United States. Dept. of the Treasury. Section of Fine Arts Search this
United States. Dept. of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture Search this
United States. Federal Civil Works Administration Search this
United States. Work Projects Administration Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Extent:
10 Microfilm reels
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Place:
New Jersey -- Antiquities
New Jersey -- Social conditions
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
Date:
1934-1942
Scope and Contents:
Approximately half the records relate to the Historical Records Survey's portrait survey, 1940-1941. The remainder are records of the Indian Site Survey, 1936-1942, a WPA program operating under the Division of Professional Service Projects, and to a lesser degree, the Public Works of Art Project, the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project and its predecessor, the Civil Works Administration.
Biographical / Historical:
The New Deal art programs were primarily administered under the Treasury Department and the Works Progress Administration (later the Work Projects Administration) as relief measures for unemployed artists.
The Historical Records Survey (HRS) had its origins in the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Civil Works Administration. In 1935 it came under the auspices of the Federal Writers' Project and eventually was designated as an independent program under Federal Project No. One. The projects, ideally suited for white collar workers, employed individuals to survey, classify and collect historical records. One program of the HRS was the survey of American portraits in public buildings. The Indian Site Survey was a WPA-New Jersey state-wide project operating under the Division of Professional and Service Projects, and sponsored by the New Jersey State Museum and the Archeaological Society of New Jersey.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by the New Jersey State Library, Trenton, N.J.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
An interview of Audrey McMahon conducted 1964 Nov. 18, by Harlan Phillips, for the Archives of American Art.
McMahon speaks of her pre-Federal Art Project experiences; her early involvement with the WPA; how it functioned; and political problems with the WPA. She recalls Juliana Force, Edward Bruce, Holger Cahill.
Biographical / Historical:
Audry McMahon (1900?-1981) served under Holger Cahill as Regional Director of the WPA Federal Art Project for New York and New Jersey from 1935-1939.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 21 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Interviewer:
Phillips, Harlan B. (Harlan Buddington), 1920- Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
69 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 Oct. 30
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Michael Lenson conducted 1964 Oct. 30 by Harlan Phillips, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Michael Lenson (1903-1971) was a painter and arts administrator in Nutley, N.J.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 55 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
An interview of Grace Greenwood conducted 1965 Jan. 29, by Joseph Trovato, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Greenwood speaks of her background and art education; her mural work before joining the Treasury Relief Art Project; working on a post office mural in Camden, New Jersey; participating in the WPA Federal Art Project's easel painting project; and her post-FAP career.
Biographical / Historical:
Grace A. Greenwood, (1905-), painter and mural painter of Woodstock, New York.
General:
An interview of Rollin Crampton conducted by J. Trovato is also on this tape.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
The scattered papers of Audrey McMahon measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1935 through 1980. Found are correspondence, writings, notes and research files, and printed material assembled mainly during the late 1960s while assisting Francis V. O'Connor complete Federal Support for the Visual Arts: The New Deal and Now (1969) and The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs (1970) and, to a lesser degree, miscellaneous files relating to McMahon's activities as Regional Director of the WPA Federal Art Project for New York and New Jersey . Included are photocopies of original correspondence (1935-41) between McMahon and Holger Cahill and Brehon Somervell, held by the National Archives.
Scope and Content Note:
The scattered papers of Audrey McMahon measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1935 through 1980. Found are correspondence, writings, notes and research files, and printed material assembled mainly during the late 1960s while assisting Francis V. O'Connor complete Federal Support for the Visual Arts: The New Deal and Now (1969) and The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs (1970) and, to a lesser degree, miscellaneous files relating to McMahon's activities as Regional Director of the WPA Federal Art Project for New York and New Jersey . Included are photocopies of original correspondence (1935-41) between McMahon and Holger Cahill and Brehon Somervell, held by the National Archives.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Audrey McMahon's Papers, 1935-1980 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Audrey McMahon served under Holger Cahill as Regional Director for the WPA Federal Art Project for New York and New Jersey from 1935 to 1939. She died at age 87 in 1981.
Related Material:
The bulk of Audrey McMahon's papers reside in the National Archives, together with the records of the WPA Federal Artist Project files. The Archives of American Art holds a 1964 interview with McMahon done by Harlan Phillips as part of the Archives New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project.
Provenance:
The Audrey McMahon papers were donated to the Archives in 1997 by Geraldine Rhoads, executor of McMahon's estate. The collection includes photocopies of papers most likely held by the National Archives.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.
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.
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Interviewer:
Phillips, Harlan B. (Harlan Buddington), 1920- Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
1 Sound tape reel (Sound recordings, 7 in.)
38 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound tape reels
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 October 13
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Anthony Velonis conducted 1965 October 13, by Harlan Phillips, in Hackensack, N.J., for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Anthony Velonis (1911-1997) was a painter, designer, and craftsman in Hackensack, N.J.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 13 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
REEL LA 2: A clipping, August 28, 1955, about Lewis; a book, Murals by American Painters and Photographers, Museum of Modern Art, 1932; a catalog, "The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art", vol. 4, July 1937; a newsletter, "Conferences on Inter-American Relations in the Fields of Art, Music, Education and Publications and Libraries, 1939-1940," March 1940.
UNMICROFILMED: Personal and business letters; Lewis' curriculum vitae; photographs of Lewis' WPA murals projects in New York and New Jersey and a renderings of a design proposal for a New Jersey WPA project; price lists of works; two travel diaries (1930-1931) from a trip to Europe; and a scrapbook, 1928-1947, containing newspaper articles, exhibition catalogs, and announcements.
Biographical / Historical:
Painter, muralist, educator; Coronado, Calif. Died 1997. Born in Cardiff, Wales, Lewis studied at the Art Students League in New York and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1930, studying architecture and related art forms. His mural commissions include the Museum of Man Building for the 1939 New York World's Fair and for public schools in New Jersey. He moved to Coronado, Calif. in 1942 and founded the Coronado School of Fine Arts in 1945, serving as its director until 1990. At the time of its founding, it was the only school teaching the art of fresco. The school practiced a stylized method of instruction that was highly individualistic and informal, allowing instructors complete freedom in their teaching procedures.
Provenance:
Printed material on reel LA 2 lent by Monty Lewis, 1965. Unmicrofilmed material donated 1998 by Kathryn Lewis Crane, daughter of Monty Lewis.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The papers of arts administrator Mildred Baker measure 2.7 linear feet and date from 1882 to 1997, with the bulk of the material dating from 1923 to 1997. Found within the papers are biographical materials; personal and professional correspondence; writings; files related to her work on the WPA Federal Art Project and other institutional art projects; printed material; photographs of Baker; and photographs and papers related to the work of her husband, Jacob Baker, who also administered programs for the WPA.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of arts administrator Mildred Baker measure 2.7 linear feet and date from 1882 to 1997, with the bulk of the material dating from 1923 to 1997. Found within the papers are biographical materials; personal and professional correspondence; writings; files related to her work on the WPA Federal Art Project and other institutional art projects; printed material; photographs of Baker; and photographs and papers related to the work of her husband, Jacob Baker, who also administered programs for the WPA.
Biographical materials include birth and award certificates, curriculum vitae, divorce documents, an oral history transcript, and genealogical research and information on Baker's family, including her brother, the composer and bassoonist Adolph Weiss.
Correspondence is primarily with Baker's friends, business associates, researchers, and art institutions discussing personal relationships, research inquiries into the administration of the Federal Art Project, and loans and gifts of artwork to various institutions. The series includes Baker's responses to researcher requests regarding FAP exhibitions, programs, artists, and recollections of her fellow administrators.
Writings by Baker consist of reminiscences, 8 travel diaries, 3 essays, an exhibition catalog introduction, 4 lectures, and miscellaneous notes. Writings by others consist of 4 essays on contemporary art and art administration.
Federal Art Project files include correspondence; artist and exhibition lists; memoranda and general information; reports; speeches; information and photographs related to regional art centers and black artists; printed material; and miscellaneous material related to the Index of American Design, Southern California Art Project, and the Technical Services Laboratory.
General project files include information for 4 exhibitions, including the 1934 First Municipal Art and Salon of America Exhibitions; reports and speeches for the Newark Museum; information on the commissioning of the New Jersey Council on the Arts; and member information from the Woman Pays Club.
Printed material includes clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, newsletters, press releases, and a commercial recording of Alice Tully Hall.
Photographs are of Mildred Baker, including photos during her tenure at the Federal Art Project and Newark Museum. There is also a photograph of fellow FAP administrator Audrey McMahon.
Materials related to Jacob Baker include interview recordings and transcripts; personal correspondence with friends and business associates; writings and speeches; information related to Baker's work for the United Federal Workers of America; printed materials; and photographs of Baker.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1882, 1934-1990 (7 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1937-1997 (0.4 linear feet, Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, circa 1940-1985 (17 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Federal Art Project, WPA, circa 1934-1953 (0.8 linear feet, Box 1-2)
Series 5: Project Files, 1934-1991 (0.4 linear feet, Box 2)
Series 6: General Printed Material, 1923-1996 (11 folders; Box 2-4)
Series 7: Photographs, circa 1934-1992 (2 folders; Box 3)
Series 8: Jacob Baker, 1930-1975 (0.3 linear feet; Box 3-4)
Biographical / Historical:
Mildred Baker (1905-1998) was an arts administrator who worked in New York City, New York; Newark, New Jersey; and Washington, D.C.
Baker was born in Brooklyn, New York to composer and musician George Weiss and his wife Sophia Soennichsen, whose family were also musicians and writers. In 1925, while enrolled at the University of Rochester, she married the artist Ernest Holzhauer and together they moved to Europe for study and travel. In 1927, they returned to New York where Baker began working in administrative positions for the Van Diemen Galleries and the College Art Association. In 1934, she was hired by Holger Cahill to assist him in organizing Rockefeller Center's Salons of America Exhibition and First Municipal Art Exhibition. After the success of these shows, in 1935, Baker was hired as Cahill's assistant after he was selected to run the Federal Art Project for the Work Projects Administration in Washington, D.C.
While working for the Federal Art Project, Baker was appointed director of exhibitions and surveyed the work of over 100 art centers, organized over 500 traveling exhibitions, and managed the final allocation of artworks created for the FAP. In 1940, Baker divorced Mr. Holzhauer and married Jacob Baker, an economist and WPA administrator, union organizer, and a founder of the left-wing Vanguard Press, in 1947. After overseeing the closing of the Federal Art Project offices in Washington, Baker and her husband moved back to New York and became longtime residents of the Chelsea Hotel. Baker joined the staff of the Newark Museum in 1944, was promoted to assistant director in 1949, and to associate director in charge of exhibitions and programs from 1953 until her retirement in 1971.
In 1963, Baker was appointed by Governor Richard Hughes to the Commission to Study the Arts in New Jersey, and while serving as vice chairman, she oversaw the establishment of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. She was a member of the Cosmopolitan Club, Women's City Club, Woman Pays Club, and American Association of Museums. Baker died on December 9, 1998.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art holds several collections related to Mildred Baker and the WPA Federal Art Project. There are two oral histories with Mildred Baker, one conducted by Harlan Phillips, September 21, 1963 and another by William Agee, July 22, 1965. There is also an oral history with Jacob Baker conducted by Harlan Phillips, September 25, 1963. Transcripts of the interviews conducted by Harlan Phillips are found within the collection. Collections related to the Federal Art Project include the Federal Art Project of the Work Projects Administration records and the Holger Cahill papers.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reel D110 including exhibition catalogs and clippings. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Mildred Baker donated her papers in several increments between 1971 and 1993. In 1999, the bulk of her papers were donated to the archives by Baker's estate executor, Patricia Haskell, some of which included materials that had been loaned for microfilming in 1963.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. 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.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Phillips, Harlan B. (Harlan Buddington), 1920- Search this
Creator:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Names:
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
31 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1965 October 14
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Hyman J. Warsager conducted 1965 October 14, by Harlan Phillips, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project, in Hackensack, N.J.
Biographical / Historical:
Hyman J. Warsager (1909-1974) was a printmaker and painter from Hackensack, N.J.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 27 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Ben Shahn conducted 1964 April 14, by Richard K. Doud, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Shahn speaks of his travels and work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA); the American image as portrayed by FSA photographs; techniques and materials; exhibitions and publications of his work; and the effectiveness of the FSA project overall. He recalls Roy Stryker, Walker Evans, Arthur Rothstein, Edwin Rosskam and Dorothea Lange.
Biographical / Historical:
Ben Shahn (1898-1969) was a painter and photographer from Roosevelt, N.J.
General:
Originally recorded 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 23 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
An interview of Ben Shahn conducted 1965 October 3, by Harlan Phillips, for the Archives of American Art New Deal and the Arts Project.
Biographical / Historical:
Ben Shahn (1898-1969) was a painter and photographer from Roosevelt, N.J.
General:
An interview of Charles Alston (9/28/65) conducted by H. Phillips is also on this tape.
Originally recorded 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 37 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Gilpin, Charles S. (Charles Sidney), 1878-1930 Search this
Extent:
22 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964
Scope and Contents:
An interview of Jasper Deeter conducted by Richard Doud in 1964 for the Archives of American Art.
Discusses theater experience in Greenwich Village and Provincetown; Depression-era theater in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; and comments on contemporary theater.
Biographical / Historical:
Jasper Deeter (died 1972) was a producer, actor, teacher, and Federal Theater Project director in Media, Pennsylvania. Named director of FTP in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 34 min.
Provenance:
This interview conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
This interview is open for research. Contact Reference Services for more information.
An interview of Kathryn Greywacz conducted 1964 Mar. 24, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art.
Greywacz speaks of her position as curator of the New Jersey State Museum; her work with the New Jersey Public Works of Art Project; and the Index of American Design. She recalls Mildred Baker and Ben Shahn.
Biographical / Historical:
Kathryn Burch Greywacz (b. 1893) was an art administrator from New Jersey.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- New Jersey -- Interviews Search this
An interview of Jacob Baker conducted by Harlan Phillips on 1963 September 25 for the Archives of American Art.
Baker speaks of his training as an industrial engineer and his early employment history, including involvement with various New Deal bureaus; becoming assistant administrator of the WPA, and his activities; the various WPA projects and their functions. He recalls Holger Cahill and Mildred Baker.
Biographical / Historical:
Jacob Baker (1895-1967) was an art administrator in Newark, New Jersey.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 41 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Restrictions:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- New Jersey -- Interviews Search this
