The papers of Cuban-American painter Humberto Dionisio measure 2.7 linear feet and date from 1919 to 1990. The collection primarily documents Dionisio's relationships with his family, particularly his mother, through letters, photographs, financial records, printed material, and family memorabilia collected by Dionisio himself and by his mother, Zaida Ortega Dominguez.
Scope and Content Note:
The collection measures 2.7 linear feet, dates from 1919 to 1990, and includes letters, photographs, financial records, printed material, and family memorabilia. The papers of Dionisio primarily document his relationships with other family members and friends through photographs and letters received from his mother, Zaida Ortega Dominguez, and others. The collection also contains papers, photographs and original sketches (by Dominguez) collected by Dominguez herself which were in Dionisio's care. Papers relating specifically to Dionisio's work as an artist are represented to a lesser degree in this collection and consist primarily of printed material and photographs of Dionisio at work and at an exhibition of his work. There is also one original watercolor by Dionisio from 1985.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into two series. Each series is arranged into subseries according to record type.
Series 1: Humberto Dionisio Papers, 1926-1990, undated (Boxes 1-3; 1.7 linear feet)
Series 2: Zaida Ortega Dominguez Papers, 1919-circa 1980s, undated (Boxes 4-6; 0.9 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Humberto Dionisio was born in Cuba in 1950. During the 1970s he became a noted poster artist and completed his studies in Graphic Design at the Consejo Nacional de Cultura in Cuba in 1975. He arrived in Miami, Florida, via the Mariel boat lift in 1980, and achieved success in Miami as a painter from the mid to late 1980s. He died in March 1987 at the age of thirty-six.
Provenance:
The Humberto Dionisio papers were donated by Jim Kitchens, a friend of Dionisio, in 1996.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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.
The Theodoor de Booy collection consists of photographic negatives and prints made by de Booy from 1912 to 1918. The materials largely relate to various archaeological expeditions undertaken by de Booy on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation to such places as the Bahamas, Jamaica, Dominican Republic's Island of Saona, Cuba, Venezuela's Island of Margarita, and Trinidad. The West Indies views represent excavation sites, archaeological activities, and antiquities presumably felt to be related to the Indians of the West Indies. In addition are city street scenes, landscapes, and seascapes; plantations; native peoples and their dwellings, social customs, and agricultural practices; and U.S. military activities in the region as well as a few negatives made in New York at the Museum of the American Indian.
Arrangement note:
Negatives Arranged by negative number (N04070-N04362, N04489-N05070, N06068-N06098). Prints Arranged by print number (P00286, P00287).
Biographical/Historical note:
Theodoor de Booy was born in 1882 in Hellevoetsluis, Netherlands. The son of a vice-admiral, he received his education from the Royal Naval Institute of Holland; in 1906, at the age of 24, he immigrated to the United States. During a 1911 trip to the Bahamas, he explored several caves and mounds and, based on his discoveries, published an article in the American Anthropologist entitled "Lucayan Remains on the Caicos Islands." This trip affirmed his interest in antiquities, and in 1912 he accepted one of the first positions on George Gustav Heye's "scientific staff," who were charged with collecting American Indian specimens throughout the Western Hemisphere for the Museum of the American Indian collections. De Booy's appointment was as field explorer for the West Indies. From 1912 to 1918, as an employee of the Museum, de Booy conducted archaeological expeditions to and excavations in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Santo Domingo, Cuba, Venezuela, and in Trinidad. After 1918, de Booy worked for a short time at the University of Pennsylvania Museum and then joined the State Department Inquiry as a specialist for South America. A casualty of the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919, de Booy died in Yonkers, New York, at the age of 37.
Provenance:
Historically, the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation managed all photographic and related manuscript collections separately. This collection description represents current management practices of organizing and contextualizing related archival materials.
Restrictions:
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Rights:
Some restrictions: Cultural Sensitivity
Topic:
Indians of the West Indies -- Social life and customs Search this
Excavations (Aerchaeology) -- West Indies Search this
Indians of the West Indies -- Antiquities Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographic prints
Negatives
Citation:
Theodoor de Booy negatives and photographs collection, 1912-1918, National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution (negative, slide or catalog number).
The collection, which dates from 2006 and measures .08 linear feet, documents community life in Senegal, Barbados and Cuba, as well as African-American community life in the United States. The collection is comprised of giclée prints.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
African Americans -- Social life and customs Search this
Black in Latin America / presented and written by Henry Louis Gates Jr. ; produced and directed by Ricardo Pollack ; a production of Inkwell Films, Wall to Wall Media LTD and Thirteen in association with WNET.org
La tradición ewé-fon en Cuba : contribución al estudio de la tradición ewé-fon (arará) en los pueblos de Jovellanos, Perico y Agramonte, Cuba / Hippolyte Brice Sogbossi
