Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
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:
Alma Thomas papers, circa 1894-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of the Alma Thomas paper is provided by The Walton Family Foundation and The Friends of Alma Thomas
Fashion drawings and the photographic work of Ming-Ju Sun while as an employee of Garfinckel's Department Store and as an independent artist.
Scope and Contents:
Collection consists of the original drawings and photographic work of Ming-Ju Sun as an employee of Garfinckel's Department Store and as an independent artist. It includes original artwork, newspaper advertisement tear sheets, photographic materials, fashion illustration coloring books, fashion catalogs, and other materials that provide information about the fashion industry and its advertising. The materials document women's fashions dating from 1972- to 2002. The collection is a rich resource for advertising art in the 20th century, fashion and costume design, and fashion history.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in two series.
Biographical / Historical:
Ming-Ju Sun arrived in the United States from China in the 1940s. In the early 1970s, she studied fine art, taking classes on the history of costume and textiles as well as Chinese and Japanese history at the University of Maryland. While earning her graduate degree she worked as a fashion illustrator for the Garfinckel's department store located in Washington, DC. Beginning in the 1980s, Sun worked as an independent artist creating hand-illustrated paper-doll, sticker, and coloring books for Dover Publishing. Her artwork has been shown in galleries in Washington, DC.
Source: Collecting and Discovering Ming-Ju Sun: Paper-doll Cues to a Family History by Rachel Endoso, December 10, 2014.
Related Materials:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Carolyn and Donald Grepke Paper Doll Collection (AC0752)
Joseph Magnin Poster Collection (AC0355)
Division of Costume Audiovisual Collection (AC0801)
Priscilla of Boston Collection (AC0557)
California Shop Records (AC0572)
National Cotton Council of America Photographs and Films (AC01177)
Warchaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Ming-Ju Sun in 2005.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Include materials created by Ming-Ju Sun as an employee of Garfinckel's Department Store. The series is arranged into six subseries: Subseries 1.1, Original Artwork, circa 1975-1983, undated; Subseries 1.2, Newspaper Advertisements, circa 1972-1983, undated; Subseries 1.3, Photocopies of Newspaper Advertisements, circa 1972-1983, undated; Subseries 1.4, Photographic Slides, undated; Subseries 1.5, Paper Doll Fashion Coloring Books, 2001-2002, undated; and Subseries 1.6, Newspaper Articles, circa 1977.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Ming-Ju Sun Garfinckel's Fashion Drawings, 1972-2002, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Consists of fashion catalogs from Garfinckel's Department Store. The 1976 catalog was the first catalog published by Garfinckel's. It features Garfinckel's staff members as models (including Ming-Ju Sun on page 31). As Art Director for Raleigh, corporate owner of Garfinckel's at the time, Sun hired Ruven Afanador, an established fashion photographer and artist, to photograph the 1988 catalog. Sun photographed the images in the 1989 catalog. Materials are arranged in chronological order.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Ming-Ju Sun Garfinckel's Fashion Drawings, 1972-2002, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
