The papers of African American painter and printmaker Emma Amos measure 37.1 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 2019. The collection documents Amos's family history, her professional life, and the intersection of her heritage and artwork. Found in the collection are biographical materials, family and inherited papers, correspondence, writings, project and exhibition files, teaching files, other professional records, personal business records, printed and photographic materials, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American painter and printmaker Emma Amos measure 37.1 linear feet and date from circa 1900 to 2019. The collection documents Amos's family history, her professional life, and the intersection of her heritage and artwork. Found in the collection are biographical materials, family and inherited papers, correspondence, writings, project and exhibition files, teaching files, other professional records, personal business records, printed and photographic materials, and artwork.
Biographical materials include Amos's student records from Antioch and New York Universities, her personal Bible, resumes, and video recordings of interviews with bell hooks and Moira Roth. The Amos family and inherited papers of close family friends contain photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, and memorabilia from Fisk University.
Correspondence is with colleagues at galleries, museums, and arts organizations regarding exhibitions, the Spiral artist group, and Amos's other professional activities, as well as her personal letters with friends and family.
Also found in the collection are writings that include drafts, published copies of essays, autobiographical writings, lecture video recordings, mock-ups of book projects, and a few writings by others. Project and exhibition files are for the television show Show of Hands (1977), The Sky's the Limit installation at IS90, Emma Amos: Paintings and Prints 1982-1992 retrospective exhibition, and the Ralph David Abernathy Memorial Project. Teaching files are from Rutgers University where she served as Chair of Visual Arts at the Mason Gross School of the Arts.
Amos's files for her other professional activities document fellowships and residencies, memberships, presentations at conferences and workshops, travel, and exhibitions she curated such as Progressions: A Cultural Legacy (1986), also co-curated by Julia Hotton and Vivian Browne, and Resisting Categories: Finding Common Ground. Personal business records include gallery files, datebooks, donation and loan records, ledgers and sales books, invoices and receipts, and studio supply records.
Printed materials contain clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, magazines and journals, and video recordings of the documentary Emma Amos: Action Lines featuring Amos and her artwork. Photographic materials consist of photographic prints, negatives, transparencies, photographic digital prints, slides, photographs albums, and 1 electronic disc of Amos, family and friends, parties and events, art models, snapshots, and works of art. Artwork contains mainly preparatory and source materials created and collected by Amos for use in her work.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 11 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1937-2012 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-2, 37)
Series 2: Family and Inherited Papers, circa 1900-2017 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 2-4, 38, OV 43)
Series 3: Correspondence, 1952-2019 (3.2 linear feet; Boxes 4-7)
Series 4: Writings, 1948-2010s (1.5 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 42)
Series 5: Project and Exhibition Files, 1950s-2019 (8.2 linear feet; Boxes 8-16, 37, OV 45)
Series 6: Teaching Files, 1948-2013 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 16-20, 37, OV 44)
Series 7: Other Professional Activities, circa 1960s-2018 (4.0 linear feet; Boxes 20-24, 46)
Series 8: Personal Business Records, 1960-2019 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 24-26, OV 43)
Series 9: Printed Materials, 1908-2019 (4.5linear feet; Boxes 26-30, 39, OV 43, OV 45)
Series 10: Photographic Materials, circa 1900-2010s (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 30-33, 40)
Series 11: Artwork, circa 1940s-2010s (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 33-36, 41)
Biographical / Historical:
Emma Amos (1937-2020) was an African American painter and printmaker in New York, N.Y.
Amos was born in Atlanta, Georgia to a prominent family that had connections to Hale Woodruff, Zora Neale Hurston, and W.E.B. DuBois. Her mother, India DeLaine Amos, received a degree in anthropology from Fisk University in Tennessee and her father, Miles Green Amos, was a pharmacist and graduate of Wilberforce University in Ohio. In 1923, Miles Amos, with his uncle Moses Amos, established the Amos Drug Store which became a social and intellectual center of the neighborhood.
Amos graduated from Booker T. Washington High School at 16. She enrolled at Antioch College where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1958. During her time at Antioch, Amos would spend part of the year attending classes and the rest of the year working in cities like Washington, D.C., New York, and Chicago where she frequented the local galleries and museums. During her fourth year, she traveled to study at the London Central School of Art with Anthony Harrison. After graduating from Antioch, she returned to London to get a degree in etching in 1960. She later received a Master of Art from New York University in 1966.
At the beginning of Amos's career, she went to New York because of the lack of opportunities in Atlanta. In New York, Amos began teaching art at the Dalton School. She started working with printmakers like Robert Blackburn eventually taking a job with designer Dorothy Liebes in 1961 who she worked for until 1969. Later, Amos taught textile design at Newark School of Art. In 1980, she began teaching at the Mason Gross School of Art at Rutgers University eventually becoming Chair of the Visual Arts department. Amos retired in 2008.
Amos was a member of the influential artist collectives Spiral, Heresies, and Guerilla Girls. She was the creator and host of the WGBH television program about crafts, Show of Hands (1977-1978). She has exhibited her work in numerous exhibitions including Emma Amos, Paintings and Prints, 1982–1992 and Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power.
Amos died in Bedford, N.H. in 2020.
Related Materials:
Also in the Archives of American Art are: Oral history interview with Emma Amos, 1968 October 3 and Oral history interview of Emma Amos, 2011 November 19-26.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2020 by Emma Amos as part of the Archives' African American Collecting Initiative funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.
Restrictions:
Material regarding the Guerilla Girls is access restricted; written permission is required. Contact Reference Services for more information. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References 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:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
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