Mount reads: "Edward Van Altena, 71-79 W. 45th St., N.Y.C."
Historic plate number: "82; 250."
Historic plate caption: "[Text in image:] El Popocatepetl Y El Ixtaccihuatl. Mex." Additional text and possible photographer's signature not legible.
This was likely a commercially produced image.
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.
Mount reads: "Edward Van Altena, 71-79 W. 45th St., N.Y.C."
Historic plate number: "86; 85."
The lantern slide includes the text "Tipos Mexicanos," the number 85, and a logo of a reversed capital D and a capital E. This appears to have been a commercially produced lantern slide whose original source may not have been a photograph taken on the Garden Club of America trip. Therefore, the 1937 date may be questionable. Similar images are MX020049, MX020052 and MX020054.
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.
Mount reads: "Edward Van Altena, 71-79 W. 45th St., N.Y.C."
Historic plate number: "86; 11."
The lantern slide includes the text "Tipos Mexicanos" and a logo of a reversed capital D and a capital E. This appears to have been a commercially produced lantern slide whose original source may not have been a photograph taken on the Garden Club of America trip. Therefore, the 1937 date may be questionable. Similar images are MX020049, MX020051, and MX020054.
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.
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:
Janice Lowry papers, 1957-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The processed material in this collection concerns work before 1955. Included are field notebooks, printed material, drafts of manuscripts, notes, catographic material, drawings, photograhs, writings, historical documents, and copies of United States government documents. Incorporated are notes (often comments and suggestion regarding Drucker's work) by Alfred Louis Kroeber, photographs of Nootka by R. Maynard, copies of papers by William Beynon and Viola Garfield, a catalog of an Alaskan Collection of Edward G. Fast, a field notebook relating to the British Columbia coast archeology survey by Richard King Beardsley, notes on Alsea by John Albert, and miscellaneous papers of various authors concerning Micronesia. The latter includes material by Harry K. Uyeharan on Angaur clan organization, J.E. Tobin on the Bikini, and George E. Thompson on education in American Samoa.
Scope and Contents:
These papers reflect the professional life of Dr. Philip Drucker (1911-1982), Assistant Curator for the U. S. National Museum, Ethnologist and Anthropologist for the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE), Staff Anthropologist in the U. S. Navy, farmer, and professor at the Universities of Kentucky, Colorado, and Baylor. Included are notes and fieldnotes from his expeditions into the American Northwest, MesoAmerica, and Oceania, correspondence sent and received by Drucker, drafts and notes of some of his works, element lists, newspapers and newsletters he collected, papers and materials from others in the field, class notes and exams from his years of teaching, photographs, and maps.
Of primary concern are the materials dealing with the Northwest Coast, which contain his most detailed notes. Dr. Drucker was considered to be one of the foremost experts in that region. There is also considerable photographic material on MesoAmerica, the majority of which remains unprocessed. Also included are materials dealing with Southern California, South America, and Oceania.
Correspondents include Margaret Blackman, Joanna Chisholm, William Beynon, John Fox, E. Gartly Jaco, Elizabeth Tooker, Margaret Lantis, Joseph P. Benson, Kenneth Ames, Vera Rubin, Charles M. Tolbert, Robert E. Quirk, James R. Glenn, and Ward H. Goodenough.
The Drucker Papers also include notes, exams, and assignments from his classes as well as a number of papers dealing with topics not directly related to the main series. There are many photographs of the Northwest Coast and MesoAmerica, and a few maps from each of the main regions in which Drucker worked.
Arrangement:
(1) Northwest Coast native brotherhoods; (2) Northwest Coast Nootkan tribes; (3) Northwest Coast miscellaneous ethnology (on the Bellabella, Tsimshian, Kwakiutl, Bellacoola, Wikeno, Haida, Haisla, Xaihais, and Heiltsuk); (4) Northwwest Coast archeology; (5) Northwest Coast cultural element distribution; (6) Oregon Coast and Northern California (including material on the Coos, Alsea, Clckamas, Tolowa, Karuk, Chinook, Karok, and Yurok; (7) southern California (including material on the Diegueno, Akwa'ala, Yaqui, Papago, Luiseno); (8) southwest Yuman-Piman tribes; (9) miscellaneous North American ethnology; (10) Mesoamerican archeology; (11) Micronesia (including material on Kili, Likiep, Jaliut, Ebon, Angaur, and other islands); (12) unprocessed material
Biographical Note:
Chronology of the Life of Philip Drucker
January 13, 1911 -- Born in Chicago, Illinois
1927 -- Began degree program in Animal Husbandry at Colorado Agricultural College
1929 -- Changed to Liberal Arts program at Colorado College
Summer 1930 -- Field School in Archaeology with the University of New Mexico
1930 -- Began Anthropology Degree at the University of California, Berkeley
1932 -- A. B. Degree in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley
1933 -- Teaching Fellowship, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
1934-1935 -- Social Science Research (SSRC) pre-doctoral fellowship "Study of Nootkan Indians"
1936 -- Ethnographic Survey of Northwest Coast for the University of California Program in "Cultural Element Distribution" Ph. D. In Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
1938-1939 -- National Research Council (NRC) post-doctoral fellowship(Archaeological Survey of the Northwest Coast)
1940 -- Assistant Curator, United States National Museum (transferred to Bureau of American Ethnology)
1941-1942 -- Olmec Field Trips
1942 -- Commissioned Lt. (Jg) (Line) USNR; active duty
December 1945 -- Released from active duty Ethnologist, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution
October 1948 -- Ordered to active duty, LCdr, USNR. Staff Anthropologist, Staff of Deputy High Commissioner, Trust Territory Of the Pacific Islands (Micronesia)
January 1952 -- Released from active duty Anthropologist for BAE
December 1955 -- Resigned BAE
1955-1966 -- Married Rosario and had two children, Felipe and Rosario Self-employed, farming operation, Vera Cruz, Mexico
October 1966 -- Sold farm and moved to San Andes Tuxtla, Vera Cruz
Spring 1967 -- Visiting professor of Anthropology, University of Kentucky
Summer 1968 -- Visiting professor of Anthropology, University of Colorado
1968-1969 -- Visiting professor of Anthropology, University of Kentucky
1969-1978 -- Professor of Anthropology, University of Kentucky
June 1978 -- Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky
1978-1979 -- Distinguished Visiting Professor, Baylor University
1979—? -- Senior Scientist (Ethnography), Kentucky Longevity Study Project, University of Kentucky
These materials were left by Drucker in his office at the Bureau of American Ethnology when he resigned in December, 1955, and were deposited in the Bureau of American Ethnology Archives ca. 1956 By M. W. Stirling, Chief, Bureau of American Ethnology.
Restrictions:
Manuscript 4516 is open for research.
Access to Manuscript 4516 requires an appointment.
The Maid of Cotton (MOC) beauty pageant was sponsored by the National Cotton Council, Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans from 1939-1993. The contest was held annually in Memphis, Tennessee until the National Cotton Council and Cotton Council International moved to Dallas, Texas. Beginning with the 1985 pageant (held December 1984) the competition was held in Dallas. The pageant was discontinued in 1993 due to lack of funds, a sponsor, and changes in marketing strategies. The records include files on contestants, photographs, and scrapbooks.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains the records for the Maid of Cotton pageant (1939-1993) sponsored by the National Cotton Council (NCC), Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans. The collection consists of approximately 38 cubic feet of records created by the NCC in the course of operating the Maid of Cotton contest from 1939 to 1993. The records form the complete archive of this fifty-four year program. The records include administrative files, scrapbooks, photographs, slides, and videotapes.
"One of the main values of the Maid of Cotton collection is its completeness. These are all of the official records of the program, documenting all of its activities throughout its entire existence from 1939 to 1993. As such, it represents a truly unique documentary record and opportunity for research.
Beauty contests have been the subject of serious scholarly study for many years. A search of WorldCat reveals over fifty books on the topic. Scholars have found the subject to be a fruitful springboard from which to study a wide variety of topics, primarily centered around issues of beauty, femininity, culture values, national identity, racism, and feminism.
Beauty pageants serve as symbols that reflect the values of American culture. For example, pageant winners have symbolized the advances made by formerly disenfranchised groups. Vanessa Williams, the first African American to win the Miss America crown (1983), rewrote the definition of beauty in America, and Heather Whitestone, the first deaf Miss America (1995), proved that physical handicaps need not hold anyone back from their dreams. Pageants can provide a focus for the re-examination of our society and culture. The tragic murder of six-year-old Jonbenet Ramsey in 1996 provided a window into what author Susan Anderson calls "the extravagant world of child beauty pageants," that led to public debate about issues of motherhood and adolescence.
In addition, beauty pageants can be viewed in advertising terms: they are the ultimate expression of the tried and true adage that sex sells. All pageants have sponsors and all sponsors want their products to be seen in a positive light. Some sponsors are content to contribute goods and services to the contestants --a new car, a trip to the Caribbean, a fur coat, etc. --so that their generosity can be noted in the publicity surrounding the contest. Others prefer to sponsor the entire program. The Miss Universe contest, for example, was created in 1952 by the Jantzen Company specifically to enable the company to showcase pretty girls wearing its swimsuits. Jantzen abruptly withdrew its previous support of the Miss America pageant when Yolande Betbeze refused to wear a bathing suit during her reign as Miss America 1951. The Maid of Cotton pageant is a highly organized, year-long, very visible public relations program that allows the National Cotton Council to showcase the wonders of cotton through the wonders of young beauty queens. Attractive young women are the perfect vehicle for promoting fashionable fabrics made from cotton.
Cotton --the product at the heart of the Maid of Cotton program --has been central to American economic and political history. NMAH's collecting and research interests reflect this. The Division of Work & Industry contains numerous cotton-related objects and much documentation on the subject. The Archives Center holds several cotton-related collections, including the Peter Paul Haring Papers, 1897-1935, documenting Haring's development of cotton picking machinery; the Lockwood Greene collection of thousands of engineering drawings, many of which were for textile mills; the Robert L. Shurr Script and Scrapbook for a 1939 biographical motion picture on Dr. George Washington Carver; and the Southern Agriculture Oral History Project Records, 1985-1992, which documents modern cotton farming through photography and oral history interviews. In addition, all aspects of cotton production, from farm to factory to finished goods, are documented in several hundred photos in the Underwood & Underwood Agricultural Photonegative Collection, the Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, the Division of Work & Industry Lantern Slide Collection, and the Donald Sultner-Welles Photograph Collection. Cultural aspects of cotton can be discovered in both the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana and in the DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music." (Orr, Craig. "NMAH Collections Committee", memorandum, 2009)
Series 1, Organizational and Pageant Files, 1939-1993, undated., is arranged chronologically by year. Files may contain correspondence, photographs, news clippings, radio commercial scripts, tear sheets, itineraries, trip reports, sheet music, legal documents, waivers, and permissions, and other material related to the Maid of Cotton pageant for that year. Files may also contain subsequent personal information on the Maid of Cotton for that year, for example change of address, news clippings, and the like. This series contains finalist files, trip files and tour report files.
Series 2, Photographs, Slides, and Transparencies, 1939-1994, undated., is arranged chronologically by year. This series contains photographs, slides, and transparencies related to the Maid of Cotton and her travels throughout the United States and overseas. It also contains photographs of the fashions worn by each Maid.
Series 3, Scrapbooks, 1951-1988, contains the scrapbooks created by the National Cotton Council office as well as scrapbooks created by the Maids themselves or others for her. Scrapbooks most often contain news clippings, ephemera, and sometimes correspondence.
Series 4, Audio-Visual, 1991-1993. This series contains video and audio related to the Maid of Cotton. It is currently unprocessed.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1: Organizational and Pageant Files, 1939-1993, undated
Subseries 1.1: Maid of Cotton files, 1939-1993
Subseries 1.2: Little Miss Cotton, 1956-1963, undated
Series 2: Photographs, Slides, and Transparencies, 1939-1994, undated
Subseries 2.1: Photographic Negatives and Transparencies, 1939-1993, undated
Subseries 2.2: Slides, 1939-1993, undated
Series 3: Scrapbooks, 1951-1988
Series 4: Audio-Visual, 1991-1993, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The Maid of Cotton pageant began in 1939. The annual pageant was sponsored by the National Cotton Council (NCC), Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans. The pageant was held in Memphis, Tennessee, in conjunction with the Carnival until the 1980s.
In mid-December every year the NCC released a list of contestants. Contestants were required to have been born in one of the cotton-producing states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas or Virginia. They might have also been born in the cotton-producing counties of Alexander, Jefferson, Massac, Pulaski, Williamson or Madison, Illinois or in Clark or Nye counties of Nevada. There were usually twenty contestants each year.
Contestants were judged on personality, good manners, intelligence, and family background as well as beauty and an ability to model. A Top Ten were chosen and then a Top Five, and finally second and first runners up and a winner. Winners served as goodwill and fashion ambassadors of the cotton industry in a five-month, all-expense tour of American cities. In the mid-1950s the tour expanded globally. In the late 1950s a Little Miss Cotton pageant was begun but lasted only until 1963 before being discontinued. In the mid-1980s Dallas,Texas took over the pageant, in conjunction with the NCC and its overseas division, Cotton Council International. In 1986, to bolster interest and participation, the NCC eliminated the rule requiring contestants to be born in a cotton-producing state. The pageant was discontinued in 1993, one of the reasons being that Cotton Inc. stopped contributing scholarship money as well as waning public interest and changing marketing strategies. (pageantopolis.com website accessed April 2012.)
"The National Cotton Council is the official trade association of the cotton industry. The NCC was founded in 1939 to promote the interests of cotton farmers, ginners, brokers, and manufacturers from the Southern, cotton-growing states. Its mission evolved over the years as new uses for cotton and its byproducts have been found; as competition from synthetic fibers developed; as fashion tastes changed; as government regulation increased; and in response to foreign competition in both farming and manufacturing . The NCC website states that its modern-day mission is "to ensure the ability of all U.S. cotton industry segments to compete effectively and profitably in the raw cotton, oilseed and U.S.-manufactured product markets at home and abroad." Throughout its existence, the NCC has been the contact point for issues affecting its members, legislators in Congress, allied agribusiness, and consumers.
One of the first NCC programs undertaken by to promote the versatility and value of cotton to consumers was the Maid of Cotton program, begun in 1939. This consisted of a beauty pageant open to young women born in one of the seventeen southern cotton growing states. The contestants were evaluated on the basis of beauty, personality, poise, good manners, and intelligence; a family background in cotton production was especially helpful. The girls had to apply for selection to compete in the program. At first this was done directly to the Memphis-based program but eventually a system of state Maid of Cotton programs were established, whose winners went on to compete in the national Maid of Cotton contest. The Maid of Cotton received numerous prizes, whose value and variety tended to increase over the years. In the late 1940s, the program added a scholarship prize, probably in emulation of the Miss America contest. The Maid of Cotton pageant was held each December in Memphis as part of that city's Cotton Carnival festivities. The winner was featured prominently on her own float in the Cotton Carnival parade, was feted at prestigious Carnival events, and was treated as royalty wherever she went. Selection as the Maid of Cotton carried a high degree of status and mature ladies in the South to this day proudly identify themselves as such.
The Maid of Cotton's main function, once crowned, was to serve as a goodwill and fashion ambassador for cotton; any publicity she gained was automatically positive publicity for the cotton industry. Accompanied by an NCC-appointed manager, the Maids embarked on an all-expenses-paid tour. The Maids appeared in full regalia at public events such as county fairs, parades, and holiday events; starred in fashion shows featuring all-cotton outfits; gave speeches to local chambers of commerce and other groups; and in general were the attractive personification of the cotton industry wherever they went. At first, the tours concentrated on the cotton states but they were later extended to major cities outside the cotton belt and came to include visits to legislators on Capitol Hill. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Maids began touring internationally and in the 1970s and 1980s they frequently headed up fashion shows in Asia.
Over time, however, the publicity value of an industry-anointed beauty queen lost its attraction both to the public and --more importantly --to the press. In addition, the role of cotton in the South, particularly in Memphis, declined. In 1986 the contest was moved from Memphis to Dallas. Eventually the cotton industry withdrew its support for the program's scholarships; the 1993 Maid of Cotton was the last to be crowned." (Orr, Craig. "NMAH Collections Committee", memorandum, 2009)
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
National Cotton Council Records, circa 1960s-1980s (AC1177)
Southern Agriculture Oral History Project Records, 1986-1991 (AC0773)
Provenance:
This collection was donated by the Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange on October 14, 2009.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the negatives are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
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