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Physical Description:

metal, silver (overall material)

Measurements:

overall: 11 1/2 in x 10 in x 1/2 in; 29.21 cm x 25.4 cm x 1.27 cm

Object Name:

shield

Torah Shield

Place made:

Turkey

Date made:

1863-1864

Subject:

Judaism  Search this

ID Number:

CL.154990

Catalog number:

154990

Accession number:

28902

See more items in:

Home and Community Life: Religion

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ac-0346-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_315298

Associated Name:

Waksman, Selman A.  Search this

Maker:

Arthur H. Thomas Company  Search this

Physical Description:

glass, ?, transparent (flasks(12) material)

metal (overall material)

Object Name:

Shaking Machine

Place made:

United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Date made:

1940s

Subject:

Nobel Prize  Search this

Credit Line:

Gift of Dr. Selamn A. Waksman

ID Number:

MG.M-06619

Catalog number:

M-06619

Accession number:

198288

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Medicine

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a8-5cc6-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_730422

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2010-02-04T16:29:10.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

See more by:

smithsonianfolkways

Data Source:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_8IqOegVCNKI

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2015-10-23T19:20:00.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

See more by:

smithsonianfolkways

Data Source:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_o68BNz6fQOU

Published by:

Johnson Publishing Company, American, 1942 - 2019  Search this

Medium:

ink on paper

Dimensions:

H x W: 7 1/2 x 5 1/4 in. (19.1 x 13.3 cm)

Type:

pamphlets

Place printed:

Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America

Place depicted:

Senegal, West Africa, Africa

South Africa, Southern Africa, Africa

Colombia, Latin America, North and Central America

Date:

May 1975

Topic:

African American  Search this

Africa  Search this

Art  Search this

Black Press  Search this

International affairs  Search this

Judaism  Search this

Mass media  Search this

Poetry  Search this

Politics  Search this

Religion  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the family of Dr. Maurice Jackson and Laura Ginsburg

Object number:

2010.55.128

Restrictions & Rights:

© 1975 Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. Permission required for use.

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Documents and Published Materials-Published Works

Memorabilia and Ephemera-Political and Activist Ephemera

Movement:

Pan Africanism

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd58d6547f3-c1af-47db-9b76-edaabd2c8f41

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2010.55.128

Creator:

Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt, 1875-1942  Search this

Names:

American Ambulance Field Hospital (Juilly, France)  Search this

Greenwich House (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Whitney Museum of American Art  Search this

Whitney Studio Club  Search this

Cushing, Howard Gardiner, 1869-1916  Search this

De Meyer, Adolf, Baron, 1868-1949  Search this

Miller, Flora Whitney  Search this

Strelecki, Jean de, count  Search this

Watson, Forbes, 1880-1960  Search this

Whitney, Harry Payne, 1872-1930  Search this

Extent:

36.1 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Lithographs

Photographs

Interviews

Sketchbooks

Diaries

Scrapbooks

Blueprints

Sketches

Date:

1851-1975

bulk 1888-1942

Summary:

The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers measure approximately 36.1 linear feet and date from 1851 to 1975, with the bulk of the material dating from 1888 to 1942. The collection documents the life and work of the art patron and sculptor, especially her promotion of American art and artists, her philanthropy and war relief work, her commissions for memorial sculpture, and her creative writing. Papers include correspondence, journals, writings, project files, scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, printed material, two sound recordings, and miscellaneous personal papers.

Scope and Content Note:

The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers measure approximately 36.1 linear feet and date from 1851 to 1975, with the bulk of the material dating from 1888 to 1942. The collection documents the life and work of the art patron and sculptor, especially her promotion of American art and artists, her philanthropy and war relief work, her commissions for memorial sculpture, and her creative writing. Papers include correspondence, journals, writings, project files, scrapbooks, photographs, artwork, printed material, two sound recordings, and miscellaneous personal papers.

Material relating to more personal aspects of Whitney's life include school papers, a paper doll book dating from her childhood, financial material, interviews, awards and honorary degrees, address and telephone books, committee files, and other items. Correspondence consists of incoming and outgoing letters concerning both personal and professional matters, including her patronage of the arts and sponsorship of artists, her sculpture commissions and exhibitions, and her war relief work and other philantrophic activities. Also found are family correspondence and correspondence received by the Flora Whitney Miller and the Whitney Museum of American Art after Whitney's death. Journals include personal ones that she kept periodically from the time she was a child to near the end of her life, in which she recorded her travels, her impressions of people, her experiences with friends, and her thoughts on art, among other topics; and social ones, in which she recorded dinners and dances attended, and people invited to different social gatherings, and in which she collected invitations received and accepted.

Scattered files can be found that relate to the Whitney Studio Club and the Whitney Museum of American Art, consisting of notebooks, catalogs, a financial report, and other material. Files relating to Whitney's own sculpture projects are more extensive and consist of correspondence, contracts, printed material, notes, financial material for proposed and completed commissions for fountains, memorials, and monuments. The Whitney Museum of American Art, rather than Whitney herself, seems to have kept these files. Files relating to Whitney's philanthropic activities span from the time just before to just after the First World War and consist of correspondence, minutes, reports, and printed material stemming from her contributions to charities and war relief organizations, her sponsorship of the war hospital in Juilly, France, and her support of the Greenwich House Social Settlement.

Whitney's writings include extensive drafts, and handwritten and typed manuscripts and copies of novels, plays, and stories, as well as some autobiographical and early writings, notes and writings on art, and clippings of published writings, documenting her principle means of creative expression towards the end of her life. Also found are some writings by others. Scrapbooks consist of clippings, photographs, letters and other material, compiled by Whitney, Flora Whitney Miller, and possibly others, documenting Whitney's public life, her sculpture commissions and exhibitions, exhibitions at the Whitney Studio, the war hospital in Juilly, France, the death of Harry Payne Whitney in 1930, and the sickness and death of Whitney in 1942.

Photographs include ones of the Whitney and Vanderbilt families, ones of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (including portraits taken by Baron Adolf de Meyer and Count Jean de Strelecki), ones of various Vanderbilt and Whitney residences and of Whitney's studios, ones of Whitney's sculpture exhibitions as well as exhibitions at her studio, and ones of her sculptures, as well as some miscellaneous and unidentified ones. Artwork consists of sketchbooks and sketches by Whitney (including sketches for sculptures) and artwork by others (including a sketchbook of Howard Cushing's containing a sketch of her and albums of World War I lithographs) collected by Whitney. Also found amongst the collection are printed material (clippings, exhibition catalogs, programs, and publications) and blueprints (including drawings for Whitney's studio on MacDougal Alley and various of her sculptures).

Arrangement:

The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers are arranged into twelve series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Miscellaneous Personal Papers, 1888-1947, 1975 (Boxes 1-3, 33-34, OV 42; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1889-1949, 1959 (Boxes 3-9; 6 linear feet)

Series 3: Journals, circa 1886-1939 (Boxes 9-12, 33; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 4: Whitney Studio Club and Whitney Museum of American Art Files, 1921-1943 (Box 12; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Sculpture Files, 1900-1960 (bulk 1909-1942) (Boxes 12-15; 3 linear feet)

Series 6: Philanthropy Files, 1902-1923 (bulk 1915-1920) (Boxes 15-17; 2 linear feet)

Series 7: Writings, 1889-1942, 1974 (Boxes 17-26; 10 linear feet)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1893-1942 (Boxes 26-27, 33, 35; 1.5 linear feet)

Series 9: Printed Material, 1859-1942 (Boxes 27-28, 36; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 10: Photographs, 1862-1942 (Boxes 28-32, 36-41, OV 43-51; 6.4 linear feet)

Series 11: Artwork, 1871-1930s (Boxes 32, 41, OV 52-54; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 12: Blueprints, 1913-1945 (OV 55; 0.1 linear feet)

Biographical/Historical note:

New York art patron and sculptor, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875-1942), was the eldest daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt, and founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Whitney was born January 9, 1875 in New York City, the. She was educated by private tutors and attended Brearley School in New York. From the time she was a young girl, she kept journals of her travels and impressions of the people she met, and engaged in creative pursuits such as sketching and writing stories. In 1896, she was married to Harry Payne Whitney. They had three children, Flora, Cornelius, and Barbara.

In 1900, Whitney began to study sculpture under Hendrik Christian Anderson, and then under James Fraser. Later, she studied with Andrew O'Connor in Paris. From the time she started studying sculpture, her interest in art grew, as did her particular concern for American art and artists. In 1907, she organized an art exhibition at the Colony Club, which included several contemporary American paintings. She also opened a studio on MacDougal Alley, which became known as the Whitney Studio and was a place where shows and prize competitions were held. (She also had other studios in Westbury, Long Island and Paris, France.) Over the years, her patronage of art included buying work, commissioning it, sponsoring it, exhibiting it, and financially supporting artists in America and abroad. From 1911 on, she was aided in her work by Juliana Force, who started out as Whitney's secretary, was responsible for art exhibitions at the Whitney Studio, and became the first director of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The first recognition Whitney received for her sculpture came in 1908 when a project on which she had collaborated (with Grosvenor Atterbury and Hugo Ballin) won a prize for best design from the Architectural League of New York. The following year she received a commission to do a fountain sculpture for the Pan-American Building in Washington, D. C. She went on to do numerous other commissioned works over the next several decades, including: a fountain for the New Arlington Hotel in Washington D.C. (the design of which was reproduced in various sizes and materials, one cast being submitted to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition where it won a bronze medal and a later cast being installed on the campus of McGill University, Montreal, Canada in 1930); the Titanic Memorial (designed in 1913 and erected in 1930); the Buffalo Bill Memorial (1924) in Cody, Wyoming; the Columbus Memorial (1929) in Port of Palos, Spain; the Peter Stuyvesant statue in Stuyvesant Square (1939); and The Spirit of Flight (1939) for the New York World's Fair. In 1916, she had her first one-man show at the Whitney Studio, another at the Newport Art Association, and a retrospective at the San Francisco Art Association Palace of Fine Arts. A traveling exhibition in the Midwest followed in 1918.

During the First World War, Whitney was involved with numerous war relief activities, most notably establishing and supporting a hospital in Juilly, France. She made several trips to France during the war, keeping a journal and eventually publishing a piece on the hospital in several newspapers. Her sculpture during this period was largely focused on war themes. In 1919, she exhibited some of these works at the Whitney Studio in a show called "Impressions of War." In the years after the war, she was also commissioned to do several war memorials, including the Washington Heights War Memorial (1922) and the St. Nazaire Memorial (1926) commemmorating the landing of the American Expeditionary Force in France in 1917.

In 1918, Whitney opened the Whitney Studio Club, which served as pioneering organization for American art, putting on exhibition programs and offering social space and recreational amenities to its members (one point numbering over four hundred artists living in New York). She planned an "Overseas Exhibition" of American art, which traveled to Paris and other European cities in 1920-1921, and had her own shows in Paris and London in 1921. In 1928, the Whitney Studio Club was transformed into an art gallery, known as the Whitney Studio Galleries and directed by Juliana Force, which eventually became the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1931.

Whitney pursued creative writing throughout her life, but beginning in the 1930s writing became her principle means of creative expression. Over the years, she produced numerous manuscripts for stories, novels, and play. One novel, Walking the Dusk, was published in 1932 under the pseudonym L. J. Webb. Beginning in 1940, Whitney took a "Professional Writing" course at Columbia University with Helen Hull, which resulted in the production of numerous short stories. In 1941, she collaborated with Ronald Bodley to adapt one of her stories as a play and attempted to get it produced, although unsuccessfully.

In 1934, Whitney was involved in a custody battle for her niece, Gloria Vanderbilt (daughter of her late brother, Reginald Vanderbilt and his wife, Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt). In an agreement reached by the court, custody was awarded to Whitney and visitation rights to Gloria's mother. Litigation continued in the ensuing years.

In 1935, Whitney established the World's Fair Five Organization, with Juliana Force and four architects, to work on preparing a plan for the site of the 1939 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadow, although the fair's own Board of Design ended up coming up with its own plan.

Whitney continued her work in sculpture, writing, art patronage, and philanthropy throughout the remaining years of her life. She died on April 18, 1942.

Related Archival Materials note:

Related material found in the Archives includes Research Material on Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney compiled by Flora Miller Irving and the Whitney Museum of American Art artists' files and records, available on microfilm only (originals are located in the Whitney Museum of American Art). Also found in the Archives of American Art's Miscellaneous Exhibition Catalog Collection are a bundle of Whitney Studio Club and Mrs. H. P. Whitney's Studio catalogs and announcements.

Provenance:

The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers were donated in 1981 and 1991 by Whitney's granddaughter, Flora Miller Irving.

Restrictions:

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 access copy requires advance notice. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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:

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Philanthropists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art patrons -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

World War, 1914-1918  Search this

Genre/Form:

Lithographs

Photographs

Interviews

Sketchbooks

Diaries

Scrapbooks

Blueprints

Sketches

Citation:

Whitney Museum of American Art, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Papers, 1851-1975 (bulk 1888-1942). Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Identifier:

AAA.whitgert

See more items in:

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9db113d72-cc31-4974-85fe-3e99c53dd62e

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-whitgert

Creator:

Perls Galleries  Search this

Names:

Art Institute of Chicago  Search this

Fujikawa Gallery  Search this

Galerie Maeght  Search this

James Corcoran Gallery  Search this

Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

National Gallery of Art (U.S.)  Search this

Pierre Matisse Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Whitney Museum of American Art  Search this

Austin, Darrel, 1907-  Search this

Cafritz, Gwendolyn  Search this

Cafritz, Morris, 1886?-1964  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Canaday, John, 1907-1985  Search this

De Menil, Adelaide  Search this

Dudensing, F. Valentine, 1892-1967  Search this

Ford, Henry, 1917-1987  Search this

Garbo, Greta, 1905-1990  Search this

Hitchcock, Alfred, 1899-  Search this

Luce, Claire  Search this

Luce, Henry, III, 1925-2005  Search this

Miró, Joan, 1893-  Search this

Perls, Klaus  Search this

Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this

Priebe, Karl J., 1914-1976  Search this

Streisand, Barbra  Search this

Extent:

79.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Illustrated letters

Drawings

Photographs

Date:

1937-1997

Summary:

The records of the Perls Galleries measure 79.6 linear feet and date from 1937 to 1997. Founded by Klaus Perls in 1937 and operating until 1997, the gallery dealt primarily in modern French art and the artwork of Alexander Calder. Found within the records are extensive correspondence (circa 44 linear feet) with artists, dealers, galleries, museums, and collectors; photographs and negatives of inventory and other artwork; exhibition files, scattered financial records; and exhibition catalogs and clippings.

Scope and Content Note:

The records of the Perls Galleries measure 79.6 linear feet and date from 1937 to 1997. Founded by Klaus Perls in 1937 and operating until 1997, the gallery dealt primarily in modern French art and the artwork of Alexander Calder. Found within the records are extensive correspondence (circa 44 linear feet) with artists, dealers, galleries, museums, and collectors; photographs and negatives of inventory and other artwork; exhibition files, scattered financial records; and exhibition catalogs and clippings.

Correspondence primarily discusses sales (and includes invoices), loans, and exhibitions, as well as more routine activities such as gallery maintenance, the printing of exhibition catalogs and letterhead, and the shipment, framing, or restoration of artwork. Many letters enclose photographs, negatives, or slides of artwork, and clippings. A few letters contain oversize architectural or engineering drawings, and a small handful of letters are illustrated.

Correspondents include artists such as Darrell Austin, Joan Mir, Pablo Picasso, and Karl Priebe; galleries such as the Corcoran Gallery, Fujikawa Galleries, Galerie Maeght, and the Pierre Matisse Gallery; museums such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of Modern Art; collectors such as Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz, Adelaide de Mnil, Valentine Dudensing, and Henry Ford, II; and celebrity clients such as Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, Henry and Clare Booth Luce, and Barbra Streisand.

The records contain nearly thirty-two linear feet of photographs and negatives. Photographs are of artists and the inventory of the gallery's artwork. Additional photographs represent artwork either by artists not represented by the gallery or not included in the gallery's inventory. Most of the photographs are black and white. Over fifteen linear feet of negatives are of gallery stock. Photographs are also found in the exhibition files.

There is a relatively small amount of records relating to exhibitions, loans, and sales. Found are exhibition lists, schedules, invitations and announcements, photographs of exhibition installations, press releases, and records of loans to other institutions and galleries. Sales records include artist lists, inventory lists, invoices, pick up and delivery receipts, and price lists.

Printed materials include a large number of clippings and an incomplete run of catalogs from Perls Galleries exhibitions between 1939 and 1980.

The collection also includes ten original pencil drawings from John Canaday's series entitled My Beautiful Girls and a reproduction of eight drawings from the same series

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 7 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Correspondence, 1937-1995 (Boxes 1-44, OV 81-83; 43.6 linear feet)

Series 2: Negatives, circa 1937-1995 (Boxes 44-59; 15.7 linear feet)

Series 3: Photographs, circa 1937-1995 (Boxes 60-75, OV 84; 16.1 linear feet)

Series 4: Exhibition, Loan, and Sales Records, 1937-1995 (Boxes 76-78; 2.1 linear feet)

Series 5: Clippings Files, 1943-1989 (Box 78; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 6: Exhibition Catalogs, 1939-1980 (Boxes 78-79; 1.4 linear feet)

Series 7: Drawings by John Canaday, circa 1967-1972 (Box 80; 0.3 linear feet)

Historical Note:

Klaus Perls (b. 1912, d. 2008) formally opened Perls Galleries in New York in 1937, and ran it with his wife Amelia until its closing in 1997. The gallery dealt in contemporary French artists of the School of Paris, such as Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, but also acted as the primary representative of Alexander Calder beginning in 1954. In the 1970s Mr. Perls developed an interest in art from Benin and built an important collection of African sculpture, some of which was later donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Amelia Perls died in 2002, and Klaus Perls died in 2008.

Klaus Perls was born in 1912 in Berlin in a house Mies van der Rohe designed for his parents, who owned an art gallery specializing in Impressionists, post-Impressionists, Old Master paintings, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and African sculpture. Perls studied Art History in Hamburg and Munich but completed his PhD in Basel, Switzerland in 1933 after the Nazi government stopped awarding degrees to Jews. His dissertation covered the complete works of 15th-century French painter Jean Fouquet.

Before moving to New York in 1935, Perls worked for his mother, Kaethe Perls, in her Paris gallery that she opened in 1932 after splitting up with Klaus' father Hugo. He spent his first two years in New York selling paintings through other art dealers, primarily paintings shipped or recommended to him by his mother from Paris that were not selling well in the Depression-era French art market. These were primarily the work of Maurice Utrillo, Marie Laurencin, Raoul Dufy and Maurice de Vlaminck. In 1937 he formally established his own gallery, the Perls Galleries, on East 58th Street and continued to specialize in French and European contemporary art. Around the same time, his older brother Frank opened a gallery in Beverly Hills, California.

Klaus Perls was familiar with other New York dealers specializing in modern European art such as Valentine Dudensing and Pierre Matisse, but he tried to distinguish himself by catering to young collectors. When the war restricted the international art trade and his mother was forced to flee France during the Occupation, Perls began dealing in contemporary American artists such as Darrel Austin and Karl Priebe.

Perls married Amelia Blumenthal, fondly known as "Dolly," in 1940, and she became his business partner.

After the war, the international art market exploded, and the Perls made frequent buying trips to Europe. The Perls Galleries continued to sell primarily contemporary French art and gained an early reputation as a staunch defender of modern art by European artists such as Picasso, Modigliani, Braque, Lger, Soutine and Pascin. Perls prepared catalogues raisonns on Soutine and Pascin.

Klaus Perls was one of the founding members of the Art Dealer's Association, whose initial mission was to clean up the reputation of the art market following a series scandals involving fake antiquities that flourished in the 1960's. Perls was the Association's second president, after Pierre Matisse.

In 1954 Perls Galleries moved to 1016 Madison Avenue, a building that served as both gallery and home for the Perls. The same year Perls became Alexander Calder's dealer after the death of Calder's previous dealer, Curt Valentin. Perls explained his inclusion of Calder, a rare American among his stable of European artists, by saying that Calder's roots lay in France and that Calder bridged Europe and America the way Perls felt he did himself. In 1970, Calder designed the terrazzo sidewalk in front of the gallery and often resided in the Perls' home during long visits to New York City. Perls Galleries later handled Calder's estate and functioned as a quasi-archives of Calder's works, holding more than 7,000 negatives depicting Calder's art and preparing a Calder catalogue raisonn.

Klaus was named as a third-party defendant in the 1969 World War II looted art case Menzel v. List. When Erna Menzel sued Albert List for ownership of a Chagall painting confiscated from Menzel by the Nazis, List in turn sued Perls, who had sold him the painting in 1955, having purchased it himself from a Paris art dealer. The court awarded the Chagall painting to Menzel and ordered Perls to pay List the appreciated value of the painting.

Perls began building an important collection of African artwork and fell in love with art from Benin in the 1970's. In 1991 he donated more than 150 pieces of royal art from Benin to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Perls closed their gallery in 1997; Amelia Perls died in 2002, and Klaus Perls died in 2008.

Related Material:

Among the resources relating to the Perls Galleries in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Klaus Perls done by Mona Hadler on January 19, 1993.

Provenance:

The records were donated in 1997 by Douglas Mayhew, associate and legal representive of Klaus G. and Amelia B. Perls.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers 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.

Topic:

Art, Modern  Search this

Function:

Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State)

Genre/Form:

Illustrated letters

Drawings

Photographs

Citation:

Perls Galleries records, 1937-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.perlgall

See more items in:

Perls Galleries records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9adaab16b-4838-4b64-9ff6-0cf04fa2f3fa

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-perlgall

Physical Description:

pewter (overall material)

Measurements:

overall: 356 mm; x 14 in

Object Name:

Plate

plate

Place made:

Germany

Place used:

United States: Maryland, Baltimore

Date made:

18th century

Subject:

Judaism  Search this

Credit Line:

Gift of Miss L. Lieberman

ID Number:

CL.326825

Accession number:

83695

Catalog number:

326825

See more items in:

Home and Community Life: Religion

Many Voices, One Nation

Exhibition:

Many Voices, One Nation

Exhibition Location:

National Museum of American History

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b2-cd0d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_660491

Distributed by:

NAACP Youth Council, American, founded 1936  Search this

United Christian Youth Movement of North America, American, founded 1934  Search this

B'nai B'rith International, American, founded 1843  Search this

Subject of:

Dr. Theodore R. M. Howard, American, 1908 - 1976  Search this

National Medical Association, American, founded 1895  Search this

Regional Council of Negro Leadership, American, 1951 - 1962  Search this

Medium:

ink on paper (fiber product)

Dimensions:

H x W: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (21.6 x 14 cm)

Type:

handbills

Place used:

Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America

Place depicted:

Mississippi, United States, North and Central America

Date:

February 15, 1956

Topic:

African American  Search this

American South  Search this

Children  Search this

Christianity  Search this

Civil Rights  Search this

Interfaith communities  Search this

Judaism  Search this

Medicine  Search this

Museums  Search this

Political organizations  Search this

Religion  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number:

2012.46.34.5

Restrictions & Rights:

No known copyright restrictions

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Memorabilia and Ephemera-Advertisements

Movement:

Civil Rights Movement

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5c705ba71-d956-4942-baa9-387058d96e62

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2012.46.34.5

Created by:

Unidentified  Search this

Owned by:

Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation, American, founded 1984  Search this

Medium:

wood and ink on parchment and sinew with alloy steel, brass, metal, paper and plastic

Dimensions:

H x W x D: 37 11/16 × 14 3/4 × 6 11/16 in. (95.7 × 37.5 × 17 cm)

Type:

scrolls (information artifacts)

Place used:

Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America

Place made:

Poland, Europe

Date:

ca. 1850

Topic:

African American  Search this

Black Hebraic religions  Search this

Identity  Search this

Judaism  Search this

Religion  Search this

Worship services  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture; Gift of Rabbi Capers Funnye and the Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation

Object number:

2011.88.1

Restrictions & Rights:

No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Religious and Sacred Objects

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd57e14ec87-577a-4082-9699-de0bf15546d9

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2011.88.1

Photograph by:

Devin Allen, American, born 1989  Search this

Subject of:

Unidentified Woman or Women  Search this

Medium:

digital

Dimensions:

H x W: 4320 pixels × 6480 pixels

File size: 160.25 MB

Type:

portraits

digital images

digital media - born digital

Place captured:

Baltimore, Maryland, United States, North and Central America

Date:

December 19, 2015

Topic:

African American  Search this

Activism  Search this

Communities  Search this

Justice  Search this

Local and regional  Search this

Oratory  Search this

Photography  Search this

Race relations  Search this

Religion  Search this

Resistance  Search this

U.S. History, 2001-  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Devin Allen

Object number:

2016.98.29

Restrictions & Rights:

© Devin Allen

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Media Arts-Photography

Movement:

Black Lives Matter

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5cab8af1c-6efc-46f9-b77e-6124b42f1483

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2016.98.29

Creator:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2022-04-22T20:33:08.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Art, Asian  Search this

See more by:

FreerSackler

Data Source:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

YouTube Channel:

FreerSackler

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_-Kwz0RWLgIo

Artist:

Charles Sprague Pearce, born Boston, MA 1851-died Paris, France 1914  Search this

Medium:

oil on canvas

Dimensions:

38 1/2 x 51 1/2 in. (97.8 x 130.8 cm.)

Type:

Painting

Date:

1877

Topic:

Figure group  Search this

Figure group  Search this

State of being\emotion\sorrow  Search this

History\ancient\Egypt  Search this

Credit Line:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase

Object number:

1985.28

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection

Department:

Painting and Sculpture

On View:

Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2nd Floor, East Wing

Data Source:

Smithsonian American Art Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7b2462ae7-b2b7-4b24-9cc3-1e7b1356cee5

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:saam_1985.28

Printed by:

Unidentified  Search this

Subject of:

Fannie Ezelle Hill, American, 1904 - 2006  Search this

Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church, American, founded 1905  Search this

Written by:

Eddie Faye Gates, American, 1934 - 2021  Search this

Owned by:

Eddie Faye Gates, American, 1934 - 2021  Search this

Medium:

digital

Dimensions:

File size (overall): 944.32 MB

Type:

digital images

programs

digital media - born analog

Place collected:

Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States, North and Central America

Date:

February 13, 2006

Topic:

African American  Search this

Activism  Search this

African Methodist Episcopal  Search this

American South  Search this

American West  Search this

Communities  Search this

Families  Search this

Funeral customs and rites  Search this

Methodist  Search this

Religion  Search this

The Black Church  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Eddie Faye Gates, Tulsa OK, author, historian, community activist

Object number:

2014.117.72

Restrictions & Rights:

No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Collection title:

Eddie Faye Gates Collection, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Classification:

Memorabilia and Ephemera

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd51e8f0943-6b95-4b1a-a1ec-a2ca55a32cf5

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2014.117.72

Measurements:

overall: 1 1/2 in; x 3.81 cm

Object Name:

Button

Referenced:

Israel

Subject:

Judaism  Search this

Credit Line:

Vicki L. Thorn

ID Number:

1986.0666.080

Accession number:

1986.0666

Catalog number:

1986.0666.080

See more items in:

Political and Military History: Political History

Government, Politics, and Reform

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a3-7f12-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_537980

Editor:

Manalansan, Martin F. 1960-  Search this

Hom, Alice Y. 1967-  Search this

Fajardo, Kale Bantigue  Search this

Writer of preface:

Eng, David L. 1967-  Search this

Physical description:

1 online resource (xiii, 437 pages) illustrations, maps

Type:

Electronic resources

Electronic books

Place:

North America

Amérique du Nord

Date:

2021

Topic:

Asian American gays--Social conditions  Search this

Asian American lesbians--Social conditions  Search this

Asian American bisexuals--Social conditions  Search this

Gays--Identity  Search this

Lesbians--Identity  Search this

Transgender people--Identity  Search this

Bisexuals--Identity  Search this

Queer theory  Search this

Homosexuels américains d'origine asiatique--Conditions sociales  Search this

Lesbiennes américaines d'origine asiatique--Conditions sociales  Search this

Homosexuels--Identité  Search this

Lesbiennes--Identité  Search this

Transgenres--Identité  Search this

Théorie queer  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_1156697

Creator:

Bergman, Harry M.  Search this

Kahn family  Search this

Kahn, Kimberly  Search this

Names:

Chrysler Building (New York, N.Y.) -- Pictorial works  Search this

Godwin Construction Company.  Search this

Bergman family  Search this

Extent:

3 Cubic feet (5 document boxes

)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Home movies

Motion pictures (visual works)

Travelogs

Videotapes

Place:

New York (N.Y.)

Date:

1926-1957

Summary:

A collection of films shot by Harry B. Bergman documenting Bergman's New York City, New York construction firm Godwin Construction Company. Films document construction of landmark buildings such as The Chrysler Building, New York Port Authority and others. Films also document company "beefsteaks", and Bergman's numerous vacations and pursuits.

Scope and Contents:

The Kahn Family Films document the activities of the Godwin Construction Co. of New York City from 1928-1934. The films also document more than twenty-five years of the Bergman and Kahn family life and travel. The films are silent, 16mm black and white reversal and Kodachrome. Unless otherwise noted, films were arranged in the Archives Center on compilation reels by subject. Some images are deteriorated because of age and film conditions, most noticeably on 722.39. A detailed description of each reel is included under each film title. The collection is divided into five series and arranged in chronological order; Series 1, Godwin Construction Company, 1927-1934; documents the digging, structural support and daily site activities at various Godwin construction jobs around New York City. In the footage taken at the Chrysler Building site, Bergman documented many of the workers who worked on the job as well as the secretaries in the main offices with filmed portrait shots. While the films are primarily focused on documenting construction practices and procedures at the sites, there is also footage of workmen and machinery. The films also document the company=s annual ABeefsteak@ that eventually moved from a banquet hall to one of the islands in Jamaica Bay.

Series 2, Rockaway Park Yacht Club, 1927-1929; documents many of Bergman's yachting activities on the yacht Thora and events at the Rockaway Park Yacht Club (RPYC) from family related activities to some of the Godwin Company's Beefsteaks.

Series 3, Travel and Leisure, 1926-1957, undated; documents many of the Bergman and Kahn family trips to various locations in the United States and Europe. The 1927 trip to Canada and the American West has footage of Hollywood, then just on the verge of adding sound to motion pictures. The 1929 trip to Europe occurred not only during the first year of the Great Depression but is a wonderful travelogue of Europe in the years before WWII. On reel 722.27 there is an interesting shot of a poster, "Ethel et Julius Rosenberg Que Les Assassins, Soient Maudits A Jamais" [trans: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg let the assassins be cursed/condemned forever.] showing a young boy throwing mud on the poster - presumably in protest.

Series 4, Family and Home Life, 1928-1958; Titles of the footage are taken directly from the original film containers. There is footage of many family members and gatherings. There is footage shot at Bergman's onetime home at 120-18 Newport Ave., Rockaway Park, Long Island. There is footage of tennis great Bill Tilden giving a small exhibition match in Florida in 1946 on 722.25.

Series 5, Papers, 1927-1958; are selections of the original paper containers for some of the films with the original notes and identifications written on them. This series also contains a copy of Bergman's 1907 thesis and related papers and architectural drawings.

Arrangement:

5 series.

Biographical / Historical:

Harry Montefiore Bergman (1885-1971) was born on August 3, 1885 in Elmira, New York. He graduated from college in 1907 with a degree in Applied Science from Columbia University's School of Engineering. After graduation, he went to work for Godwin Construction Co. He specialized in structural foundations and was an authority on the soil and bedrock of Manhattan Island, New York. Beginning his employment as a superintendent, he rose to the position of Secretary and General Superintendent of Civil Engineering in June, 1927. In January 1932, Bergman was elevated to Vice-President and finally attained the presidency of the company in 1957. Bergman retired from the company in 1967. He was a member of the Association of American Society of Civil Engineers.

Godwin Construction Company was founded by Philander Hanford Godwin (1877-1936) in the early 20th century. Godwin was one of the pre-eminent civil engineering firms in New York City primarily involved in constructing foundations for large public building projects. The company was responsible for digging and construction of the foundations for the Chrysler Building, 176th St. Telephone Building, the old New York Port Authority Truck Terminal, the old Madison Square Garden at 8th Ave. and 50th St., the Hudson River Bridge, New York Hospital, Knickerbocker Village and others. Godwin Construction Co. was located in New York City, through the years at various locations: by 1915 at 251 4th Ave., by 1932 at 370 Lexington Ave., Rm. 1201 and later at 130 East 44th St.

Bergman, a lifelong bachelor, developed a love of motion picture photography and pursued this hobby with great enthusiasm. He photographed not only Godwin's construction work and work sites at various foundation projects throughout New York City in the 1920s and 1930s but filmed the company picnics, called "Beefsteaks", family leisure time activities and vacations as well. Bergman was also an avid yachtsman and filmed many hours of footage while sailing on Samuel Lauterbach's yachtThora , (the Thora may also have been owned in a partnership between Lauterbach and Bergman) and at the Rockaway Park Yacht Club (RPYC) in Rockaway Park, New York. Bergman, along with Lauterbach, was one of the founders of the RPYC and it was reportedly founded because Jews were not allowed membership in any of the "exclusive" yacht clubs surrounding Manhattan. The yacht club was destroyed during the hurricane of 1938. Many films feature Ruth Perl who was Bergman's favorite niece. They took numerous trips to California, Canada, and Europe. Perl seems to also have taken an interest in motion picture photography as well, often operating the camera herself. Perl married Irving Kahn and had three sons, Donald Kahn, Alan R. Kahn and Thomas G. Kahn, who figure prominently in the later films. Bergman was a lifelong resident of New York. As of 1916, his address was 615 W. 143rd St., New York, NY. For a time he lived at 120-18 Newport Ave. in Rockaway Park, NY. In 1951 he bought a home at 143-17 Cronston Avenue in Belle Harbor. At the end of his life, Bergman is noted as living at 1 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. Bergman died on August 3, 1971. At the time of his death Bergman was staying at the Florence Nightingale Nursing Home, 175 East 96th St. in New York, New York.

Bergman's employer and the founder of Godwin Construction Co., Philander H. Godwin, was born on September 30, 1877 in New York City, NY. Godwin graduated from Columbia University's School of Engineering with a degree in Applied Science in 1899. After graduation, he married Carrie L. Pye and they had two children. Godwin founded the Godwin Construction Co. in the early 20th century and was the company's president until his death in 1936. As of 1916, his residence address was Cedar and Arch Avenues in Larchmont, NY and by the time of his death he was living at 26 Willow Avenue in Larchmont. He was a member of the Larchmont Yacht Club and perhaps had a great influence on Bergman's taking up the sport. He was an active member of St. John's Episcopal Church, Larchmont and a member of the Union League. Godwin died on March 27, 1936 in Larchmont.

Sources: Records of Columbia University, New York, New York "City Sells 2 Plots for Factory Sites", New York Times, June 6th, 1951, pg. 64. Newspaper Obituary of Harry N. Bergman, Archives Center Control File Conversation and correspondence with Alan and Kimberly Kahn My Life: Edward du Moulin

Provenance:

Donated to the National Museum of American History, Archives Center in 2000 by Kimberly R. Kahn, great-great niece of Harry M. Bergman.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but the original and master (preservation) films are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Rights:

The National Museum of American History may not authorize publication, reproduction, or distribution by a commercial, for-profit publisher, distributor, media producer, or film maker without the express permission of the Donors.

The term of the requirement for written authorization prior to third party, for-profit, commercial use will last 50 (fifty) years unless agreed to in writing by both the National Museum of American History and the Donors.

Topic:

Travel photography  Search this

Travelogues (Motion pictures)  Search this

Family -- 20th century  Search this

Travel -- Europe  Search this

Construction  Search this

Architecture -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Amateur films  Search this

Genre/Form:

Home movies

Motion pictures (visual works)

Travelogs

Videotapes

Citation:

Kahn Family Film Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Generous support for this collection has come from the National Film Preservation Foundation and Mr. Alan R. Kahn.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0722

See more items in:

Kahn Family Film Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep85e4873d5-0bf6-43c5-a386-a71df5bcd106

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0722

Photograph by:

Tommy Oliver, American, born 1984  Search this

Subject of:

Unidentified Man or Men  Search this

Unidentified Woman or Women  Search this

George Perry Floyd Jr., American, 1973 - 2020  Search this

Jackie Lacey, American, born 1957  Search this

Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles, American, founded 2013  Search this

Medium:

digital

Dimensions:

H x W: 4480 pixels × 6720 pixels

File size: 172.3 MB

Type:

digital images

digital media - born digital

Place captured:

Downtown LA, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America

Date:

June 3, 2020

Topic:

African American  Search this

Activism  Search this

Justice  Search this

Photography  Search this

Police brutality  Search this

Race relations  Search this

Resistance  Search this

U.S. History, 2001-  Search this

Urban life  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Tommy and Codie Oliver

Object number:

2021.31.20

Restrictions & Rights:

© Tommy Oliver

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Media Arts-Photography

Movement:

Black Lives Matter

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5bf6ad456-0357-4329-a282-f25b86337b99

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2021.31.20

Creator:

McCoy, Esther  Search this

Names:

Historic American Buildings Survey  Search this

Society of Architectural Historians  Search this

University of California, Los Angeles. School of Architecture and Urban Planning  Search this

Ain, Gregory, 1908-1988  Search this

Barragán, Luis, 1902-  Search this

Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012  Search this

Davidson, Julius Ralph, b. 1889  Search this

Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945  Search this

Ellwood, Craig  Search this

Gill, Irving, 1870-1936  Search this

Grotz, Dorothy  Search this

Hollein, Hans, 1934-2014  Search this

Jones, A. Quincy (Archie Quincy), 1913-1979  Search this

Maybeck, Bernard R.  Search this

Neutra, Richard Joseph, 1892-1970  Search this

O'Gorman, Juan, 1905-  Search this

Rand, Marvin  Search this

Schindler, R. M. (Rudolph M.), 1887-1953  Search this

Shulman, Julius  Search this

Soriano, Rafael, 1920-  Search this

Watanabe, Makoto  Search this

Worlidge, T. (Thomas), 1700-1766  Search this

Extent:

44 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Diaries

Etchings

Photographs

Sound recordings

Interviews

Video recordings

Slides (photographs)

Transcripts

Drawings

Memoirs

Date:

circa 1876-1990

bulk 1938-1989

Summary:

The papers of Southern California architectural historian, critic, and writer Esther McCoy measure 44.0 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1990 (bulk 1938-1989). McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. The collection documents McCoy's career, as well as her family and personal life through biographical material, extensive correspondence, personal and professional writings, project files, Southern California architects' files, clippings and other printed material, a large collection of photographs and slides, and taped interviews of Southern California modern architects.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of Southern California architectural historian, critic, and writer Esther McCoy measure 44.0 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1990 (bulk 1938-1989). McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. The collection documents McCoy's career, as well as her family and personal life through biographical material, extensive correspondence, personal and professional writings, project files, Southern California architects' files, clippings and other printed material, a large collection of photographs and slides, and taped interviews of Southern California modern architects.

Biographical and family material consists of awards, resumes, identification documents, and other documentation of McCoy's personal life. Included are a transcript of a 1984 interview of McCoy by Makoto Watanabe and material relating to her friend, Theodore Dreiser.

Correspondence focuses on her personal relationships with family, friends, and lovers, and general correspondence relating primarily to her work as a writer. McCoy's personal correspondence is valuable to researchers who are interested in her personal life, her struggles as a young writer, and the way in which her family, friends, lovers, mentors, and colleagues helped to shape her work and career. As documented in this correspondence, her life offers a glimpse into twentieth-century American social and political history, especially the radical leftist movements of the 1920s and 1930s. Researchers interested in the roots of feminism in the United States should also find these papers useful in documenting the life of a creative and productive woman who was successful in a field then almost entirely dominated by men. Correspondents of note include her husband Berkeley Tobey, lovers Geoffrey Eaton and Albert Robert, writers Ray Bradbury and Theodore Dreiser, and artists and architects, such as Dorothy Grotz, Craig Ellwood, A. Quincy Jones, Hans Hollein, and J. R. Davidson. General correspondence is primarily with researchers, professors, architects, publishers, and professional organizations.

Personal writings include McCoy's diaries, notebooks, and memoirs, and writings by others including friends, lovers, and colleagues. Also included are drafts of McCoy's fictional works, both published and unpublished, including short stories, teleplays, and novels.

The collection contains in-depth documentation of McCoy's pioneering study of the modernist work of twentieth-century architects in Southern California. The bulk of her papers consist of her writing files for books, exhibition catalogs, articles, and lectures on architecture. Because many of the architects about whom McCoy wrote were her contemporaries, she developed personal relationships with several of them through her research and writing. Her writing files include drafts, notes, research material, photographs, and correspondence. McCoy also traveled extensively, particularly in Italy and Mexico, and wrote about architecture, craft, and culture in those countries. Project files document McCoy's other activities related to architectural history, such preservation projects, juries, grants, the Dodge House Preservation Campaign and related film project, her work for the Society of Architectural Historians and the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), and her work at the UCLA School of Architecture and Urban Planning, compiling a slide library and cataloging the Richard Neutra's papers. McCoy also maintained architect files which may contain correspondence, notes, photographs, research material, interview transcripts, about architects and their works. Among these extensive records, the files documenting the careers of R. M. Schindler, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and Juan O'Gorman are particularly rich.

Printed material in this collection documents McCoy's career as well as her personal interests. Included are books, clippings, magazines, newsletters, press releases, as well as publications arranged by subject such as architecture, art, Italy, and Mexico. McCoy also collected literary and leftist publications. The small amount of artwork in this collection consists of artwork sent to her by friends, including a drawing of her by Esther Rollo and etchings by various artists including Thomas Worlidge.

There are personal photographs of family and friends and of McCoy at different times in her life, as well as photographs gathered during the course of her research on architecture. Found here are photographs of architects and their works, including a large number depicting the work of Gregory Ain, Luis Barragan, J. R. Davidson, Irving Gill, Bernard Maybeck, Juan O'Gorman, R. M. Schindler, and Raphael Soriano. Many of these photographs were taken by notable architectural photographers Julius Shulman and Marvin Rand. Also found are photographs of architecture designed for the Case Study House program of Arts & Architecture magazine; exhibition photographs, primarily for the exhibition "Ten Italian Architects" in 1967; and other research photographs primarily documenting architecture and craft in other countries and the history of architecture in California. This series also includes approximately 3,600 slides of architecture.

Audio and video recordings include a videocassette of McCoy's 80th birthday party and 55 taped interviews with architects, people associated with architectural projects, and artists.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 10 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical and Family Material, 1881-1989 (boxes 1, 48; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1896-1989 (boxes 1-6, 4.9 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Writings, 1919-1989 (boxes 6-14; 8.1 linear feet)

Series 4: Architectural Writings, 1908-1990 (boxes 14-24, 42, 49, 50; 10.2 linear feet)

Series 5: Projects, circa 1953-1988 (boxes 24-26, 47, FC 53-56; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 6: Architect Files, 1912-1990 (boxes 26-28, 42; 2.2 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1885-1990 (boxes 28-31, 42; 2.9 linear feet)

Series 8: Artwork, 1924-1967, undated (box 31; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographs and Slides, circa 1876-1989 (boxes 31-38, 41-46, 51; 8.3 linear feet)

Series 10: Audio and Video Recordings, 1930-1984 (boxes 38-40, 47; 2.5 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Esther McCoy (1904-1989) is remembered best for her pioneering work as an architectural historian, critic, and proponent of Southern California modern architecture of the early to mid-twentieth century. McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. Although her professional interests ranged from writing fiction to studying the folk architecture and crafts of Mexico, McCoy achieved her most notable success for her numerous articles, books, and exhibitions about Southern California architecture and the architects associated with the modernist movement.

Born in Arkansas in 1904, Esther McCoy grew up in Kansas and attended various schools in the Midwest. In 1926 she left the University of Michigan to launch a writing career in New York, where she moved in avant-garde literary circles and conducted research for Theodore Dreiser. She began writing fiction in New York and continued to write after moving to Los Angeles in 1932, working on short stories, novels, and screenplays. She published numerous short stories between 1929 and 1962, with works appearing in the New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, and university quarterlies. Her short story, "The Cape," was reprinted in Best Short Stories of 1950. Many of the novels that she wrote from the mid-1960s through the 1980s were related thematically to architects and architecture.

During the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s, McCoy participated in the politically radical movements of the period and wrote for leftist publications. Her interest in the lowcost housing projects of modern architects was prompted by one of her articles about slums for Epic News. During World War II she entered a training program for engineering draftsmen at Douglas Aircraft and in 1944 was hired as an architectural draftsman for the architect R.M. Schindler. As she became increasingly interested in modern architecture and design, she combined her two major career interests and began to focus her energies on architectural research, writing, and criticism. Her first article on architecture, "Schindler: Space Architect," was published in 1945 in the journal Direction.

McCoy began writing about architecture in earnest in 1950 as a free-lance contributor to the Los Angeles Times. From then until her death in 1989, she wrote prolifically for Arts & Architecture magazine, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Architectural Record, L'Architectura, Zodiac (Italy), Progressive Architecture, Lotus (Italy), and Architectural Forum. In addition to her numerous articles, McCoy wrote several books on Southern California modern architecture and architects. Her first major work, Five California Architects, published in 1960, is now recognized as a classic work in modern architectural history. It promoted a serious study of modern architecture in Southern California and introduced to the world several leading California architects and their work: Bernard Maybeck, Irving Gill, Charles and Henry Greene, and R.M. Schindler. That same year, she published another important book focusing on the work of the California architect Richard Neutra. Other books by McCoy include Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses (1962), Craig Ellwood (1968), Vienna to Los Angeles: Two Journeys (1979), and The Second Generation (1984).

In addition to these books, McCoy organized and wrote catalogs for several significant exhibitions focusing on contemporary architects. Her first was the R.M. Schindler Retrospective, a 1954 exhibition at the Landau Art Gallery in Los Angeles. Her other exhibitions and accompanying catalogs include Roots of California Contemporary Architecture, 1956, Los Angeles Municipal Art Department; Felix Candela, 1957, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Irving Gill, 1958, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Juan O'Gorman, 1964, San Fernando Valley State College; and Ten Italian Architects, 1967, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Moreover, McCoy contributed numerous essays to other exhibition catalogs and publications, lectured at the University of Southern California, participated in preservation projects, organized tours for the Society of Architectural Historians, and contributed to a number of documentary films. Her energy and interests also led her to catalog and transcribe Richard Neutra's papers at the University of California Los Angeles Archives.

McCoy received national recognition from the American Institute of Architects for her seminal and prolific work in the field of Southern California modern architectural history and criticism. Her interests, however, were not exclusively bound to California. She traveled the world and was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. She made five extended trips to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s, publishing regularly about the architecture there and curating the exhibition Ten Italian Architects. She was a contributing editor to two Italian journals, Zodiac and Lotus, and was awarded the Star of Order of Solidarity in 1960 by the Republic of Italy for her research and writing.

Esther McCoy died of emphysema on December 30, 1989, at the age of eighty-five. Her last contribution was an essay for the exhibition catalog Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study House. The show opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles one month before her death.

Missing Title

1904 -- Born November 18 in Horatio, Arkansas. Raised in Kansas.

1920 -- Attended preparatory school at Central College for Women, Lexington, Missouri.

1922-1925 -- College education: Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas; University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri; University of Michigan.

1924 -- Visited Theodore Dreiser in Michigan.

1926-1938 -- Began writing in New York City.

1926-1938 -- Researched and read for Theodore Dreiser.

1926-1938 -- Worked for editorial offices and publishers.

1926-1938 -- Traveled to write in Paris (1928), Key West, Florida (1930), and Los Angeles, California (1932-1935).

1938 -- Moved to Santa Monica, California.

1941 -- Married Berkeley Greene Tobey.

1942-1944 -- Employed as engineering draftsman at Douglas Aircraft.

1944-1947 -- Worked as architectural draftsman for R.M. Schindler.

1945 -- Began architectural writing career.

1950 -- Wrote script for film Architecture West.

1950 -- Joined editorial board of Arts & Architecture.

1950-1968 -- Worked as free-lance writer for the Los Angeles Times.

1951-1955 -- Traveled to, researched, and wrote about Mexico and Mexican art and architecture.

1954 -- R.M. Schindler Retrospective exhibition at the Landau Art Gallery, Los Angeles.

1956 -- Roots of California Contemporary Architecture exhibition, Los Angeles Municipal Art Department.

1957 -- Felix Candela exhibition, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

1958 -- Irving Gill exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Traveled to Italy.

1959-1968 -- Contributing editor to Italian periodicals Zodiac and Lotus.

1960 -- Five California Architects (New York: Reinhold).

1960 -- Richard Neutra (New York: G. Braziller).

1960 -- Awarded Star of Order of Solidarity by the Republic of Italy for reporting on arts and crafts in Italy.

1962 -- Death of Berkeley Greene Tobey.

1962 -- Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses (New York: Reinhold) (reprinted as Case Study Houses, Los Angeles: Hennessey and Ingalls, 1978).

1963 -- Resident Fellow at Huntington Hartford Foundation.

1964 -- Juan O'Gorman exhibition, San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge, Calif.

1965 -- Consultant for the California Arts Commission.

1965-1966 -- Wrote and produced the film Dodge House.

1965-1968 -- Lecturer at University of California at Los Angeles, School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

1966 -- Resident Fellow at MacDowell Colony, New Hampshire.

1967 -- Ten Italian Architects exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

1967 -- Honorary Associate of the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

1967 -- Regents' Lecturer at University of California, Santa Barbara.

1968 -- Craig Ellwood (New York: Walker).

1968 -- Distinguished Service Citation from the California Council of AIA.

1969-1970 -- Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

1969-1989 -- Contributing editor of Progressive Architecture.

1971-1978 -- Graham Foundation Grants.

1974 -- Regents' Lecturer at the University of California,Santa Cruz.

1979 -- Vienna to Los Angeles: Two Journeys (Santa Monica, Calif.: Arts & Architecture Press).

1979 -- Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.

1981 -- Los Angeles Chapter Women's Architectural League Honorary Member.

1982 -- Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Modern and Contemporary Art Council Award for Distinguished Achievement.

1983 -- Home Sweet Home: The California Ranch House exhibition at California State University.

1984 -- The Second Generation (Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books).

1985 -- American Institute of Architects, Institute Honor.

1986 -- High Styles exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

1987 -- Vesta Award for outstanding scholarship.

1989 -- Award from the Historical Society of Southern California.

1989 -- Award from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

1989 -- Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study House exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Died in Santa Monica, California, December 30.

Related Material:

Also in the Archives of American Art are eight sound cassettes of a transcribed interview with Esther McCoy conducted by Joseph Giovannini, June 8-November 14, 1987.

Provenance:

The collection was given to the Archives of American Art by Esther McCoy in 1986. Before her death in 1989, McCoy assisted in the organization and identification of the papers. Original pre-print film elements for Dodge House 1916 were donated to the Archives of American Art by the Academy Film Archive in 2018.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual recordings without access copies 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:

Architectural historians -- California  Search this

Art critics -- California  Search this

Topic:

Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- Mexico  Search this

Architects -- Italy  Search this

Architecture, Domestic -- California  Search this

Authors -- California  Search this

Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- California  Search this

Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- Europe  Search this

Architects -- California  Search this

Feminism and art  Search this

Latino and Latin American artists  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries

Etchings

Photographs

Sound recordings

Interviews

Video recordings

Slides (photographs)

Transcripts

Drawings

Memoirs

Citation:

Esther McCoy papers, circa 1876-1990, bulk 1938-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Identifier:

AAA.mccoesth

See more items in:

Esther McCoy papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw93ee58e3b-f2fc-4d98-acf9-de6f76bfed63

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-mccoesth

Artist:

Morris Goldstein, 1840 - 1906  Search this

Sitter:

Isaac Mayer Wise, 29 Mar 1819 - 26 Mar 1900  Search this

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

107.5cm x 92cm (42 5/16" x 36 1/4"), Accurate

Type:

Painting

Date:

1881

Topic:

Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair  Search this

Printed Material\Book  Search this

Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses  Search this

Printed Material\Newspaper  Search this

Personal Attribute\Facial Hair  Search this

Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache  Search this

Costume\Jewelry\Chain  Search this

Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Bowtie  Search this

Isaac Mayer Wise: Male  Search this

Isaac Mayer Wise: Literature\Writer  Search this

Isaac Mayer Wise: Society and Social Change\Reformer  Search this

Isaac Mayer Wise: Journalism and Media\Newspaper publisher  Search this

Isaac Mayer Wise: Religion and Spirituality\Founder\Founder of religious order  Search this

Isaac Mayer Wise: Religion and Spirituality\Clergy\Rabbi  Search this

Isaac Mayer Wise: Religion and Spirituality\Religious leader  Search this

Portrait  Search this

Credit Line:

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Hebrew Union College

Object number:

NPG.77.243

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Exhibition:

2022 Rehang of Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900

On View:

NPG, East Gallery 141

Data Source:

National Portrait Gallery

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm42e9a09ee-cfa1-45e1-a48c-7422e3bb051d

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:npg_NPG.77.243