986 the contest was moved from Memphis to Dallas. Eventually the cotton industry withdrew its support for the program's scholarships; the 1993 Maid of Cotton was the last to be crowned." (Orr, Craig. "NMAH Collections Committee", memorandum, 2009)
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
National Cotton Council Records, circa 1960s-1980s (AC1177)
Southern Agriculture Oral History Project Records, 1986-1991 (AC0773)
Provenance:
This collection was donated by the Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange on October 14, 2009.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the negatives are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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.
The papers of New York-based painter, teacher and art director Anna Walinska measure 2.1 linear feet and date from 1927 to 2002, with the bulk of material from 1935 to 1980. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writings, travel diaries, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork, sketchbooks, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York-based painter, teacher and art director Anna Walinska measure 2.1 linear feet and date from 1927 to 2002, with the bulk of material from 1935 to 1980. The papers include biographical material, correspondence, writings, travel diaries, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork, sketchbooks, and photographs.
Biographical material consists of awards, certificates, curriculum vitae, biographical outlines, exhibition lists, passports and other material. There is a partial transcript from a radio interview of Anna Walinska. Also included are limited financial records.
Correspondence includes Anna Walinska's letters to her family from her 1954-1955 trip abroad to multiple countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. There is personal and professional correspondence with friends, artists and art institutions. Notable correspondents include Milton Avery, Louise Nevelson, Beata Welsing, Bracha Hacohen, William Littlefield, and Walinska's brother Louis Walinsky.
Writings consist of Walinska's notes, notebooks, lectures, essays, and a handwritten prospectus for Guild Art Gallery. There is one folder of writings by others about Walinska at the end of the series.
There are four travel diaries that describe Walinska's trip around the world from 1954-1955, during which she traveled to many countries, and later trips to locations such as Israel and Trinidad.
Printed Material include clippings about Anna Walinska, group and solo exhibition catalogs, announcements, event invitations, and course catalogs for the Master Institute of United Art in New York City, where Walinska taught painting and drawing classes.
There are three scrapbooks: one scrapbook is about Guild Art Gallery, the second scrapbook is about the Holocaust exhibition, the third oversized scrapbook documents Walinska's career and activities overall.
Artwork consists of two bound sketchbooks as well as drawings and sketches in a variety of mediums from pencil and ink to watercolors and oils.
Photographs are of Walinska, friends, family, artists, artwork, exhibition installations, and other subjects. One album includes photos of Anna Walinska and her travels, along with images of friends and colleagues. The second album includes photographs of Walinska's solo exhibition at Sunken Meadow Gallery (1959). There is also one folder of photocopies of photos of assorted artwork by Walinska.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1927-2002 (Box 1; 11 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1949-1995 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1935-circa 1983 (Box 1; 8 folders)
Series 4: Travel Diaries, 1954-1973 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1942-2002 (Boxes 1-2; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Scrapbooks, circa 1929-1980 (Boxes 2, 4; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork, circa 1929-1963 (Box 3; 5 folders)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1932-1980 (Box 3; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Anna Walinska (1906-1997) was a New York artist, teacher and gallery director who traveled widely and is most well known for her paintings related to the subject of the Holocaust.
Anna Walinska was born in London, England in 1906 to labor organization leader Ossip Walinsky and poet Rosa Newman Walinska. She had two siblings, Emily and Louis. The family immigrated to New York City in 1914, and Anna Walinska began studying at the Art Students League in 1918. In 1926, she travelled to Paris and studied art at the Academie de Grande Chaumier with Andre L'Hote. France was her primary residence until 1930.
In 1935, Walinska and artist Margaret Lefranc co-founded the Guild Art Gallery at West 57th Street in New York and gave Arshile Gorky his first solo exhibition in the city. The gallery closed its doors in 1937. In 1939, Walinska was the Assistant Creative Director of the Contemporary Art Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. During this time, Walinska also pursued her own art and exhibited work in numerous group shows.
From 1954 to 1955, Walinska traveled around the world, visiting the capitals and major cities of many countries in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Places she went included Japan, Burma (now known as Myanmar), Pakistan, Greece, Italy, France and Spain. During her four month stay in Burma, she painted a portrait of Prime Minister U Nu and she later became a highly respected portrait artist who painted numerous illustrious subjects such as First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, artists Louise Nevelson and Mark Rothko, and many others.
In 1957, Walinska became the artist-in-residence at the Riverside Museum where she also taught and exhibited with other artists. That same year, she had her first retrospective at the Jewish Museum in New York City.
Walinska exhibited widely and often. Holocaust: Paintings and Drawings, 1953-1978, which opened at the Museum of Religious Art at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, is probably the most well-known of her exhibitions and it traveled across the country to several other sites such as the War Memorial Building in Baltimore and Mercy College of Detroit. Works from this exhibition were acquired by multiple museums to become part of their permanent collections.
Walinkska died on December 19, 1997 at the age of 91 in New York City. In 1999, there was a retrospective of her work titled Echoes of the Holocaust: Paintings, Drawings, and Collage, 1940-1989 held at Clark University's Center for Holocaust Studies. The Onisaburo Gallery at New York's Interfaith Center also held a solo exhibition titled Portraits of Faith (2000). Her art is part of the collections at the Denver Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Rose Art Museum, and other museums.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also has the Guild Art Gallery records, which consists of material related to the gallery that was co-founded by Anna Walinska.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by Anna Walinska in two installations in 1976 and 1981. Rosina Rubin, Anna Walinska's niece, made a third donation of material in 2017.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., research center.
Occupation:
Gallery directors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian. Libraries) Search this
Extent:
6 Items (Black-and-white photographs, 3.5 x 3.75 in. - 6.5 x 12.25 in.)
Container:
Item M069b
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1900 - 1939
Scope and Contents note:
The collection includes: 1. Uncaptioned photo of Theodore Roosevelt and unidentified man viewing the Grand Canyon. 2. Mrs. Edmund Heller with pigmy mother and child in Africa. 3. Photo portrait of native African woman. 4. Unidentified white woman in bathing suit by water's edge. 5. Heller (?) with dead mountain gorilla; Heller holds rifle. 6. Heller with land iguana.
General note:
M069b is accession number in the Russell E. Train inventory list of the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History.
Collection Rights:
The collection is housed in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, which is open to researchers Monday through Friday in the afternoons, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.; morning visits are by appointment only. Please call (202) 633-1184 or email AskaLibrarian@si.edu for an appointment.
Beach scenes: people in bathing attire on beaches and in the water at Atlantic City, N.J., Asbury Park, N.J., and Narragansett, by B.W. Kilburn, C.H. Graves, and unidentified photographers.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site. Photographs must be handled with white cotton gloves, unless protected by plastic sleeves.
Series 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.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Persons:Josephine Wensler Warren, Harry Warren, Joan Warren and Harry Warren, Jr.
Content: A compilation reel of two reels, "Forest Hills-Roxbury Drive" I and II. Film was shot in New York City, Forest Hills, New York and Los Angeles, California. Film I begins on the rooftop of a New York City building with Josephine modeling a mink coat. Harry then models a man's dress top coat. Outisde, short of adults, dogs, and children. Harry Jr. and Joan perform a dance sequence outside of their home, various family members appear, Al Dubin arrives, adults, dogs, children, car shot Harry Jr. as John Dillinger or Frank Nitty, boys playing gangsters or Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents.Film II begins with Harry at what appears to be a Gypsy wagon, shots of Harry and Josephine and dogs, car shot, children (color footage begins) a limousine shot (possibly Warner Brothers Studios), Josephine modeling a coat, Harry walking to a beautiful car and getting in, Harry Jr. and friend at the same car, Josephine and dogs, Joan and friends, Josephine in a bathing suit, backyard of the Warren home in on Roxbury Drive in Los Angeles, Harry in bathing trunks mugging for the camera (black and white footage returns) pool house, Warren home, small boy.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the audiovisual materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy existsContact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Harry Warren Papers, 1909-2000, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Jophe Jones and Julia Riva.
Persons: Harry and Josephine Warren, Joan Warren, Dennis Jones, Arthur Freed, unidentified.
Content: Joan "Cookie" Warren's wedding to Dennis M. Jones. Sign reading, "Clune Murray"snow covered house (lodge?), sign reading "Lake ?", snow. Interiors: men sitting around, Josephine Warren, Joan, Various people mugging for the camera, poolside, Joan and Dennis, unidentified man in a period pair of swim trunks and sunglasses, Josephine in a bathing suit, swimming shots. Las Vegas, shot of the Flamingo Hotel and footage of cars.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the audiovisual materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy existsContact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Harry Warren Papers, 1909-2000, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Jophe Jones and Julia Riva.
Person: unidentified blonde woman
Content: An unidentified blond woman in a white pool dress by the pool, in a bikini bathing suite, various close-ups and action shots, appears to be a homemade screen test.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the audiovisual materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy existsContact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Harry Warren Papers, 1909-2000, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Jophe Jones and Julia Riva.
Scurlock, Robert S. (Saunders), 1917-1994 Search this
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005 Search this
Container:
Box 18
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1968 August 21
Scope and Contents note:
Job Number: 5442
Subject/Sitter: Bathing Suit Portraits
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Series Rights:
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Sports, Entertainment and Leisure Search this
Extent:
4.5 Cubic feet (8 boxes, 1 map folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Letters (correspondence)
Programs
Paper dolls
Interviews
Clippings
Awards
Photographs
Magazines (periodicals)
Advertisements
Date:
1910 - 2003
Summary:
Yolande Betbeze was crowned Miss America in September, 1950. During and after her reign she was influential in both the Civil Rights and Feminist movements. Her papers document her reign as Miss America, her life after Miss America, and the Miss America pageant itself.
Scope and Contents:
Scope and Content: This collection documents the life of Yolande Betbeze who reigned as Miss America 1951. Though the collection focuses heavily on the year of her reign from September 1950 to September 1951, it also includes information about her life before winning the Miss America pageant, the Miss Alabama and Miss America pageants of 1950, and her life post-Miss America. Visual imagery in the collection documents life and fashion in the 1950s through 2000. Newspaper articles offer evidence of the culture of the 1950s. This collection contains newspaper clippings, magazine articles, photographs, awards, and memorabilia of Miss America pageants throughout the twentieth century in the form of booklets, brochures, and paper dolls.
Series 1, Miss America Reign, 1950-1951, 1994, undated, includes newspaper articles, magazine articles, and awards from the House of Representatives, programs and brochures relating to Ms. Betbeze's activities as Miss America. All publicity articles—whether promotional or editorial-are included in this series. Betbeze traveled extensively during her reign, and her trips are documented here. Also included in this series are her visits to military installations, promotion of Miss America pageant sponsors, promotion of her own opera career, and most importantly her verbal attacks against the objectification of women in pageants while she wore the Miss America crown.
Subseries 1, Newspaper Clippings and Magazine Articles, 1950-1951, undated,
includes newspaper clippings about Betbeze during her reign as Miss America, documenting nearly every event she attended and delving into her love life and home life. The clippings are arranged by month and year from September 1950 through September 1951. The newspaper articles from Betbeze's reign that are without a date are arranged by topic behind the dated clippings. This subseries also includes several articles published in magazines about Betbeze during her reign. The articles are arranged in chronological order by year behind the newspaper clippings.
Subseries 2, Awards, 1950, includes awards given to Betbeze by the House of Representatives after she was named Miss America in Atlantic City, as well as an award by the town of Chickasaw naming Betbeze an honorary citizen.
Subseries 3, Programs and Brochures, 1950-1951, includes mini-photo books of Betbeze from her reign as Miss America, as well as pageant programs from pageants she attended as Miss America. It also includes programs and brochures of events she attended and participated in as Miss America, such as her Coronation Ball and a Symphony in Fashion runway show. The materials are arranged with the photograph books first, followed by pageant programs, then programs from various events.
Subseries 4, Promotional Advertisements, 1950-1951, includes promotional advertisements for Nash Automobile, the Official Car Company of Miss America, and Everglaze Fabric. These advertisements are arranged in chronological order.
Subseries 5, Materials Related to Miss America Reign, 1950-1951, 1994, includes material relevant to Betbeze's reign as Miss America, such as her schedule book from September 1950 to September 1951 and a 1994 interview regarding her life, her reign, and her beliefs. The materials are arranged in chronological order by year.
Series 2, Post-Miss America Reign, 1951-2001, undated, documents Betbeze's life after her reign as Miss America through newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and Betbeze's copy of pageant judging guidelines for Miss America 1957. It also documents the changing view of women from the 1950s through the turn of the twenty-first century. Betbeze pursued a career in opera after Miss America, but this career ended with her marriage to Matthew Fox. Materials also relate to her marriage to Matthew Fox, her relationship with Cherif Guellal, her life in Georgetown in Washington D.C in the 1960s, and her participation in later Miss America pageants.
Subseries 1, Newspaper Clippings and Magazine Articles, 1952-2001, undated, includes newspaper clippings and magazine articles about Betbeze after her reign as Miss America. They document her relationships, lifestyle, causes, and career. The clippings are arranged chronologically by year. The magazine articles are arranged chronologically by decade behind the newspaper clippings.
Subseries 2, Miss America Activities, 1957, comprises of Betbeze's copy of judging guidelines from the 1957 Miss America Pageant. It includes a schedule of events and the judging criteria for each woman, illustrating the changing perception of women in the United States of America from the 1950s through the twenty-first century.
Series 3, Photographs, 1950-2000, undated, documents Betbeze's life from the 1940s to the turn of the twenty-first century. It includes several photographs from her childhood and teen years. The majority of the series focuses on her reign as Miss America, including photos of her travels, glamour photos, publicity photos, and candid shots. It also includes photographs of Betbeze after her reign. There are negatives for several of the photographs. Photographs are arranged by topic.
Subseries 1, Pre-Miss America Reign, 1949-1950, contains Betbeze's life as a teenager and the Miss Alabama pageant. The photographs are arranged by topic.
Subseries 2, Miss America Reign, 1950-1951, undated, provides visual evidence enhancing the printed materials in the other series. It includes photographs of Betbeze's travels throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean. It also includes glamour photographs, candid shots, and publicity events that she attended as Miss America. There are a few photographs of her in a swimsuit. The photographs are arranged by topic.
Subseries 3, Post-Miss America Reign, 1951-2001, includes photographs of Betbeze in later life, especially at Miss America pageants in the 1990s. The photographs are arranged by topic.
Series 4, Materials Related to Miss America Pageants, 1910-2003, undated, documents the institution of the Miss America Pageant and its development throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. It includes memorabilia from Atlantic City, the pageants, and Miss America advertisements. It includes official pageant yearbooks and correspondence to Betbeze regarding the seventy-fifth anniversary of Miss America, including a booklet about the pageant. It also includes Miss America Through the Looking Glass (1985), a book documenting the Miss America Pageant from its inception to the 1980s.
Subseries 1, Official Pageant Yearbooks, 1946-2003, comprises of Official Pageant Yearbooks. They illustrate the changing fashions and culture surrounding the pageant. They are arranged in chronological order by year.
Subseries 2, Miss America Memorabilia, 1910-2001, undated, consists of memorabilia of the Miss America Pageant and Atlantic City. The materials include a package for a hairnet from the 1920s, advertisements using the Miss America label for Lucky Strike cigarettes, sheet music for the Miss America and Miss Alabama official songs, Miss America Through the Looking Glass, various stickers advertising the pageant and Atlantic City, Miss America paper dolls, cards and postcards. The memorabilia is arranged in chronological order by year.
Subseries 3, Seventy-fifth Anniversary of Miss America, 1995, includes correspondence between pageant directors and Betbeze regarding the seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Miss America Pageant, as well as a brochure about the pageant. The materials are arranged by type; first is the correspondence regarding the seventy-fifth anniversary, then the brochure advertising Miss America.
Series 5, Yolande Betbeze Personal Papers, 1949-1999, undated, documents life behind-the-scenes through telegrams and letters from friends and fans, invitations and Betbeze's schedule book as Miss America. It includes magazine articles and newspaper clippings from her pre-Miss America years, and the layout of an interview she gave in 1994.
Subseries 1, Personal Correspondence, 1950-1995, undated, consists of personal letters between Betbeze and her friends, including Lenora Slaughter, the head of the Miss America Pageant when Betbeze was Miss America. It also includes fan-mail and autograph requests. The correspondence is arranged chronologically by year.
Subseries 2, Telegrams, 1950-1951, consists of telegrams that Betbeze received as Miss America. They consist of well wishes for her reign, birthday, and Christmas. The telegrams are arranged chronologically by year.
Subseries 3, Newspaper Clippings and Magazine Articles, 1949-1950, consists of newspaper clippings and magazine articles saved by Betbeze. They include reviews of her performance as Musetta in La Boheme in Mobile in 1949 and articles about Matthew Fox. The clippings are arranged chronologically by month and year. The magazine articles are arranged by year behind the newspaper clippings.
Arrangement:
Tyhe collection is divided into five series.
Series 1: Miss America Reign, 1950-1951, 1994, undated
Subseries 1.1, Newspaper Clippings and Magazine Articles, 1950-1951, undated
Subseries 1.5, Materials Related to Miss America Reign, 1950-1994
Series 2: Post Miss America, 1952-2001, undated
Subseries 1, Newspaper Clippings and Magazine Articles, 1952-2001, undated
Subseries 2, Miss America Activities, 1957
Series 3: Photographs, 1950-2000, undated
Subseries 3.1, Pre-Miss America Reign, 1949-1950
Subseries 3.2, Miss America Reign, 1950-1951, undated
Subseries 3.3, Post Miss America Reign, 1951-2001
Series 4: Materials Related to Miss America Pageants, 1910-2003, undated
Subseries 4.1, Official Pageant Yearbooks, 1946-2003
Subseries 4.2, Miss America Memorabilia, 1910-2001, undated
Subseries 4.3, Seventy-fifth Anniversary of Miss America, 1995
Series 5: Yolande Betbeze Personal Papers, 1949-1999, undated
Subseries 5.1, Personal Correspondence, 1950-1995, undated
Subseries 5.2, Telegrams, 1950-1951
Subseries 5.3, Newspaper Clippings and Magazine Articles, 1949-1950
Biographical / Historical:
Yolande Betbeze, Miss America 1951, was born in 1929 in Mobile, Alabama. Her mother was of Basque ancestry, so Yolande ended up with a foreign sounding name and dark European looks, quite different from the general populace of Mobile. Early on she aspired to become a famous opera singer, and took voice lessons throughout her teenage years. In 1949 she starred as Musetta in Puccini's La Boheme, through the Mobile Opera Guild.
In 1950, Yolande entered the Miss Mobile Beauty Pageant, hoping to win and continue to state and national levels to receive a scholarship to study voice in New York City, or even abroad. When she entered the pageant she gave her age as 21, but at her next birthday in late 1950 (presumably her 22nd) she confessed that she had lied about her age. Really, she was 20 when she entered the Miss America pageant, and this was her 21st birthday.
She was crowned Miss Mobile, then Miss Alabama. In September 1950, she made her way to Atlantic City to compete for the title of Miss America. Newspapers in Alabama raved about her. Even journalists in the north predicted that Yolande would be crowned the next Miss America. In an interview, pageant director Lenora Slaughter says that from the moment she saw her she felt that Yolande would be crowned the next Miss America. During preliminaries, Yolande won first place in the swimsuit competition, while Miss Connecticut won first place in the talent competition. Nonetheless, Yolande wowed them with her singing. When she won the title of Miss America, her schedule quickly filled with singing engagements.
On September 9th, 1950, Yolande Betbeze was crowned Miss America. She became an overnight success due to her grace, poise, beauty, and talent. However, she had received an education at a convent school, and felt a bit squeamish about 'cheesecake poses' in a bathing suit. Every Miss America had done a swimsuit tour, even though it wasn't in their contracts that they must, and Yolande was expected to follow in their footsteps. But she wanted to be an opera star, not a pin-up girl, she declared. After winning Miss America, she refused to pose in a swimsuit unless she was going swimming.
The Catalina Swimwear Company, a sponsor of the Miss America pageant, did not like Yolande's stance on swimsuits. They contended that the Miss America pageant had become less focused on the beauty of the contestant and more on their talents and personality. They wanted to bring beauty back. They pulled their sponsorship and created a new pageant line which now includes Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA. This pageant focuses only on the physical beauty of a competitor. Even today there is no talent portion, and even the interview portion has been diluted.
Another issue of the Miss America pageant involved the marriage of a Miss America. Though Yolande had no plans to marry, or even a boyfriend, the papers certainly wanted to know the details surrounding her love-life and ability to marry with the title Miss America. Yolande explained that she received an extra $4000 for staying single throughout the year, but if she wanted to marry she could ask permission from the 18 pageant directors. "Wouldn't it be easier to wait a year?" she asked.
Her year as Miss America was an eventful one. She traveled throughout the United States, the Bahamas, Mexico, France, and Italy. She met with Congressmen, foreign leaders, opera stars, and famous fashion designers. According to Lenora Slaughter, Yolande had the fullest schedule of any Miss America to that date. Everyone agreed that she had put class into the Miss America pageant.
After her reign, she was succeeded as Miss America by Colleen Kay Hutchins, originally Miss Utah. The two became friends and Yolande was in Colleen's wedding some years later. Yolande took up philanthropic causes—fighting for racial equality in the pageants, for instance. She also marched in civil rights demonstrations, participated in sit-ins, and marched in a feminist demonstration in Atlantic City. In 1954 she married a motion picture and television producer, Matthew Fox. They had one daughter before his death in 1964. After she was widowed, Yolande moved to Georgetown in the District of Columbia, where she lives to this day.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History
The Miss America 1943 [Jean Bartel] Photographs, 1943-1944 (AC0902)
Separated Materials:
The Division of Work and Industry, Natiuonal Museum of American Historu holds artifacts related to this collection: the Miss America crown, scepter, and sash of 1950-1951, worn by the donor, and the Miss Alabama sash and Miss America ribbon of 1950-1951.
Provenance:
Donated by Yolande Betbeze in 2005.
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. Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark.
Includes children with sparklers, with molten metal sparks in background, Aliquippa, Pa. Set includes beach umbrella, with parents, boy and girl in bathing suits. 360-E in white ink on film.
Local Numbers:
AC0314-0000007.tif (Scan No.
General:
From Box 8, folder 6.
Restrictions:
Photographs must be handled with cotton gloves unless protected by sleeves.
Collection 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.
Travel diary written by Marion Spencer Hall while on a trip across Europe in 1928..
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection 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.
An account of Mr. Craton's life from his birth on June 23, 1902 to January 1, 1924. Written in 1972, from old letters, genealogical materials collected by Mr. Craton's mother and memory.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Forman H. Craton Collection, 1902-1983, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
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.
Collection Citation:
Forman H. Craton Collection, 1902-1983, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Based on a few diary entries, letters to his mother and memory. Divided into Home, Friends, and the General Electric Co. Written in 1973.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Forman H. Craton Collection, 1902-1983, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
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.
Collection Citation:
Forman H. Craton Collection, 1902-1983, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
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.
Collection Citation:
Forman H. Craton Collection, 1902-1983, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
![View [Marion Spencer Hall's Travel Diary] digital asset: [Marion Spencer Hall's Travel Diary]](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=120&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/electronicresource.gif "[Marion Spencer Hall's Travel Diary]")
