General correspondence files contain all communications that do not pertain to a specific project. Because Friedman's personal life and business were so interconnected, many of his business associates also shared personal correspondence with the designer.,Materials in this collection document Friedman's work from 1967, as a student, until his death in 1995.
Files that document his affiliations with Yale University and the State University of New York at Purchase include administrative memos, proposals, lecture outlines, syllabi, bibliographies, examples of students' work, and design projects Friedman did for each school. A copy of the goals and objectives of the Division of Visual Arts within the School of the Arts at SUNY Purchase written by Friedman is included.
Project files include business correspondence, invoices, sketches, contracts, clippings, photographs, and slides. In the case of his graphic projects, some samples of stationery and brochures are included. Extensive documentation exists for Friedman's projects for Citibank, WilliWear, National Public Radio, and Bonwit Teller. Some correspondence is in German. Friedman's lecture notes, proposals for articles and books, and drafts of many articles are included. Clippings of articles on the designer and his work are arranged chronologically.
Research files consist of articles and Friedman's notes on topics of interest to him, such as typography, structure, simultaneity, and information theory. Photographs, slides, and transparencies of many of Friedman's projects, his sources of inspiration, and the work of his students are included.
Arrangement:
Record Groups include:
1: General Correspondence
2: University Affiliations
3: Project Files
4: Lectures and Writings
5: Clippings
6: Research Materials
7: Photographs and Slides
Biographical / Historical:
Educator, graphic and furniture designer. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, 1945. Friedman recieved a BFA from Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburg, PA. He studied graphic design at Hochschule fur Gestaltung, Ulm, and studied with Armin Hofmann and Wolfgang Weingart at Allgemeine Gewerbeschule, Basel. Friedman returned to America in 1969 and began his career as graphic designer for large corporations.
He worked with the firm Anspach Grossman Portugal as a senior designer from 1975 to 1977. Friedman contributed significantly to what came to be known as "post-modern" or "new wave" typography in the 1970s. He taught graphic design at Yale University, 1970-73. He became Assistant Professor and Chairman of the Board of Study in Design at the State University of New York at Purchase, 1972-1975. Friedman designed catalogs and brochures for both universities. Friedman worked with Pentagram Design in New York City from 1979 to 1984. He designed corporate identity programs, posters, publications, packaging, letterheads, and logos, for clients such as Citibank, and Williwear.
Friedman was a long-time friend of artist Keith Haring, and designed the book, "Keith Haring", 1982. He was the author of "Dan Friedman: Radical Modernism", 1994, and co-authored with Jeffrey Deitch, "Cultural Geometry", 1988, and "Artificial Nature", 1990. He designed the books "New Italian Design", 1990, and "Post Human", 1992. He also designed furniture, lighting, screens, wall elements, and interiors. Many of his furniture designs were done especially for Galerie Noetu in Paris. Among his best known furniture designs are the 1989 Virgin Screen, 1989 Zoid sofa and chair, and the Three Mile Island lamps.
Friedman served as the Frank Stanton Professor of Graphic Design at the Cooper Union in New York city, from 1994 until his death in 1995.
Related Materials:
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Drawings and Prints Department
Hundreds of designs for letterheads, logos, business cards, invitations, greeting cards, furniture, lighting, screens, office interiors, shoppings bags and gift boxes, calendars, packaging, weather pattern diagrams and maps, book covers, and posters
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Applied Arts Department
"U.S.A." table and dome-shaped floor lamp.,.
Friedman's work can be found in the collections of the following museums: Museum of Modern Art, New York City; Museum of Decorative Arts, Montreal, Canada; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Seibu, Tokyo; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; and Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
Provenance:
This collection was donated to the museum by the designer's brother, Ken Friedman in 1995.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is 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 painter Frank Kleinholz measure 6.3 linear feet and date from 1910s to 1980, with the bulk of the records dating from 1940s to 1980. The records document his career through correspondence, writing, exhibition and gallery records, financial files, audiovisual material, printed material, photographs, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Frank Kleinholz measure 6.3 linear feet and date from 1910s to 1980, with the bulk of the records dating from 1940s to 1980. The records document his career through correspondence, writing, exhibition and gallery records, financial files, audiovisual material, printed material, photographs, and artwork. Files pertain to exhibitions, books and other writings, the sale of artwork, collection inventories, and recorded interviews. Correspondents include family, friends and colleagues, galleries, and collectors. The collection also contains books, catalogs, clippings, announcements, and other ephemera; several paintings and illustrations, most of which were given to family members or kept private; and photographs of Kleinholz, his artwork, family and friends, and other artists.
Also included are 26 phonograph records of interviews, 1944-1945, which Kleinholz conducted for the "Art in New York" program, Station WNYC. Persons interviewed include Philip Evergood, Philip Reisman, Ralph Mayer, Elizabeth McCausland, Lily Harmon, Abraham Walkowitz, John Groth, and Ladislas Segy; and 2 7" tapes (untranscribed) of interviews, one containing a brief interview with Holger Cahill and a more lengthy interview with McCausland discussing Picassco and the 1944-1945 art season; the other an interview with Evergood.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Series 1: Professional Files, 1940-1979, undated (Box 1, 9-11; 1.9 linear foot)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1920s, bulk 1940s-1980 (Box 2; 10 folders)
Series 3: Writings, 1920s, bulk 1940s-1970s (Box 2-3; .5 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1940s-1980s (Box 3-4, OV 8; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 5: Artwork, 1940s-1970s, undated (Box 4; 5 folders)
Series 6: Photographs, 1910s, 1930s, bulk 1940s-1970s (Box 4-6, OV 8; 2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Frank Kleinholz (1901-1987) was an painter and art educator in New York.
Kleinholz was born in Brooklyn, New York. He received a bachelor's degree from Colby College in Maine, and in 1923, he graduated from Fordham University Law School and passed the New York State Bar examination. He then married Leah Schwartz in 1928; they had no children. Until the late 1930s, Frank Kleinholz was a lawyer in New York who, occasionally, submitted poems to newspapers for publication.
In 1939, Kleinholz was awarded a scholarship to study for one year at the American Artists School in New York, and the following summer he studied and painted in Mexico. After Mexico, his art career took off, establishing notoriety for his modernist paintings of the people and scenes in the world around him. By 1945, his work had been selected for exhibitions held by the Carnegie Institute, Phillips Memorial Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In an unfortunate turn of events, Leah died of cancer in November of 1945. Frank then married Lidia Brestovan in 1946. They had two girls, Lisa and Anna, and one boy, Marco.
Kleinholz held one-man exhibitions at the Associated American Artists Gallery in New York, Park Gallery in Detroit, ACA Gallery in New York and Rome, and had retrospectives at Nassau Community College, Colby College, and the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami. He participated in group exhibitions at the Chicago Art Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Brooklyn Museum. He wrote the books Frank Kleinholz: A Self Portrait in 1964 and Ile de Brehat, The Flowering Rock in 1971; and books written about him include Frank Kleinholz: The Outsider, by August L. Freundlichn in 1969, and Kleinholz Graphics: Catalogue Raisonne, 1940-1975 by Sylvan Cole, Jr. and Ralph G. Martin in 1976. In addition to those mentioned above, his work is found in the permanent collections of the Moscow Museum of Fine Art, Newark Museum, University of Oklahoma, Marquette University, Akron Art Institute, and private collectors. Although most widely known for his paintings, Kleinholz worked with lithography, etching, and prints as well.
Contemporaneous with his career as an artist, Kleinholz was an art educator and talk-show contributor. He started the "Art in New York" interview program on radio station WNYC, New York City, circa 1940s, and was an art commentator for radio station WIOD, Miami, Florida in the 1960s. Kleinholz was an instructor at Hofstra University, Uniondale, New York, and lectured on contemporary art and art history at Smith College, Brandeis University, and the Park Synagogue in Akron, Ohio.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Frank Kleinholz from 1961-1982.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment, and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Educators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Frank Kleinholz papers, 1910s-1980. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
The papers of Henry Varnum Poor measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1873-2001, with the bulk from the period 1904-1970. Correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material and photographs document Poor's work as a painter, muralist, ceramic artist and potter, architect, designer, writer, war artist, educator and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is extensive information about the design and construction of Crow House, his home in New City, New York, commissions for other architectural projects, and his personal life.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Henry Varnum Poor measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1873-2001, with the bulk from the period 1904-1970. Correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material and photographs document Poor's work as a painter, muralist, ceramic artist and potter, architect, designer, writer, war artist, educator and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is extensive information about the design and construction of Crow House, his home in New City, New York, commissions for other architectural projects, and his personal life.
Henry Varnum Poor's correspondence documents his personal, family, and professional life. Correspondents include family and friends, among them George Biddle, Charles Burchfield, John Ciardi, Marion V. Dorn (who became his second wife), Philip Evergood, Lewis Mumford, John Steinbeck, David Smith, and Mrs. John Work (Alice) Garrett. Among other correspondents are galleries, museums, schools, organizations, fans, former students, and acquaintances from his military service and travels. Family correspondence consists of Henry's letters to his parents, letters to his parents written by his wife, and letters among other family members.
Among the writings by Henry Varnum Poor are manuscripts of his two published books, An Artist Sees Alaska and A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality. as well as the text of "Painting is Being Talked to Death," published in the first issue of Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions, April 1953, and manuscripts of other articles. There are also film scripts, two journals, notes and notebooks, lists, speeches, and writings by others, including M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston's account of Poor rescuing an Eskimo, and Bessie Breuer Poor's recollections of The Montross Gallery.
Subject files include those on the Advisory Committee on Art, American Designers' Gallery, Inc., William Benton, Harold Dickson, Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions Sales, and War Posters. There are numerous administrative files for the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Artwork by Henry Varnum Poor consists mainly of loose drawings and sketches and 45 sketchbooks of studies for paintings, murals, and pottery. There is work done in France, 1918-1919, and while working as a war correspondent in Alaska in 1943. There are commissioned illustrations and some intended for his monograph, A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality. Also found are a small number of watercolors and prints. Work by other artists consist of Anne Poor's drawings of her father's hands used for the Lincoln figure in The Land Grant Frescoes and interior views of Crow House by Ernest Watson.
Documentation of Poor's architectural projects consists of drawings and prints relating to houses designed and built for Jules Billing, MacDonald Deming, John Houseman, Burgess Meredith, Isabel Padro, and Elizabeth S. Sargent. Also found is similar material for the new studio Poor built in 1957 on the grounds of Crow House.
Miscellaneous records include family memorabilia and two motion picture films, Painting a True Fresco, and The Land Grant Murals at Pennsylvania State College.
Printed material includes articles about or mentioning Poor, some of his pottery reference books, family history, a catalog of kilns, and the program of a 1949 Pennsylvania State College theater production titled Poor Mr. Varnum. Exhibition catalogs and announcements survive for some of Poor's shows; catalogs of other artists' shows include one for Theodore Czebotar containing an introductory statement by Henry Varnum Poor. Also found is a copy of The Army at War: A Graphic Record by American Artists, for which Poor served as an advisor. There are reproductions of illustrations for An Artist Sees Alaska and Ethan Frome, and two Associated American Artists greeting cards reproducing work by Poor.
Photographs are of Henry Varnum Poor's architectural work, artwork, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects. This series also contains negatives, slides, and transparencies. Images of architectural work include exterior and interior views of many projects; Poor's home, Crow House, predominates. Photographs of artwork by Poor are of drawings, fresco and ceramic tile murals, paintings, pottery and ceramic art. People appearing in photographs include Henry Varnum Poor, family members, friends, clients, juries, students, and various groups. Among the individuals portrayed are Milton Caniff, Marcel Duchamp, Wharton Esherick, M. R. ("Muktuk") Marston, and Burgess Meredith. Among the family members are Bessie Breuer Poor, Marion Dorn Poor, Anne Poor, Eva Poor, Josephine Graham Poor, Josephine Lydia Poor, Peter Poor, and unidentified relatives. Photographs of places include many illustrating village life in Alaska that were taken by Poor during World War II. Other places recorded are French and California landscapes, and family homes in Kansas. Miscellaneous subjects are exhibition installation views, scenes of Kentucky farms, and a photograph of Poor's notes on glazes.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 9 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1919-1987 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, OV 18)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1873-1985 (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1944-1974 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
Series 4: Subject Files, 1928-1975 (0.8 linear feet; Box 3, OV 23)
Series 5: Artwork, circa 1890s-circa 1961 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 4-6, 9-10, OV 19-22)
Series 6: Architectural Projects, circa 1940-1966 (0.7 linear feet; Box 6, OV 24-26, RD 14-17)
Series 7: Miscellaneous Records, 1882-1967 (Boxes 6, 11, FC 30-31; 0.5 linear ft.)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1881-2001 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 11, OV 27-29)
Series 9: Photographs, 1893-1984 (2.3 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 12-13)
Biographical Note:
Henry Varnum Poor (1888-1970), best known as a potter, ceramic artist, and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, was also an architect, painter, muralist, designer, educator, and writer who lived and worked in New City, New York.
A native of Chapman, Kansas, Henry Varnum Poor moved with his family to Kansas City when his grain merchant father became a member of the Kansas Board of Trade. From a young age he showed artistic talent and spent as much time as possible - including school hours - drawing. When a school supervisor suggested that Henry leave school to study at the Art Institute of Chicago, the family disagreed. Instead, he enrolled in the Kansas City Manual Training High School where he delighted in learning skills such as carpentry, forge work, and mechanical drawing. In 1905, he moved with his older brother and sister to Palo Alto, California and completed high school there. Because Poor was expected to join the family business, he enrolled at Stanford University as an economics major, but much to his father's disappointment and displeasure, soon left the economics department and became an art major.
Immediately after graduation in 1910, Poor and his major professor at Stanford, Arthur B. Clark, took a summer bicycling tour to look at art in London, France, Italy, and Holland. As Poor had saved enough money to remain in London after the summer was over, he enrolled in the Slade School of Art and also studied under Walter Sickert at the London County Council Night School. After seeing an exhibition of Post-Impressionism at the Grafton Galleries in London, Poor was so impressed that he went to Paris and enrolled in the Académie Julian. While in Paris, Poor met Clifford Addams, a former apprentice of Whistler; soon he was working in Addams' studio learning Whistler's palette and techniques.
In the fall of 1911, Poor returned to Stanford University's art department on a one-year teaching assignment. During that academic year, his first one-man show was held at the university's Old Studio gallery. He married Lena Wiltz and moved back to Kansas to manage the family farm and prepare for another exhibition. Their daughter, Josephine Lydia Poor, was born the following year. Poor returned to Stanford in September 1913 as assistant professor of graphic arts, remaining until the department closed three years later. During this period, Poor began to exhibit more frequently in group shows in other areas of the country, and had his first solo exhibition at a commercial gallery (Helgesen Gallery, San Francisco). In 1916, Poor joined the faculty of the San Francisco Art Association. He and his wife separated in 1917 and were divorced the following year. Poor began sharing his San Francisco studio with Marion Dorn.
During World War I, Poor was drafted into the U. S. Army, and in 1918 went to France with the 115th Regiment of Engineers. He spent his spare time drawing; soon officers were commissioning portraits, and Poor was appointed the regimental artist. He also served as an interpreter for his company. Discharged from the Army in early 1919, Poor spent the spring painting in Paris. He then returned to San Francisco and married Marion Dorn.
Once Poor realized that earning a living as a painter would be extremely difficult in California, he and his new wife moved to New York in the autumn of 1919. They were looking for a place to live when influential book and art dealer Mary Mowbray-Clarke of the Sunwise Turn Bookshop in Manhattan suggested New City in Rockland County, New York as good place for artists. In January of 1920, the Poors purchased property on South Mountain Road in New City. The skills he acquired at the Kansas City Manual Training High School were of immediate use as Poor designed and constructed "Crow House" with the assistance of a local teenager. Influenced by the farmhouses he had seen in France, it was made of local sandstone and featured steep gables, rough plaster, chestnut beams and floors, and incorporated many hand-crafted details. Poor designed and built most of their furniture, too. Before the end of the year, he and Marion were able to move into the house, though it remained a work in progress for many years. Additions were constructed. Over time, gardens were designed and planted, and outbuildings - a kiln and pottery, work room, garage, and new studio - appeared on the property.
In 1925, two years after his divorce from Marion Dorn, Poor married Bessie Freedman Breuer (1893-1975), an editor, short story writer, and novelist. Soon after, he adopted her young daughter, Anne (1918-2002), an artist who served as his assistant on many important mural commissions. Their son, Peter (b. 1926) became a television producer. Crow House remained in the family until its sale in 2006. In order to prevent its demolition, Crow House was then purchased by the neighboring town of Ramapo, New York in 2007.
Between 1935 and 1966 Poor designed and oversaw construction of a number of houses, several of them situated not far from Crow House on South Mountain Road. Poor's designs, noted for their simplicity, featured modern materials and incorporated his ceramic tiles. Among his important commissions were houses for Maxwell Anderson, Jules Billig, Milton Caniff, MacDonald Deming, and John Houseman.
Poor's first exhibition of paintings in New York City was at Kevorkian Galleries in 1920, and sales were so disappointing that he turned his attention to ceramics. His first pottery show, held at Bel Maison Gallery in Wanamaker's department store in 1921, was very successful. He quickly developed a wide reputation, participated in shows throughout the country, and won awards. He was a founder of the short-lived American Designers' Gallery, and the tile bathroom he showed at the group's first exposition was critically acclaimed. Poor was represented by Montross Gallery as both a painter and potter. When Montross Gallery closed upon its owner's death in 1932, Poor moved to the Frank K. M. Rehn Gallery.
Even though Poor's pottery and ceramic work was in the forefront, he continued to paint. His work was acquired by a number of museums, and the Limited Editions Club commissioned him to illustrate their republications of Ethan Frome, The Scarlet Letter, and The Call of the Wild.
Poor's first work in true fresco was shown in a 1932 mural exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Between 1935 and 1949 he was commissioned to produce several murals in fresco for Section of Fine Arts projects at the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior, The Land Grant Frescoes at Pennsylvania State College, and a mural for the Louisville Courier-Journal. Ceramic tile mural commissions included: the Klingenstein Pavilion, Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City; Travelers Insurance Co., Boston; the Fresno Post Office, California; and Hillson Memorial Gallery, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, Mass.
As a member of the War Artists' Unit, Poor was a "war correspondent" with the rank of major in World War II, and for several months in 1943 was stationed in Alaska. An Artist Sees Alaska, drawing on Poor's observations and experiences, was published in 1945. A Book of Pottery: From Mud to Immortality, his second book, was published in 1958. It remains a standard text on the subject. While on the faculty of Columbia University in the 1950s, Poor and other artists opposed to the growing influence of Abstract Expressionism formed the Reality Group with Poor the head of its editorial committee. Their magazine, Reality: A Journal of Artists' Opinions, first appeared in 1953 featuring "Painting is Being Talked to Death" by Poor as its lead article. Two more issues were published in 1954 and 1955.
Along with Willard Cummings, Sidney Simon, and Charles Cuttler, in 1946 Henry Varnum Poor helped to establish the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine. He served as its first president. Poor and his daughter, Anne, were active members of the Board of Trustees and were instructors for many years. The summer of 1961 was Henry Varnum Poor's last as a full-time teacher, though he continued to spend summers at Skowhegan.
Henry Varnum Poor exhibited widely and received many awards, among them prizes at the Carnegie Institute, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Architectural League of New York. Poor was appointed to the United States Commission of Fine Arts by President Roosevelt in 1941 and served a five year term. He was elected a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1943. The National Academy of Design named him an Associate Artist in 1954 and an Academician in 1963. He became a trustee of the American Craftsman's Council in 1956. The work of Henry Vernum Poor is represented in the permanent collections of many American museums including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Addison Gallery of American Art, and Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts.
Henry Varnum Poor died at home in New City, New York, December 8, 1970.
Related Material:
An oral history interview with Henry Varnum Poor was conducted by Harlan Phillips for the Archives of American Art in 1964.
Provenance:
Gift of Henry Varnum Poor's son, Peter V. Poor, in 2007. A smaller portion was loaned to the Archives in 1973 by Anne Poor for microfilming and returned to the lender; this material was included in the 2007 gift.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Use of audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
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:
Macbeth Gallery records, 1838-1968, bulk 1892 to 1953. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Grant Program. Digitization of the scrapbooks was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee. Correspondence, financial and shipping records, inventory records, and printed material were digitized with funding provided by the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.
The collection is stored off-site. Advanced notice must be given to view the collection.
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1904-2005
bulk 1915-1996
Scope and Contents:
These records document the activities of the American Anthropological Association from 1904 through 2007 (although the majority of the files only date to 1996), with informational content regarding its constitution and by-laws, constitutional changes and ballot voting, dating back to its creation in 1902. The majority of the records consist of correspondence and memoranda, both originals and carbon copies, typed and handwritten. Also included are telegrams, postcards, notes, lists, reports, newspaper clippings, publications, newsletters, articles, receipts, meeting minutes and agendas, programs, expense accounts, budget material, planning schedules and other documents relating to the business of the Association, as well as tape recordings of various AAA program sessions, tape recordings and video tapes regarding interviews and other material pertaining to the Tasaday, tape recordings regarding ethics cases, tape recording for classroom material for the Anthropology Curriculum Study Project, and mainframe computer tapes, computer discs, and printouts regarding the Committee on the Status of Women in Anthropology. There are photographs, mostly documenting some of the sessions and attendees at the annual conference in Mexico, 1959, photographs and slides used for special AAA Newsletter themes (under Publication Department files in series 4), and a photograph of Roy Rappaport.
The most extensive documentation including all of the presidential papers, date from 1947, when the newly created Executive Board (established by constitutional changes in 1946) received funds from the Carnegie Corporation of New York City to establish a secretariat headed by an executive secretary (later, executive director). With the creation of the latter office, files were more systematically transferred to and maintained by the organization. With the permanent move of the executive secretary to Washington, DC, in 1959, the records of the organization became more expansive.
Though this guide documents the records in great detail, not all items of information, whether by name, subject, or geographical location has been noted. In addition to locating information through the "find" feature, researchers should search throughout the list of file folders that come within the time frame of inquiry and review those folders that may hold additional information.
Researchers should be cognizant of the fact that there will be accretions to the records of the American Anthropological Association as tranfers are made to the National Anthropological Archives. Documentation about the accretions may reside in separate guides.
American Anthropological Association Organizational Name Index
AAA committees, task forces, and commissions that are well documented include: Administrative Advisory Committee; AIDS Task Force; Anthropology and Archaeological Research in Latin America (including laws and requirements for conducting research in Latin American countries written in Spanish and Portuguese); Anthropology as a Profession; Anthropology Curriculum Study Project; Anthropology Research Services; Archives Committee; Franz Boas Memorial Committee; Committee on Anthropological Research in Museums; Committee on Science in the Promotion of Human Welfare; Committee to Study Research and Ethics (1965-1967), including interviews of anthropologists conducting research in foreign countries and regional areas; Committee on Ethics; Committee on International Cooperation; Committee on Scientific Research; Committee on the Status of Women in Anthropology and Committee to Study the Academic Employment of Women in Anthropology; Committee Point IV Manual; Committee for the Recovery of Archaeological Remains; Committee on Scientific Communications; Commission on Lesbian and Gay Issues in Anthropology; Committee on International Cooperation; Congressional Fellowship Program; Environment Task Force; Involuntary Resettlement Task Force; Lurie Commission; Program in Anthropology and Education and Special Teacher Improvement Programs; Program of Visiting Anthropologists; Publication Policy Committee; Task Force on Poverty and Homelessness; and Task Force on Teaching Anthropology.
American Anthropological Association Cases, Issues and Projects of Concern and/or Undertaken by the Association
Franz Boas issue; status of anthropology in the United States government; Alfred Metraux and Argentine indigenous population; Vietnam; reorganization; establishment of a secretariat, executive secretary and executive director; Aswan Dam and sites in "Ancient Nubia"; CIA and anthropological research; Derek Freeman and Margaret Mead controversy; El Paso Natural Gas Company archaeological salvage program; establishment of the Alfred Vincent Kidder award; anthropology and the Graduate Record Examination; anthropology and the military; Baltimore Neighborhood Project; Camelot Project; Bureau of American Ethnology; career pamphlets on anthropology; civil liberties; employment in anthropology; Exxon-Valdez litigation; guides to anthropology departments in the United States; Hollywood "ten"; human rights; Richard G. Morgan (Ohio State Museum) case; move of the secretariat to Washington, DC, and subsequent move of AAA headquarters in DC and Virginia; Navajo/Hopi land dispute; professional freedom; race and intelligence; Peruvian research; resolutions on professional and scientific freedom; River Basin surveys; register of anthropologists; River Valley Archaeology Program; scientific freedom; selected writings from American Anthropologist for special publication; Simon Fraser University (dismissal of faculty members); Morris Swadish (City College of New York) affair; Tasaday issue; Thailand research; University of California loyalty oath and dismissal of 21 faculty members; Viking Fund Medal award; David Webster case (assassination of Webster); and Yanomami (Yonomamo) Indians and human rights violations.
American Anthropological Association Sections, other Anthropology Associations, and Additional Organizations that are well Documented
American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Association of Physical Anthropologists; American Association of University Professors; American Council on Education; American Council of Learned Societies; American Ethnological Society; American Sociological Society; Anthropological Association of Hawaii; Anthropological Society of Washington; Asia Foundation; Carnegie Foundation of New York; Carroll Reece House Congressional Committee to investigate tax exempt foundations; Central States Anthropology Society; Council for Old World Archaeology; Department of Health, Education and Welfare; Division of Anthropology and Psychology, Educational Resources in Anthropology; Indian Land Claims Committee; Indian Service Program; International Congress of Americanists; International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences; International Council of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences; International Directory of Anthropologists; International Society for Psychedelic Anthropology; National Academy of Sciences; National Register of Scientific and Technical Personnel; National Institute of Mental Health; National Park Service (environmental research and applied anthropology); National Research Council; National Science Foundation; Program in Ethnographic Film; Smith, Kline and French Laboratories; Social Science Research Council; Society for American Archaeology; Society for the Anthropology of Visual Communications; Society for Applied Anthropology; Society for the History of Anthropology; Society for Medical Anthropology and Group for Medical Anthropology; Society for Psychological Anthropology; Southwestern Anthropological Society; Wenner-Gren Foundation; Western States Branch of AAA; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Yukon Island Research Reservation.
American Anthropological Association Officers and other Individuals who are Documented or who have Important Correspondence
Aberle, David F.; Adams, Richard; Aginsky, Ethel G; Beals, Ralph Leon; Barnett, Homer Garner; Barr, William; Benedict, Ruth; Bennett, Wendell C.; Berreman, Gerald D. Boas, Franz; Boggs, Stephen T.; Bohannon, Laura; Bohannon, Paul J.; Brew, John Otis; Brumfiel, Elizabeth Margarethe; Byers, Douglas; Carstens, Peter; Casagrande, Joseph; Cault, Allen D.; Chagnon, Napoleon A.; Chapple, Eliot Dismore; Cole, Fay-Cooper; Collier, Donald; Collier, Malcolm; Collier, Malcolm Carr; Conklin, Harold C.; Cooper, John M.; Cornman, John M.; Dobzhansky, Theodosius; Douglass, Andrew Elliott (award for); Du Bois, Cora; Eddy, Elizabeth M.; Eggan, Frederick; Ehrich, Robert W.; Eiseley, Loren C.; Emery, Emil Ernest; Farabee, William Curtis; Fenton, William N.; Flannery, Regina; Forman, Sylvia Helen; Foster, George M.; Frantz, Charles; Freeman, Derek (Freeman-Mead controversy); Friedl, Ernestine; Gearing, Frederick O.; Gifford, Edward W.; Gillin, John P.; Goddard, Pliny E.; Godfrey, Jr., William S.; Godfrey, Richard; Goldschmidt, Walter; Goodenough, Ward H.; Hallowell, Alfred Irving; Haury, Emil Walter; Headland, Thomas N.; Helm, June; Henderson, Eric (use of field notes in Navajo/Hopi land dispute); Hendricks, Glenn L.; Herskovits, Melville, J.; Hill, Willard Williams; Hoebel, E. Adamson; Hoijer, Harry; Howells, William W.; Hsu, Francis K.; Hurwitch, Jan; Hymes, Dell H.; Jenness, Diamond; Jennings, Jesse D.; Jensen, Arthur P.; Johnson, Frederick; Judd, Neil M.; Keesing, Felix M.; Kidder, Alfred Vincent.; Kidder, Alfred V. II; Kluckhorn, Clyde; Knight, Jr., Vic (misuse of AAA name to collect artifacts); Kroeber, Alfred Louis; Laguna, Frederica de; Leakey, L. S. B. (1959 visit to United States); Lehman, Edward J.; Lessa, William A.; Lewis, Oscar (problem with Children of Sanchez); Linton, Ralph; Lowie, Robert H.; Lurie, Nancy Oestreich; MacCurdy, George Grant; Manners, Robert A.; Marshall, Donald S.; Maruyama, Magorah; Mason, J. Alden; Mead, Margaret; Meggers, Betty J.; Mendelbaum, David; Merwin, B. W.; Modiano, Nancy; Moorhead, Evelyn; Moorhead, Warren K.; Moran, Emilio F.; Moses, Yolanda T.; Murdock, George P.; Murra, John Victor; Nader, Laura; Noon, John A.; Nusbaum, Jesse L.; Olmsted, David; Opler, Morris Edward; Osgood, Cornelius B.; Parsons, Elsie Clews; Rappaport, Roy Abraham; Reining, Conrad C.; Roberts, Jr., Frank H. H.; Rouse, (Benjamin) Irving; Sapir, Edward; Schneider, David; Setzler, Frank Mary; Shapiro, Harry L.; Spicer, Edward H.; Spier, Leslie; Spindler, George; Spoehr, Alexander; Sterud, Eugene L.; Steward, Julian H.; Stocking, George; Stout, David B.; Strong, William Duncan; Swanton, John Reed; Tax, Sol; Textor, Robert B.; Tozzer, Alfred M.; Underhill, Ruth M.; Voegelin, Carl F.; Voegelin, Erminie Wheeler; Vogt, Evon Z.; Wallace, Anthony F. C.; Wagley, Charles; Wallach, Irving A.; Ward, Lauriston; Washburn, Sherwood Larned; Weidman, Hazel H.; Weitzer, Bella; Weltfish, Gene; White, Leslie A.; Wissler, Clark; Woodbury, Nathalie, F. S.; Woodbury, Richard B.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Historical Note:
American Anthropological Association Development and Creation of a Secretariat
Most of early American anthropology focused on indigenous Native Americans and can be traced back to 1784 when Thomas Jefferson carried out stratigraphic excavations of the Indian mounds on his land in Virginia. Jefferson's interest continued and was strongly reflected when as President he instructed Meriwether Lewis (Corps of Discovery Expedition also known as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806) to record the names of the nations he encountered along with their numbers, languages, traditions, laws and customs.
Local ethnological and anthropological associations were later established, such as the American Ethnological Society (AES), founded in New York, 1842, and the Anthropological Society of Washington (ASW), created in Washington, DC, 1879. Anthropology as a national science was recognized in 1882, when the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) created a Section (H) for Anthropology. By 1896, the community of anthropologists began informal discussions regarding the establishment of a national organization. These discussions were held among members of the AES and the ASW, while informal talks (sanctioned by the AAAS) were held by Section H members on establishing a national group. At the Section H meeting a decision was reached between those members who wanted a national organization and those who were concerned about diverting attention and support away from the AAAS. With formal approval by the AAAS, Section members of the Association began holding their own winter meetings, separate from the AAAS annual conference, which continued through 1901-1902.
With national leadership coming from the Anthropological Society of Washington and the American Ethnological Society, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) was formed and incorporated in Washington, DC, in 1902. Two major compromises were reached. The Anthropological Society of Washington discontinued publishing the American Anthropologist and surrendered the journal name. The new journal would be called the American Anthropologist, New Series, and would be edited by representatives of all anthropological sections in the United States and Canada. This journal began publication in January 1899. The second agreement concerned whether the national organization should be opened to anyone interested in anthropology (W. J. McGee) or should only constitute professional anthropologists (Franz Boas). The matter was settled when it was decided that membership would be opened to anyone, but that control of the organization would reside in the hands of a council composed of professional members, only.
The AAA was designed to promote the science of anthropology, stimulate and coordinate efforts of American anthropologists, support local and other societies devoted to anthropology, publish and encourage publications regarding anthropology, and conduct and support research. In a revised constitution approved by the Association in December 1902, research support was dropped. The AAA grew by assisting in the development of regional associations, authorizing the creation of a Central States Branch (1921) and the Pacific Division (1929), and increasing its affiliation with existing local organizations such as the Philadelphia Anthropological Society in 1935.
Around the close of World War II, a water-shed event occurred in the development of the Association's administration that stongly supported its ability to maintain historical and administrative records in a more permanent and cohesive fashion. Starting with the May 1945 meeting of the Society for American Archaeology held at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, and continuing through the year, several groups of concerned anthropologists began discussing the need to find a way to provide greater support for its professional members. These anthropologists also discussed what they felt was a failure on the part of the American Anthropological Association to maximize its usefulness for the members and carry out specific projects that were desired. They questioned whether the causes were due to a lack of effective operational means. Meetings were held during the summer at the National Research Council (NRC) and again, later in the year, in Washington, DC. Additional anthropologists met at other meetings and a proposal was drafted to create an organization that represented professional anthropologists. Correspondence between Ralph L. Beals, Julian H. Steward, Margaret Mead, Theodore D. McCowan, Homer C. Barnett, Luther S. Cressman, Frank M. Setzler, and William Duncan Strong voiced a need for a new anthropological association, one that represented all areas of anthropology, supported post-war anthropological projects, coordinated activities between anthropologists and the federal government, cooperated with the various councils where anthropologists had representation, developed teaching standards in anthropology, and created employment standards for anthropologists. They drafted a constitution for such an organization. Others within this circle of correspondents wanted to reorganize the AAA.
The leadership of the AAA responded to the call for reform. During the annual meeting held on December 28, 1945, attendees voted to appoint a Committee of Nine (later called the Reorganizing Committee) to ascertain the views of the professional members of the AAA, affiliated societies and local groups, regarding proposals to reorganize the AAA, establish a secretariat, and to find additional ways to further professional interests. The Committee's findings and recommendations were to be issued to the entire profession within two months before the 1946 annual meeting. Julian H. Steward was appointed chairman.
To meet the needs of those anthropologists who wanted a greater professional organization, the AAA adopted a new constitution at the winter meeting of 1946. Two classes of membership, members and fellows, were created. Anyone was eligible to become a member, but without voting privileges. To become a fellow (voting member), one had to meet certain requirements, which included a degree in anthropology, a publication(s) in the field of anthropology, or a doctorate in an allied field and being actively engaged in anthropology. An Executive Council was created. Only fellows could vote for Council members, elect officers, and vote on other business matters. The Association's Council was the final authority. From its membership were elected the president, vice-president (later, president-elect), and an Executive Board (replacing the Executive Committee). The Board voted on the selection of fellows. While the Council met once a year at the annual meeting, the Board was given the authority to meet whenever it deemed necessary. The Board received its own operating budget. It was given broad powers to act quickly and authoritatively, so that issues and actions required by the profession would be reviewed and voted upon in a timely fashion. The Board could create and disband task forces and appoint a secretary and treasurer. It could not amend the constitution and by-laws.
While the revised constitution made the organization more supportive of and controlled by professional anthropologists and created a more dynamic executive branch, the Council also approved 14 major topics recommended by the Committee on Reorganization. Within those broad topics, the Council asked the Executive Board to study 35 objectives and activities. As for a permanent secretariat, the Council felt that while it could serve the profession it was unrelated to the immediate needs of the organization; that financing it should not be a problem faced for the present time and "should not prejudice the proposals concerning organization."
President Clyde Kluckhorn and the Executive Board realized that they would not be able to evaluate all the proposals and or begin the activities approved by Council, regardless of its members' individual goodwill. The AAA urgently needed an executive secretary. At the request of the Board, Kluckhorn wrote Charles Dollard at the Carnegie Corporation of New York, asking for funds to hire an executive secretary full-time for the first year and half-time for two more years, and for a salaried full-time typist-clerk for twenty-nine months. Their work and responsibilities would include the re-integration of the sub-sciences of anthropology and increasing the strategic value of anthropology as a discipline where the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences met. If the grant was awarded the Executive Board's choice for the position would be Erminie Voegelin. Kluckhorn then enumerated some of the recommendations voted by Council. Not wanting to take any chances, Kluckhorn wrote a personal letter to his friend Dollard that same day. On June 12, 1947, Dollard notified Kluckhorn that the officers of the Corporation took a very "sympathetic" view of the Association and agreed to commit the requested funds. A formal follow-up letter from the secretary would confirm the action. The funds were to be used from August 1, 1947 until December 31, 1949. When the grant was concluded, funds were committed by the AAA for a part-time executive secretary, with limited staff, until 1959, when the position once again became full-time.
From 1947 until 1959, the executive secretariat received support from the local institution where the position resided: Indiana University (Bloomington), Phillips Academy, and Beloit College. In 1959, the executive secretariat moved to Washington, DC, which became the permanent home for the Association. There, the position was funded full-time. The offices were first located at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, without cost. When the AAA lost its quarters in 1967 to the expanding needs of its host, the Association moved its offices to a permanent structure on New Hampshire Avenue. In 1993, the AAA moved to Arlington, Virginia.
American Anthropological Association: History of its Archives and an Archives for the Papers of Anthropologists
Beginning with the creation of an executive secretariat, the AAA became interested in trying to retrieve as much of its early history as possible. Calls went out from the executive secretary and president for the transfer of task force material and papers of past presidents. In addition, from 1957 through 1972, the organization officially began looking at the need to provide support for unpublished anthropological records, repositories to house them, and the question of what do with its own accumulation of records.
On April 24, 1957, the Executive Board delegated the president to appoint a committee to collaborate on the preservation of primary records. This interest appears to have come from the AAA's membership in the Committee of Primary Records, which was established in the Division of Anthropology and Psychology located within the NRC of the National Academy of Sciences. Sol Tax was appointed chairman of the Special Committee on the Preservation of Primary Records. The Committee met in Chicago, February 17-18, 1958, drafted a tentative report, and sent it to a few selected fellows for comment and suggestions. The fellows approved the recommendations and the Committee issued the draft as a final report. One recommendation was that the AAA should publish an international directory of primary sources, to continue serially with the assumption that it would report on institutional holdings and perhaps major personal collections. The Executive Board approved the report on April 25, 1958 and had it forwarded to the NRC for its consideration with an informal note that a tentative editor for the publication had been selected. At the following Board meeting, the Committee was terminated.
Formal discussions regarding the topic of what to do with research material created by anthropologists was again taken up by the Board in 1962. At the Board's next meeting, May 13-14, 1963, the Publication Policy Committee reported on the first day that its mission was to publish research findings from the conclusion of the work until the dissemination of the information. The following day Board member Joseph Casagrande reported that the issues he was concerned with, the location and preservation of field notes, papers, and other documents, were "intimately" related to the recommendations made by the Publication Policy Committee. He wanted to pursue the problem with a small committee through conversations with the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). The Board agreed and suggested that Margaret Blaker, archivist at the Bureau of American Ethnology [the BAE later merged with the Department of Anthropology and the BAE archives became the National Anthropological Archives], be contacted as a good resource person. At the November 1963 Board meeting, Casagrande reported that he was planning to form an ad hoc group after an initial discussion with the SSRC, which would meet once or twice to formulate a proposal to the Council.
Within the body of the AAA's records there appears to be no continuity between the various initiatives undertaken regarding what to do with primary source material of anthropologists as well as the Association's own records. At the November 1966 Board meeting, editor Ward Goodenough proposed publishing Anthropological Documents to make available anthropological research data so it could be used by fellow scientists. During the meeting of the Board in May 1967, its members discussed the possibility of forming another committee on archives. Executive Secretary Charles Frantz stated that he had written to several members to see if they would be interested in forming a committee to inventory and perhaps centralize documents about the Association and individual anthropologists. Several responded enthusiastically and it was suggested that the American Philosophical Society might fund such a committee. The Board endorsed the recommendation and asked that Frantz continue his correspondence with interested persons.
Franz resigned from the AAA around August 1968 and Conrad C. Reining became secretary later that year (he was eventually given the title executive secretary). In October 1968, the Executive Board formed an Archives Committee. Its mission was to develop policy and procedures for the conservation and use of documents of value to the profession. Reining served as the acting chair. By November 1968, Reining reported to the Board that he had formed a committee. He found that the archives in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution adequate for the purposes proposed in a resolution that would be brought before the Council meeting. Later that month the Council adopted a resolution urging anthropologists to consider the NAA as the repository for their field notes, reports and professional papers if no other arrangements had been made for preservation of such materials.
The question before Council was whether the National Anthropological Archives should be considered the repository of choice for anthropologists, if no other arrangements were made with other archival programs. Before Council made its decision there was some concern about the selection of the NAA. At one point during the discussion, Reining considered the Library of Congress. Informal and formal discussions were held with Smithsonian staff and members of the Department of Anthropology. Saul Riesenberg, chairman of the Department of Anthropology, was sent a copy of the draft resolution and was asked if his office was prepared to undertake the task involved. The draft resolution, he wrote, had been discussed and agreed upon, and expansion of the Department's Archives was being contemplated.
The Committee on Archives, now chaired by Sturtevant, met in May 1969 at the Department of Anthropology in the National Museum of Natural History. One major outcome of the meeting was the decision that all files of the Association, prior to 1959, would be transferred to the NAA as long as they would be accessible to the AAA and could be reclaimed with the proviso that the Archives be allowed to microfilm any files reclaimed. Reining would provide an inventory of the contents of the Association's files; and Sturtevant would draft a recommendation to the Board on management and preservation of official or copies of records of current and future officers, and draft a letter for Cora Du Bois requesting ex-presidents contribute their papers still in their possession.
During the following month Secretary Conrad C. Reining transferred 12 feet of records stored in file drawers, along with a content list, to the NAA archivist Margaret C. Blaker. Before she would accession them, Blaker requested a formal ruling by the Board transferring the records to the NAA. She provided suggested points to Reining for the Board to consider in a resolution at the New Orleans annual meeting later in the year. It was not approved. Instead, the Board wanted to know why it was considering Blaker's recommendations and not their own. They were more concerned about having their own personal remarks placed on record and having them quoted than approving the recommendations.
In February 1970, Stocking wrote Reining that files dating from 1917 to 1957 had been sent to the NAA. The Board was supposed to have developed a transfer form for a lawyer to review, which was then to be forwarded to Pilling to send on for comment by an archivist he knew at his university. Stocking wanted to know where the matter stood. There was no response. On July 19, 1971, Charles Wagley (AAA president) wrote Stocking that the Executive Board voted at its May 1971 meeting to discharge the Archives Committee. The new AAA executive secretary, Edward J. Lehman, wrote Stocking in August that the Committee, as well as several others, were dismissed due to a deficit in funds, and, because of that, the Finance Committee had recommended that committees which had not been active be dismissed.
The Board did not take up a resolution regarding its records at the San Diego meeting in 1970, nor the following year in New York City. Blaker updated her recommendations to be considered for a resolution in October 1971. Those recommendations were basically what the Board wrote in its resolution in May 1972, establishing the NAA as the permanent repository for its records. The deposit was permanent and was not to be withdrawn under any circumstances unless the AAA established its own archives. The action was concluded after Blaker retired.
With the 1972 resolution, the American Anthropological Association officially concluded its long historical discussion regarding its recognition of the importance of anthropologists maintaining their materials, the importance of its own records, and the availability and value of the National Anthropological Archives to the anthropology community.
Related Materials:
There are over twenty-five collections in the National Anthropological Archives and Human Studies Film Archives that document various aspects of the American Anthropological Association. Researchers should work with the reference archivist in finding this material. NAA also houses the records of the following AAA sections:
American Ethnological Society
Association for Feminist Anthropology
Central States Anthropological Society
Council for Museum Anthropology
Society for Anthropology in Community Colleges
Society for Cultural Anthropology
Society for Humanistic Anthropology
Society for Medical Anthropology
Society for Visual Anthropology
NAA is also the repository for the following anthropological societies whose activities are documented in the records of AAA:
Society for American Archaeology
Society for Applied Anthropology
Below is a selected list of collections, not housed at NAA, documenting individuals who played a prominent role in the activities of AAA:
Homer Garner Papers, 1937-1986, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon
Ruth Benedict Papers, 1905-1948, Archives and Special Collections, Vassar College
Alfred Irving Hallowell Papers, American Mss. Coll. 26, Philosophical Society
E. Adamson Hoebel Papers, 1925-1993, Mss. Coll. 43, American Philosophical Society
Dell H. Hymes Papers, 1947-1992, American Philosophical Society
Frederick Johnson Papers, 1948-1968, Special Collections, University of California at Los Angeles
Alfred Louis Kroeber papers, 1869-1972, Bancroft Library
John Alden Mason Papers, 1904-1967, MSS.B.M384, American Philosophical Society
Morris Edward Opler Papers, #14-25-3238, Division of Rare Books and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Libraries
Elsie Clews Parsons papers, 1880-1980, Mss. Ms.Coll. 29, American Philosophical Society
Provenance:
Records were transferred from the American Anthropological Association to the National Anthropological Archives. The three last subseries of presidential papers (series 1) were donated directly from the creator or their heirs to NAA.
Restrictions:
At the 71st meeting of the Executive Board, May 1972, the Board adopted the motion authorizing transfer of the American Anthropological Association archives to the National Anthropological Archives. By definition all records created by elected and appointed offices, or committee members of AAA, while acting in an official capacity were records of the Association. No records less than five years old were to be deposited, and no records less than ten years old were open for scholarly use, except by Association officers, or when otherwise stated. All records would be open to use after 50 years from date of creation. The American Anthropological Association gave literary property rights to the public. Researchers will need to review restrictions that may apply to presidential papers.
All Exxon-Valdez folders located in series 4, subseries 4, "Committee on Ethics," are closed until further notification from the State of Alaska, Department of Law.
Access to the American Anthropological Association records requires an appointment.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings and born-digital records in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
All collection material in boxes 1-52, except photographs: Permission to quote, publish or reproduce requires written permission from Paula Cooper. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Park Place, the Gallery of Art Research, Inc. records and Paula Cooper Gallery records, 1961-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collection Care Preservation Fund
14 photographic prints of locations in China, taken by the Geologist Bailey Willis in 1903-1904 during a Carnegie institution funded geological expedition through China. Scenes include pagodas at Wutaishan and Tang dynasty Nestorian monuments outside of Xi'an. Documentation is sparse, but the photographs appear to have been sent to Charles L. Freer by Willis in November of 1908. At the time, Freer was considering purchase of a modern replica of the Nestorian Stele. His examination of Willis' original photograph of the stele confirmed that the replica was not worth acquisition.
大秦景教流行中國碑
Photographs of China by Bailey Willis
Biographical / Historical:
Bailey Willis (1857-1949) was a geological engineer who worked for the U.S. Geological Survey. He was born in New York and studied at Columbia University. Willis surveyed regions of Appalachia and the Northwestern U.S. He visited Mt. Rainier in 1882, and later contributed to its designation as a National Park. is publications on the region's geology garnered international attention from scientists. In 1903, he led an expedition funded by the Carnegie Institution to northern China, an area previously unexplored by geologists. In 1949, Willis published his recollections of the expedition in his book "Friendly China."
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 12.05WP
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. FSA A.01. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
The papers of painters Oscar Van Young and Loli Vann measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1924-1994. The collection sheds light on the careers of both artists through biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, museum and gallery files, printed materials, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painters Oscar Van Young and Loli Vann measure 3.2 linear feet and date from 1924-1994. The collection sheds light on the careers of both artists through biographical materials, correspondence, personal business records, museum and gallery files, printed materials, and photographic materials.
Biographical materials include resumes, certificates and awards, writings that include O. V. Young's master's thesis and artist statements, and photographic materials depicting the artists, artwork, events, and family gatherings.
Correspondence includes letters from friends, correspondence with artist and author Louise Dunn Yochim about her book, Harvest of Freedom: Jewish Artists in America 1930-1980s (1989), communication with collectors, and correspondence between Loli Vann and O. V. Young during his painting trip to St. Thomas in 1953.
Personal business records include inventories and lists of collectors, correspondence with Bugatti publishing, exhibition files, and index cards that list exhibited works by O. V. Young and Loli Vann throughout their careers. O. V. Young's teaching files include documentation of courses he taught and his credentials. Museum and gallery files document consignments and prices, and include correspondence with curators, and printed materials such as brochures, clippings, and catalogs. Printed materials consist of articles related to O. V. Young and Loli Vann's art career, Enciclopedia Internazionale Degli Artisti (1971) vols. 2 and 3 featuring O. V. Young and Loli Vann, exhibition catalogs and announcements, miscellaneous clippings of interest, and two scrapbooks.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1924, 1946-1988 (Box 1,4; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence Files, 1943-1993 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1936-1991 (Box 1-2, 4; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 4: Gallery and Museum Files, 1949-1994 (Box 2-3; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Materials, 1940s-1993 (Box 3, 5, OV 6-7; 0.8 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and lithographer Oscar Van Young (1906-1993) and painter Loli Vann (1913-1999), were active in Chicago and Los Angeles. They were married from 1935 until Van Young's death in 1993.
Van Young was born in Austria but his family moved to Russia in 1918 where he received a scholarship to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Odessa. He moved to the U.S. in 1923, living with relatives in Chicago and working for a linen shop before becoming an apprentice in an engraving house and an artist lithographer. He lost his job in 1930 and began painting full time. Around 1932, Young met Sam Ostrowsky who soon became his private painting instructor. It was at Ostrowsky's studio that Young met Loli Vann and the two were married in 1935. The couple frequently exhibited their artwork in joint exhibitions and moved to Los Angeles in the early 1940s.
Over the next several decades, Young had one-man shows at many California museums and elsewhere in the United States, and was represented in multiple group exhibitions. He attended Los Angeles State College from 1954 to 1959, earning his bachelor's and master's degree, and subsequently taught art at Pasadena City College (1959-1973), California State University at Los Angeles (1960-1963), and elsewhere. His work can be found in the collections of Los Angeles County Museum, Israel Art Museum, Chaffey College, Smithsonian Institution, and private collections around the world.
Loli Vann studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and with Sam Ostrowsky. She exhibited her paintings at Los Angeles Museum, Los Angeles Art Association, Pasadena Art Institute, Chaffey Community Art Association, La Jolla Art Center, Cowie Galleries, Carnegie Institute, Corcoran Gallery of Art, and Glendale Public Library. Vann worked as an executive secretary for the Los Angeles Division of Labor Law Enforcement form circa 1950 to 1975 before retiring to focus on painting full time.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Lilian Van Young (Loli Vann) in 1994.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Oscar Van Young and Loli Vann papers, 1924-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
Biographical information, correspondence, writings, photographs, printed material, including clippings, exhibition and auction catalogs, monographs, and art works by Perrine and his students. A small amount of papers of Perrine's wife Theodora Snow and daughter, Mary Perrine, are also included.
REEL D23: Photos of works of art and one photo of Perrine; and catalogs, announcements, and articles about Perrine.
UNMICROFILMED: Ten biographical accounts, an award from the Carnegie Institute for "The Robbers," 1903; letters; exhibition catalogs; a scrapbook with clippings, sketches, and a photograph, 1894-1906; clippings; 2 scrapbooks of clippings, 1897-1915; bulletins and reports from art organizations concerning the League for the Preservation of the Palisades, 1893-1973; exhibition and auction catalogs; a book A FULL LIFE--THE STORY OF VAN DEARING PERRINE by Lolita L. W. Flockhart, 1939; photographs of Perrine, 1912-1950, his family, 1912-1960, his works of art, Perrine working with children, and miscellaneous photographs of a model and works of art by others; and printed material. Among the photographers are A. D. Chapman, and Alvin Langdon Coburn.
ADDITION (N.Y) Drafts of writings on art, many written in pencil (1905, n.d.); a scrapbook of Perrine's manuscript writings; a small amount of correspondence with Carlton Noyes (1903-1945); monographs, many of them presentation copies, some illustrated by Perrine, from Claude Bragdon, Isadora Duncan, J.P. Mowbray, and Carlton Noyes. Artwork includes fifty-three small pastels, crayon and pencil drawings by children who studied with Perrine during the 1940s and 1950s, fourteen large pastels, many of which were published in LET THE CHILD DRAW, one roll of twenty murals done by children, and three large pastels. Photographs are of Perrine's paintings and book illustrations, his Mt. Tremper, New York and Milburn studios, and family photographs (1905-1955, n.d.). Papers of Perrine's wife, Theodora Snow Perrine, consist of biographical material, correspondence (1933-1964), published articles, and photographs of Theodora teaching rhythmics and music to children; and a small portion of material on the Perrines' daughter, Mary Perrine, includings correspondence (1949-1953), playbills, and writings on rhythmics (ca. 1960).
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, art educator; New York, N.Y. b. 9/10/1868, Garnett, Kan.; d. 12/10, 1955, Stamford, Conn.
Provenance:
Material on reel D23 lent for microfilming 1962 by Joyce Malcolm; unmicrofilmed material donated 1985 and 2002 by Kristina Leeb-Lundberg, the executor of Perrine's daughter's estate.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Steel printing block for McKim's monogram, undated
Brass printing plate for calling card of John W. Beatty, Director, Carnegie Institute, undated
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:
American Academy in Rome records, 1855-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
