44.5 Cubic feet (4,317 glass negatives. 363 film negatives. 182 glass lantern slides. 12 photograph albums. 56 plans and drawings. 3 monographs.
)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Negatives
Blueprints
Albums
Plans (drawings)
Lantern slides
Date:
1899-1964
Summary:
The Thomas Warren Sears Photograph Collection documents examples of the design work of Thomas Warren Sears (1880-1966), a landscape architect and amateur photographer from Brookline, Massachusetts. Sears, who was based for most of his career in Philadelphia, designed a variety of different types of landscapes ranging from private residences, schools, and playgrounds to parks, cemeteries, and urban housing developments located primarily in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. In addition to some of Sears' design work, images in the collection document Sears' domestic and foreign travels, design inspirations, and family. The collection includes over 4,800 black and white negatives and glass lantern slides dated circa 1899 to 1930. While most images show private and public gardens, there are a significant number of unidentified views and views photographed in Europe during two trips he took there in 1906 and 1908. Few images are captioned or dated. In addition, there are over 50 plans and drawings, most notably for Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland and Reynolda in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and 3 monographs by or about Sears.
Scope and Contents note:
The Thomas Warren Sears Photograph Collection documents examples of the design work of Thomas Warren Sears (1880-1966), a landscape architect and amateur photographer from Brookline, Massachusetts. Sears, who was based for most of his career in Philadelphia, designed a variety of different types of landscapes ranging from private residences, schools, and playgrounds to parks, cemeteries, and urban housing developments located primarily in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. In addition to some of Sears' design work, images in the collection document Sears' domestic and foreign travels, design inspirations, and family. The collection includes over 4,800 black and white negatives and glass lantern slides dated circa 1899 to 1930. While most images show private and public gardens, there are a significant number of unidentified views and views photographed in Europe during two trips he took there in 1906 and 1908. Few images are captioned or dated. In addition, there are over 50 plans and drawings, most notably for Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland and Reynolda in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and monographs by or about Sears.
Several of the glass lantern slides are duplicates of glass plate negatives in the collection. They apparently were chosen by Sears to illustrate some of his best design work, perhaps for lecture or client purposes.
In addition, there are 56 plans and drawings, most notably for Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland and Reynolda in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They range in date from 1917 to 1937 and from 1955 to 1964. Sears photographed some of his early plans; they are included in with the photographic images. Sears also photographed a handful of design plans by landscape architect Sibley Coslett Smith who practiced in Providence, Rhode Island; Sears and Smith shared the same business address there.
The Thomas Warren Sears Collection does not fully document the extent of Sears' design work. The use of glass plate negatives—which make up the bulk of the Thomas Warren Sears Collection—as a photography medium waned sometime during the first quarter of the twentieth century. As a result, the images in the Sears Collection capture examples of Sears' early to mid-career design work but they do not include jobs designed by Sears during the latter half of his design career.
Arrangement note:
The glass plate negatives were originally housed in numerous cardboard boxes manufactured for the sale of undeveloped glass plate negatives. Sears annotated the outside of the boxes with project or client names and/or locations, but the contents do not always match these labels. In addition, because very few of the glass plate negatives and lantern slides were labeled or captioned, it is not always evident where one job ended and another began if multiple projects were stored in the same carton. As a result, there are many instances in the Sears Collection where images have been inadvertently mislabeled because their identification is not apparent. Misidentified images are subject to correction as their proper identification is discovered.
Each project has been assigned its own unique AAG job number based on its geographic origin. Those groups of images that have not been identified as to their location have been assigned a project number starting with 'SRS.'
The collection is arranged into 3 series:
1) Photographic images (including glass plate negatives, film negatives, glass lantern slides, and photograph albums)
2) Plans and Drawings
3) Monographs
Biographical/Historical note:
Thomas Warren Sears was born in 1880 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1903 and Bachelor of Science degree in landscape architecture from the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard in 1906. Sears was an amateur photographer who won awards for his photography while at Harvard. In 1915 his images were published in the monograph, Parish Churches of England. After graduation he worked for the firm of Olmsted Brothers Landscape Architects for two years and then briefly practiced in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1913, Sears established a landscape design office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he spent the remainder of his professional career. Sears at one point was in a professional partnership; some of his design plans list the firm name of Sears and Wendell. He was made a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1921.
Sears designed many different types of landscapes ranging from private residences, schools, and playgrounds to parks, cemeteries, and urban housing developments. His designs were primarily located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. Just a few of his private landscapes include Marengo in Easton, Maryland; Sunnybrook, the Isaac H. Clothier, Jr. estate in Radnor, Pennsylvania; and Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland. In 1915, Sears started work on Reynolda, a country estate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He generated design plans for the property intermittently over the next two decades. Reynolda's formal gardens, greenhouses, and acres of fields and woodlands subsequently became part of Wake Forest University.
During World War I, Sears designed Army camps in Battle Creek, Michigan and Spartanburg, South Carolina. He also helped lay out Langley Field, at that time an experimental aviation field in Hampton Roads, Virginia. In the 1940s, Sears designed the amphitheater at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania for concerts, outdoor performances, and other special events. During that decade he also worked on Colonial Revival gardens at Pennsbury, William Penn's country estate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania located by the Delaware River. Sears retired in 1964 and died in 1966.
Related Archival Materials note:
The Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project (PAB), administered by The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, includes references to design projects by Sears.
Harvard University's Loeb Library includes a number of images by Sears, some of them documenting gardens that he designed.
Harvard University's Fine Arts Library, Special Collections includes a collection of photographs and negatives of English parish churches by Sears, c. 1908. Some of the images were published in the monograph, Parish Churches of England.
The Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina includes plans by Sears of Reynolda in its Estate Archives.
Provenance:
Gift of Eleanor Sears Tibbetts, Sears' daughter, to the Horticulture Services Division (later Smithsonian Gardens) in 1992.
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.
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.
American Society of Landscape Architects Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Place:
United States of America
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes working lists, photocopies of images, and other information.
General:
It is likely, based on notations on their containers, that these images show the children of Sibley Coslett Smith and M.W. Smith. Sibley C. Smith was a landscape architect who practiced in Providence, Rhode Island, at 107 Westminster Street. Thomas Warren Sears used the same business address in the 1910s, which is when these photos were probably taken. It is not clear, however, whether they were taken in Providence or in some other location. Sibley C. Smith is the landscape architect of various perspective sketches found in the Sears Collection (see NY254, RI049, RI050, RI051, RI052, and RI053).
Related Materials:
Sibley C. Smith Children related holdings consist of 1 folder (16 glass negatives)
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.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection.
Rowena Stewart, former Director of the African American Museum in Philadelphia, The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, the African American Historical and Cultural Museum, and the Motown Historical Museum and the American Jazz Museum, discusses the influence the Anacostia Community Museum had in introducing African American heritage in a museum setting, in serving the Anacostia neighborhood, and in supporting other emerging African American cultural institutions in the 1960s and 1970s. She discusses meeting John Kinard, and the guidance he provided in presenting history through exhibitions and educational programs. She shares her memories of the early days of the Anacostia Museum, the effects of its move from the Carver Theater to the current location, and its ongoing influence.
The interview was conducted by Gail S. Lowe on May 11, 1992. There is background static throughout the recording, but the interview can be heard clearly.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the ACM 25th Anniversary Oral History Project, which includes approximately 100 interviews of residents and influential people of the Anacostia area of Washington, DC.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
The papers of government arts administrator and novelist Livingston L. Biddle, Jr. (1918-2002) measure 40.2 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 2002. The papers are comprised of biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, numerous files reflecting his work to establish the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), political committee files, personal legal records, printed materials, scrapbooks, and photographs. Throughout the collection are video and sound recordings.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of government arts administrator and novelist Livingston L. Biddle, Jr. (1918-2002) measure 40.2 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 2002. The papers are comprised of biographical materials, correspondence, interviews, writings, numerous files reflecting his work to establish the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), political committee files, personal legal records, printed materials, scrapbooks, and photographs. Throughout the collection are video and sound recordings.
Biographical materials consist of awards; diplomas; genealogy records; resumes; and files for Biddle's work at Fordham, his nomination for the National Medal of Arts award, and about his second wife Catharina Baart. Correspondence is with family, friends, and professional and political contacts such as Jane Alexander, President Jimmy Carter, Armand Hammer, Nancy Hanks, Edward Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Sandra Day O'Connor, Claiborne Pell, Robert Rauschenberg, Slava Rostropovich, and others.
Interviews with Biddle include transcripts, four sound recordings, and two video recordings of Biddle with R.A. Davis, Bob Edwards, Peter Jessup, Susan King, Bob Schieffer, and Louann Temple.
Among the writings are journals, articles, poetry, speech notes, manuscript drafts of Our Government and the Arts: A Perspective from the Inside and Sam Bentley's Island, one video recording of "Art/Work/USA" by Barbara Rose, and one sound recording of a film introduction entitled "The Eagle".
Files concerning the establishment and early years of the National Endowment of the Arts consist of correspondence; congressional briefing books, committee files, and reports; financial material; drafts of the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965; one sound reel titled "Swearing-In of L.L. Biddle, Jr.," and three video recordings. Additional files concerning Biddle's work for congressional committees and political campaigns include correspondence, meeting agendas and notes, and printed material concerning multiple arts organizations and the political campaigns for Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, and Claiborne Pell. Family and real estate records, a partnership agreement, and will are in personal legal records.
Printed materials include booklets, clippings, event invitations and programs, flyers, magazines and journals, and posters autographed by Jacob Lawrence, Fritz Scholder, and John Glenn. Additionally, one commercial sound cassette recordings of National Public Radio's program Performance Today is also found. Two mixed-media scrapbooks contain memorabilia from Biddle's professional life and international travel.
Photographs are of family, travel, and friends and colleagues at various events. Six video recordings are home movies of Bryn Mawr and documentaries about St. Katherine Drexel. Artwork in the form of pencil and watercolor sketches is by Ruth Asawa Lanier, Barb Maxwell, Pat Oliphant, James Rosenquist, and Howard N. Watson.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1950-2002 (2.5 linear; Box 1-3, 41, OV 43)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1956-2001 (2 linear feet; Boxes 3-5)
Series 3: Interviews, 1978-2002 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 5-6)
Series 4: Writings, 1940-2002 (12 linear feet; Boxes 6-18)
Series 5: National Endowment for the Arts, 1964-2000 (10 linear feet; Boxes 18-27, 42)
Series 6: Committees and Political Campaigns, 1944-2001 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 27-30)
Series 7: Personal Legal Records, 1952-1986 (1 linear foot; Boxes 30-31)
Series 8: Printed Materials, circa 1950-2000 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 31-34, 41, OV 44)
Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1970-1998 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 34, 42)
Series 10: Photographs and Video Recordings, circa 1950-2002 (4.6 linear feet: Boxes 34-40, OV 44)
Series 11: Artwork, 1976-1989 (0.3 linear feet; Box 40, OV 44)
Biographical / Historical:
Livingston L. Biddle, Jr. (1918-2002) was a federal government arts administrator and novelist active in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
Livingston L. Biddle was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1918 to a distinguished and wealthy family. He graduated from Princeton University in 1940. During World War II, Biddle volunteered as an ambulance driver in Africa for the American Field Services.
While working as a special assistant to Rhode Island Democratic Senator Claiborne Pell in the 1960s, Biddle drafted the legislation for the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act of 1965, which led to the creation of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) one year later. Biddle served as deputy chairman of the NEA from 1966 to 1967, as congressional liaison director in 1975, and as chairman from 1977 to 1981. In 1976, he served as director of the Congressional Subcommittee on Education, Arts, and Humanities.
Also a writer, Biddle wrote four novels, all set in Philadelphia, including Sam Bentley's Island published in 1961. From 1968 to 1970, he was a professor and chairman of Fordham University's arts division. Biddle also published a non-fiction book about his experiences establishing and working for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) titled Our Government and the Arts: A Perspective from the Inside in 1988.
Biddle married artist Catharina Baart in 1973 after his first wife, Cordelia Frances Fenton, died in 1972. Biddle died in Washington, D.C. in 2002.
Provenance:
The Livingston L. Biddle, Jr. papers were donated in 2013 by Thomas O'Callaghan, a close friend of Biddle's who inherited the papers.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival 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.
1 Slides (photographs) (glass lantern, col., 3 x 5 in.)
Type:
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Place:
United States of America -- Rhode Island -- Providence County -- Providence
Date:
circa 1905-1930
General note:
Inspired by writings of A. J. Downing.
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.
1 Slides (photographs) (glass lantern, col., 3 x 5 in.)
Type:
Archival materials
Slides (photographs)
Place:
United States of America -- Rhode Island -- Providence County -- Providence
Date:
circa 1905-1930
General note:
Inspired by writings of A. J. Downing.
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.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Electricity and Modern Physics Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanisms Search this
Extent:
2 Cubic feet (6 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Laboratory notebooks
Date:
1878-1937
Summary:
Charles Sumner Tainter has been recognized as the father of the talking machine, and much of the material in this collection represents his experimental work on the graphophone. Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, and Tainter established the Volta Laboratory Association in 1881. This collection presents a comprehensive picture of the early development of the phonograph and Tainter's substantial contributions to the project.
Scope and Contents:
Charles Sumner Tainter has been recognized as the father of the talking machine, and much of the material in this collection represents his experimental work on the graphophone.
Alexander Graham Bell, in partnership with his cousin Chichester Bell, and Tainter, established the Volta Laboratory Association in 1881, which stayed in operation until 1885. During this time Tainter recorded his experiments on the graphophone in thirteen note books or "Home Notes" and in two large volumes of technical drawings and notes. One of these volumes contains very exact drawings for a multiple record duplicator (1897-1908); the other contains rough sketches of his experiments with various apparatuses (1883-1884).
Tainter also wrote an unpublished, undated manuscript on The Talking Machine and Some Little Known Facts in Connection with Its Early Development. Another document consists of a binder with the printed patent specifications of Tainter, Alexander Graham Bell, and Chichester Bell (1880-1903). All of these documents are contained within this collection, except Volumes 9, 10, and 13 of Tainter's "Home Notes" which were destroyed in a fire in Tainter's Laboratory in Washington, D.C., in September 1897. The other ten volumes were needed in a law suit and were in possession of his attorney at the time of the fire. Records of Court testimony in suits involving the phonograph (1894-1896) are also included in this collection.
Tainter's memoirs, Early History of Charles Sumner Tainter provide a personal account of his childhood and youth, and of his later role as a member of the U. S. Government Expedition to observe the transit of Venus in 1874. Certificates, photographs, clippings, some correspondence, handwritten notes, and articles on the history of the phonograph complete the collection of his papers.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into three series:
Series 1, Papers, 1878-1937
Series 2, Laboratory Notes, 1881-1908
Series 3, Artifacts, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Sumner Tainter, son of George and Abigail Sanger Tainter, was born on April 25, 1854, in Watertown, Massachusetts, near Boston. His father was an inventor with several patents to his name. In his memoirs Tainter describes his father as "a man of much force of character and inventive ability" and his mother as, "a woman of high character and beloved by all." His school years left him with a terror of public speaking that followed him all his life. He completed public school without much enthusiasm and then became essentially self-educated, studying only subjects that interested him. He obtained scientific and technical books from the public library, and was an avid reader of Scientific American. In his memoirs he recalls: "I believe that this journal had a great influence in molding my thoughts in mechanical and scientific directions as I grew up with it and used to read it regularly."
In 1870 Tainter started to work for Charles Williams, Jr., a manufacturer of telegraphs and electrical apparatus in Boston, for five dollars a week. Two years later he became associated with Johnson and Whittlemore, manufacturers of electrical instruments in Boston. He stayed with them until the business folded in 1873, and then joined Alvan Clark and Sons, a well-known manufacturing company of large telescopes and optical instruments in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts. As a technician at the Alvan Clark and Sons Company, Tainter assisted with the building of the Equatorial Telescope mounted in the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. He also constructed much of the equipment that was used during the U.S. government expedition to observe the transit of Venus in the South Pacific on December 8, 1874. The Secretary of the Navy appointed Tainter a member of this expedition, and Tainter vividly reveals his role in the event in his memoirs: "Early History of Charles Sumner Tainter." See Series 1, Box 1. [Note: Henry Draper, (1837 1882), a scientist whose collection of papers are also stored in the Archives Center, Series 3, Box 6, was superintendent of the government commission for the observation of the transit of Venus.] After he returned from the expedition in 1875, Tainter rejoined Alvan Clark and Sons Company and stayed there for three years.
Tainter started his own business in 1878 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, constructing scientific instruments. It was in Cambridgeport, that he met Alexander Graham Bell. A year later Tainter accepted Bell's proposal to join him in Washington, D.C. to establish a small laboratory. After a series of experiments they developed the radiophone, an instrument for transmitting sound to distant points through the agency of light, using sensitive selenium cells. The radiophone was shown at an electrical exhibition in Paris in 1881, where Tainter was awarded a gold medal and diploma for his part in the invention. Between 1879 and 1880, Tainter and Bell also experimented with and tried to improve on Edison's talking machine.
The Academie des Sciences of Paris awarded Bell the Volta prize in 1880 for his development of the telephone. The prize included $10,000 that Bell used a year later to establish the Volta Laboratory Association, a small research laboratory in Washington, D.C. He asked his cousin, Chichester A. Bell, a chemist from London, and Tainter to join him in this venture. Although they devoted much of their attention to electrical and acoustical research, most of their efforts went into the improvement of Edison's talking machine. Edison had used tinfoil as the recording medium for his first phonograph in 1877, but then abandoned the project and turned his attention to the electric light and power distribution system. Meanwhile, Chichester Bell and Tainter saw the fragile tinfoil as a major obstacle in any further development of the instrument, and after much experimenting came upon the idea of replacing the tinfoil with a wax compound onto which they could engrave the sound waves directly. This invention was patented in May 1886 under the name Graphophone. It was an important step in the development of the phonograph since for the first time it was possible to manufacture the device commercially. Tainter recorded his experiments on the graphophone in thirteen notebooks ("Home Notes") and two large volumes of technical drawings and sketches. See: Series 2, Boxes 1, 2, and 3.
Bell and Tainter recognized Edison as the inventor of the talking machine, and they wanted to work with him and carry the costs for all further experiments in exchange for half the share of the profits, but Edison rejected this proposal. He felt that they wanted to steal his invention. In 1885 the partnership between Bell, his cousin, and Tainter was dissolved, and the graphophone rights were given to a group of Washington court stenographers who felt that the graphophone could best be utilized as a dictaphone. The group subsequently formed the Volta graphophone Company where Tainter continued to work for several years. The Volta Graphophone Company was reorganized two years after its formation as the American Graphophone Company. Eventually Edison sued the Volta Graphophone Company (1894), and the American Graphophone Company (1895-96).
In June 1886 Tainter married Lila R. Munro, daughter of William J. Munro of Newport, Rhode Island. Two years later he suffered a severe case of pneumonia, which was to incapacitate him intermittently for the rest of his life.
The Volta Graphophone Company sold the foreign rights for the graphophone in the spring of 1889 to form the International Graphophone Company. Tainter became associated with this new company and went to Europe to look after its interests there. In the same year the graphophone was exhibited at the Paris Exposition and Tainter was awarded the Decoration of "Officier de L Instruction Publique" from the French government for his invention of the graphophone. Upon his return from Europe Tainter established a factory for the International Graphophone Company in Hartford, Connecticut in 1889. When he left the company in 1890, he launched his own laboratory in Washington, D.C., where he continued to improve on the phonograph and a number of new inventions were patented.
At the Chicago Exposition in 1893 Tainter was asked to manage the exhibition of more than a hundred machines for the American Graphophone Company. In 1897 a fire destroyed Tainter's Washington laboratory and much valuable material was lost, including three volumes of his "Home Notes", which contained some of the findings of his experiments on the graphophone. Three years later the city of Philadelphia awarded the John Scott medal to Chichester Bell and Tainter for their work in connection with the graphophone.
Tainter's chronic illness forced him to suspend his work frequently and seek treatment and relief in various sanatoria and spas both in Europe and in the United States. He and his wife eventually moved to California. They settled in San Diego in June of 1903 to enjoy the better climate there. Again Tainter established a laboratory and continued to work whenever his health allowed. In 1915 he was awarded a gold medal and diploma for his work with the graphophone at the San Francisco Exposition. Tainter's wife died in 1924. Four years later he married Laura Fontaine Onderdonk, widow of Charles G. Onderdonk.
At the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Pittsburgh in December 1934, Tainter was made an Emeritus Life Member, having been a fellow for 55 years. His obituary also mentions that in 1915 Tainter was awarded a gold medal at the Panama Pacific Exposition for his work on the graphophone.
Tainter died on April 20, 1940. He was considered an inventor, a physicist, and a manufacturer of electrical apparatus, but most of all he was known as the father of the talking machine.
Separated Materials:
Materials Located at the National Museum of American History
Medal award given to Charles Sumner Tainter, Exposition Internationale d'Electricite, Paris, 1881. See Accession #: ME*313452.02
Gold medal award given to Charles Sumner Tainter. Panama - Pacific Exposition, 1915. See Accession #: ME*313452.01
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Laura F. Tainter, Charles Sumner Tainter's widow, in 1947 and 1950.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
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.
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.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, holds the intellectual property rights, including copyright, to all materials created by Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt with the exception of the following items: two holiday cards found in box 11, folders 22-23. For these two items, copyright held by Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Requests for permission to reproduce should be submitted to ARS.
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:
Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt papers, 1905-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
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.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, holds the intellectual property rights, including copyright, to all materials created by Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt with the exception of the following items: two holiday cards found in box 11, folders 22-23. For these two items, copyright held by Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Requests for permission to reproduce should be submitted to ARS.
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:
Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt papers, 1905-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
The Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005, measure 9.2 linear feet. Papers include biographical material, alphabetical files, writings, artwork, audio/visual records, artifacts, printed material, and photographs. Extensive alphabetical files contain personal and professional correspondence as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Especially well-documented are: Gray's involvement with the Vietnam protest movement; and Threnody, his best-known work composed of fourteen large panels lamenting the dead of both sides sides in Vietnam, commissioned by the Neuberger Museum of Art.
Scope and Content Note:
The Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005, measure 9.2 linear feet. Papers include biographical material, alphabetical files, writings, artwork, audio/visual records, artifacts, printed material, and photographs. Extensive alphabetical files contain personal and professional correspondence as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Especially well-documented are: Gray's involvement with the Vietnam movement; and Threnody, his best-known work composed of fourteen large panels lamenting the dead of both sides sides in Vietnam, commissioned by the Neuberger Museum of Art.
Among the biographical material are award and membership certificates, biographical notes, and personal documentation.
The alphabetical files contain Cleve Gray's personal and professional correspondence, as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Correspondence is with friends and family, colleagues, publishers, museum curators and directors, art dealers, collectors, and fans. Among the correspondents of note are: Jacques Barzun, James E. Davis, Naum Gabo, Louise N. Grace, Hans and Fridel Richter, and Jacques and Gaby Villon. Other substantial correspondence includes: Berry-Hill Galleries, Betty Parsons Gallery, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Jacques Seligmann and Co., Neuberger Museum of Art, Pratt Institute, Princeton University, and Rhode Island School of Design. Subject files mostly consist of correspondence, but include printed material and some photographs. Among the subject files are: Art Collection of Cleve and Francine Gray, Artist-Dealer Consignments and Visual Artists' Rights Act of 1989, Artists' Tax Equity Act of 1979, Promised Gifts to Museums, Threnody, Vestments, and Vietnam Protest. Of particular interest are files relating to the Estate of Hans Richter (Cleve Gray, executor), and Gray's research correspondence and illustrations for his Cosmopolitan article "Women-Leaders of Modern Art."
Writings are manuscripts and drafts, research materials, notes, and miscellaneous writings by Cleve Gray and other authors. Those by Gray include articles and catalog introductions on a wide range of art-related topics, as well as book and exhibition reviews. Also found are a book proposal, texts and notes for lectures and talks, miscellaneous notes, poems, political statements, and student papers. Of particular interest are autobiographical notes in the form of a chronology that his biographer, Nicholas Fox Weber, cited as an "autochronology."
Among the writings by other authors are pieces about Cleve Gray including Nicholas Fox Weber's manuscript Cleve Gray. A significant amount of material relates to three books edited by Gray: David Smith by David Smith: Sculpture and Writings, Hans Richter, and John Marin. Research material survives for an unpublished volume, Naum Gabo. Also included are notes relating to his translation of A l'Infinitif by Marcel Duchamp. Jane Daggett Dillenberger is represented by a lecture, "The Resurrection in Art." The remaining items by other authors are unsigned; of particular interest is a small notebook of reminiscences and notes about Jackson Pollock.
Artwork by Cleve Gray consists mostly drawings and sketches, and a small number of paintings, prints, and watercolors. Works by other artists consist are an unsigned mobile of paper cut-outs, possibly by Alexander Calder, and a pencil drawing signed Dick (probably Richard Avedon).
Audio recordings are a radio broadcast featuring Cleve Gray, several lectures by Gray on John Marin, and a lecture titled "Meaning in the Visual Arts." Other recordings are of Hans Richter and an interview with Jimmy Ernst conducted by Francine du Plessix Gray. Also found is a videocassette of "Glenville School Students at SUNY (Lincoln Center Activity)."
Artifacts are a Chinese scroll representative of those that hung in Cleve Gray's studio, two of his paintbrushes, Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association blue ribbon, and Neuberger Museum of Art Lifetime Achievement Award.
The vast majority of printed material - articles, clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, reproductions of art work, etc. - are about or by Cleve Gray. Miscellaneous items and publications mentioning Gray consist of annual reports, brochures, calendars, newsletters, programs, etc. Clippings about Vietnam and Vietnam protest memorabilia reflect his passionate involvement in the anti-war movement; a small number of these items mention Gray or were written by him.
Photographs are of artwork, events, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects. Most of the art work appearing in the photographs is by Cleve Gray and includes images of destroyed paintings. Also found is an original print of Photo Abstraction by Gray, circa 1934. Of particular note are photographs of Threnody, among them preparatory drawings and views of the work in progress. Photographs of artwork by other artists include Louise N. Grace, Jacques Lipchitz, John Marin, Hans Richter, and Jacques Villon.
Photographs of people are mainly portraits of Gray, and views of him with his wife and sons. Other individuals appearing in photographs are Hans Richter and some of Richter's descendants. Pictures of places consist of Gray's studio.
Events are an unidentified exhibition opening. Miscellaneous subjects are mostly exhibition installations. Illustrations consist of photographs published in David Smith by David Smith: Sculpture and Writings. Also found are small number of negatives and color transparencies.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1943-circa 2001 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)
Series 2: Alphabetical Files, 1936-2005 (Boxes 1-5, 9; 4.3 linear ft.)
Series 3: Writings, 1935-2000 (Boxes 5-6; 0.85 linear ft.)
Series 4: Artwork, circa 1933-1987 (Boxes 6, 9, OV 12; 0.45 linear ft.)
Series 5: Audio/Visual Records, 1971-1989 (Box 6; 0.25 linear ft.)
Series 6: Artifacts, 1957-1999 (Box 6, RD 11; 0.45 linear ft.)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1933-2005 (Boxes 7-8; 1.25 linear ft.)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1934-2002 (Boxes 8-10; 1.15 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Abstract Expressionist painter, sculptor, and writer Cleve Gray (1918-2004) lived and worked in Connecticut where he was politically active in the Vietnam protest movement and other liberal causes.
Born Cleve Ginsberg in New York City (the family changed its name to Gray in 1936), he attended the Ethical Culture School and at a young age developed a fascination with color and paint. At the urging of friends, Cleve's parents allowed him to accompany a school friend for lessons with George Bellows' student Antonia Nell. She encouraged and inspired the young artist, and a still life he painted in her class was shown at the National Academy of Design's 1932 annual exhibition. Miss Nell also introduced him to Louise N. Grace, an artist who became a good friend and had a lasting influence on him. While a student at Phillips Academy, Cleve studied painting with Bartlett Hayes and aspired to paint in France. Upon his graduation in 1936, he was awarded the Samuel F. B. Morse Prize for most promising art student.
Gray's mother was always supportive of his career choice. His businessman father, who didn't understand his son's desire to be an artist, insisted on a college education. Cleve chose Princeton, where he majored in art and archaeology, and studied painting with James E. Davis. His senior thesis was on Chinese landscape painting; both Eastern philosophy and art were long-term influences on Gray's work and outlook. He graduated summa cum laude in 1940, and then spent several months painting while living at the farm of a family friend in Mendham, New Jersey.
When a doctor suggeted that a dry climate might relieve sinus and asthma problems, Gray moved to Tucson, Arizona. Once settled in the desert, he contacted Louise N. Grace, whom he had met as a young teenager through his art instructor. Miss Grace, an artist and daughter of the founder of W. R. Grace and Co., was a highly cultured and independent woman older than his parents. The summer before Gray entered Phillips Academy, she had hired him to brush ground color onto canvases for murals she was painting for "Eleven Arches," her home in Tuscon then under construction. Miss Grace invited Gray to visit "Eleven Arches" to see the completed murals, and despite the substantial age difference, their friendship deepened; Gray found in her intellectual and spiritual guidance that was lacking in his own family. He remained in Tucson until enlisting in the U. S. Army in 1942, and they corresponded frequently during the the war. When a stroke in 1948 prevented Miss Grace from participating in the extensive tour of Europe she was arranging for a small group of friends, including Gray, she provided sufficient funds and insisted he make the trip on his own. Another stroke, suffered while Gray was traveling, left her in a coma; he was not permitted to see her again. Upon her death in 1954, Gray inherited "Eleven Arches."
He returned to New York City in 1946. In the tight post-war rental market Gray managed to find a small room upstairs from a grocery store on East 106th Street for use as a studio. He commenced painting the London Ruins series based on drawings he had made during the war, and began thinking about exhibiting in New York. Gray secured introductions to Pierre Matisse, Curt Valentin, and Dorothy Miller. They encouraged him, but no opportunities came his way until Germain Seligmann, whose gallery was expanding its scope to include contemporary art, followed the advice of Curt Valentin and looked at Gray's work. Gary's first solo exhibition, held at Jacques Seligmann and Co., included selections from the London Ruins series, paintings done in Maine and Arizona, and a few portraits. The New York Times called it "an auspicious first," and one of the London Ruins series was selected by Edward Alden Jewell for the "Critic's Exhibition" at Grand Central Gallery.
Gray found New York City too frenetic. In 1949 he bought a large, old house in Warren, Connecticut, and lived and worked at "Graystones" for the remainder of his life. Half of a 6-car garage was converted to a studio; many years later, his studio moved to a barn, its renovation and design planned by sculptor and architect Tony Smith.
The paintings and drawings of Cleve Gray - first consisting of figures and portraits, and then abstract compositions - were often produced in series. The earliest series, London Ruins, grew from the colored pencil drawings made while stationed in London during World War II. Travels to France, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Hawaii, Spain, Egypt, Japan, and Czechoslovakia, inspired many series, among them: Etruscan, Augury, Ceres, Demeter Landscape, Hera, Morocco, Hawaii, Ramses, Perne, Hatshepsut, Roman Walls, Zen, and Prague. His hometown, the Holocaust, and musicians inspired other series: Warren, Sleepers Awake!, Bela Bartok, and Four Heads of Anton Bruckner. Some series were works on paper, others were collage canvases, and a few series later spawned prints. Gray began using acrylics in the 1940s. Although the medium offered many benefits, he did not always like its appearance and frequently returned to oils. Around 1966 Gray was painting almost exclusively with acrylic, and eventually developed a technique of thinning the paint and applying successive layers of color (sometimes by pouring or with a sponge) on cotton duck rather than traditional canvas.
Gray's best known work is Threnody, a lament for the dead of both sides in Vietnam. In 1972, Gray received a commission to fill a very large gallery of the soon-to-open Neuberger Museum of Art (State University of New York, College at Purchase) designed by Philip Johnson. Friends of the Neuberger Museum paid his expenses and Gray, who was enormously excited about the project he considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, donated his time. Developing plans for the execution of Threnody consumed most of his time during 1972 and 1973. Composed of a series of fourteen panels, each approximately twenty feet square, the piece presented a number of technical challenges. It was constructed and painted in situ during the summer and early fall of 1973. Since then, Threnody has been reinstalled at the Neuberger Museum of Art on several occasions.
Gray was commissioned to design liturgical vestments for two Episcopal churches in Connecticut in the 1970s. A chasuble, stoles, and a mitre were commissioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut in 1984.
He won the "Outdoor Art at the Station Competition," for Union Station, Hartford, Connecticut. His very large porcelain enamel tile mural, Movement in Space, was installed on the façade of the transportation center in 1988.
Gray began writing occasional articles and exhibition reviews in the late 1940s. His concern with rational structure in art led him to question Abstract Expressionism and write "Narcissus in Chaos." This article, published in 1959 by The American Scholar, drew considerable attention. In 1960, Cosmopolitan published "Women - Leaders of Modern Art" that featured Nell Blaine, Joan Brown, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Sonia Gretchoff, Grace Hartigan, Ethel Magafan, Louise Nevelson, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Between 1960 and 1970, Gray was a contributing editor of Art In America, producing numerous articles (a few co-authored with Francine) and reviews for the periodical. He edited three books, David Smith by David Smith: Scupture and Writings, Hans Richter, and John Marin, all published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, and translated Marcel Duchamp's A l'Infinitif.
During the early 1960s, Gray became intensely focused on the situation in Vietnam. His first artistic response came in 1963 with Reverend Quan Duc, painted to commemorate a Buddhist monk who had immolated himself. Francine, too, felt strongly about the issue and over time the couple became increasingly active in the anti-war movement. They joined a number of organizations and helped to found a local chapter of Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. The years 1968 and 1969 were an especially intense and active period for the Grays. They protested, wrote and spoke out against the war, raised funds to support anti-war political candidates, and on a few occasions were arrested and jailed. Writing for Art in America, editing the book series, and anti-war activities left little time for his art. In 1970 Gray refocused his attention on painting.
Beginning in 1947, Gray was always represented by a New York Gallery: Jacques Seligmann and Co. (1947-1959), Staempfli Gallery (1960-1965), Saidenberg Gallery (1965-1968), Betty Parsons Gallery (1968-1983), Armstrong Gallery (1984-1987), and Berry-Hill Galleries (1988-2003). He was represented by galleries in other cities, as well, but not as consistently or for such long periods.
He exhibited extensively in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions presented by the dealers who represented Gray, there were retrospective exhibitions at: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, Columbus Museum of Art, Krannert Art Museum (University of Illinois, Champaign), Princeton University Art Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, and Wadsworth Atheneum.
Many museums' permanent collections include the work of Cleve Gray, among them: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Butler Institute of American Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art (SUNY, College at Purchase), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Newark Museum, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Phillips Collection, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Smithsonian Institution, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Yale University Art Gallery.
Cleve Gray served as artist-in-residence at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in 1963 and at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1970, both sponsored by Ford Foundation programs. In 1980, he was appointed an artist-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome, where Francine concurrently served as a writer-in-residence; they returned for shorter periods during each of the subsequent seven years. Cleve Gray was presented the Connecticut Arts Award in 1987, and the Neuberger Museum of Art Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hartford in 1992, and was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998. In addition, he was a trustee of the Neuberger Museum of Art, New York Studio School, Rhode Island School of Design, and Wadsworth Atheneum.
Cleve Gray hit his head and suffered a massive subdural hematoma after falling on ice outside of his home. He died the following day, December 8, 2004.
Separated Material:
Exhibition catalogs and announcements and two scrapbooks donated to the Archives in 1967 and 1968 were microfilmed on reels D314-D315. Items on reel D315, transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library in 1975, are not described in this finding aid.
Provenance:
The Cleve Gray papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Mr. Gray in 1967 and 1968. The bulk of the collection was given by his widow, Francine du Plessix Gray, in 2007 and 2008.
Restrictions:
Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordigs 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.
The papers of Woodstock area painter, muralist, and designer, Anton Refregier (1905-1979) date from circa 1900 to circa 1990 and measure 35.9 linear feet. The collection records Refregier's early commercial work and murals for the Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) and documents his career through to the 1970s with records of commissions for many public and private buildings, exhibitions in the United States and abroad, teaching positions, essays and publications, and extensive travel, particularly to the Soviet Union and Mexico. The collection contains scattered biographical material, personal and business correspondence, notes and writings, 15 diaries and journals, mural and tapestry files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, 10 scrapbooks, artwork including sketches and cartoons for murals, and photographs of Refregier, his friends, family and travels.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Woodstock area painter, muralist, and designer, Anton Refregier (1905-1979) date from circa 1900 to circa 1990 and measure 35.9 linear feet. The collection records Refregier's early commercial work and murals for the Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) and documents his career through to the 1970s with records of commissions for many public and private buildings, exhibitions in the United States and abroad, teaching positions, essays and publications, and extensive travel, particularly to the Soviet Union and Mexico. The collection contains scattered biographical material, personal and business correspondence, notes and writings, diaries and journals, mural and tapestry files, exhibition files, personal business records, printed material, scrapbooks, artwork including sketches and cartoons for murals, and photographs of Refregier, his friends, family and travels.
Biographical material contains legal records such as Refregier's will and marriage and death records, passports, resume material and 2 interview transcripts.
Correspondence, both chronological and alphabetical, constitutes almost a third of the collection and documents all aspects of Refregier's career including his work for the WPA, private commissions, representation by ACA Galleries, his involvement with groups such as the Woodstock Artists Association and his teaching work for institutions such as Bard College. Also documented are his involvement with local political groups and international organizations such as the National Council of American-Soviet Friendship and the World Peace Council, and travels including visits to the Soviet Union. Notable correspondents include Henry Dreyfuss, Philip Evergood, Rockwell Kent, Emmy-Lou Packard, and Byron Randall. Correspondence also includes family letters written primarily by Refregier to Lila Refregier, in addition to greeting cards received by the Refregier family, many of which contain original arwork.
Writings are primarily by Refregier and include drafts of many essays and autobiographical writings, in addition to copies of published works including Natural Figure Drawing, An Artists Journey and Sketches of the Soviet Union.
The collection contains diaries and journals from 12 years in various formats including published and handmade day planners and typed and handwritten journal entries. They include sketches and primarily record travel and daily activities including specific projects such as the New York World's Fair mural (1938-1939).
Mural and Tapestry files document individual commissions bid on and/or completed by Refregier. The creation of the Rincon Annex Post Office mural and subsequent controversies over its subject matter are well-documented here, as are many of Refregier's commissions for banks, hospitals, hotels, shopping centers, and schools.
Exhibition files document at least 15 of Refregier's exhibitions, including his first one-man show at ACA Galleries (1942) and his exhibition of paintings at the Hermitage Museum (1967) in what was then Leningrad.
Personal business records contain addresses of contacts. Scattered records referencing market values for Refregier's work can be found throughout the series in records such as bills and receipts, financial notes and tax records.
Printed material provides extensive coverage of Refregier's entire career through announcements, invitations, catalogs, and news clippings. His interests in art, literature, music, theater and politics are also well-represented in these files.
The collection contains 10 scrapbooks, mostly in fragmented condition, which contain a mixture of photographs, sketches and other artwork, notes and fragments of writings, and printed material. The scrapbooks document a variety of subjects including Refregier's family life, travels to Guatemala and the Soviet Union, and the artist at work.
Artwork consists primarily of artwork by Refregier in the form of mural design sketches and cartoons in various media, including pencil, ink and pastel, in addition to 21 sketchbooks, many of which also contain journal entries and notes. Also found here are prints and reproductions of Refregier's "Peace card" block engravings for every year from 1950-1973, with the exception of 1970.
Photographs document all phases of Refregier's career and include family photographs dating from circa 1900, photos of Refregier in the studio including work for the WPA, Refregier and other artists and individuals at events and parties from the 1940s-1970s, travel snapshots probably taken in Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Soviet Union, and photographs of artwork and installations. Individuals pictured include Julio de Diego, Marion Greenwood, Rockwell Kent, Pablo O'Higgins and David Siqueiros; also, a series of press photographs by Albert A. Freeman pictures Refregier with Howard Fast, Norman Bel Geddes, Marion Greenwood, John Kingsbury, Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Harry Stockwell. One photograph by Eliot Elisofon, 2 by Eugene Morley and 4 by Max Yavno can also be found here.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1925-1980 (Box 1; 0.25 linear ft.)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1912-circa 1990s (Boxes 1-11, 36, OVs 38, 45; 10.2 linear ft.)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1930s-circa 1970s (Boxes 11-14, OV 45; 3.3 linear ft.)
Series 4: Diaries and Journals, 1923-1979 (Box 15; 0.6 linear ft.)
Series 5: Mural and Tapestry Files, circa 1930s-circa 1970s (Boxes 15-18, 36, OVs 38, 45, 46, RD 42; 3.65 linear ft.)
Series 6: Exhibition Files, 1942-1981 (Boxes 18-19; 0.6 linear ft.)
Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1920s-1980s (Boxes 19-20; 1.8 linear ft.)
Series 8: Printed Material, circa 1920s-1980s (Boxes 21-28, 36; 7.4 linear ft.)
Series 9: Scrapbooks, 1930s-1960s (Boxes 28, 37, BV 47; 1.1 linear ft.)
Series 10: Artwork, circa 1930s-circa 1970s (Boxes 28-30, 36, OVs 40, 41, RDs 42-44; 3.5 linear ft.)
Series 11: Photographic Material, ca. 1900-1980s (Boxes 31-35, 39; 4.5 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Russian-born Woodstock painter Anton Refregier (1905-1979) immigrated to the United States in 1920. Refregier was well-known for his sometimes controversial social realist murals for the WPA.
After an apprenticeship to the sculptor, Vasilief, in Paris, Anton Refregier attended the Rhode Island School of Design from 1920-1925 and studied with Hans Hofmann in Germany in 1927. He had his first one-man show at ACA Galleries in New York City in 1942 and settled in Woodstock, New York, with his wife, Lila, and three children Anton, Jr., Brigit and Aleksandre, where he became a prominent member of the artist community.
Refregier completed several social realist murals for the federal Works Progress Adminstration (WPA) program, including one at the New York Worlds Fair in 1939 and the controversial Rincon Annex Post Office mural in San Francisco begun in 1941. He also completed interior design installations for businesses such as the nightclub, Cafe Society Uptown, and the restaurant, The Cookery, in New York City. In addition to being an easel and mural painter Refregier worked in tapestry, mosaic, ceramic, and collage, and completed many commissions for hotels, banks, hospitals, restaurants, synagogues, supermarkets and deparment stores throughout the country.
Refregier taught at various institutions including Stanford University, the University of Arkansas, and Bard College and his publications inlcude Natural Figure Drawing (1948), An Artist's Journey (1965), and Sketches of the Soviet Union (1978). He traveled regularly to the Soviet Union to explore and exchange ideas about art and culture and as a representative of the World Peace Council.
Anton Refregier died in Moscow in October 1979 while visiting the Soviet Union. His work can be found in many museums including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview with Anton Refregier, 1964, Nov. 5 by Joseph Trovato; and Papers regarding Anton Refregier mural controversy, 1953.
Provenance:
Donated 1983 by Lila Refregier, widow of Anton Refregier, and in 1992 by Brigit R. Sutton, Refregier's daughter.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment.
Rights:
Authorization to quote or reproduce for purposes of publication requires written permission from Bridget R. Sutton via Bridget's son, Tim Sutton. 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.
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:
Architectural League of New York records, 1880s-1974, bulk 1927-1968. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. A fragile original scrapbook is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Katherine Kaplan Degn, Kraushaar Galleries. 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:
Kraushaar Galleries records, 1877-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care Fund.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. A fragile original scrapbook is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Katherine Kaplan Degn, Kraushaar Galleries. 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:
Kraushaar Galleries records, 1877-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care Fund.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. A fragile original scrapbook is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Katherine Kaplan Degn, Kraushaar Galleries. 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:
Kraushaar Galleries records, 1877-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care Fund.
3 Video recordings (published videos or video series)
99 Linear feet (714,405 feet (332 hours) 16mm film, 435 hours video tape, 309 hours audio tape, 21 published film and video titles, 29 unpublished film and video titles, 14 linear feet paper records)
The John Marshall Ju/'hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection contains full film and video projects (outtake material), film production elements and edited films and videos, audio tapes, still photographs, negatives, transparencies, slides, published and unpublished writing by John Marshall and others, study guides for edited films, Nyae Nyae Development Foundation and Advocacy files, maps, and production files that include letters, shot logs, translations, transcriptions, editing logs, treatments, and proposals spanning from 1950-2000. This material comprises Marshall's long-term documentary record of the Ju/'hoansi of the Nyae Nyae region of the Kalahari Desert in northeastern Namibia. A great deal of the film and video footage focuses on one particular extended family, that of Toma Tsamko, whose ancestral home is at /Gautcha, an area with a large salt pan and a permanent waterhole. The life stories of some family members are captured in the footage; appearing as children in the 1950's, middle-aged parents in the 1980's, and pensioners in the final years of visual documentation. The Marshall Collection also documents other Ju/'hoansi living in Nyae Nyae and elsewhere, their relationships with neighboring ethnic groups, and national politics that affected Ju/'hoansi. Marshall also documented the local political body (the Nyae Nyae Farmers' Cooperative, or NNFC), the foundation he started (the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of Namibia, or NNDFN), and the ways in which both groups worked with and were affected by international development organizations and foreign aid during the 1990's.
Scope and Contents:
The John Marshall Ju/'hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection contains full film and
video projects (outtake material), film production elements and edited films and videos,
audio tapes, still photographs, negatives, transparencies, slides, published and
unpublished writing by John Marshall and others, study guides for edited films, Nyae
Nyae Development Foundation and Advocacy files, maps, and production files that
include letters, shot logs, translations, transcriptions, editing logs, treatments, and
proposals spanning from 1950-2000.
This material comprises Marshall's long-term documentary record of the Ju/'hoansi of
the Nyae Nyae region of the Kalahari Desert in northeastern Namibia. A great deal of the
film and video footage focuses on one particular extended family, that of Toma Tsamko,
whose ancestral home is at /Gautcha, an area with a large salt pan and a permanent
waterhole. The life stories of some family members are captured in the footage;
appearing as children in the 1950's, middle-aged parents in the 1980's, and pensioners in
the final years of visual documentation. Beginning in 1978, Marshall often conducted
lengthy and in depth interviews with many family members, in which they reflect on past,
present, and future, and often comment on specific film footage from earlier years which
was shown to them during the interviews. The collection is not limited to the /Gautcha
family, however; it also documents other Ju/'hoansi living in Nyae Nyae and elsewhere,
their relationships with neighboring ethnic groups, and national politics that affected
Ju/'hoansi. Marshall also documented the local political body (the Nyae Nyae Farmers'
Cooperative, or NNFC), the foundation he started (the Nyae Nyae Development
Foundation of Namibia, or NNDFN), and the ways in which both groups worked with
and were affected by international development organizations and foreign aid during the
1990's. The collection also documents changes to the landscape and wildlife of the Nyae
Nyae region.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in 13 series: (1) Unedited Film and Video Projects, 1950-1978, 1981-2003; (2) Published Films and Videos, 1952-2002; (3) Unpublished Films and Videos, 1959-1962, circa 1965; (4) Audio, 1950s, 1978-1990; (5) Field Notes, Shot Logs, Translations, 1951-2000; (6) Production Files, 1952-2004; (7) Correspondence, 1968-2003 [bulk 1993-2000]; (8) Nyae Nyae Development Foundation & Advocacy Files, 1975-2003 [bulk 1984-2003]; (9) Published and Unpublished Writing, 1957-1958, 1980-1999, 2007; (10) Study Guides, 1974, 1982; (11) Writings by Others & Press, 1952-1953, 1965-2005; (12) Photographs, 1930s, 1946-2003; (13) Maps, 1872, 1879, 1914, 1933-1989.
Biographical / Historical:
John Marshall, filmmaker and activist, was born on November 12, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and on his family's farm in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Marshall first picked up a camera in 1950, at the age of 18, during the first of several expeditions to the Kalahari organized by his father, Laurence Marshall, the founding president of the Raytheon Corporation. The whole Marshall family - including John's mother, Lorna, and sister, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas - became engaged in a multi-disciplinary study of the Ju/'hoansi. Marshall's father assigned him the task of making a documentary film record of Ju/'hoan life and culture. Between 1950 and 1958, he shot over 300,000 feet of 16mm film (157 hours).
Marshall formed a close bond with many of his Ju/'hoan subjects, particularly with Toma "Stumpy" Tsamko, leader of the /Gautcha band. Amongst Ju/'hoansi, Marshall was known as Toma Xhosi, Toma "Longface". Probably because of this close relationship, he was forced to leave South West Africa in 1958 after his visa expired, and was not allowed back for twenty years.
Throughout these years, Marshall continued to work with his extensive footage of Ju/'hoansi. He completed 15 short films, as well as the award-winning Bitter Melons. In 1968, Marshall partnered with Tim Asch to found Documentary Educational Resources (DER), to distribute and support the creation of ethnographic and educational film.
In 1978 Marshall was allowed to return to Nyae Nyae to shoot N!ai, the Story of a !Kung Woman. Finding his Ju/'hoan friends beset by illness, poverty, and growing social ills, John turned his attentions to development and advocacy work. Virtually abandoning his filmmaking career, Marshall started a foundation to assist Ju/'hoansi and spent most of the 1980's helping them establish water access, subsistence farming, and a local government. He began using film as an advocacy tool, and released several urgent, issuefocused videos to raise awareness of the Ju/'hoan struggle for self-determination.
Marshall continued his documentary record of Ju/'hoansi, directing his final shoot in 2000. A Kalahari Family (2002), his epic six-hour series, tells the story of the Ju/'hoansi from 1950-2000 and charts Marshall 's evolution from filmmaker to activist. He made his final visit to Nyae Nyae in 2004, and continued his advocacy work right up to his final days. John Marshall died due to complications from lung cancer on April 22, 2005.
John Marshall Chronology
1932 -- Born in Boston, Massachusetts
1950-1958 -- Marshall Family expeditions to study the Ju/'hoansi of Nyae Nyae
1957 -- Awarded B.A. in Anthropology from Harvard University The Hunters released
1958-1960 -- Associate Director (with Robert Gardner) of the Film Study Center, Peabody Museum, Harvard University
1960 -- Awarded G.S.A.S. in Anthropology from Yale University
1960-1963 -- Director, Bushmen Film Unit, Harvard University
1962 -- Sha//ge Curing Ceremony (early version of A Curing Ceremony), A Group of Women and Joking Relationship screened at Flaherty Seminar
1964-1965 -- Cameraman for NBC covering civil war in Cyprus
1966 -- Awarded M.A. in Anthropology from Harvard University
1967 -- Cameraman and Co-Director of Fredrick Wiseman's Titicut Follies
1968 -- Founded Documentary Educational Resources (DER) with Timothy Asch (first known as CDA, Center for Documentary Anthropology)
1968-1969 -- Cameraman and Director of film shoots for the Pittsburgh Police series, produced through the Center for Violence Studies at Brandeis University
1970-1974 -- Edited and released numerous short films, from both Ju/'hoan (!Kung) and Pittsburgh Police series
1972 -- Collaborated with Nicholas England (musicologist) on a film project documenting a family of drummers in Ghana (this film was never completed)
1972-1973 -- Travel to Botswana to film National Geographic's Bushmen of the Kalahari, produced by Wolper Productions
1974 -- If It Fits, documentary on failing shoe industry in Haverhill, MA, released
1976 -- Director and cameraman of film shoots for Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife
1978 -- Film shoot in Nyae Nyae for N!ai, The Story of a !Kung Woman
1980 -- N!ai, The Story of a !Kung Woman released and broadcast on PBS as partof the Odyssey series
1980-1982 -- Conducted genealogical survey in Nyae Nyae with Claire Ritchie
1982 -- Founded the Ju/wa Cattle Fund (later known as the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of Namibia)
1985 -- Pull Ourselves Up or Die Out, Marshall's first "field report" edited on video, released
1989 -- Returns to Boston after Namibian independence
1991 -- To Hold Our Ground, another "field report" is aired on Namibian television shortly before a national Land Rights Conference
1993 -- The Cinema of John Marshall published
1995 -- Awarded Honorary M.F.A. from Rhode Island School of Design
2000 -- Final video shoot in Nyae Nyae
2002 -- A Kalahari Family premieres at the Margaret Mead Film Festival in New York City; released for general distribution in 2003
2004 -- Makes final visit to Nyae Nyae; presents proposal for water point protections
2005 -- Dies in Boston, Massachusetts
Orthography Note:
Ju/'hoansi are the speakers of the Ju/'hoan language. Various cultural descriptors used
over the years include !Kung which is a language group containing three dialect groups,
one of which is the Ju/'hoansi; San, which is now regarded by the Ju/'hoansi to have
negative connotations; and Bushman, which ironically (given the derogatory history of
this term) is now preferred by the Ju/'hoansi as a term of dignity. (Orthography
information provided by Dr. Polly Wiessner, University of Utah anthropologist and longtime
field worker among and researcher of the Ju/'hoansi.)
The orthography of the Ju/'hoan language has changed many times, though an official
orthography was agreed upon and accepted by the Namibian government in 1991. The
finding aid, cataloging records, and shot logs for the Marshall collection at Human Studies Film Archives
continue to use the orthography used by the Marshall family beginning in 1950. These
spellings are usually anglicized versions of the official orthography. For example, the
name ≠Oma was usually rendered by the Marshalls as Toma; the place name /Aotcha as
/Gautcha or Gautscha.
The majority of the footage was shot in a region of Namibia (formerly South West
Africa) known as Nyae Nyae. In the 1960's, a portion of the Nyae Nyae area was
officially established as a homeland for Ju/'hoansi by the South West African
administration. This area, once called Eastern Bushmanland, is now known as Eastern
Otjozondjupa, however it is still referred to as Nyae Nyae by Ju/'hoansi and others. The
Nyae Nyae Conservancy, which encompasses a large portion of Eastern Otjozondjupa,
was established in 1996.
Filmography:
JU/'HOAN BUSHMAN FILM SERIES
1952 -- First Film [also known as !Kung Bushmen of the Kalahari] (by Lorna Marshall)
1957 -- The Hunters
1959 -- A Curing Ceremony
1961 -- A Group Of Women
1962 -- A Joking Relationship
1966 -- !Kung Bushmen Hunting Equipment (directed by Lorna Marshall)
1969 -- N/um Tchai: The Ceremonial Dance of the !Kung Bushmen
1969 -- An Argument About A Marriage
1970 -- The Lion Game
1970 -- The Melon Tossing Game
1971 -- Bitter Melons
1972 -- Debe's Tantrum
1972 -- Men Bathing
1972 -- Playing With Scorpions
1972 -- A Rite of Passage
1972 -- The Wasp Nest
1974 -- Baobab Play
1974 -- Children Throw Toy Assegais
1974 -- The Meat Fight
1974 -- Tug-Of-War
1980 -- N!ai, the Story of a !Kung Woman
1985 -- Pull Ourselves Up Or Die Out
1990 -- To Hold Our Ground: A Field Report
1991 -- Peabody Museum !Kung San Exhibit Video
2002 -- A Kalahari Family
In addition to Marshall's many published films on the Ju/'hoansi, he was also involved in a variety of other film projects. He shot and co-directed Titicut Follies, a film by Fredrick Wiseman. Working in association with the Lemburg Center for Violence Studies at Brandeis University, he shot and directed a series of short films about a police squad in Pittsburgh, PA, known as the Pittsburgh Police series. He also shot and directed If It Fits, a film about the failing shoe industry in Haverhill, MA. Marshall was also the subject of two television programs: Bushmen of the Kalahari, a National Geographic special which aired in the United States, and a Japanese program called Forty Years in the Kalahari, part of the television series, Our Wonderful World. All of these, as well as Marshall's Ju/'hoan films, are included in this filmography.
PITTSBURGH POLICE SERIES
1970 -- Inside/Outside Station 9
1971 -- Three Domestics
1971 -- Vagrant Woman
1972 -- 901/904
1972 -- Investigation of a Hit and Run
1973 -- After the Game
1973 -- The 4th, 5th, & Exclusionary Rule
1973 -- A Forty Dollar Misunderstanding
1973 -- Henry Is Drunk
1973 -- The Informant
1973 -- A Legal Discussion of a Hit and Run
1973 -- Manifold Controversy
1973 -- Nothing Hurt But My Pride
1973 -- Two Brothers
1973 -- $21 or 21 Days
1973 -- Wrong Kid
1973 -- You Wasn't Loitering
OTHER FILMS
1967 -- Titicut Follies (Co-Director, Cinematographer; film by Fredrick Wiseman)
1972 -- Ghana Drumming (uncompleted; collaboration with Nicholas England)
1974 -- Bushmen of the Kalahari (by Wolper Productions for National Geographic)
1975 -- Vermont Kids (series of short films; released in 2007)
1976 -- Festival of American Folklife (uncompleted; shot for Smithsonian Institution)
1978 -- If It Fits
1988 -- Our Wonderful World: Forty Years in the Kalahari (by Nippon A-V Productions)
Related Materials:
The Human Studies Film Archives holds several related collections, including:
• The Nicholas England Collection, which consists of audio recordings from 1951-1961. This collection contains both originals and duplicates of audio tapes recorded during the Marshall Expeditions. (2005.9)
• The Journal of Robert Gesteland, kept during the Marshall !Kung Expedition VI, 1957-58. (2007.17)
• Master copies of the full film record of Bushmen of the Kalahari (1974), a television
program featuring John Marshall's 1973 visit to the /Gwi San of Botswana, produced by Wolper Productions for National Geographic. (2008.12)
• Reference copies of the full video record of Our Wonderful World: Forty Years in the
Desert, Nippon A-V's 1988 Japanese television program about John Marshall and the Ju/Wa Bushman Development Foundation. (2009.2.1)
• Master copies of the videotape "library" kept by John Marshall for reference and stock footage purposes. Compiled from various sources, the videos include news programs, documentaries, and raw footage of Ju/'hoansi and other San peoples from the 1920's --1990's, as well as interviews with John Marshall and his mother, Lorna
Marshall. (2009.2)
• Additional audio recordings, including interviews with Ju/'hoansi made by John Marshall and others. (2009.3)
• Full film record of [Ghana Drumming, 1972], an uncompleted project undertaken by John Marshall and Nicholas England, which documents a family of musicians. (2008.11)
The Papers of Timothy Asch, held at the National Anthropological Archives, contain
information on Asch's work with John Marshall at Harvard University from 1959-1963,
their collaboration in founding DER, and details on the use of Marshall's Ju/'hoan
footage in the development of MACOS (Man, A Course of Study).
There are also several closely related collections held at the Peabody Museum of
Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. These collections relate to the 1950's
Marshall Expeditions and include: Expeditionary Notebooks and Journals of Lorna and
Laurence Marshall; Journal of Elizabeth Marshall Thomas; the Marshall Family
Photograph Collection; and the Records of the South West Africa Expeditions, 1950-
1959. The Harvard Film Archive, Harvard University, holds film prints of several of
Marshall's published films on the Ju/'hoansi, including The Hunters.
Provenance:
The John Marshall Ju/'hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection was received over several years of accessioning from different parties.
Restrictions:
The John Marshall Ju/'hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection is open for research. Please contact the Archives for availabilty of access copies of audio visual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Materials relating to Series 6 Production Files are restricted and not available for research until 2048, 2063, 2072. Kinship diagrams in Series 13 are restricted due to privacy concerns. Various copyrights and restrictions on commercial use apply to the reproduction or publication of film, video, audio, photographs, and maps.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use. Information on reproduction and fees available from repository.
