Periodical has cover picture of a sweaty basketball player, from a photograph.
Local Numbers:
AC1146-0000009 (AC Scan No.: front cover)
Exhibitions Note:
Shown in "Stonewall" display, Archives Center display case, June-July 2000.
Series Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.
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.
Photographs -- 2000-2010 -- Color -- Reproductions
Magazines (periodicals) -- 21st century
Series Citation:
Archives Center Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
The papers of artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi measure 14.3 linear feet and 2.84 gigabytes and date from 1906-2016, bulk 1920-1990. The collection documents his career as a painter, graphic artist, and photographer, as well as his involvement in political, social, and art organizations, especially during World War II. Included are biographical material; correspondence; writings and lectures by Kuniyoshi and others; organization records primarily on his participation in various associations and groups he was a member of; professional and gallery records regarding business dealings with American and Japanese galleries, museums, and dealers; exhibition files; printed material; four scrapbooks; artwork; photographs of Kuniyoshi and others in various locations and at events; and artwork records which mostly consist of photographs and provenance information. The collection also contains materials on Kuniyoshi's career and artwork obtained after his death by his widow Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of artist Yasuo Kuniyoshi measure 14.3 linear feet and 2.84 gigabytes and date from 1906-2013, bulk 1920-1990. The collection documents his career as a painter, graphic artist, and photographer, as well as his involvement in political, social, and art organizations, especially during World War II. Included are biographical material; correspondence; writings and lectures by Kuniyoshi and others; organization records primarily on his participation in various associations and groups he was a member of; professional and gallery records regarding business dealings with American and Japanese galleries, museums, and dealers; exhibition files; printed material; four scrapbooks; artwork; photographs of Kuniyoshi and others in various locations and at events; and artwork records which mostly consist of photographs and provenance information. The collection also contains materials on Kuniyoshi's career and artwork obtained after his death by his widow Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi.
Biographical material consists of a wide range of records such as an address book, resumes, biographical summaries, vital records, citizenship applications, identification documents, travel records, and documentation regarding Kuniyoshi's death. There is some limited biographical material on the artist's widow, Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi, plus interviews with her talking about Kuniyoshi.
Correspondence is divided into correspondence with Yasuo Kuniyoshi and the correspondence with his second wife, Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi. The Yasuo Kuniyoshi correspondence discusses various topics including exhibits and his status as a Japanese American during World War II. The bulk of the series consists of correspondence with Sara after Yasuo's death and usually relates to exhibitions of his work, and reproduction requests for the inclusion of his work in publications. Of note is her correspondence with Alexander Brook, Ritsuko Ozawa, Tom Wolf, and the Yasuo Kuniyoshi Museum in Japan.
Writings and lectures include Kuniyoshi's writings and speeches about other artists, art and the art profession, lithography, and World War II. Also found are statements on his own work and extensive notes for his autobiography. There are two sound recordings of lectures by Kuniyoshi at art schools as well as writings by others, including Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi, about Yasuo Kuniyoshi.
Organization records document Kuniyoshi's involvement in social, political, and art organizations, including the East West Association and the Artists Equity Association. These records include correspondence, speeches, printed material and notes.
Gallery and professional records include material on Kuniyoshi's career and the sales of his work at galleries. Found herein are correspondence, printed material and notes. There are files on projects and commissions, transcripts of the radio broadcast "Japan Against Japan," appraisals of artwork, authentications of artwork, art inventories of his work at various galleries as well as private collections, and records of his participation in the Woodstock Art Conference. Also noteworthy are the records of Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi's dealings with the Downtown Gallery and Zabriskie Galleries.
Exhibition files include a few files on exhibitions while Yasuo Kuniyoshi was alive, but most of the series consists of files created by Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi about exhibitions of Kuniyoshi's works after his death in 1953. Files may include exhibition checklists and planning documents, loan agreements, correspondence, photographs of the exhibition, and press materials.
Printed material consists of books, newspaper, and magazine clippings about Kuniyoshi and about World War II. There are numerous exhibition catalogs and announcements and some magazines, posters, brochures, and bulletins.
There are four scrapbooks of printed material related to Kuniyoshi and his artwork. The scrapbooks contain press clippings, exhibition announcements, checklists, and a few catalogs.
Artwork consists of etchings, numerous sketches and drawings in graphite and ink, sketches painted onto clear acetate which Kuniyoshi used for catalogs, two zinc lithographic plates and their corresponding prints, and a sketchbook. Drawings that Yasuo Kuniyoshi created for the Office of War Information during World War II are in this series. There is one folder of pencil sketches by unidentified artists.
Photographic material are mostly photographs of Kuniyoshi in his studio, at various events and parties, teaching at Mills College and with his wife Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi. Also found are photographs of artists, including Francis Criss, Julian Levi, Doris and Russell Lee, and others, taken by Yasuo Kuniyoshi. Especially noteworthy, are photographs of the Artists Equity Testimonial Dinner held in honor of Kuniyoshi's 1948 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. There are some slides and snapshots of Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi's travels abroad and a the house in Woodstock she shared with Yasuo, along with other locations.
Artwork photograph records were created by Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi to document works of art created by her husband. Files mostly include photographs of artwork with annotations regarding title, date, sale, and provenance. Some files also include correspondence, notes by Sara Kuniyoshi, exhibition history, and published reproductions. There are also miscellaneous photographs and slides of artwork which mostly consist of duplicates of artwork that can be found in the rest of the series.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as 11 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1906-1998 (Box 1, ER01; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1931-2007 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Lectures, 1939-2003 (Box 2; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 4: Organization Records, 1939-2003 (Box 3; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Gallery and Professional Records, circa 1924-2009 (Boxes 3-5, OV 19; 2.1 linear feet)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1948-2004 (Boxes 5-6, OVs 19-20; 1.1 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1921-2013 (Boxes 6-8, 14, OV 20 ; 2.1 linear feet)
Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1919-1978 (Boxes 8, 13, 15; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 9: Artwork, 1925-1991 (Boxes 8, 14, 16, OV 21-23; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographic Material, circa 1920-2005 (Boxes 8-9, 16-17; 1.4 linear feet)
Series 11: Artwork Photograph Records, circa 1920s-2016 (Boxes 9-12, 17-18, OV 22; 3.8 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889-1953) was a Japanese-American painter, printmaker and photographer based in New York, N.Y.
Kuniyoshi was born in Okayama, Japan. In 1906 he came to the United States and a year later began studying at the Los Angeles School of Art and Design. In 1910 he moved to New York and took courses at the National Academy of Design, the Independent School of Art, and the Art Students League, where he studied with Kenneth Hayes Miller. He was married to fellow artist Katherine Schmidt from 1919 to 1932. After traveling throughout Europe, they moved to the Woodstock, New York, in 1927 and took part in the Woodstock Art Colony. Kuniyoshi studied and later taught at the Art Students League summer school there.
By 1930 Kuniyoshi had established himself as an internationally known painter and graphic artist. In 1935, he received a Guggenheim fellowship and married Sara Mazo. In New York City he taught at the Art Students League, the New School for Social Research, and served as the first president of the Artists Equity Association from 1947 to 1950. Kuniyoshi was active in social organizations, especially Japanese American organizations, such as the Japanese American Committee for Democracy. Although Kuniyoshi was barred from becoming a citizen due to American immgration laws at the time, he viewed himself as American and took an active role in the war effort during World War II, even working with the U.S. Office of War Information department to design posters.
The Whitney Museum of American Art held a retrospective for Kuniyoshi in 1948, making him the first living artist to be honored in such a fashion at the museum. Yasuo Kuniyoshi died of cancer in 1953 and was survived by his second wife Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi who preserved the legacy of his work.
Related Materials:
Also found at the Archives of American Art are the Yasuo Kuniyoshi photographs of artwork, a 1948 letter from Kuniyoshi to E. P. Richardson, and checklists of Yasuo Kuniyoshi prints.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in installments, from 1969 to 1995, by Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi, Yasuo Kuniyoshi's widow. Additional papers were donated in 2014 and 2018 by Stephen Diamond, Sara Mazo Kuniyoshi's nephew.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Photographers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Yasuo Kuniyoshi papers, 1906-2016, bulk 1920-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by Stephen Diamond, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Captain Michael Gitt was a pilot for several airlines from 1940 until 1968, most notably Colonial Airlines and Eastern Airlines. This collection consists of materials from Captain Michael Gitt's aviation career, particularly his thirty years as a commercial airline pilot for Colonial Airlines and Eastern Airlines. Of special note are the documents from his 1969 age discrimnation lawsuit regarding the "Age 60" mandatory retirement rule for pilots.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of materials from Captain Michael Gitt's aviation career, particularly his thirty years as a commercial airline pilot. Documents include: flight logs and aviation licenses; applications for employment; aerial negatives and photographs of the New York City area; correspondence, mostly to colleagues at Canadian Colonial Airways, later renamed Colonial Airlines, and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA); Colonial Airlines bulletins and staff newsletters; material relating to his employment at Colonial Airlines, including aircraft manuals for the DC-2 and DC-3; rosters and documentation relating to the Retired Eastern Pilots Association (REPA); and legal briefs and correspondence associated with his age discrimination case against Eastern Airlines in 1969. A small selection of personal materials include correspondence, licenses, housing documentation, and an autobiography and obituaries. There are also materials regarding his wife, Cornelia Gitt, her flight records, and her attempt to organize a Colonial wives safety petition.
Note: The digital images in this finding aid were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping and orientation in addition to color variations resulting from damage to and deterioration of the original objects. Materials with personally identifiable information have not been included.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into five series. Materials within each series are arranged chronologically.
Series 1: Early Aviation Career
Series 2: Canadian Colonial Airways and Colonial Airlines
Series 3: Eastern Airlines
Subseries 3.1: Age 60 Lawsuit
Subseries 3.2: General Eastern Materials and Retired Eastern Pilots Association
Series 4: Logbooks, Licenses, and Cards
Series 5: Personal Materials
Biographical / Historical:
Captain Michael Gitt (1908-2002) was a pilot for several airlines from 1940 until 1968, most notably Colonial Airlines and Eastern Airlines.
Michael A. Gitt learned to fly on a Brunner-Winkle Bird at the Flushing Flying School in 1931. In November 1931, he bought a Buhl Flying Bull Pup and a Taylor Cub E-2 in March 1935. He earned his transport license in 1937. He studied with the Aircraft Radio and Instrument Company at Roosevelt Field. Between 1938 and 1940, he was employed by Aero Service for aerial photography, Bennett Air Service, and Standard Flying Service at Somerset Hills Airport in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
In August 1940, Gitt began his career as a commercial airline pilot with Canadian Colonial Airwayss, which was renamed Colonial Airlines in 1942. In 1956, Eastern Airlines purchased Colonial and Gitt continued his employment with Eastern until he retired as a Senior Captain in 1968.
Gitt was also extremely active with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union from 1946-1956. He served as chairman of numerous negotiating committees, including the retirement committee and the Colonial #28 Council. Gitt filed many grievances with the airlines on his own behalf over issues such as vacation time, compensation, and seniority. In 1969, he filed one of the first airline pilot age discrimination suits against Eastern Airlines in response to the "Age 60" mandatory retirement rule for pilots.. F. Lee Bailey served as one of his lawyers. His suit was not successful and the mandatory retirement age for airline pilots remained 60 until 2007, when it was changed to 65.
After his retirement from the airlines, Gitt began a second career as director of Marine Activities for the Park District of Great Neck, Long Island, New York. Besides his work and many civic and community organizations that he was involved with, Gitt also fulfilled a dream during the 1970s by earning his glider pilot license. He also was a member of the Retired Eastern Pilots Association (REPA).
Provenance:
Patricia and Brian Gitt, Gift, 2003, NASM.2003.0033
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
