Mary Slusser (1918-2017) was a prominent scholar of Nepalese art, architecture, and cultural history. This collection contains personal files, professional correspondence, research files, travel documents, and photographs. The research files relate to her study of specific subjects and contain mixed media. Photographic materials include prints, slides, negatives, contact sheets, and digital images on compact discs in both color and black and white. Most of the collections are related to her study of Nepal, though other countries are represented including Tibet, Laos, China, and Vietnam. Subjects include firsthand observations of objects and sites; notes on secondary sources; correspondence with fellow scholars; manuscript drafts; and records of her work on the gallery space, and guide to, the Patan Museum. The earliest materials date from 1951 during the beginning of her time living abroad alongside her husband, while both worked for the State Department. The materials continue through 2017, reflecting her dedicated scholarship and travel through the end of her life.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into five series:
• Series 1: Biographical Materials
• Series 2: Correspondence
• Series 3: Research Files
• Series 4: Travel Files
• Series 5: Photographic Materials
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. Mary Slusser (1918-2017) was born as Mary Shepherd in Welland, Ontario to George Percy and Ethel Mary Shepherd. Her family moved to Michigan the following year and Slusser became a naturalized US citizen in 1934. Slusser followed her sister, Dorothy Shepherd (1916-1992), to the University of Michigan, where Mary graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1942. During her studies at Michigan, she met Robert Slusser, whom she would marry in 1944. Slusser moved to New York City in 1942, again following the path of her sister, Dorothy, who had enrolled in graduate school at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. Slusser undertook some coursework at NYU as a part-time student. Slusser would eventually complete her graduate studies at Columbia University, earning a PhD in anthropology in 1950. She completed some of her coursework at Harvard University, while her husband studied at nearby Tufts University. Her dissertation was titled "Preliminary archeological studies of northern Central Chile."
Next, Slusser worked as a research analyst at the US State Department. Her husband also worked at the agency and spent much of his career completing foreign service appointments as an economist with USAID. Slusser accompanied her husband to his various overseas posts, beginning in 1954 in Vietnam. The Slussers would live and work abroad in Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Guinea, Nepal, and Tunisia. Slusser continued to work for the State Department as a field anthropologist. Mary received funding from the Smithsonian to acquire a small collection of Nepalese artifacts. She immediately took to learning about the art and culture of the region. She found a dearth of English-language information on the area and did her own field work and engaged with local scholars to fill in the gaps. She remained in Nepal for five years, contracted by the Smithsonian to write a guide to Nepal. Her research would lead to Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of Kathmandu Valley, a two-volume set of text and images, predominantly her own photographs, which was published in 1982.
Robert Slusser retired in 1980, and he and Mary permanently settled in Washington, DC. Her scholarly work took her to museums, first at the Museum of African Art as a curatorial assistant from 1975 to 1978, and then a post-doctoral fellowship at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in 1989. After her fellowship, Slusser was asked to remain at the museum as a research associate, an unpaid position she held for the rest of her career. Slusser continued to publish works on Nepalese art, including the 2010 book, The Antiquity of Nepalese Wood Carving: a Reassessment, co-authored with Paul Jett, a conservator at the museum. Slusser used carbon dating tests to show that many Nepalese wood sculptures were much older than originally thought. Slusser also contributed to the establishment of the Patan Museum in Nepal, which opened in 1997. She served as the museum's cultural advisor and curator and wrote the museum guide and many of the exhibition materials.
Slusser continued to travel to Nepal and other parts of central Asia well into her eighties, often visiting remote sites on foot with the aid of local guides. Slusser stayed active at home, continuing her research work despite declining eyesight and hearing. She died in 2017 at age 98.
Related Materials:
Mary Shepherd Slusser papers, circa 1950 – circa 1995, National Museum of National History, National Anthropolgical Archives, NAA.1983.0407
Dorothy Shepard Photographs, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, FSA.A2015.12
Russell Hamilton Postcard and Photograph Collection, National Museum of Asian Art Archives, FSA.A2001.13
Russell Hamilton postcards, between 1900-1909, National Museum of African Art, Eliot Elisophon Photographic Archives, EEPA.2003-001
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the National Museum of Asian Art's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
This series documents Ms. Moynihan's various travels. The slides include images from South Korea, China, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and India. Please see the below container list for more details.
This collection includes research documentation, photographs, slides, and diaries related to Ms. Moynihan's Moghul garden surveying. This information ranges from the Lotus Garden to Rajasthan Gardens to various garden reference materials. There are also various notebooks and annotated maps.
Elizabeth Moynihan Collection, Series 4: Slides
Arrangement:
Organized and arranged in two boxes.
Biographical / Historical:
Ms. Moynihan is an architectural historian and travel throughout India for several years. She was married to Senator Daniel Moynihan for 48 years. She served on the Indo-U.S. Sub-Commission on Education and Culture for many years. While living in India, Ms. Moynihan authored a survey of surviving Moghul gardens, which was published in 1979 as "Paradise as a Garden in Persia and Moghul India." She also did research on Babur, the founder of the Moghul dynasty. In the process, she located and documented four previously unknown 16th century gardens built by Babur.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2013.06 04
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
The Elizabeth Moynihan Collection, FSA A2013.06. National Museum of Asian Art. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Elizabeth Moynihan, 2013.
Five small samples of clay and stucco fragments titled: 1. Unidentified; 2. Akbar's Fort, above Shimla; 3. Akbar's For, Nov. 13, 1976; 4.Clay Pipe, Pari Mahal; 5. Pari Mahal, level 5.
Arrangement:
Organized and arranged in thirteen boxes with one oversize box and one flat file folder.
Biographical / Historical:
Ms. Moynihan is an architectural historian and travel throughout India for several years. She was married to Senator Daniel Moynihan for 48 years. She served on the Indo-U.S. Sub-Commission on Education and Culture for many years. While living in India, Ms. Moynihan authored a survey of surviving Moghul gardens, which was published in 1979 as "Paradise as a Garden in Persia and Moghul India." She also did research on Babur, the founder of the Moghul dynasty. In the process, she located and documented four previously unknown 16th century gardens built by Babur.
Local Numbers:
FSA A2013.06 06
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.
Genre/Form:
Fragments
Collection Citation:
The Elizabeth Moynihan Collection, FSA A2013.06. National Museum of Asian Art. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Elizabeth Moynihan, 2013.
The collection includes contributions from 101 former volunteers or administrators who served in such countries and regions as Afghanistan, Antigua, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ceylon, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dahomey, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Korea, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland,Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey and Upper Volta.
The volunteers were involved in diverse assignments such as education, community development, agriculture, health work, and service through such special skills as art, surveying, mechanics, and photography. Two additional collections are including materials of missionaries that were offered to the archives as the result of the program to collect Peace Corps materials. Included are diaries, correspondence, writings, printed and processed material, sound recordings, and administrative materials. There are also photographic materials that show such subjects as traditional and modern agriculture, architecture, body scarification, ceremonies, dance, dress, fishing, food preparation and other domestic activities, industry, medicine, and transportation.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
Arranged numerically, with indexes based upon creator names and subject of materials.
Historical note:
In 1975, Herman Joseph Viola, the director of the National Anthropological Archives; Saul Herbert Riesenberg, the curator for Oceania Ethnology in the Smithsonianʹs Department of Anthropology; and Dirk Ballendorf, assistant chief of programs and training for Peace Corps operations in North Africa, the Near East, Asia, and the Pacific, worked out a program whereby the archives would collect materials of former Peace Corps volunteers. In addition to photographic and other materials of potential use to many researchers, the collection was intended to document the impact of the volunteers on host countries and the experiences of the volunteers in working in foreign cultures.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use. In some cases, copyright or literary property rights have been retained by the donor.
Film footage shot primarily by Roy Galloway of family activities and world travels. Galloway was an employee of National Carbon Co. in Calcutta, India, where he, his wife and, eventually, four children lived an American expatriate life. On home leaves they often travelled to other locales on their way to or on their return the United States. In the U.S. they often stayed at Sherwood Forest, a resort community in Maryland, and visited family in other locations. Home movie footage in India includes the Galloways and their first born, a daughter, relocating to India (visit to New Orleans, travel by ocean liner, arrival at Calcutta, Independence day, street scenes); birthdays (one with Chinese dollmaker); christenings; Christmas; swim club (Tetje Royal Calcutta Swimming Club). Footage taken in and around Calcutta includes Durga Puja, Kali Temple, Calcutta water front; American Men's Club, locust swarms, holy man, Camper Down sports meet, Jeriwalla Plant and tiger shoot from elephants. Travel footage includes visiting Darjeeling, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Benares, Kashmir, Dal Lake (houseboats and water taxis), Srinagar (rug factory), Kashmir, Ceylon, Turkey (Istanbul), Himalayas (flying in the Pilatus Porter aircraft used to supply Hillary expedition), Nepal (Kathamandu), Switzerland (Geneva), France (Nice), Holland, Italy (Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri, Florence, Genoa), Russia (Moscow, Lenin grad), Belgium (Brussels Fair), Greece (Crete, Rhodes, Delos, Mykonos, Athens), Austria (Vienna), Germany (Heidelberg), Spain, Denmark (Copenhagen); Sweden (Stockholm), England (London, Marlborough Hall, Stratford-on-Avon, Anne Hathaway cottage, Stonehenge), Mexico, New York City (zoo, Times Square), Nova Scotia (Halifax), Hong Kong, Japan, Hawaii, Egypt (Alexandria), Suez Canal, Burma, Thailand, and Lebanon (Beirut). Footage also includes Chesapeake Bay bridge; Washington College graduation; Bennington, VT; travel on the ship SS Biancamano and a solar eclipse.
Supplementary materials: partial annotation by Roy Galloway.
Legacy keywords: Domestic and family life ; Domestic relations ; Transportation ; Resorts ; Architecture ; Tourism ; Rites and ceremonies
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Local Numbers:
HSFA 2011.16.1
Related Materials:
8mm film shot in southeast Asia by Roy Galloway in 1940s is in the Screen Archive South East, United Kingdom.
Provenance:
Received from Fred Galloway in 2011.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Travelogues (Motion pictures)
silent films
Citation:
Roy Galloway travel films and home movies, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Film reels (6 hours, color silent; 12,960 feet, 16mm)
Type:
Archival materials
Film reels
Date:
circa 1950
Scope and Contents:
Film footage shot at various locations in Asia including Tibet, Nepal, India, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan and Formosa. Key points of ethnographic and historical interest include: musicians and bhanchum (masked dance performance) at Boudhanath with the Chini Lama (Tibet); temple complexes of Kathmandu including Buddhist shrine at Swayambu, Chandra Norian and Pashi Paddi temples, various Rana wedding scenes, and daily life of Newar and Tamang peoples (Nepal); scenes in the Nilgiri hills (Orissa Province, India) depicting the lifeways of the Todas; spectacle of the Purna Kumba Mela in New Delhi (India); ratrei (mobile Hindu shrine) pulled through the streets; a royal state procession in Bangkok (Thailand); shots of refugee camps and United States troops in Korea; and scenes in Taiwan and Formosa showing military preparedness for possible invasion by the Communist Chinese.
Legacy Keywords: Architecture religious Nepal India ; Masks Devil Dancers Tibet ; Musical instruments horns drums vina India ; Shrines ratha stupas Nepal ; Temples Nepal India ; Agricultural practices irrigation paddy Nepal India ; Harvests Nepal India ; Dance traditional Devil Dancers Tibet ; Art men painting with watercolors ; Cooking ; Procession secular
General:
Local Numbers: HSFA 1987.9.11
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Laura Boulton films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Film reel (26 minutes, color silent; 938 feet, 16mm)
Type:
Archival materials
Film reels
Date:
circa 1950
Scope and Contents:
Film footage shot by Laura Boulton at locations in Tibet and Nepal. Shots in Tibet show lamas and traditional musicians accompanying masked Devil Dancers at a temple complex. Musicians play large horns, string instruments, drums, and conch shells as part of dance performance. Shots in Nepal show scenes in and around Kathmandu depicting peasant life and a religious festival in which a ratha(or mobile shrine) is pulled through the streets by devotees.
Legacy Keywords: Masks masked dance Devil Dancers Tibet ; Dance Devil Dancers Tibet ; Musical instruments horns conch shells drums Tibet ; Temples Tibet ; Ritual lamas musicians Tibet ; Shrines Buddhist Hindu ratha Kathmandu ; Architecture religious Kathmandu ; Adornment jewelry Nepal ; Art painting watercolors Nepal ; Peasants work Nepal ; Washing chores Nepal
General:
Local Numbers: HSFA 1987.9.11-1
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Laura Boulton films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Film reel (19 minutes, color silent; 660 feet, 16mm)
Type:
Archival materials
Film reels
Date:
circa 1950
Scope and Contents:
Footage shot by Laura Boulton at various locations in Tibet and Nepal. Shots include scenes of rural and urban life, agricultural activities around harvesting, the play of traditional musical instruments, and activities in and around various Buddhist and Hindu temples.
Legacy Keywords: Agricultural practices harvesting Nepal ; Dance Devil Dance Tibet ; Architecture religious Nepal Tibet ; Masks Devil Dancers Tibet ; Musical instruments cymbals drums horns conch shells Tibet ; Harvests threshing floor Nepal ; Smoking water pipes Nepal ; Shrines stupas Buddhist Nepal ; Ceremony Devil Dancers Tibet ; Irrigation paddy fields rice Nepal ; Peasantry Nepal ; Monks lamas Tibet ; Temples Hindu Ganesh Nepal ; Bathing Nepal
General:
Local Numbers: HSFA 1987.9.11 - 2
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Laura Boulton films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
1 Film reel (26 minutes, color silent; 932 feet, 16mm)
Type:
Archival materials
Film reels
Date:
circa 1950
Scope and Contents:
Footage shot by Laura Boulton at various locations in Nepal in Kathmandu and the Kathmandu valley. Scenes of peasant life include work in the paddy fields and harvesting grain, panoramic scenes of the countryside, the manufacture of copper pots, and various street scenes in Kathmandu. Shots of the famous Buddhist shrine at Svayambu are also depicted including the giant gold vudra used in the ritual work of the Vudracharia priests, and devotees at Svayambu giving puja and spinning prayer wheels.
Legacy Keywords: Agricultural practices harvesting Nepal ; Dance Devil Dance Tibet ; Architecture religious Nepal Tibet ; Masks Devil Dancers Tibet ; Musical instruments cymbals drums horns conch shells Tibet ; Harvests threshing floor Nepal ; Smoking water pipes Nepal ; Shrines stupas Buddhist Nepal ; Ceremony Devil Dancers Tibet ; Irrigation paddy fields rice Nepal ; Peasantry Nepal ; Monks lamas Tibet ; Temples Hindu Ganesh Nepal ; Bathing Nepal ; Crafts brassworking pots Nepal ; Mortuary practices cremation site Nepal ; Shrines giant vudra Svayambu, Nepal
General:
Local Numbers: HSFA 1987.9.11 - 3
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Collection Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Collection Citation:
Laura Boulton films, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The collection consists of 38 color transparencies, 648 color slides and 10 black-and-white photographic prints taken by Lynn McLaren Demarest while on assignment for various news outlets in the 1950s and 1960s. A majority of the slides and transparencies were taken in East Africa and document indigenous peoples, agriculture (cotton in particular), health and nutrition education, UNICEF activities, architecture, natural landscapes, animals, fishers, coffee plantations and the sisal industry. Locations include Mobassa, Lamu Island, Zanzibar, Dar es Saalam, Lake Victoria, Mount Kilimajaro, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara and Mikumi National Park (Tanzania). The black-and-white photographs depict East African leaders, such as Julius Nyerere, and prominent international visitors to the region, including Robert Kennedy. A small number of slides and transparencies were taken in India.
Arrangement note:
Arrangement reflects the original order established by the photographer.
Biographical/Historical note:
Lynn McLaren (1922-2008) was a professional photojournalist who worked on assignment for National Geographic, Life, Newsweek and Business Week since the 1950s and 1960s. A member of the Society of Women Geographers, McLaren lived and traveled extensively around the world, photographing peoples and places in Kenya, Tanzania (Zanzibar), India, Nepal, Spain, Germany and the United States. McLaren was also the author of five books, including Berlin and the Berliners and The Village: The People (India), all of which are richly illustrated with her photographs. In 2007, she had a major retrospective of her photography, Fifty Years of Photographs from Around the World, at the Marion Art Center in Marion, Massachusetts.
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
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:
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records, 1904-1978, bulk 1913-1974. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Processing of the collection was funded by the Getty Grant Program; digitization of the collection was funded by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
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:
Architectural League of New York records, 1880s-1974, bulk 1927-1968. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund
