Susan Elizabeth Ryan research material regarding Robert Indiana includes one postcard from Clement Greenberg to Ryan regarding Indiana, October 2, 1991; Dream-Work catalog regarding Robert Indiana, LSU, 1997; one photograph of Robert Indiana with Ryan, 2003; and one Christmas card from Indiana to Ryan, 2004.
Biographical / Historical:
Susan Elizabeth Ryan is an art historian in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ryan taught art history at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ryan was friends with and studied Robert Indiana and wrote the book Robert Indiana: Figures of Speech (Yale, 2000).
Provenance:
Donated in 2023 by Susan Elizabeth Ryan.
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.
Occupation:
Art historians -- New Mexico -- Santa Fe Search this
United States of America -- Louisiana -- East Baton Rouge Parish -- Baton Rouge
Scope and Contents:
Materials relating to the public gardens at the Louisiana State Capitol grounds located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The folder includes a slide list, brochures, with a description and worksheet done by GCA researcher Clare Billett. The garden is noted for its aesthetic formal gardens.
General:
"From the observation tower of Louisiana's thirty-four story capitol, the tallest state capitol in the nation, the visitor gets a remarkable view of the gardens surrounding the building. From this vantage point, there is a comprehensive view of the geometric landscape design of the sunken garden at the front of the capitol. At the center of this garden is a formidable statue of Governor Huey P. Long. The garden on the east grounds of the capitol is an informal garden overlooking a lake, and contains many southern favorites of annuals and perennials that grow well in Louisiana."
Firms associated with the property include: E. A. McIlhenney Jungle Gardens, Inc. (landscape architects); and Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth (architects).
Related Materials:
Louisiana State Capitol Grounds related holdings consist of 1 folder (12 35 mm. slides)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Louisiana -- East Baton Rouge Parish -- Baton Rouge
Scope and Contents:
Materials relating to the public gardens at the Louisiana State University's Rural Life Museum, located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The folder includes a slide list, brochures, and a description and worksheet done by GCA researcher Clare Billett. The gardens are noted for horticultural, floricultural, agronomic, wildlife and landscape design research.
General:
"The Rural Life Museum tells the story of rural Louisiana history. Located on the Burden Research Plantation, a 450 acre agricultural research experiment station, the museum spreads over five acres of a plantation. Adjacent to the museum are the Burden house and garden. The five acres of garden embrace the visitor and invites them down winding paths and through large open areas.The semiformal garden is filled with representative varieties of crepe myrtle, azaleas, camellias and other plants used in nineteenth century gardens.
Persons associated with the property include: Steele Burden (gardener, designer); Ione Burden (gardener, designer); and W. Pike Burden (former owner).
Related Materials:
Rural Life Museum related holdings consist of 1 folder (23 35 mm. slides)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
The Olympic Games join athletes from across the globe in the highest levels of competition and excellence. The games have included, since their inception, a cultural component, but never before as extensively as in Atlanta in 1996. The Centennial Olympic Games brought together musical and dramatic performances, exhibitions, and artists from around the world. But most importantly, the Olympic Arts Festival highlighted the American South.
Southern culture was born from the interactions over past centuries of Native Americans, European settlers, and peoples from Africa. In the South, various forms of expression have arisen and transcended boundaries of race, gender, religion, and geography. So powerful have these expressions been - jazz, blues, gospel, rock 'n' roll, civil rights songs, Southern oratory, and food - that they have constituted unique American contributions to world culture. At the 1996 Festival on the National Mall, these forms of expressive culture were celebrated. Later the same summer in Atlanta during the Olympic Games, the program was the core of Southern Crossroads, a festival of Southern culture mounted in the new Centennial Olympic Park - the gathering spot for several hundred thousand visitors a day and billions more through television coverage. An Enhanced-CD Smithsonian Folkways recording with Internet connections and other educational material derived from the Festival program reached countless more after the Olympic Games.
The 1996 program not only exposed regional cultural roots but also showed how many of them have become part of traditions known to America and the world. Technology amplified the stories and songs of Southern rivers and roads, travails and struggles - as documenters recorded, disk jockeys broadcast, and performers toured these cultural expressions, helping them bridge race, gender, class, and ethnicity and producing forms of music now identified with American culture as a whole.
The world of Southern culture celebrated in the 1996 Festival was one of family, home, and community. The program explored new points of juncture and the evolution of new identities. In these could be discovered in today's South the roots of a new, evolving American culture.
Philippa Thompson Jackson was Program Curator and Phyllis K. Kimbrough was Program Coordinator.
The American South was made possible by and was produced in collaboration with The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Cultural Olympiad and in cooperation with the Southern Arts Federation. Additional support was provided by The Recording Industries Music Performance Trust Funds.
Presenters:
Dori Addison, Tara Browner, Katherine Hagedorn, Joyce Jackson, Worth Long, Derek Lowery, Tim Patridge, Henry Willett Ill, Otis Williams, Joe Wilson
Particpants:
Performance Traditions
BEAUSOLEIL AVEC MICHAEL DOUCET
Jimmy Breaux, Acadian accordion, Lafayette, Louisiana
David Doucet, lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, Lafayette, Louisiana
Michael Doucet, lead vocals, fiddle, Lafayette, Louisiana
Al Tharp, vocals, banjo, bass, fiddle, Lafayette, Louisiana
Billy Ware, percussion, Lafayette, Louisiana
THE BIRMINGHAM SUNLIGHTS
Reginald Speight, tenor, Birmingham, Alabama
Barry Taylor, bass, Birmingham, Alabama
James Taylor, light tenor, Birmingham, Alabama
Steve Taylor, bass, Birmingham, Alabama
Wayne Williams, tenor, Birmingham, Alabama
CALLIOPE HIGHSTEPPERS
Henry Freeman, dancer, New Orleans, Louisiana
Johnny Stevenson, dancer, New Orleans, Louisiana
James Taylor, dancer, New Orleans, Louisiana
THE FREEDOM SINGERS
Betty Mae Fikes, 1946-, vocals
Rutha Harris, vocals
Charles Neblett, 1941-, vocals
Cordell Hull Reagon, 1943-1996, vocals
GENO DELAFOSE & FRENCH ROCKIN' BOOGIE
Geno Delafose, diatonic, Acadian & piano accordion, vocals, Eunice, Louisiana
Bobby Broussard, guitar, Eunice, Louisiana
John Espre, bass, Eunice, Louisiana
Germaine Jack, drums, Eunice, Louisiana
Steven Nash, rub board, Eunice, Louisiana
IFÉ ILÉ
Philbert Armenteros, congas, Miami, Florida
Rodolfo L. Caballero, vocals, Miami, Florida
Catalino Diaz, dancer, Miami, Florida
Ruben Romeu, congas, Miami, Florida
Luis E. Torres, bata, congas, chekere, Miami, Florida
Neri Torres, lead dancer, Miami, Florida
Tony Littleturtle Clark, Lumberton, North Carolina
Kat and Ray Littleturtle, Lumberton, North Carolina
Willie Lowery, Lumberton, North Carolina
MAGGIE LEWIS WARWICK WITH TILLMAN FRANKS' OLD TIME LOUISIANA HAYRIDE BAND
Maggie Lewis Warwick, guitar, vocals, Shreveport, Louisiana
Larry Wietstruck, food demon¬strations, Katy, Texas
Sara Wilson, food demonstrations, St. Helena, South Carolina
Gospel Sing
THE CHAPLIERS, UNION CHAPEL BAPTIST CHURCH
Rev. Jimmy Strickland, minister, Pembroke, North Carolina
PROSPECT UNITED METHODIST CHURCH CHOIR
Rev. Bill James Locklear, minister, Maxton, North Carolina
Harold Dean Jacobs, diatonal minister, Maxton, North Carolina
THE SPIRITUAL TONES, WEEPING MARY FULL GOSPEL BAPTIST CHURCH
Rev. Henson F. Brooks, pastor, Salisbury, Maryland
Rev. Russell Campars, Sr., Salisbury, Maryland
Timothy Waters, II, manager, Salisbury, Maryland
WESLEY TEMPLE GOSPEL CHOIR, UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Rev. Grant Johnson, minister, Salisbury, Maryland
Diane West, choir director, Salisbury, Maryland
Mary Winder, pianist, Salisbury, Maryland
Janet Ames, president and business manager, Salisbury, Maryland
WHITE HILLS FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH CHOIR
Rev. Jerry Locklear, minister, Maxton, North Carolina
Eddie Carter, music director, Maxton, North Carolina
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1996 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Patterson, Frederick D. (Frederick Douglass), 1901-1988 Search this
Extent:
18.66 Linear feet (21 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Diplomas
Notebooks
Articles
Manuscripts
Photographic prints
Ephemera
Scrapbooks
Newsletters
Awards
Photographs
Invitations
Legal documents
Programs
Correspondence
Clippings
Date:
1882 - 1988
Summary:
President of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (later Tukegee Institute; now Tuskegee University) from 1935 - 1953 and founder of the United Negro College Fund (1944). Patterson was born on October 10, 1901. Orphaned at age two, he was raised by his eldest sister, Wilhelmina (Bess), a school teacher in Texas. He studied at Iowa State College, where he received a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1923 and a master of science degree in 1927. Five years later, he was awarded a second doctorate degree from Cornell University. Patterson taught veterinary science for four years at Virginia State College, where he was also Director of Agriculture. His tenure at Tuskegee University started in 1928 and spanned almost 25 years, first as head of the veterinary division, then as the director of the School of Agriculture and finally as Tuskegee's third president. He married Catherine Elizabeth Moton, daughter of Tuskegee University's second president, Dr. Robert R. Moton. Patterson also founded the School of Veterinary Medicine at Tuskegee in 1944, the same year he founded the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The UNCF continues today as a critical source of annual income for a consortium of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tuskegee University among them.
Scope and Content note:
The Frederick Douglass Patterson Collection comprises 18.66 linear feet of correspondence, manuscripts, research material, published writings, photographs, audiovisual material, scrapbooks, diplomas, awards, and other materials chronicling the personal life and professional career of Frederick D. Patterson.
The collection is comprised of glimpses into the life of Dr. Patterson. The little correspondece that survived is located in Series 2: Career, Series 3: Correspondence, and Series 4: Organizations. Some of the correspondence takes the form of congratulatory notes from 1953 during Patterson's transfer from Tuskegee Institute to the Phelps-Stokes Fund, located in Series 2. There is also a personal note sent to Patterson's wife, Catherine Patterson, from George Washington Carver in which he describes peanut oil as a good massage oil.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged by series and chronologically therein:
1. Biography: This series provides insight into Patterson's family life through primary documents. It is comprised of family wills, insurance policies, and his autobiography. Sub-series are arranged alphabetically by title.
2. Career: This series contains materials from Patterson's long professional career in the field of higher education, including his tenure as present of both the Tuskegee Institute and the Phelps-Stokes Fund. Sub-series are arranged chronologically.
3. Correspondence: This series contains letters sent to Patterson (and his wife) of a personal and professional nature. Several letters relate to Patterson's personal business "Signs and Services," which was a small billboard advertising company. There are also letters from George Washington Carver. The series is arranged chronologically.
4. Organizations: This series contains material from the various foundations Patterson founded and to which he belonged, including the R.R. Moton Fund and the College Endowment Funding Plan. He is especially noted for developing the United Negro College Fund. The series is organized alphabetically by sub-series title.
5. Honors: This series contains the awards, citations, and resolutions Patterson received during his lifetime. Folders are organized chronologically.
6. Subject Files: This series comprises articles, employee vitas, and other documents collected and organized by Patterson. Among the subjects in the files are higher education, Negroes, segregation, civil rights, and employee records. There is no key to this system.
7. Photographs: The Photograph series mostly documents Patterson's tenure at Tuskegee University. The series includes images of Patterson and various other notable figures during formal functions at the university. Noteworthy personalities include George Washington Carver, Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana.
8. Printed Materials: This series contains books, programs, and other documents from Patterson's personal collection. The series is organized alphabetically by author's last name.
Biographical note:
Frederick Douglass Patterson was born on October 10, 1901 to parents William and Mamie Brooks Patterson, in the Buena Vista Heights area of Anacostia in Washington, D.C. The youngest of six children, Patterson's parents died of tuberculosis before he reached the age of two years, his mother when he was eleven months old and his father a year later. Following his parents' death, the Patterson children were split up and sent to live in the homes of family and friends as stipulated in his father's last will and testament until he was seven years old, Patterson lived in the Anacostia area with a family friend he called "Aunt Julia."
When he was seven years old, Patterson's older sister Bess (a recent graduate of the Washington Conservatory of Music) decided to seek employment in Texas and took him with her. Many of their parents' family still lived in the state, which allowed Patterson the opportunity to spend months with various aunts and uncles, while his sister taught music throughout the South. After completing eighth grade, Patterson joined his sister at the Prairie View Normal School, where she taught music and directed the choir. Patterson attended the school for four years, during which time he developed an interest in veterinary medicine.
In 1920, Patterson enrolled at Iowa State College as a veterinary student. He graduated in 1923 and moved to Columbus, Ohio, to join his brother John. While there, he took the Ohio State Board exam for Veterinary Medicine. Although he became certified, a lack of money prevented him from practicing. Four years later he received a teaching offer from Virginia State College (VSC) in Petersburg, Virginia, which afforded him the opportunity to work within his profession. While at VSC Patterson took a leave of absence and returned to Iowa, in 1926, to pursue a Master's degree in veterinary medicine.
After five years at VSC, the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute offered Patterson a position running the veterinarian hospital and teaching veterinary science. He moved to Tuskegee, Alabama in 1928. While at Tuskegee, Patterson decided to pursue a Ph.D. in bacteriology at Cornell University. During his year and a half leave from Tuskegee, Patterson completed his coursework and wrote his dissertation. After he returned to Tuskegee, a serial killer murdered three people, including the head of the Department of Agriculture. Confronted with this tragedy, school officials quickly offered Patterson the vacant position, which he accepted in 1934.
Robert R. Moton, second president of Tuskegee, retired in 1935 and a search was soon commenced to find the next president for the school. Patterson, in the meantime, pursued more personal matters when he met and married Catherine Moton (with whom he would have a son) in June 1935. By then he was already hired to take his now, father-in-law's, position as President of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.
As president of Tuskegee, Patterson made several changes and many additions to the institution. He increased faculty housing for professors; integrated the Board of Trustees' meeting meals and eventually arranged for both balck and white members to eat at one table; shortened the name to Tuskegee Institute; and established the Department of Commercial Dietetics in 1935, the veterinary medicine program in 1942, and the engineering program in 1948. While many considered Patterson's changes important achievements, it was his development of the Commercial/Military Aviation Program that would bring the school distinction and fame.
Patterson first attempted to develop the aviation program in 1939. The government fostered the development of such programs by subsiding the expenses. All a university had to do was present able-bodied instructors and willing pupils. Tuskegee had both. By 1940 the United States Air Force was interested in integrating its forces. In order to do this they needed trained black pilots. Tuskegee was the perfect place to provide the needed pilots since the school was situated in an all-black environment where students could concentrate on learning to fly without having to worry about racist reactions from their fellow classmates. To accommodate this program, the Tuskegee Army Air Base was created. Tuskegee pilots flew missions throughout World War II and would later be recognized for their bravery.
An important part of Patterson's duties as president was fund-raising. By 1943 he found it increasingly difficult to find ample sources of funds to run the Institute. He came to realize Tuskegee and similar black colleges would benefit if they pooled their funding resources and asked for larger amounts of money from philanthropic individuals and organizations as a collective. Working together would cut fund-raising expenses; this in turn would leave more money for the colleges to use as they wished. Patterson named his new creation the United Negro College Fund (UNCF); it would go on to raise millions of dollars for the nation's historically black colleges. He served as the first president of the organization.
During the fifteen years Patterson served as president of Tuskegee, he hosted many famous personalities, including W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod Bethune, Eleanor Roosevelt, Duke Ellington, Paul Robeson, Pearl Buck, and Andre Segovia. He developed a lasting relationship with George Washington Carver, who had been a professor with Tuskegee since the days of Booker T. Washington.
Patterson served on many organizational boards in addition to his educational work. His involvement with the Phelps-Stokes Fund would ultimately lead Patterson to leave his beloved Tuskegee Institute to apply his educational philosophies on a broader scale. In 1953 the Fund approached Patterson and offered him the presidency of the organization. Patterson, feeling he needed a change, accepted the offer. He resigned from Tuskegee that same year and moved to New York to begin a new life.
Organized in 1911, the Phelps-Stokes Fund supported African, African American, and Native American education and worked on solving housing problems in New York City. Patterson's interest in African education began before he joined Phelps-Stokes. In 1950 the World Bank/International Bank Commission to Nigeria hired him to "evaluate the resources of Nigeria and…to study the educational programs and the organizational structure of advanced education." Through his work with the Fund he continued his efforts to improve the educational opportunities for Africans and help them move beyond colonialism. Patterson traveled extensively throughout the west coast of Africa in support of these goals.
In addition to forming the UNCF, Patterson created two other organizations (the Robert R. Moton Institute and the College Endowment Funding Plan), during the mid 1960s and 1970s. Each was designed to improve funding efforts for historically black colleges. The Robert R. Moton institute began as an off-shoot of the Phelps-Stokes as a site for conferences to address the Fund's primary concerns. Patterson's idea for the Institute came from a desire to put to use a piece of property inherited after Moton's death. Empathy with the frustrations of college presidents regarding the restricted funding for institutional expenses led Patterson to create the College Endowment Funding Plan. The Endowment was designed to alleviate this situation by providing matching funds to eligible colleges. The Endowment made its first payment in 1978. Unfortunately, by the 1980s, the Moton Institute lost most of its government funding due to federal cutbacks. This resulted in reductions to the Institute's programming.
It was not until Patterson was well into his eighties that he began to retire from his life of public service. On June 23, 1987, President Ronald Reagan presented Dr. Patterson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest possible honor that can be bestowed upon a civilian, for his service in higher education and his role in creating funding sources for the nation's historically black colleges. A year later Frederick Douglass Patterson died at the age of eighty-seven.
Honorary Degrees
undated -- Xavier University
1941 -- Virginia State College
1941 -- Wilberforce University
1953 -- Morehouse College
1956 -- Tuskegee Institute
1961 -- New York University
1966 -- Edward Waters College
1967 -- Atlanta University
1969 -- Franklin and Marshall College
1970 -- Virginia Union University
1975 -- Bishop College
1977 -- St. Augustine's College
1982 -- Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
1984 -- Stillman College
1985 -- Payne College
Distinctions
undated -- Association for the Study of Negro Life and History Carter
undated -- The Southern Education Foundation, Inc. Distinguished Service Citation
undated -- The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and Texas Association of Developing Colleges Annual Leadership Awards
1950 -- Christian Education department, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Inc. Citation for Distinguished Service
1953 -- Bethune-Cookman College, the Mary McLeod Bethune Medallion
1953 -- John A. Andrew Clinical Society at Tuskegee Institute, Citation for Distinguished Service in the Cause of Humanity
1953 -- Tuskegee Institute, Certificate of Appreciation for 25 Years of Service
1957 -- Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Beta Lamda Sigma Chapter, Bigger and Better Business Award
1960 -- National Alumni Council of the UNCF, Inc. Award
1963 -- National Business League, Booker T. Washington Award
1965 -- Booker T. Washington Business Association, Certificate of Acknowledgement
1970 -- Moton Conference Center Award
1970 -- Tuskegee National Alumni Association, R.R. Moton Award
1972 -- American College Public Relations Association, 1972 Award for Distinguished Service to Higher Education
1972 -- UNCF F.D. Patterson 71st Birthday Award
1975 -- National Business League, Booker T. Washington Symbol of Service Award
1976 -- Phelps-Stokes Fund, Continuous Creative and Courageous Leadership in the Cause of Higher Education for Blacks
1977 -- Yale Alumni Associates of Afro-America, Distinguished Service Award
1979 -- Alpha Phi Alpha Education Foundation Inc., Distinguished Educator Award
1979 -- Tuskegee Institute Alumni Association Philadelphia Charter Award
1980 -- The Iowa State University Alumni Association, Distinguished Achievement Citation
1980 -- Gary Branch NAACP Life Membership Fight for Freedom Dinner 1980, Roy Wilkins Award
1980 -- State of Alabama Certificate of Appreciation
1982 -- St. Luke's United Methodist Church Achievement Award
1983 -- Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., Distinguished Service Award
1984 -- Booker T. Washington Foundation, Booker T. Washington Distinguished Service Award
1984 -- The Ohio State University Office of Minority Affairs, Distinguished Humanitarian and Service Award
1985 -- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc, Eta Zeta Lamda Chapter Civic Award
1985 -- United States, Private Sector Initiative Commendation
1987 -- Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc of New York State, Founders Day Award
1987 -- Presidential Medal of Freedom
1987 -- Brag Business Achievement Award
1987 -- Phelps-Stokes Fund, Aggrey Medal
Public Service
1941-1971 -- Southern Educational Foundation, Inc., Board Member
1943-1988 -- United Negro College Fund, Founder, President, and Member
1960s-1988 -- Robert R. Moton Memorial Institute, Founder
1970s-1988 -- The College Endowment Funding Plan, Founder
undated -- American National Red Cross, Board of Governors Member
undated -- Boys Scouts of America, National Council Member
undated -- Citizens Committee for the Hoover Report on Reorganization of Federal Government, Board Member
undated -- Institute of International Education, Advisory committee Member
undated -- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Life Member
undated -- National Business League, President and Board Member
undated -- National Urban League, National Committee Member
undated -- Phelps-Stokes Fund, Board of Trustees Member
undated -- President's Commission on Higher Education for Negroes
undated -- Southern Regional Education, Board of Control Member
Related Materials:
Additional biographical materials in the Dale/Patterson Collection of the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
This collection contains artifacts catalogued in the ACM Objects Collection.
Provenance:
The Frederick Douglass Patterson papers were donated to the Anacostia Community Museum in 2001 by Frederick Douglass Patterson, Jr.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Rights:
The Frederick Douglass Patterson papers are the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with the Anacostia Community Museum. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.
Topic:
Universities and colleges -- Administration Search this
African Americans -- Education (Higher) Search this
African American universities and colleges Search this
Genre/Form:
Diplomas
Notebooks
Articles
Manuscripts
Photographic prints
Ephemera
Scrapbooks
Newsletters
Awards
Photographs
Invitations
Legal documents
Programs
Correspondence
Clippings
Citation:
Frederick Douglass Patterson papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Frederick Douglass Patterson, Jr.
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Grace F. Thorpe Collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Caroline Durieux, 1978 June 1-2. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Registers and Letters Received by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872
Extent:
74 Reels
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Reels
Date:
1865–1872
Summary:
This collection is comprised of digital surrogates previously available on the 74 rolls of microfilm described in NARA publication M752. These digital surrogates reproduced 33 volumes of registers and indexes and the related unbound letters received by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872.
Historical Note:
[The following is reproduced from the original NARA descriptive pamphlet for M752.]
HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, often referred to as the Freedmen's Bureau, was established in the War Department by an act of Congress approved March 3, 1865 (13 Stat. 507). Congress assigned to the Bureau responsibilities previously shared by the military commanders and the agents of the Treasury Department, which included the supervision of all matters relating to the refugees and freedmen and the custody of all abandoned or confiscated lands and property. The act also provided that the Bureau was to be headed by a Commissioner, appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
In May 1865 the President appointed Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard to be Commissioner of the Bureau. Howard, who served until the Bureau was discontinued in 1872, established his headquarters in Washington, D. C. Although the size and organization of the central office varied from time to time, Howard's staff consisted primarily of an Assistant Adjutant General, an Assistant Inspector General, a Chief Medical Officer, a Chief Quartermaster, a Chief Disbursing Officer, and officers in charge of the Claim Division, the Education Division, and the Land Division.
Assistant Commissioners supervised the work of the Bureau in the States. The Bureau's operations were mainly confined to the former Confederate States, the border states, and the District of Columbia. Assistant Commissioners had staff offices comparable to those of the Commissioner and performed all functions of the Bureau under the direction of the central office in Washington. Officers subordinate to the Assistant Commissioner carried out the Bureau's policies and programs within the districts.
During the years of its greatest activity, the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau resembled the work of later Federal welfare agencies. In addition to supervising the disposition of abandoned and confiscated lands, Bureau officers issued rations, clothing, and medicine to destitute refugees and freedmen. They established hospitals and dispensaries and supervised tenements and camps for the homeless. Bureau officers and members of philanthropic organizations cooperated in establishing schools, operating employment offices, and dispensing relief.
The main concern of the Bureau was the freedman. Bureau officers supervised the writing of labor contracts and terms of indenture, registered marriages, listened to complaints, and generally were concerned with improving the life of the freedman. In March 1866 the Bureau assumed the function of helping colored soldiers and sailors to file and collect claims for bounties, pensions, and pay in arrears.
On July 25, 1868 (15 Stat. 193), Congress ordered the Commissioner to withdraw Bureau officers from the States by January 1, 1869, and to discontinue Bureau activities except those relating to education and to the collection and payment of claims. The Bureau was abolished by an Act of Congress approved June 10, 1872 (17 Stat. 366), and effective June 30, 1872. All unfinished work, which by this time related chiefly to the collection and payment of claims, was transferred to the Freedmen's Branch that was established in the Office of the Adjutant General.
The records reproduced in this microcopy include the registers of letters received, the indexes to the registers, and the letters themselves. According to recordkeeping practices of the time, incoming letters were entered in registers of letters received. The registers include such information as the name or office of the correspondent, the date of the letter, the place from which the letter was sent, the date of receipt, and an abstract of its contents.
Before 1871, letters were entered in registers alphabetically by the initial letter of the surname or office of the writer and thereunder by date of receipt. Each entry was numbered according to a separate numerical sequence used for each letter of the alphabet, and the clerks usually began new sequences each January. Registers 2 and 3, which cover the period from October 1865 to February 1866, are an exception because separate numerical sequences were begun in October 1865 and in January 1866. Consequently, two numerical sequences exist under each alphabetical division in these two registers. In January 1871, the Freedmen's Bureau began to enter letters chronologically by date of receipt and to number them consecutively within each year. For this reason, register 18 (1871–1872) has two separate numerical sequences.
There are some variations in the order in which letters were entered in the registers. In registers with alphabetical divisions, letters of recommendation were entered under the name of either the person recommended, the person making the recommendation, or the person transmitting the recommendation to the Commissioner. Particularly in register 1, letters were not always entered upon receipt, and letters of application were entered at the end of each alphabetical division without regard to the date of receipt. In register 1 a few letters referred from other Government agencies antedate the establishment of the Bureau.
There are numerous breaks in the alphabetical sequences within the registers. These breaks occur because the number of pages allotted to each letter of the alphabet often proved to be insufficient, making it necessary to continue the entries elsewhere in the register. In each case, the National Archives has filmed the register in correct order so that these breaks do not appear on the microfilm. There are also breaks in the pagination of some registers because blank numbered pages were not filmed.
From time to time the clerks in the Commissioner's Office made errors in entering letters received in the registers. Some numbers in the sequences of assigned numbers were inadvertently omitted; consequently, there are no letters bearing such numbers. Occasionally registry numbers were repeated, giving two different letters the same file designation. The clerks usually added "1/2" to the second designation; but in cases where this correction was not made, the National Archives has added in brackets, "No. 1" and "No. 2," respectively.
Many symbols, cross–references, and abbreviations were entered in the registers by the Commissioner's Office and by the National Archives. The latter has stamped an asterisk (-"-) near the entry number for letters that are still in the series of letters received. The notation "F/W" before a cross–reference indicates that the letter received is filed with a related letter. There are some references to other series of records in the Commissioner's Office. The notations "LB" and "PLB" refer to the letter book and press letter book series of outgoing letters, and "EB" and "SO" refer to endorsement books and special orders, respectively.
Although a separate series of Endorsement Books was kept by Commissioner Howard's office, the endorsements from October 1865 to August 1866 were copied into the registers of letters received and are reproduced in this microcopy.
Two consolidated indexes, a general name index and a general subject index, are filmed on roll 1 of this microcopy. The general name index covers registers 1 – 12 and "A – H" of register 13; the general subject index covers registers 1 – 13. In the latter index the subject is entered alphabetically by initial letter. The entry identifies the letter received pertaining to a specific subject by giving either the number of the register and the file citation of the letter, or the register number and page number in the register on which the letter is entered.
Also reproduced are separate name and subject indexes to many of the registers. Neither kind of index exists for entries A – M in registers 4 and 5. Some of the indexes are bound in the registers; others are bound as separate volumes. On each roll the index has been filmed before the register to which it relates.
The registers reproduced in this microcopy were arranged in rough chronological order and numbered in sequence, but no volume numbers were assigned to the index books. Later all volumes were arbitrarily assigned numbers, which appear in parentheses in this microfilm publication and which are useful in identifying the volume.
The letters reproduced are arranged by order of their entry in the registers. According to the custom of other War Department offices, the Freedmen's Bureau generally filed correspondence under the name of the office of origin rather than the name of the writer. Letters from local agents and superintendents of Baton Rouge, for example, were forwarded through the Office of the Assistant Commissioner of Louisiana, and upon receipt in the central office at Washington they were entered in the register under "L" for Louisiana.
The file citation that appears on the back of registered letters is taken from the entry number in the register. In a citation such as "S 204 BRF&AL Vol. 9 1867," "S" is the initial letter of the correspondent's name or office; the number "204" indicates that it is the 204th letter recorded under "S"; "BRF&AL," that it was received by the Commissioner's Office; "Vol. 9," the register in which the letter was entered; and "1867," the year in which the letter was written.
Enclosures such as reports, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, and printed publications were often registered and filed with their letters of transmittal. When the Commissioner's Office received a letter accompanied by enclosures, the clerks usually mentioned them in the register and on the back of the letter and indicated the number of enclosures.
Some letters, reports, and enclosures originally filed with the letters received are no longer in this series. Each of the Commissioner's staff offices maintained its own series of registers and letters received. Correspondence and reports received by Commissioner Howard were occasionally referred to staff offices and became part of their permanent records. Not all enclosures are filed with their letters of transmittal. Enclosures containing information that the central office wanted to keep together, such as reports on schools, lands, rations, and operations, were sometimes separated from their letters of transmittal and filed elsewhere in separate series. For this reason some of the reports that are registered as letters received and bear the file citation of the Office of the Commissioner are not among the series filmed in this microcopy.
Because the registers frequently were used to record the disposition of documents, they are useful in tracing documents that have been removed from the file. By 1871 the Commissioner's Office had added an "action" column to the register for this purpose, but even the earlier registers include such information as the name of the official or office to which a letter was referred, a cross–reference to indicate consolidation with other letters, and the disposition of enclosures.
A few letters received that were not registered and a few unidentified enclosures that were separated from their letters of transmittal have been arranged by year and are filmed on the last roll of this microcopy.
In the same record group as the documents described above are related records. Letters sent, endorsements sent, circulars issued, and special orders issued by the Commissioner are in Selected Series of Records Issued by the Commissioner of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1872 (Microcopy 742). There also are several series of reports and returns received by the Commissioner and records of staff and field offices.
Related Materials:
See also Freedmen's Bureau Digital Collection
Provenance:
Acquired from FamilySearch International in 2015.
Restrictions:
Freedmen's Bureau Digital Collection, 1865–1872, is a product of and owned by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Copyright for digital images is retained by the donor, FamilySearch International; permission for commercial use of the digital images may be requested from FamilySearch International, Intellectual Property Office, at: cor-intellectualproperty@ldschurch.org.
Courtesy of the U. S. National Archives and Records Administration, FamilySearch International, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
