National Museum of American Art (U.S.) Search this
Extent:
0.4 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Video recordings
Date:
1985-1989
Scope and Contents:
Photographs, slides, and video of self-taught artists taken by Liza Kirwin, Southeast Regional Collector, Archives of American Art, when traveling for the Archives.
Subjects include Howard Finster, Vollis Simpson, Clyde Jones, Dilmus Hall, Mary Smith, David Butler, Royal Robertson, Horacio Valdez, Eddie Owens Martin, Burgess Dulaney, Joseph Fury, Sam Doyle, James "Money Man" McClain, and William C. Rice. Many photographs include images of works of art. Two video recordings taken by Kirwin are of Horacio Valdez at his home in Dixon, New Mexico, in conversation with Andrew L. Connors, Associate Curator, National Museum of American Art (NMAA), and Tonia L. Horton, October 20, 1987, on a research trip in preparation for the exhibition, "Made with Passion: The Hemphill Folk Art Collection in the National Museum of American Art," 1990.
Also found are contact sheets and slides of Finster taken by Smithsonian photographer Richard Strauss on the occasion of filming of "The Living Smithsonian" for Smithsonian World (public television) at Finster's Paradise Garden in Pennville, Georgia, January 1988.
Biographical / Historical:
Liza Kirwin is a curator, arts administrator and author, and Deputy Director and former Southeast Regional Collector, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Provenance:
Donated 2015 by Liza Kirwin.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Washington (D.C.) Search this
The papers of Austrian born curator, lecturer, and museum director, René d'Harnoncourt (1901-1968), document d'Harnoncourt's activities, primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly as they relate to Mexican and Native American art. D'Harnoncourt's career, including his arrival in Mexico in 1925, his curation of the exhibitions, Mexican Art (1930-1932), and Indian Art of the United States (1941), and his work for the Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1937-1944, are documented in small amounts of biographical material and correspondence, published writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs of d'Harnoncourt and colleagues, and photographs of works of art. The collection also contains a drawing of d'Harnoncourt, and photocopies of caricatures of d'Harnoncourt and others.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Austrian-American curator, lecturer, and museum director, René d'Harnoncourt (1901-1968), document d'Harnoncourt's activities, primarily in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly as they relate to Mexican and Native American art. D'Harnoncourt's career, including his arrival in Mexico in 1925, his curation of the exhibitions, Mexican Art (1930-1932), and Indian Art of the United States (1941), and his work for the Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1937-1944, are documented in small amounts of biographical material and correspondence, published writings, printed material, scrapbooks, photographs of d'Harnoncourt and colleagues, and photographs of works of art. The collection also contains a drawing of d'Harnoncourt, and photocopies of caricatures of d'Harnoncourt and others.
Biographical material consists of d'Harnoncourt's official Austrian departure documents for his travel to Mexico in 1925; pages of an appointment book from 1932; and notes on d'Harnoncourt's career that index publications in which he is mentioned amongst other things, prepared by Sarah d'Harnoncourt.
Correspondence and memoranda relate primarily to the Mexican Arts exhibition, (1930-1932) sponsored by the American Federation of Arts; the "Art in America" radio program, organized by the American Federation of Arts with the cooperation of the Museum of Modern Art; d'Harnoncourt's part time teaching position at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville; and his appointment as General Manager of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Later correspondence references research on d'Harnoncourt's work for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, and includes information on d'Harnoncourt, provided in response to inquiries about him.
Writings by d'Harnoncourt include published articles on Mexican and Indian arts and crafts, a 1969 reprint of d'Harnoncourt's and Frederic H. Douglas's expanded version of the catalog for Indian Art of the United States, a foreword, and two seminar/symposium papers. Unpublished writings comprise two typescripts. The series also includes several writings by others.
Printed material includes announcements and exhibition catalogs, documentation of the "Art in America Program," published books belonging to and/or referencing d'Harnoncourt, Department of Interior publications, including some issued by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Museum of Modern art press releases, news clippings relating to d'Harnoncourt and his activities, and miscellaneous printed material.
Additional clippings from a dismantled scrapbook(s) document the Mexican Arts exhibition.
Artwork and artifacts include one original sketch in colored pencil of d'Harnoncourt by Austrian artist, Silverbauer, photocopies of caricatures and doodles by d'Harnoncourt, Miguel Covarrubias, and Caroline Durieux, and two Indian Arts and Crafts Board weaving samples.
Photographs are of d'Harnoncourt, Sarah d'Harnoncourt, and friends and colleagues. They include a photograph of d'Harnoncourt by Manuel Alvarez-Bravo; snapshots of others including Fred Davis; Sarah d'Harnoncourt and folk art specialist, Victor Fosado; fellow Indian Arts and Crafts Board members, architect Henry Klumb, Alice Marriot, and anthropologist, author, and tribal council member, Gladys Tantaquidgeon. Also found are three photographs of Mexican Art exhibition installations; fourteen photographs of Native Americans; three photographs showing covers and/or fronts pieces of d'Harnoncourts books Beast, Bird and Fish, Mexicana, The Hole in the Wall, and The Painted Pig; and photographs of artwork included in the Mexican Art exhibition and an exhibition of Australian Aboriginal Cave Paintings (1947).
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as seven series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1925-circa 1978 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence and Memoranda, 1929-1981 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, 1928-circa 1970s (0.4 linear feet; Box 1, OV 4)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1921-1979 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, OV 4)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1930-1933 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 6: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1926-circa 1950s (3 folders; Box 3)
Series 7: Photographs, 1930-1983 (0.25 linear feet; Box 3, OV 4)
Biographical / Historical:
Austrian born curator, lecturer, and museum director, René d'Harnoncourt (1901-1968), was an authority on Native American art and Mexican arts and crafts. He curated and toured with a traveling exhibition, Mexican Art, from 1930-1932, guest curated the exhibition, Indian Art of the United States, for the Museum of Modern Art in 1941, served on the Department of the Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts Board from 1937-1944, and was Director of the Museum of Modern Art from 1949-1968.
D'Harnoncourt was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1901. He left Austria for Mexico in 1925, and began working for American, Frederick Davis, who owned a shop that sold Mexican antiquities and folk art in Mexico City. At this time, d'Harnoncourt made many important connections, including meeting American Ambassador to Mexico, Dwight Morrow, and his wife, Elizabeth Morrow. D'Harnoncourt illustrated several books in the early 1930s, including The Painted Pig (1930) and Beast, Bird and Fish (1933), both written by Elizabeth Morrow, and The Hole in the Wall (1931) and Mexicana: A Book of Pictures (1931). According to Sarah d'Harnoncourt, her husband considered himself an amateur in the field of book illustration, which he enjoyed as a means of self-amusement.
In 1929, d'Harnoncourt was asked to curate an extensive exhibition of Mexican art to travel to major cities in the United States, sponsored by the American Federation of Arts. D'Harnoncourt toured with this exhibition, Mexican Art, for two years, beginning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in October, 1930.
D'Harnoncourt visited Austria briefly in 1932, then returned to the United States in 1933 and married Sarah Carr the same year. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1939.
Between 1933 and 1944, d'Harnoncourt directed the radio program "Art in America," organized by the American Federation of Arts in cooperation with the Museum of Modern Art. He also taught art history at Sarah Lawrence College from 1934-1937. In 1936 he began working for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the Department of the Interior, becoming General Manager in 1937, and the Board's Chairman in 1944. As General Manager he curated an exhibition on Indian art for the San Francisco Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939, and installed an expanded version of the exhibition, Indian Art of the United States, as guest curator for the Museum of Modern Art in 1940-1941.
In 1944, d'Harnoncourt joined the Museum of Modern Art as Vice President in charge of Foreign Activities, focusing his work on Latin America, and as Director of the Department of Manual Industries, responsible for the preservation of Native American art and culture. In 1949 he was appointed Director of the Museum of Modern Art, and served in this capacity until his death in an automobile accident in 1968.
Related Materials:
An oral history of René d'Harnoncourt, interviewed by Isabel Grossner in 1968, can be found at Columbia University, Oral History Research Office, 801 Butler Library, 535 West 114 Street, New York, NY 10027.
Separated Materials:
The bulk of René d'Harnoncourt's papers are in the Museum Archives of the Museum of Modern Art. The Museum's 59.25 linear feet document, in particular, d'Harnoncourt's years with the Museum from 1944-1968. That collection also includes papers donated by Sarah d'Harnoncourt which relate to d'Harnoncourt's time in Mexico, from 1925-1932, and his work in the United States from 1933-1944. While these holdings may overlap occasionally with the papers in the Archives of American Art (some items at the Archives of American Art, for instance, may be photocopies of originals at the Museum), the bulk of the Archives' d'Harnoncourt papers appear to be distinct from those at the Museum.
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 2919-2931) including papers generated by d'Harnoncourt during his professional affiliation with the Museum of Modern Art, such as, personal files, three appointment notebooks, professional files including Latin American correspondence, exhibition files, files documenting outside affiliations, and departmental and special event files. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
D'Harnoncourt's widow, Sarah d'Harnoncourt, donated the René d'Harnoncourt papers to the Archives of American Art in 1975, 1981, and 1984. An additional eleven linear feet of material was lent by the Museum of Modern Art's for microfilming in 1983.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
Reels 2919-2931: Authorization to publish requires written permission from Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y. MoMA requires full citation to include microfilm reel and frame numbers, and reference to MoMA as the owner of the Rene d'Harnoncourt papers. 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.
Topic:
Art museum directors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Photographs of d'Harnoncourt and others include a copy print of a circa 1930 photo of d'Harnoncourt by Manuel Alvarez-Bravo from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art; a snapshot (1939) of Gladys Tantaquidgeon with Sarah d'Harnoncourt; a snapshot (1940) of architect, Henry Klumb, and his wife, Elsa, their son, and d'Harnoncourt in Tuscon; a snapshot (1951), with two copy negatives, of Fred Davis; two snapshots (1951) of Davis's house and garden in Cuernavaca, Mexico, taken by folk art specialist, Victor Fosada, who was a key member of staff at Fred Davis's shop in Mexico; a snapshot (1959) of d'Harnoncourt and Sarah d'Harnoncourt with Victor Fosado; a color photo (1968) of d'Harnoncourt; a color photo (1983) of Alice Marriott; and a color slide of Mrs. Roanhorse and a child named René, sent by Grace and Charles Cole.
Also found are twelve photographic prints of Native Americans, two of whom are identified as Brovira Soft Velvet, and Red Tomahawk, and two copy prints of "Seminole Indians, Florida probably 1950s."
There is one copy print of a Metropolitan Museum of Art photograph of the Mexican Art exhibition installation, and two prints of items that were also possibly installations in the exhibition; and a print of a Museum of Modern Art photograph showing an installation of printed material about Native American art.
Photographs of artwork by d'Harnoncourt include copy prints of three photographs by Will Brown of covers, and/or fronts pieces, for four children's books co-authored/illustrated by d'Harnoncourt: Beast, Bird and Fish, Mexicana, The Hole in the Wall, and The Painted Pig.
Photos of artwork by others include photos of Mexican artwork, some of which was used in Mexican Arts; a complete set of seventy-four photos of artwork from the exhibition Australian Aboriginal Cave Paintings (1947); a copy print of a caricature of d'Harnoncourt by Miguel Covarrubias; and photos of artwork by unidentified artists.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Reels 2919-2931: Authorization to publish requires written permission from Museum of Modern Art, New York, N.Y. MoMA requires full citation to include microfilm reel and frame numbers, and reference to MoMA as the owner of the Rene d'Harnoncourt papers. 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:
René d'Harnoncourt papers, 1921-1983. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1991 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in 5 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
Series 2: Family Farming in the Heartland
Series 3: Forest, Field and Sea: Folklife in Indonesia
Series 4: Land in Native American Cultures
Series 5: Roots of Rhythm and Blues: The Robert Johnson Era
Historical note:
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.
The 1991 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Programs and cosponsored by the National Park Service.
For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Introduction:
The 1991 Festival programs were largely about human relationships to land. Indonesian land punctuates sea and ocean to form some 13,000 volcanic islands. On these islands is an amazing diversity of environments, ranging from the sandy beaches of Sumatra to snowcapped mountains that rise above the rainforests in Irian Jaya on New Guinea. To sample this diversity, the Festival presented cultural traditions from three particular environments - the forests of Kalimantan, the fields of Java, and the sea coast of Sulawesi. Half a world away from Indonesia and much closer to home is the American "heartland." American culture embodies a few elemental self-images with mythic stature - the frontier is surely one; the family farm is surely another. The idea of the family farm also entails some of our strongest values - hard work, self-reliance, family solidarity, and community life, all on view to Festival visitors.
For millennia before Columbus's arrival in the New World, native peoples gathered and cultivated its bounty, bred new crops, derived medicines to cure sickness, mined ores for making tools and ornaments, used its earth, stone and wood for building homes, made dyes for cloth, and invented ways of preparing and cooking food. Land and its use informed social, moral, religious, and cosmological beliefs, and sacred and secular practices. Some of this knowledge and practice of land use and its symbolic elaboration in artistic forms are continued among many Native American groups. At the Festival, culture bearers from the Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian people from Alaska; Hopi from Arizona; Maya and Lacandón from Chiapas, Mexico; Zapotec and Ikood from Oaxaca, Mexico; Shuar and Achuar from Ecuador; Jalq'a and Tiwanaku from Bolivia; and Taquile from Peru illustrated how the land in many varied environments is cared for and thought about, and how, almost five hundred years after Columbus, the wise and humane use, the knowledge and power of land must be re-"discovered."
The 1991 Festival, which also featured a program on the roots of rhythm and blues, took place for two four-day weeks (June 28-July 1 and July 4-7) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 10th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan).
The 1991 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; keynote essays on each of the four programs were supplemented by shorter pieces focusing on particular topics.
The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Office of Folklife Programs.
Office of Folklife Programs
Richard Kurin, Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Anthony Seeger, Director, Folkways Records; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Olivia Cadaval, Director, Quincentenary Projects; Richard Kennedy, Program Analyst; Betty Belanus, Vivian Chen, Diana N'Diaye, Folklorists; Marjorie Hunt, Ed O'Reilly, Frank Proschan, Nicholas Spitzer, Research Associates; Arlene L. Reiniger, Program Specialist; Jeffrey Place, Archivist
Folklife Advisory Council
Roger Abrahams, Richard Bauman, Henry Glassie, Rayna Green, John Gwaltney, Charlotte Heth, Adrienne Kaeppler, Ivan Karp, Bernice Reagon, John Tchen, Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez
National Park Service
James M. Ridenour, Director; Robert G. Stanton, Regional Director, National Capital Region
Shared Stewardship of Collections:
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.
Forms Part Of:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1991 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers
1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
Related Archival Materials note:
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.
Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in 6 series.
Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
Series 2: The Baltic Nations: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
Series 3: Pahiyas: A Philippine Harvest
Series 4: The Río Grande/Río Bravo Basin
Series 5: Special Events
Series 6: Wisconsin
Historical note:
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.
The 1998 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.
For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Introduction:
On January 25, 1998, the Smithsonian Board of Regents voted to change the name of the Festival of American Folklife to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The Folklife and Folkways Archives and Collection of the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies were also renamed to become the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections.
In presenting community cultural life, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival always engages those communities. The 1998 Festival was a good case in point. All of the nearly 75 researchers who documented, analyzed, and recommended traditions and people for the Festival came from the represented communities. Festival curators and senior staff met with researchers, shared experiences from previous Festivals, challenged assumptions, listened, learned, argued, and negotiated the character of the programs. Although not an easy way to craft a cultural representation, this approach nevertheless allowed for an honest, intellectual engagement, with mutual respect and discovery as ther result.
The 1998 Festival hosted programs on Wisconsin, the Río Grande/Río Bravo Basin, the Philippines, and the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Wisconsin celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1998, and sought through the Festival to demonstrate to the nation the vitality of its people and their traditions. The Río Grande/Río Bravo region was redefined 150 years ago with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which established a new boundary between Mexico and the United States. The river has a variety of meanings for local communities that were explored on the National Mall. The Philippines first tasted independence 100 years ago, and marked its centennial with activities that gave voice to Filipino peoples, both in the island nation and in the United States. The Baltic nations each demonstrated the richness of their cultural life, and its importance in sustaining the struggle to regain their freedom and independence less than a decade before. Special events celebrated the Festival's founder, Ralph Rinzler, and the 50th anniversary of Folkways Records.
The Festival's million visitors could dance to polkas from Milwaukee, learn borderlands ballads, participate in a Philippine pageant, and marvel at the amber work, flax weaving, and choral songs of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The unexpected also met their eye - a Tibetan sand mandala maker from Wisconsin, a Filipino artisan who fashions musical gongs from bullet casings, a New Mexican pueblo potter who incorporates modern flood stories into her craft, and a Baltic-style St. John's Day ceremony.
The 1998 Festival took place during two five-day weeks (June 24-28 and July 1-5) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 9th Street and 14th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan). It featured four programs, with special events that included the Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert.
The 1998 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; essays provided background on the Festival and on each of the programs.
The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies.
Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies
Richard Kurin, Director; Richard Kennedy, Deputy Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Anthony Seeger, Director, Smithsonian Folkways Recordngs; James Early, Director, Cultural Studies & Communications; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Olivia Cadaval, Chair, Research & Education; Betty J. Belanus, Marjorie Hunt, Diana Baird N'Diaye, Peter Seitel, Curators, Folklorists, Education and Cultural Specialists; Carla M. Borden, Program/Publications Manager; John W. Franklin, Program Manager; Cynthia Vidaurri, Coordinator, Latino Cultural Resource Network; Jeffrey Place, Archivist; Stephanie Smith, Assistant Archivist; Arlene L. Reiniger, Program Specialist; Charlie Weber, Media Specialist; Roland Freeman, Dan Goodwin, Ivan Karp, Corinne Kratz, Alan Lomax, Worth Long, René López, Kate Rinzler, Fellows & Research Associates
Folklife Advisory Council and Folkways Advisory Council
Roger Abrahams, Jacinto Arias, Michael Asch, Jane Beck, Don DeVito, Pat Jasper, Ella Jenkins, Jon Kertzer, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, John Nixdorf, Bernice Johnson Reagon, John Roberts, Carol Robertson, Gilbert Sprauve, Jack Tchen, Ricardo Trimillos, Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez
National Park Service
Robert Stantion, Director; Terry Carlstrom, Director, National Capital Region
Shared Stewardship of Collections:
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.
Forms Part Of:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1998 Smithsonian Folklife Festival forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers
1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
Related Archival Materials note:
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.
Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Boston University. School of Fine and Applied Arts Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with John Wilson, 1993 March 11-1994 August 16. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of John Woodrow Wilson conducted 1993 March-1994 August, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Wilson discusses his childhood as a member of a family of middle class Black people from British Guiana (now Guyana); his father's grave disappointments in the face of racial discrimination; his parents' push for their children to succeed; early urge to read and draw; encouragement by School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston students who taught at the Roxbury Boys Club; his secondary education; and friends.
He talks about his education at the MFA School, Boston, and comments on such teachers as Ture Bengtz and Karl Zerbe and compares their exacting methods with those of Fernand Leger, his teacher in Paris.
His work of the 1940s prior to going to Paris; the importance of early awards and sales received while still a student at the MFA School; the excitement of sharing a studio with fellow students, Francesco Carbone and Leo Prince; and encouragement to stay in school during WW II with the promise of a European study fellowship after the war.
The great impact of his years in Paris (1948-49); the lack of racial prejudice; the liberating effect of Leger's teaching; his awe of the work of Masaccio and Piero della Francesca during a trip to Italy; and the deep impression made on him by seeing tribal art in the Musee de l'Homme, Paris.
Continued discussion of Leger; his teaching methods; and influences on his work.
His first teaching position at the MFA School; his involvement in civil rights in Boston; his gregariousness and the use of his studio as a meeting place for artists and political activists; his involvement with socialism in Boston and New York; and working in a socialist children's camp. He remembers meeting Paul Robeson, Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, and Bob Blackburn, who was then setting up his printmaking atelier in New York; marriage to a fellow socialist (June 1950); move to Mexico on a fellowship to study with Jose Orozco on the advice of Leger, only to find that Orozco had died; terrors of travel as an interracial couple through the U.S.; and different racial attitudes in Mexico and the U.S.
Living in Mexico (1950-56) and anecdotes of David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera; his wife's meeting with Frieda Kahlo and seeing her collection of folk art; their free and cosmopolitan, if impoverished, life in Mexico; his work in a printmaking atelier and on the production of frescoes, and a lengthy aside about his brilliant brother, Freddie, who because he was black was not allowed to pursue his first love, geology, for many years.
Continued discussion of his experiences in Mexico; the dreary year (1957) he spent doing commercial art for a meatpackers' union in Chicago, a city he disliked; his move to New York in 1958, taking on commercial work to support his family, and teaching anatomy at the Pratt Institute.
Teaching art at a junior high school in the Bronx, and his gaining respect of students through special projects; teaching drawing at Boston University (1965-86), his approach to teaching including his demanding standards, the seriousness of the students, his opposing rigid attendance and grading rules, and colleagues, such as David Aronson who had created the School, Reed Kay, Jack Kramer, Sidney Hurwitz, and the University president, John Silber.
Working with the black arts entrepreneur, Elma Lewis, in setting up a visual arts program for the Boston black community (late 1960s-1970s), including the selection of a curator, Edmund Barry Gaither, a young art historian, who eventually established a museum of African-American art; his participation in various black art exhibitions, despite his belief that art should be seen regardless of the ethnic origins of artists; his move toward sculpture, beginning in the early 1960s, as a medium most expressive of black persons, culminating in the 1980s in a series of colossal heads and a statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. for the U.S. Capitol (1985-86); and why he makes art and will so long as he is able.
Biographical / Historical:
John Wilson (1922- ) is an African American painter, sculptor, illustrator, printmaker, and educator from Boston, Massachusetts. Full name John Woodrow Wilson.
General:
Originally recorded on 11 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 22 digital wav files. Duration is 16 hr., 2 min.
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for the transcription and microfilming of the interview provided by the Newland Foundation.
The research material of Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, measures 33.1 linear feet and 1.27 GB and dates from 1965-2004. The collection, amassed throughout Ybarra-Frausto's long and distinguished career as a scholar of the arts and humanities, documents the development of Chicano art in the United States and chronicles Ybarra-Frausto's role as a community leader and scholar in the political and artistic Chicano movement from its inception in the 1960s to the present day.
Scope and Content Note:
The research material of Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, amassed throughout his long and distinguished career as a scholar of the arts and humanities, documents the development of Chicano art in the United States. As community leader and scholar, Ybarra-Frausto played dual roles of active participant and historian in the Chicano movement, chronicling this unique political and artistic movement from its inception in the 1960s to the present day.
Deeply rooted in American history, "El Movimiento," the Chicano movement, evolved from Mexican-Americans' struggle for self-determination during the civil rights era of the 1960s. It began as a grassroots community effort that enlisted the arts in the creation of a united political and cultural constituency. Chicano artists, intellectuals, and political activists were instrumental in mobilizing the Mexican-American community for the cause of social justice, and the movement was shaped by the affirmation of a cultural identity that embraced a shared heritage with Mexico and the United States.
Just as "El Movimiento" aimed to instruct and inspire through the recollection and conservation of culture, Ybarra-Frausto's own career as scholar and historian helped to shape the intellectual discourse of the Chicano art. As a leading historian and theoretician in the field of Chicano Studies, he has written extensively on the subject, and has been instrumental in defining the canons of Chicano art. His papers are accordingly rich and varied, and they will be of great use to future scholars.
His research material, dating from 1965 to 1996, are arranged in subject files containing original writings, notes, bibliographies compiled by Ybarra-Frausto and others, exhibition catalogues, announcements, newspaper clippings and other printed material, as well as slides and photographs. Many of these files also include interview transcripts and correspondence with prominent figures in the movement. While this research collection contextualizes Chicano art within the larger framework of Latino and Latin-American culture, the bulk of the files relates specifically to Chicano visual culture. The collection also contains pertinent documentation of the Chicano civil rights movement, material on Chicano poets and writers, and research files on the wider Hispanic community, but these also appear within the context of Chicano culture in general.
Prominent among the bibliographies are the many notes and drafts related to the publication of A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography of Chicano Art, 1965-1981 (University of California, Berkeley, 1985), which Ybarra-Frausto co-authored with Shifra Goldman. Ybarra-Frausto's files on Goldman, like other files in the collection, document his close associations and collaborations with scholars.
Art historians have traditionally found the categorization of Chicano art a difficult task. Unsure whether to classify the work as "American" or "Latin American," critics often ignored the work altogether. An outgrowth of this dilemma was the proliferation of artists, curators, and critics within the Chicano community, and the papers contain many original writings by Chicano artists about Chicano art, found in extensive files on artists that will be of particular significance to researchers. These often contain exhibition essays, dissertation proposals, and course outlines authored by the artists, along with the standard biographies, exhibition records, and reviews. Some of the files contain rare interviews conducted and transcribed by Ybarra-Frausto. Highlights include conversations with Carmen Lomas Garza, Amalia Mesa-Bains, and members of the Royal Chicano Air Force artist cooperative.
As a member of several Chicano art organizations and institutions, Ybarra-Frausto kept active records of their operation. The extensive files on the Mexican Museum and Galerie de la Raza/Studio 24, both in San Francisco, not only chronicle the history of Chicano art through the records of exhibitions and programming, but also offer case studies on the development of non-profit art institutions. The files on artist cooperatives, organizations, and exhibition spaces cover several regions of the United States, but focus on California, Texas and New York.
Two notable events in the development of Chicano art were the 1982 Califas: Chicano Art and Culture in California seminar at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and the 1990 traveling exhibition Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, 1965-1985 (CARA), of which Ybarra-Frausto served as organizer and catalogue essayist. His records document the planning and development of these seminal events. Ybarra-Frausto's files on folk art, altars, posters, murals, performance art, border art, Chicana feminist art, and Southwestern and Mexican imagery (both urban and rural expressions) mirror the diverse forms and subject matter of Chicano art.
Spanning almost four decades of American culture from a Chicano perspective, these files have a unique historical value. The legacy of Chicano art and its contribution to the cultural landscape of this country, kept alive in Ybarra-Frausto's files, attests to the richness and diversity of American art.
Henry C. Estrada
Research Fellow, 1997.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as a single series of subject files. The general contents of each folder have been listed. The subject files are arranged in alphabetical order. While no two files are alike, they may contain résumés, printed and digital material, letters, draft writings, and photographs. Unless otherwise noted, each listing represents one file folder. The abbreviation TYF was used to refer to the name Tomá Ybarra-Frausto throughtout the Series Description.
Autobiographical Note:
Papelitos (little bits of paper), whether rent receipts, paid bills, or piles of personal letters, can become layered bundles of personal history. I have always been a pepenador (a scavenger) and saver of paper scraps. Diary notes, scribbled annotations, and first drafts are often useful indicators of ideas and gestation. Papelitos are the fragments of every-day life that gain expanded meaning integrated into the larger historical events of a period.
In the decade of the 1960s, I started saving ephemeral material--exhibition announcements, clippings of individual artists and of organizations fomenting a Chicano art movement. The social scenarios of the period such as marches, strikes, sit-ins, and mobilizations for social justice all spawned manifestos, posters, leaflets, and other forms of printed material. I somehow managed to assemble and protect the evanescent printed information that recorded the birth and development of Chicano art.
As I started to research and write about Chicano art and artists of the period, I continued to clip, photocopy, and preserve material given me by Mexican-American artists from throughout the nation. My idea was to form an archive that would be comprehensive rather than selective. I knew that it was the offbeat, singular piece of paper with a missing link of information that would attract the scholar.
Today, several decades after the flowering of Chicano art, there is still a lamentable paucity of research and information about this significant component of American art.
It is my fervent hope that this compendium of information will function as a resonant print and image bank for investigators of Chicano culture. Perhaps contained within the archive are the facts that will inspire new visions or revisions of Chicano art and culture--this is my fondest dream.
Dr. Tomás Ybarra-Frausto
New York City, 1998
Related Materials:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto Papers are located at University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Tomás Ybarra-Frausto in 1997, and in 2004.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
(postcard to TYF from López, 1/30/01; exhibition announcements; series of emails re. López' "Our Lady" in the Cyber Arte exhibition, Museum of International Folk Art, Sante Fe, New Mexico, 2001; invitation; clippings; writings by López; resume)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
(see above, and: letter to TYF from Gloria Jaramillo, Curator of Collections, 04/27/1983, re. TYF's purchase of a ceramic by Richard and Graciela [Rios] and sales receipt; photocopy of letter to "Compañeros", from TYF, 09/30/1983; photocopy of letter to Mariano and Linda, from TYF, 09/30/1983; TYF's notes on issues concering the museum's Board of Directors; "Annotated Bibliography of Mexican Folk Art" by Beverly Herzog and Dr. Joyce Bishop, 1985; letter to TYF from the museum, re. a lecture TYF would give for the "From Inside Out..." exhibition; administrative planning documents for "From Inside Out..." and "Lo Del Corazó", including artists' applications and booklet of artists' statements for "Lo Del Corazó"; "Bibliography for the Exhibit 'Folk Art of Michcacan'" by Susan Warren-Kunkler; "Assessment of the Mexican Museum, Museum Assessment Program, American Association of Museums"; "Communal Land Paintings From Central Mexico: An Overview" by Marion Oettinger, Jr., Curator of Folk Art and Latin American Art, San Antonio Museum Association; "But Is It Folk? Defining the Field" by Joyce M. Bishop, presented at "From the Inside Out..."; typescript of essay by Jim Griffith, no title; "Notes Toward An Interpretive History of California-Mexican Music" by Manuel Peña; "From the Inside Out..." symposium program; postcard to TYF from Aurelio and Cecilia Barrera, 10/27/1987; letter to TYF from David de la Torre, Director, The Mexican Museum, 02/08/1988, re. dinner to honor TYF; bound volume, From the Inside Out... Proceedings from the conference, ed. Karana Hattersley-Drayton, Joyce Bishop, TYF, 1989; NEH grant application materials; Christmas card to TYF from Marie Acosta-Colón; slides; letter to José Montoya, from Peter Rodriguez, 11/30/1990, (cc: TYF; photocopy; grant proposals; "The Mexican Museum Long Range Work Plan," CAC Multicultural Advancement Program, circa 1993; photocopy of letter to TYF from Jonathan [Yorba], 06/05/1996; note to Jonathan [Yorba] from TYF, 06/17/1996; artist biographies by TYF, undated: Daniel Salazar and José Alfredo Mendoza Arreguín; newsletter: vol. 7 Spring 1982; vol. 8 (Summer 1983); Winter and Spring 1988; Spring/Summer 1990; Fall/Winter 1990; Fall 1991; Winter/Spring 1992; Spring/Summer 1992; Fall 1992; Winter/Spring 1993; Fall 1993; Winter 1997; Fall 1998; Spring - Fall 1999; Winter 2000 - Summer 2001)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sin Nombre: Hispana and Hispano Artists of the New Deal Era, Exhibition, Museum of New Mexcio Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico (see also: Flore y Canto: Reflections From Nuevo Mexico)
(clippings; exhibition announcement; catalog; self-guided tour booklet; artist list; report - fax; Christmas card to TYF from Tey Marianna Nunn and Jim Ross, 2001)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
(exhibition announcement; letter to TYF from Tey [Nunn], Museum of International Fold Art, Museum of New Mexico, 10/30/2002; press release; clipping; draft sections of catalog)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Art of the Santera, Exhibition, Museum of International Folk Art, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico (see also: Museum of International Folk Art)
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents the planning, production, and execution of the 1992 Festival of American Folklife. Materials may include photographs, audio recordings, motion picture film and video recordings, notes, production drawings, contracts, memoranda, correspondence, informational materials, publications, and ephemera. Such materials were created during the Festival on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as well as in the featured communities, before or after the Festival itself.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in 5 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Program Books, Festival Publications, and Ephemera
Series 2: The Changing Soundscape in Indian Country
Series 3: Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Culture in the Americas
Series 4: New Mexico
Series 5: Workers at the White House
Historical note:
The Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998.
The 1992 Festival of American Folklife was produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies and cosponsored by the National Park Service.
For more information, see Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Introduction:
The Columbus Quincentenary that was commemorated in 1992 gave pause to reflect on the forces that over the preceding 500 years had shaped social life in the Americas. The Festival programs on New Mexico, Maroons, and American Indian musics illustrated important historical and ongoing processes through which communities establish cultural identities in complex and dynamic social circumstances.
"The Changing Soundscape in Indian Country," produced jointly with the National Museum of the American Indian, explored ways that Indian musicians and their communities creatively adapted elements from the musical traditions brought to this continent from Europe, Africa, and elsewhere. Although many of the forms of this Indian music are non-Indian in origin, the themes and performance styles clearly address Indian experience and aesthetic expectations. In their creative hands, as Festival visitors could experience first-hand, external musical influences became part of the self-definition of Indian identity and trenchant commentary on what had been happening in "Indian Country" over the past five centuries.
Nowhere is the connection between creativity and self-definition more clear than in the cultural identities of contemporary Maroon peoples, whose ancestors escaped plantation slavery in the Americas and founded independent societies. Faced with the task of constructing and defending their positions, Maroons creatively defined themselves from a variety of sources. While their political institutions, expressive arts, religions, and other social forms were predominantly African in origin, they drew from a broad range of African cultures, and from European and Native American cultures as well. Much of the aesthetic component of Maroon cultures - their vibrant traditions of verbal and visual arts, shared with Festival visitors on the National Mall - encourages the cohesiveness of their society and voices themes that embody common experience and interest.
The Spanish Conquest established the Western Hemisphere's European presence and its most widely spoken language. While the original conquerors' culture did not value the Native cultures it encountered, over the centuries segments of Hispanic and Native American and later English-speaking and other populations engaged one another, by necessity, in ways that gave rise to today's rich array of cultural identities. New Mexico's distinctive cultural landscape took shape in this way, represented by some peoples who sustain their cultural identities through centuries-old combinations of Indian and European forms of thought and action, and by others whose basis of identity lies in reaffirming the wisdom and relevance of ancestral ways. Festival visitors could witness how, in New Mexico, cultural identity reflects the changes that continue to be wrought from the varieties of these social encounters.
The 1992 Festival also marked the 200th anniversary of the White House. Not a king's palace but rather "the people's house," the White House is at once national symbol, executive office and conference center, ceremonial setting, museum, tourist attraction, and family residence. The Festival revealed the culture of White House workers, who supported this broad array of functions over a span of history shaped by remarkable events, people and social change. White House workers had made the White House work with their labor and dedication. The Festival's living exhibition presented some of the skills, experiences, and values through which they gave shape to their occupational identities, calling visitors' attention to an important human component of the 200 year institutional history.
The 1992 Festival took place during two five-day weeks (June 25-29 and July 2-5) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 10th Street and 13th Street, south of the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History (see site plan).
The 1992 Program Book included schedules and participant lists for each program; keynote essays provided background on the Festival and each of the four programs, with shorter essays spotlighting particular traditions and offering a forum for statements from Maroon spokespeople.
The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies.
Center for Folklife Programs & Cultural Studies
Richard Kurin, Director; Diana Parker, Festival Director; Anthony Seeger, Director, Smithsonian/Folkways Recordings; Peter Seitel, Senior Folklorist; Thomas Vennum, Jr., Senior Ethnomusicologist; Olivia Cadaval, Director, Quincentenary Projects; Richard Kennedy, Program Analyst; Vivian Chen, Diana Baird N'Diaye, Folklorists; Ken Bilby, Marjorie Hunt, Curators; Carla Borden, John Franklin, Program Managers; Arlene L. Reiniger, Program Specialist; Jeffrey Place, Archivist; Betty Belanus, Frank Proschan, Nicholas Spitzer, Research Associates
Folklife Advisory Council
Roger Abrahams, Jacinto Arias, Jane Beck, Pat Jasper, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Bernice Reagon, John Roberts, Carol Robertson, Gilbert Sprauve, John Tchen, Ricardo Trimillos, Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez
National Park Service
James M. Ridenour, Director; Robert G. Stanton, Regional Director, National Capital Region
Shared Stewardship of Collections:
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.
Forms Part Of:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1992 Festival of American Folklife forms part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival records .
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: Papers
1967 Festival of American Folklife records - [Ongoing]
Related Archival Materials note:
Within the Rinzler Archives, related materials may be found in various collections such as the Ralph Rinzler papers and recordings, the Lily Spandorf drawings, the Diana Davies photographs, the Robert Yellin photographs, and the Curatorial Research, Programs, and Projects collection. Additional relevant materials may also be found in the Smithsonian Institution Archives concerning the Division of Performing Arts (1966-1983), Folklife Program (1977-1980), Office of Folklife Programs (1980-1991), Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies (1991-1999), Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present), and collaborating Smithsonian units, as well as in the administrative papers of key figures such as the Secretary and respective deputies. Users are encouraged to consult relevant finding aids and to contact Archives staff for further information.
Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Typed notes dated November 6, 1963, excerpted from her notebook. Boyd describes her work for the Index of American Design in New Mexico, 1936-1937, where she was engaged in research, did renderings of folk art for the Index and especially the Portfolio of Spanish Colonial Design, and handled photographs by project photographers. She comments on the quality of work done by artists and photographers on the project.
Biographical / Historical:
E. Boyd (1903-1974) was an art administrator, painter, and writer from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Provenance:
Donated 1964 by E. Boyd.
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.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- New Mexico -- Santa Fe Search this
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Search this
Extent:
24 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Sound recordings
Interviews
Date:
1964 October 8
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Dr. E. Boyd conducted 1964 October 8, by Sylvia Loomis, for the Archives of American Art.
Boyd discusses her early art training in Philadelphia and Paris; involvement with the Index of American Design; work on the Federal Art Project; New Mexico folk artists; folk art exhibitions in Philadelphia; and the inception of Spanish Colonial department of New Mexico State Museum.
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. E. Boyd (1903-1974) was an art administrator, painter, and writer from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
General:
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 55 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 Mexico -- Santa Fe Search this
