Search Results

Creator:

Gussow, Bernard, 1881-1957  Search this

Subject:

Bouché, Louis  Search this

Maurer, Alfred Henry  Search this

Stella, Joseph  Search this

Weber, Max  Search this

Zorach, William  Search this

Exposition d'artistes de l'école Américaine  Search this

Topic:

Art, American -- Exhibitions  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)10580

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214056

AAA_collcode_gussbern

Theme:

American Art and Artists in a Global Context

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214056

Creator:

Vose Galleries of Boston  Search this

Subject:

Vose, Robert Churchill  Search this

Hassam, Childe  Search this

Hoffman, Malvina  Search this

Jonniaux, Alfred  Search this

Ladd, Anna Coleman (sculptor)  Search this

Thayer, Abbott Handerson  Search this

Norton, William E.  Search this

Sargent, John Singer  Search this

Vose, Robert C. (Robert Churchill)  Search this

Arthur U. Newton Galleries  Search this

Ehrich Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Howard Young Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Jill Newhouse (Gallery)  Search this

M. Knoedler & Co.  Search this

Macbeth Gallery  Search this

Milch Galleries  Search this

Norton Gallery and School of Art  Search this

R.C. & N.M. Vose (Firm)  Search this

Robert C. Vose Galleries  Search this

Centennial Exhibition  Search this

Type:

Video recordings

Manuscript

Topic:

Artists -- United States -- Photographs  Search this

Picture frame industry -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Picture frames and framing  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- Rhode Island -- Providence  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9272

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211467

AAA_collcode_vosegall

Theme:

The Art Market

Art Gallery Records

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211467

Interviewee:

Abbot, Agnes Anne, 1897-1992  Search this

Interviewer:

Brown, Robert F  Search this

Subject:

Hibbard, A. T. (Aldro Thompson) (1886-1972)  Search this

Woodbury, Charles H. (Charles Herbert)  Search this

Type:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- Massachusetts  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)12915

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211916

AAA_collcode_abbot81

Theme:

Women

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_211916

Creator:

Robinson, Mary Turlay, 1887 or 8-1971  Search this

Subject:

Myers, Frank Harmon  Search this

Dickinson, Edwin Walter  Search this

Hoffman, Malvina  Search this

Kroll, Leon  Search this

Myers, Ella Price  Search this

Stieglitz, Alfred  Search this

Terrell, Allen Townsend  Search this

Watkins, Franklin Chenault  Search this

Beal, Gifford  Search this

Block, Adolph  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)5741

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)208580

AAA_collcode_robimary

Theme:

Women

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_208580

Creator:

Niveau Gallery (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Subject:

Aronson, David  Search this

Type:

Scrapbooks

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)8095

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)210266

AAA_collcode_nivegall

Theme:

The Art Market

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_210266

Creator:

Prendergast, Maurice Brazil, 1858-1924  Search this

Prendergast, Charles, 1863-1948  Search this

Subject:

Glackens, William J.  Search this

Hartley, Marsden  Search this

Pach, Walter  Search this

Brooks, Van Wyck  Search this

Glackens, Edith  Search this

Glackens, Ira  Search this

Sargent, John Singer  Search this

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 19th century -- United States  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Modernism (Art)  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)13419

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214583

AAA_collcode_prenmaur

Theme:

Diaries

Art Movements and Schools

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214583

Maker:

Leroy W. Fairchild  Search this

Esterbrook Pen Company  Search this

Physical Description:

steel (overall material)

mother of pearl (overall material)

metal (overall material)

Measurements:

overall: .5 cm x 18 cm x .5 cm; 3/16 in x 7 3/32 in x 3/16 in

Object Name:

pen

Place made:

United States: New York, New York City

Date made:

ca 1920-1958 (nibs)

ca 1920-1958 (nib)

ca 1920-1958

Subject:

writing implements  Search this

Credit Line:

Gift of Frank Terlitzky

ID Number:

MA.314804

Accession number:

210144

Catalog number:

314804

See more items in:

Medicine and Science: Mathematics

Science & Mathematics

Pens and Pencils

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-6505-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_904283

Physical Description:

paper (overall material)

ink (overall material)

leather (overall material)

Measurements:

overall: 29.2 cm x 24 cm x 4 cm; 11 1/2 in x 9 7/16 in x 1 9/16 in

Object Name:

scrapbook

Date made:

early 20th century

Credit Line:

Delsy D. Conwell

ID Number:

CL.299386.051

Catalog number:

299386.051

Accession number:

299386

See more items in:

Cultural and Community Life: Ethnic

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng4b8f68ce6-0db7-4bee-e053-15f76fa0e956

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_1994182

Photographer:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Names:

Winterthur Henry Francis du Pont Museum Gardens Greenville, Del. -- Photographs  Search this

Collection Collector:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Collection Printer:

Janus, Allan  Search this

Collection Interviewee:

Hanfstaengl, Erna  Search this

Extent:

13 Items (slide storage sheets)

Container:

Box 6 (Series 5)

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Color slides

Chromogenic processes

Place:

Winterthur Del. -- Photographs -- 1960-1970

Date:

[1964.]

Arrangement:

In sheets 5-17, box 6.

Restrictions:

Unrestricted research use on site. Unprotected photographs must be handled with white cotton gloves.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Gardens -- Delaware  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1960-1990 -- Phototransparencies.

Photographs -- 1960-1970 -- Color transparencies

Color slides -- 20th century

Chromogenic processes

See more items in:

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection / Series 5: Transparencies / 5.1: United States / Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0145-ref11661

Photographer:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Collection Collector:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Collection Printer:

Janus, Allan  Search this

Collection Interviewee:

Hanfstaengl, Erna  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (2-1/4" x 2-1/4")

Container:

Box 161

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Portraits

Color slides

Chromogenic processes

Place:

Dumaguete Philippines -- Photographs

Philippines -- Photographs

Date:

undated

Arrangement:

In Series 5, Box 161, Sheets 31.

Local Numbers:

AC0145-0000036.tif (AC scan no.)

VDF 48255

General:

Slide in sheet 31, box 161.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

A small number of letters and photographs are restricted until the year 2031. Identification list in box.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Girls -- Philippines -- Photographs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1960-1990 -- Phototransparencies.

Photographs -- 1950-2000 -- Color transparencies

Portraits -- Children

Color slides -- 20th century

Chromogenic processes

See more items in:

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection / Series 5: Transparencies / 5.9: Lectures / Philippines

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0145-ref11675

Photographer:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Architect:

Palladio, Andrea, 1508-1580  Search this

Collection Collector:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Collection Printer:

Janus, Allan  Search this

Collection Interviewee:

Hanfstaengl, Erna  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (2-1/4" x 2-1/4".)

Container:

Box 169

Type:

Archival materials

Color slides

Photographs

Chromogenic processes

Date:

Circa 1960s

Scope and Contents:

Chromogenic phototransparency depicting the front of a 3-story grey house, with 6-column facade.

Arrangement:

In Series 5, Box 169, Sheets 18.

Local Numbers:

AC0145-0000034.tif (AC scan no.)

52383 Videodisc frame

Restrictions:

Unrestricted research use on site. Unprotected photographs must be handled with white cotton gloves.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Architecture, Baroque -- 1960-1970  Search this

Genre/Form:

Color slides -- 20th century

Photographs -- 1960-1990 -- Phototransparencies.

Photographs -- 1960-1970 -- Color transparencies

Chromogenic processes

See more items in:

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection / Series 5: Transparencies / 5.9: Lectures / Palladio, U.S.

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0145-ref11682

Creator:

Underwood & Underwood  Search this

Publisher:

American Stereoscopic Co.  Search this

H. C. White Co.  Search this

Killela, J.J.  Search this

Underwood, Bert, 1862-1943  Search this

Underwood, Elmer, 1859-1947  Search this

Photographer:

Ponting, Herbert George, 1870-1935  Search this

Underwood, Bert, 1862-1943  Search this

Underwood, Elmer, 1859-1947  Search this

White, Clarence W.  Search this

Extent:

160 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Stereographs

Photographs

Stereoscopic photographs

Lantern slides

Date:

1895-1921

Scope and Contents:

The major part of the collection, series 1-4, contains nearly 28,000 glass plates, including original stereoscopic negatives, interpositives, and both negative and positive non-stereoscopic plates used to produce lantern slides and paper prints. The photographs were taken all over the world. The majority are from the Underwood & Underwood active files, but plates from other publishers are also included. Series 5 is a small collection of paper stereographs. Series 6 contains 4 Underwood & Underwood descriptive sales catalogs and 1 H. C. White & Co. catalog (numbers on the Underwood plates correspond to the numbers on catalog captions). Series 7 is apparatus--four stereoscopes.

The approximately 28,000 glass plates in this collection have not been completely inspected at this point due to handling problems associated with asbestos contamination of the collection. A preliminary survey, however, indicated that the selections of images cover the full range of subject matter encompassed by the "Underwood Travel System." The subject matter is most easily comprehended by consulting one of the Underwood sales catalogs which accompany the collection. The catalog captions are arranged geographically, for the most part, and generally represent an organized "tour" which could be purchased as a boxed set, complete with maps and guide book, although individual images could be purchased separately. The catalogs indicate that the Underwood files were continually updated, for extensive modifications in some of the sets can be seen from edition to edition, and actual inspection of published stereographs shows that alternate views with identical Underwood catalog numbers were substituted from time to time, and that new subjects (with new catalog numbers) were sometimes introduced into the sets and old subjects were retired. There are glass plate negatives as well as positives in this collection. The positive images were probably interpositives used for the production of duplicate negatives. Some of the original stereo negatives were cut apart and the images transposed; they were then bound with an additional glass support (in many cases the tape has deteriorated). Half stereo positives also appear in the collection: these probably were intended for use in lantern slide production. Frequently a drawer of plates contains several incarnations of a single image, including the original negative, a copy negative, an interpositive, and a positive lantern slide. In other cases a drawer may contain only a single mode, e.g., original negatives, while corresponding positives and/or lantern slides appear in separate drawers.

A small quantity of the Underwood & Underwood plates are not from the Travel System, but represent humorous and genre subjects which were cataloged and marketed separately. The work of several other publishers, usually without Underwood catalog numbers, is also represented, including H. C. White, American Stereoscopic Company, and J. J. Killela.

The arrangement of the collection seems to reflect a combination of permanent reference storage as well as active use files. The apparent anomalies or inconsistencies probably indicate the pulling of plates from permanent files into temporary work files, and the collection may consist of a combination of permanent storage and temporary working files. As the drawers do not appear to have been renumbered according to any easily discernible pattern, they have become intermixed and rearranged in storage. The contents of each drawer usually have been found in good order, however, and the plates were nearly always arranged numerically,usually with the low numbers at the rear of the drawer and the highest number at the front. As the plates have been rehoused, the reverse numerical order has been corrected. When all the plates have been rehoused and inventoried, consideration will be given to general collection rearrangement and renumbering of the containers, either strictly in numerical order or topically and/or geographically with a numerical sequence within each group.

The collection is in good condition for the most part, although conservation attention will be required. There is a certain amount of emulsion peeling or frilling at the edges of some plates, but this is a condition to which emulsions on glass frequently are prone. A few plates, bound in a sandwich arrangement between cover glass and acetate facing the emulsion, have suffered severe damage, peeling, and image losses through the apparent ferrotyping and sticking of emulsion to the plastic, probably under conditions of high humidity at some stage. There is surprisingly little glass breakage within the collection.

Most of the stereoscopic negatives and many of the positives are defaced with a double "XI' scratched into the emulsion of either the left or right side, as described above in the historical note. Of particular interest and presumed rarity are cards found interfiled with plates in many of the drawers. These cards, filed by Underwood (i.e., catalog) numbers, bear printing'or production dates and notes, along with the unique, chronological accession numbers which the company assigned to each plate, regardless of the "active" number which it might eventually receive. A check mark on a card usually refers to a plate actually in the collection and with which the card is found physically associated; additional accession numbers without check marks listed on the cards possibly refer to variant views which were discarded or may in fact be in the Keystone Mast Collection (pending further research). For ease of handling and in the interest of conservation, the cards have been separated from the plates within each drawer and are arranged as a group at the rear, but can still be located easily. Frequently when a plate and/or its original envelope does not bear both the "active" and accession numbers, the missing number can be located on one of these cards.

Photographers represented include Herbert G. Ponting and Clarence W. White. A photographer and/or publisher named J. J. Killela is also represented.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in seven series. Series 1, 2, and 3 are each divided into negative and positive subseries. Plates are arranged numerically in groups based on geographical and subject content. Controlled at the series level in the finding aid and at the item level in a computer database.

Series 1, H. C. White glass plates

Series 2, American Stereoscpopic Co. glass plates

Series 3, Underwood & Underwood glass plates

Series 4, Broken glass plates

Series 5, Original company catalogs

Series 6, Paper stereographs

Series 7, stereoscopes (viewers)

Biographical / Historical:

Underwood & Underwood was established at Ottawa, Kansas, by the young brothers Elmer and Bert Underwood in 1882. They initially operated as distributors for eastern photographers' stereographs to new markets in the West. Their activities included door to door canvassing with views by Charles Bierstadt, J. F. Jarvis, and Littleton View Co.(1) Underwood & Underwood, Publishers, opened a branch office in Baltimore in 1887.(2)

Soon Underwood & Underwood and other large stereograph publishers began recruiting college students to work as salesmen during summer months (1890). Underwood and Underwood claimed that their organization alone sent out as many as 3,000 college students in one Summer [sic]. With the other ... big companies each employing more than 1,000, it is easy to understand how the countryside of the Nation literally swarmed with stereograph salesmen throughout the summer months! ... The competition between the salesmen themselves was likewise aggressive, with no holds barred. Many successful business and professional men of today relate with considerable pride that they got their start on their careers in this practical and very effective school of salesmanship.(3)

The company moved its main office from Ottawa, Kansas to New York City (1891),(4) and gradually began to publish its own stereographs. Bert Underwood finally took photography lessons from M. Abel in Mentone, France during the same year.(5) B. L. Singley, erstwhile salesman for the Underwood & Underwood and James M. Davis & Co. firms, in 1892 formed the Keystone View Company of Meadville, Pennsylvania, which was to become Underwood & Underwood's chief competitor and imitator.(6)

Underwood & Underwood entered the education market (1895) by producing packaged sets of 100 or more stereographs with descriptive texts.(7) From 1897 the firm employed full time staff photographers as well as free lancers. By 1901 the Underwoods were publishing 25,000 stereographs per day (i.e.,total number of cards). Increasing production levels led them to gain control of the Jarvis, Bierstadt, and William H. Rau photoprinting facilities in 1897 1898.(8)

The Keystone view Company created its own Educational Department in 1898. This division sustained the Keystone View Company past the period of the stereograph's popularity. In this year Underwood & Underwood reprinted Oliver Wendell Holmes's series on the stereograph and stereoscope which originally appeared in The Atlantic Monthly between 1859 and 1863. This eighty page booklet included testimonials from eminent scholars on the value of the stereograph in education. The company had been test marketing what itlater called "The Underwood Travel System." This consisted of a boxed set of stereo views of a country or region, a guide book describing the significance of the places shown, and a map showing their location and the viewpoints from which the stereographs were taken. Captions on the backs of the stereographs were sometimes printed in six languages.(9) As stereographs began to be used in schools as visual aids, the firm promoted its Travel System with endorsements from prominent educators, citing the usage of the system by various schools and universities.(10)

The H. C. White Company, which had manufactured stereoscopes for several decades, entered the stereo publication field in 1899.(11) Much of its production seemed to imitate Underwood & Underwood cards, including typography and the color of mount stock. Underwood & Underwood expanded into news photography by 1910 and gradually decreased its stereographic work. Few new stereo negatives were added to the file after 1912 except for a flurry of activity during the early war years, 1914 1916. The total number of Underwood & Underwood "titles" in stereo were from 30,000 to 40,000 (there might be a substantially larger number of actual negatives, since the files frequently were updated with newer views for old catalog numbers).(12)

Underwood & Underwood sold a portion of its negative file to the educational division of Keystone View Company in 1912,(13) and between 1921 1923 conveyed to this competitor their remaining stereo stock (presumably both cards and negatives) and rights.(14) In addition to its involvement as a news photographic agency, the company eventually opened portrait studios which flourished during the World war II years. A former Smithsonian employee, Vince Connolly, worked for Underwood & Underwood, which competed with Harris & Ewing in general portrait work during that period: he did portraiture and other photography, but says he was unaware of his employer's earlier stereo publishing activities.

Underwood & Underwood donated approximately 6000 negatives to the Section of Photography of the Division of Graphic Arts (1964). These photographs are primarily 4" x 5", captioned glass plate and film negatives. The subjects are news events and theatrical, sports, and political subjects of the early 20th century. In a letter to the Smithsonian of March 25, 1966 (in accession number 270586), Mrs. John M. Stratton described another collection of Underwood & Underwood photographs, stating that her husband had been a partner in Underwood & Underwood Illustrations and owned Underwood & Underwood News Photos. In November of the same year Mr. and Mrs. Stratton donated this collection of glass plates by Underwood & Underwood and other publishers to the Division of Photographic History (then the Section of Photography of the Division of Graphic Arts) . This material consists of both negative and positive stereographic plates, as well as non stereoscopic plates, chiefly copies made from the stereographs, with some catalogs, stereoscopes, and other material. The donor estimated 12,900 plates, but in 1983 the Smithsonian Institution inventory yielded a total of approximately 28,000 plates.

The Keystone View Company's stereoscopic production continued much later than Underwood & Underwood's. It was not until 1939 when declining interest in stereography led the firm to discontinue stereograph production and enter the field of visual optometrics. The stereoscopic negative collection, including material obtained from Underwood & Underwood and other firms, was placed in storage in concrete vaults. The Mast family of Davenport, Iowa, eventually purchased the collection in 1963, and in 1977 donated the collection to the University of California for its California Museum of Photography in Riverside. The University took physical possession of this vast collection in 1979.(15)

Many of the Underwood & Underwood plates donated by the Strattons (which were transferred to the Archives Center in 1983), in effect have been cancelled by having diagonal lines (double "X" marks) scratched into the emulsion of either the left or right image of each stereo pair (never both sides). These cancellation marks do not appear on the Underwood & Underwood plates in the Keystone Mast Collection in Riverside. This leads to several theories: (a) that these cancellations were in fact the reason that the Smithsonian plates were not purchased by Keystone in either 1912 or 1921, since Keystone clearly intended to use the Underwood material for stereograph production and the defaced plates would be of no value to them for this purpose; or (b), as stereo collector John Waldsmith suggests, that the cancellations were part of an agreement between Underwood & Underwood and Keystone: Keystone may have asked Underwood & Underwood to cancel one side of each stereoscopic plate not being sold to Keystone so that Underwood & Underwood would no longer be able to compete with Keystone in the stereo market. The defaced plates, as well as other material which Keystone did not purchase, apparently remained in Underwood custody and eventually were acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Stratton. The cancellation marks in the Smithsonian's collection are the subject of further conjecture. Edward Earle at Riverside feels that, since Underwood & Underwood sought to abandonded stereograph production much earlier than Keystone's departure from the field in order to enter the non stereoscopic lantern slide market, the cancellation may have served to indicate which side of each sterescopic pair should be converted to lantern slide production use; the existence of the 4" x 5" copy negatives and positives from stereographs in this collection seem to corroborate this. The Underwood & Underwood conversion from stereograph to lantern slide materials seems to coincide with the ascendance of lantern slide projection as visual aids in schools. The company apparently modified the type of photographic product which they published at least partially in recognition of this new educational trend.

NOTES

1. edward W. Earle, ed., Points of View: The Stereograph in America A Cultural @ Visual 'g . E!Ltory, Rochester, F.Y., Th Studies Workshop ress, 1979, p. 60; William Culp Darrah, The World of Stereographs, Gettysburg, Pa., 1979, p. 46.

2. Tbid., p. 62.

3. George E. Hamilton, Oliver Wendell Holmes, His Pioneer SLtuereoscope and Later Industry, New York, New )men Society, 1949, p. 17, quoted in Points of 1=e w:, 6 4 . P.

4. Points of View., p. 66.

5. Darrah, p. 47.

6. points of View, p. 66.

7. Ibid., p. 68.

8. Darrah, p. 47.

9. Points of View, p. 70.

10. Howard S. Becker, "Steteographs: Local, National, and International Art Worlds," in Points of View, p. 95. 11. points of View, p. 72.

12. Darrah, p. 48.

13. Darrah, p. 48, quoted in Points of View, P. 82.

14. Darrah, p. 48.

15. Chris J. Kenney, introduction to "Perspective and the Past: The Keystone Mast Collection," CMP Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1982.

Related Materials:

California Museum of Photography, University of California--Riverside, Riverside, California 92521.

Underwood & Underwood stereographs in this collection and the Smithsonian Underwood & Underwood Collection originally were components of the same company file.

Provenance:

Collection donated by June Stratton (Mrs. John M.) on December 19, 1966.

Restrictions:

The original glass plate is available for inspection if necessary in the Archives Center. A limited number of fragile glass negatives and positives in the collection can be viewed directly in the Archives Center by prior appointment.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Traveling sales personnel  Search this

Travel photography -- 1890-1930  Search this

Genre/Form:

Stereographs -- 1890-1930

Photographs -- Interpositives -- Glass -- 1890-1930

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Glass -- 1890-1930

Photographs -- 1900-1950

Stereoscopic photographs -- Glass -- 1890-1930

Lantern slides

Photographs -- 1890-1900

Citation:

Underwood &Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0143

See more items in:

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0143

Photographer:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Names:

Britten, Benjamin, Sir, 1913-1976  Search this

Pears, Peter, Sir, 1910-  Search this

Collection Collector:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Collection Printer:

Janus, Allan  Search this

Collection Interviewee:

Hanfstaengl, Erna  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (2-1/4" x 2-1/4".)

Container:

Box 170

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

undated

Arrangement:

In Series 5, Box 170, Sheet 35.

Local Numbers:

AC0145-0000055.tif (AC scan no.)

Restrictions:

Unrestricted research use on site. Unprotected photographs must be handled with white cotton gloves.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Occupation:

Composers -- 20th century  Search this

Topic:

Restaurants  Search this

Singers  Search this

Musicians  Search this

Celebrities  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1960-1990 -- Phototransparencies.

See more items in:

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection / Series 5: Transparencies / 5.9: Lectures / Portraits for lectures (2) Shadows no slides (wake--ships/boats) / Adagio--Conc. of Aranquez

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0145-ref11689

Photographer:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Collection Collector:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Collection Printer:

Janus, Allan  Search this

Collection Interviewee:

Hanfstaengl, Erna  Search this

Extent:

1 Item

Container:

Box 172

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Chromogenic processes

Scope and Contents:

Series 5, Subseries 9, Box 172, sheet no. 15-18?

Local Numbers:

53909 Videodisc frame

Restrictions:

Unrestricted research use on site. Unprotected photographs must be handled with white cotton gloves provided by Archives Center staff.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Automobiles -- 1950-1960  Search this

Jeep automobile  Search this

Hunting -- 1950-1980  Search this

Deer -- 1950-1980  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1950-2000 -- Color transparencies

Photographs -- 20th century -- Phototransparencies

Chromogenic processes

See more items in:

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection / Series 5: Transparencies / 5.9: Lectures / Water (1) and Summer (2)

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0145-ref11702

Creator:

Du Mont, Allen B. (Allen Balcom), 1901-1965  Search this

Source:

Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI.  Search this

Names:

Du Mont Laboratories, Inc.  Search this

Former owner:

Electricity and Modern Physics, Division of, NMAH, SI.  Search this

Extent:

46 Cubic feet (138 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Clippings

Newsletters

Scrapbooks

Notebooks

Motion pictures (visual works)

Photographs

Date:

1884-1965

Scope and Contents:

While the collection is focused rather specifically on the development of television in America, including technical details, legal proceedings, marketing and advertisement, and manufacturing, it is also a rich source for the history of American advertising, work cultures, sales, and entertainment. There is also information about radio, mostly in periodicals collected by Du Mont. Information about Allen Du Mont is largely limited to his professional development and activities, except for a few travel photographs and information about and logbooks from his boat.

Materials date from 1884 to 1965, but the bulk come from the years 1931 1960; mostly scattered periodicals comprise the earlier years.

The collection includes correspondence, photographs, blueprints, films, videotapes, pamphlets, books, periodicals, newspaper and magazine clippings, annual reports, organization charts, stock records, ticker tape, legal documents, patent documents, bills, accountants' reports, meeting minutes, scrapbooks, technical drawings, advertisements, catalogs, and technical manuals. Processing included revising the previous series order, refoldering and reboxing all items, and completely revising the finding aid. Duplicates were weeded out; two copies were retained of any multiple item. Materials in binders were unbound. An example of each binder with the DuMont logo was retained, and the materials once contained therein refer to the appropriate binder in the container list. Plain office binders were discarded.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into 16 series.

Series 1: Personal Files, 1920s-1965

Series 2: Executive Records, 1938-1964

Series 3: Stock Records, 1937-1962

Series 4: DuMont Laboratories, Inc., Patents and Legal Proceedings, 1884-1960

Series 5: DuMont Laboratories, Inc., Financial Records, 1931-1964

Series 6: DuMont Laboratories, Inc., Operations, 1938-1958

Series 7: Radio Technical Planning Board, 1944-1946

Series 8: Federal Communications Commission, 1940-1959 and undated

Series 9: DuMont Laboratories, Marketing and Sales, 1939-1961 and undated

Series 10: Telecommunications for Venezuela, 1952-1957 and undated

Series 11: Du Mont Network, 1944-1952 and undated

Series 12: Du Mont Publications, 1933-1963 and undated

Series 13: Photographs, 1928-1960 and undated

Series 14: Clippings/Scrapbooks, 1933-1962

Series 15: Non-Du Mont Publications, 1892, 1907-1963 and undated

Series 16: Audiovisual Materials, 1948-1955

Biographical / Historical:

Allen Balcom Du Mont was born Jan. 29, 1901, in Brooklyn, NY to S. William Henry Beaman and Lillian Felton Balcom Du Mont. He contracted poliomyelitis when he was eleven and was confined to bed for nearly a year. During his illness, he began to amuse himself with a crystal radio set; by year's end, he had built a receiving and transmitting set. He was licensed as a ship's wireless operator when he was fifteen, and took a job a year later as a radio operator on a passenger vessel that ran between New York and Providence, RI. He worked as a radio operator for the next seven years.

Du Mont graduated in 1924 from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, with a degree in electrical engineering. He had already begun his first invention for the Sound Operated Circuit Controller, a device that turns a switch on or off when it hears a sharp sound; he used it to turn off his radio during commercials with a hand clap. Du Mont began working for the Westinghouse Lamp Company (later a division of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation), raising their output of radio tubes from 500 a day to 5,000 an hour in four years. For this, he received the Westinghouse Achievement Award in 1927. He left Westinghouse to become chief engineer at the De Forest Radio Company in 1928; his inventions increased output there to 30,000 radio tubes a day, and he was promoted to vice president in charge of production. In 1929, he received his first patent, for a radio tube mounting device.

He also worked with television at De Forest, using mechanical receivers with a spinning "Nipkow disk" that scanned electrical impulses and gave the effect of a motion picture. The De Forest experimental transmitter, W2XCD, in Passaic, NJ, broadcast television programs in 1930. Du Mont quickly concluded that there was no future in scanning discs; they produced a small, dark picture, and were difficult to build correctly. Others had developed television pictures that were produced by an electronic beam scanning rapidly across a florescent screen at the end of a tube. However, those cathode ray tubes were still imported from Germany, were very expensive, and burned out after only twenty five to thirty hours.

Du Mont left his job at De Forest in 1931 and started a cathode ray manufacturing business in a garage laboratory at his home. He developed a tube that lasted a thousand hours and could be manufactured inexpensively. There was almost no market for his tubes; gross sales income the first year was only $70. However, the tubes were an integral part of the cathode ray oscillograph, an instrument widely used in physics laboratories that measures and records changes in electrical current over time. The business, incorporated in 1935 as DuMont Laboratories, Inc., prospered in the oscillograph market. DuMont Labs moved in 1933 into a series of empty stores, then to a plant in Passaic, NJ, in 1937. Du Mont also acted as consultant to manufacturers with cathode ray tube problems and served as an expert witness in patent litigations.

Du Mont used the money he made from oscillographs to develop television. His innovations in making precise, quickly manufactured, inexpensive, long lasting cathode ray tubes made commercial television possible. In 1938, Du Mont sold a half interest in his company to the Paramount Pictures Corporation to raise capital for broadcasting stations. In 1939, the company became the first to market a television receiver for homes, and was part of a major display at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Television development and sales were cut off by World War II, since DuMont Laboratories converted entirely to wartime production of oscillographs and to radar research. DuMont Laboratories returned to television production in 1946 and was the first company to market a postwar television set. By 1951 the company grossed $75 million a year and had four plants manufacturing television sending and receiving equipment in Passaic, Allwood, East Paterson, and Clifton, NJ. Du Mont had become the television industry's first millionaire. He was chosen in a Forbes magazine poll as one of the twelve foremost business leaders of America that same year, and was once characterized as "one of the very few inventors in the annals of American industry who have made more money from their inventions than anyone else has" (Rice, 36).

Du Mont began an experimental television station, W2XTV, in Passaic, NJ, in 1939. He added WABD (later WNEW TV) in New York City, WTTG in Washington, D.C., and WDTV (later KDKA) in Pittsburgh, PA. He concentrated on technology and business, leaving entertainment to others in the company. However, the DuMont Network "featured such names as Ernie Kovacs, Morey Amsterdam, Ted Mack, Ernest Borgnine, Jan Murray, and Dennis James. Its long running variety hour, Cavalcade of Stars, showcased not only Jackie Gleason but The Honeymooners, which made its debut as a Cavalcade sketch" (Krampner, 98). The 1950s superhero Captain Video became famous on the DuMont network, and Bishop Fulton Sheen's inspirational show, "Life is Worth Livinq," won surprisingly high ratings (Watson, 17). Ultimately, America's fourth network failed: in 1955, DuMont Broadcasting separated from Du Mont Laboratories, Inc., becoming the Metropolitan Broadcasting Company and, with the addition of other properties, Metromedia, Inc.

Du Mont testified frequently before the Federal Communications Commission to set technical standards for American television broadcast between 1945 and 1952. In 1946, Du Mont's company was one of several to oppose the Columbia Broadcasting System's petition to the FCC to establish color television standards; Du Mont preferred to wait for further research to develop all electronic color television, rather than the mechanical method CBS favored. He felt that method produced a picture far less than optimal, and would have required persons who did not own color sets to purchase adapters to receive broadcasts being produced in color. Standards were developed by the National Television Standards Committee in 1951 1953; the Federal Communications Commission accepted them in 1953, and regular transmission of color programs began on the major networks, including the DuMont Network, in 1954.

Sales of television receivers from DuMont Laboratories, Inc. peaked in 1954; by the late 1950s, the company was losing money. The Emerson Radio and Phonograph Company purchased the division that produced television sets, phonographs, and high fidelity and stereo equipment in 1958. In 1960 remaining Du Mont interests merged with the Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation. Du Mont was president of DuMont Laboratories, Inc., until 1956, when he became chairman of the Board of Directors. His title changed to Chairman and General Manager in 1959. In 1961 he became Senior Technical Advisor, Allen B. Du Mont Laboratories, Division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation.

Du Mont received many awards for his work, including honorary doctorates from Rennselaer (1944), Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (1949), Fairleigh Dickinson College (1955), and New York University (1955). He received the Marconi Memorial Medal for Achievement in 1945, and an American Television society award in 1943 for his contributions to the field. In 1949, he received the Horatio Alger Award, "a yearly prize bestowed by the American Schools and Colleges Association on the man whose rise to fortune most nearly parallels the virtuous careers of Ben the Luggage Boy and Tattered Tom" (Rice, 35). He held more than thirty patents for developments in cathode ray tubes and other television devices. His inventions included the "magic eye tube" once commonly seen on radios and the Duovision, a television that could receive two programs simultaneously. Du Mont was also noted for success in predicted log power boat racing; in his television equipped Hurricane III, he became the national champion of the power cruiser division of the American Power Boat Association in 1953 1955 and 1958. Du Mont died November 15, 1965; his obituary appeared on the front page of the New York Times. He was survived by Ethel Martha Steadman, whom he married in 1926, and their two children, Allen Balcom, Jr., and Yvonne.

Sources

Current Biography 1946, pp. 162 164. Krampner, Jon. "The Death of the DuMont [sic] Network: A Real TV Whodunit." Emmy Magazine (July August 1990): 96 103.

Obituary, New York Times, 16 November 1965, 1:3.

Rice, Robert. "The Prudent Pioneer." The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 1951.

Watson, Mary Ann. "And they Said 'Uncle Fultie Didn't Have a Prayer . . . "11 Television Quarterly 26, no. 3(1993): 16 21.

Who's Who in America, 1962.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Edward J. Orth Memorial Archives of the New York World's Fair, 1939-1940

Warshaw Collection, Worlds Expositions, New York World's Fair, 1939 (AC0060)

Larry Zim World's Fair Collection (AC0519)

George H. Clark "Radioana" Collection, ca. 1880-1950 (AC0055)

Division of Work and Industry

Related artifacts consist of cathode ray tubes, oscillographs, television receivers (including a Duoscope), and other instruments. See accession #:EM*315206, EM*315208, EM*315209, EM*327728, EM*327735, EM*327742, EM*327743, EM*327745, EM*327749, EM*327751, EM*327756, EM*327758, EM*327759, EM*327760, EM*327763, EM*327770, EM*328155, EM*328178, EM*328182, EM*328193, EM*328198, EM*328200, EM*328209, EM*328212, EM*328224, EM*328231, EM*328247, EM*328253, EM*328258, EM*328264, EM*328269, EM*328271, EM*328277, EM*328280, EM*328282, EM*328283, EM*328286, EM*328299, EM*328305, EM*328306, EM*328315, EM*328316, EM*328322, EM*328325, EM*328327, EM*328336, EM*328337, EM*328343, EM*328348, EM*328352, EM*328353, EM*328366, EM*328368, ZZ*RSN80323A74, ZZ*RSN80552U05, ZZ*RSN80748U09, ZZ*RSN80748U11, ZZ*RSN80844U09, and ZZ*RSN81576U01.

Library of Congress

Records of the Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, Inc. 1930 1960 (bulk 1945 1960). 56 lin. ft. Consists of nine series: Administrative Files, 1935 1960; General Correspondence, ca. 1930 1960; Interoffice Correspondence, ca. 1935 1960; Financial Records, 1932 1960; Sales and Advertising File, 1936 1960; Production and Engineering File, 1932 1960; Television File, ca. 1935 1960; Hearings File, 1935 1957; and General Miscellany, ca. 1937 1960. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections number 68 2021; National Inventory of Documentary Sources number 2.1.243.

Wayne State University, Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs

John H. Zieger Papers, 1942 1980. 1 box (type not specified). Correspondence, clippings, leaflets, and memoranda, related to Zieger's union activities with Western Electric Employees Association and Allen B. Du Mont Laboratories. National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections number 91 2872.

Provenance:

Immediate source of acquisition unknown.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view materials in cold storage. Using cold room materials requires a three hour waiting period. Only reference copies of audiovisual materials may be used. Contact the Archives Center for more information: archivescenter@si.edu.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Electricity  Search this

Television broadcasting  Search this

Televisions -- advertising  Search this

Television  Search this

Genre/Form:

Clippings -- 20th century

Newsletters

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Notebooks

Motion pictures (visual works)

Photographs -- 20th century

Citation:

Allen Balcom Du Mont Collection, 1929-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0018

See more items in:

Allen Balcom Du Mont Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0018

Creator:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Fouse-Williams, Blanche Y.  Search this

Extent:

1 electronic_discs_cd

13 Cassette tapes

4.66 Cubic feet (14 boxes, 3 map- folders)

Container:

Map-folder 1

Map-folder 3

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Electronic_discs_cd

Cassette tapes

Letters (correspondence)

Photographs

Programs

Posters

Scrapbooks

Financial records

Awards

Business records

Audiotapes

Articles

Manuscripts

Date:

1920-2005

Summary:

Business and personal papers, photographs, and audio recordings of Claude "Fiddler" Williams, an award-winning jazz fiddler. Although Williams played music for almost a century the materials in this collection date largely from 1970 to 2005.

Scope and Contents:

This collection documents the later life and career of jazz violinist Claude "Fiddler" Williams. Materials include correspondence, photographs, unpublished writings, awards, business records, financial records, programs and a few music manuscripts. There is one scrapbook and several audio recordings. There are also an autographed poster from 1997 honoring five inductees to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, including Claude Williams, Merle Haggard, Patti Page, Woody Guthrie and Eddie Burris. While there are some materials from Williams's youth, the vast majority of the collection dates from 1970. Williams's second wife, Blanche Y. Fouse-Williams, was vigilant about saving his papers. She also managed his career for the last few years of his life. This accounts for the increased volume of materials documenting his later years. Materials generally are arranged in chronological order within series and subseries.

Series 1, Business Records, 1973-2005, undated, is divided into seven subseries and includes business records, information relating to tours and performances, awards and certificates, business and personal correspondence, financial papers, articles and newspaper clippings, and biographical information.

Subseries 1, Events, 1977-2004, undated, includes contracts, copies of newspaper clippings, performance programs, brochures, ticket stubs, travel itineraries, travel receipts, correspondence, materials regarding his work as a fiddle teacher, advertisements for performances, a certificate of recognition, and napkins saved from a Washington Education Television Association (WETA) performance at the White House in 1998. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 2, Itineraries, 1990-2001, includes lists and correspondence detailing locations, musicians, travel and lodging plans, and financial compensation for William's performances. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 3, Awards and Certificates, 1978-2002, contains awards and certificates of appreciation from the Steamboat Delta Queen, Annual Black Musicians Conference, Kansas City Chapter of the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors, and the Manhattan School of Music, as well as an invitation to a reception honoring Kansas City Jazz musicians from the Consul General of Japan. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 4, Correspondence, 1975-2004, consists of information relating to travel arrangements, tours, remuneration, music recordings, press kits, contracts, public television performances, involvement with the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as Williams's Smithsonian Folkways recording. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 5, Financial Papers, 1990-2005, includes information about travel and payment, hotel bills and receipts, invoices for performances, music recordings sales, royalty statements and copies of checks. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 6, Press, 1973--005, undated, includes magazines, newspaper clippings and articles, about Williams's performances and music, appearances and jazz festivals, as well as the Kansas City Jazz scene. Magazine titles include Kansas City Magazine , Missouri Alumnus , The Masters Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program , Jazz Ambassador Magazine , Kansas City Ambassador to Jazz , The Mississippi Rag , Fiddler Magazine , Jazz News , Jazz Times , Living Blues , Blues Access , and Kansas City . Materials are arranged by type and then in chronological order.

Subseries 7, Music, 1989-1995, undated, contains thirteen audio tape recordings, one CD, sheet music and set lists of music performed by Williams. There is an audio recording of Black and Blue: A Musical Revue , a Folk Master performance at Carnegie Hall. Williams's work with James Chirillo, an appearance on Birdflight , as well as recordings of live and studio performances are also included among these materials. There is a copy of Williams's CD Swingtime in New York and an interview from1992. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Series 2, Personal Papers, 1978--005, undated, is divided into two subseries and contains letters, cards, postcards, invitations, copies of email, and requests for information and interviews. Most of the correspondence was addressed to Williams but there are materials that were sent to Blanche Williams. The correspondence is generally from fans, friends and family.

Subseries 1, Correspondence, 1978-2005, undated, consists of birthday cards from school age children, postcards, copies of newspaper clippings, White House and other government correspondence, congratulations or birthday wishes, as well as personal correspondence from friends inquiring about Williams's health and well-being. Also included is a draft for a chapter in a book on Claude Williams's contributions to jazz. Requests relating to research about Williams are also included. Materials are arranged in chronological order. Materials are arranged first by type followed by general correspondence in chronological order.

Subseries 2, Miscellaneous, undated, contains ephemera, autographs, affiliates list, well-wishes to Blanche Williams, a funeral program, mailing lists, lists of affiliated organizations, and a Count Bassie autograph.

Series 3, Photographs, 1977-2004, undated, includes personal and professional photographic prints and negatives of Williams. Subjects include performances and festivals, headshots and publicity, images of other musicians, family, friends, and posters with photographs created for his funeral. The majority of these photographs are of performances. Materials are arranged by subject.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into three series.

Series 1, Business Records, 1973-2005, undated

Subseries 1.1, Events, 1977-2004, undated

Subseries 1.2, Itineraries, 1990-2001

Subseries 1.3, Awards and Certificates, 1978-2002

Subseries 1.4, Correspondence, 1975-2004

Subseries 1.5, Financial Papers, 1990-2005

Subseries 1.6, Press, 1973-2005, undated

Subseries 1.7, Music; 1989-1995, undated

Series 2, Personal Papers, 1978-2005, undated

Subseries 2.1, Correspondence, 1978-2005, undated

Subseries 2.2, Miscellaneous, undated

Series 3, Photographs, 1977-2004, undated

Biographical / Historical:

Claude "Fiddler" Williams, 1908-2004, was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the son of a blacksmith. His musical gifts developed at a very early age, and he quickly became adept at the guitar, banjo, mandolin and cello, learning mostly by ear, without formal training. After hearing the jazz violinist Joe Venuti, the violin became his instrument of choice, and it remained so for the rest of his life. He migrated to Kansas City in 1927 and toured with several territory bands. Additionally Williams toured with the Twelve Clouds of Joy and the Cole Brothers, and in 1936, joined Count Basie's band as the first guitarist. After he was fired from Count Basie's band because John Hammond thought Williams's guitar solos were taking too much attention away from Basie, he went back to the violin (or "fiddle" as he preferred to call it) and focused exclusively on it for the rest of his life. Later he started his own band and toured with several jazz groups working for a short time with the Works Progress Administration (WPA). His band appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival, the Nice Jazz Festival, and the Smithsonian Institution's Festival of American Folk Life. Williams received numerous honors and awards, including induction into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, a proclamation from the city of Kansas City, and a 1998 National Heritage Fellowship which included a $10,000 award. President Bill Clinton invited him to perform at one of the parties celebrating his first inauguration. Williams continued to tour and perform until well into his nineties. He also gave instruction at Mark O'Connor's annual fiddle camp to young violinists. Mr. Williams died in April 2004.

Separated Materials:

Artifacts donated to the Museum's Division of Culture and the Arts include a suit and violin. See accession numbers: 2005.3105 and 2007.3020.

Provenance:

This collection was donated by Claude Williams's widow, Blanche Y. Fouse-Williams, in 2005.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.

Technical Access: Do not use original materials when available on reference audio tapes.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff.

Topic:

Music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Jazz -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Jazz musicians -- United States  Search this

Violinists  Search this

Musicians -- United States  Search this

Genre/Form:

Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.

Photographs -- 2000-2010

Programs

Posters -- 1950-2000

Scrapbooks

Financial records

Awards

Business records -- 20th century

Audiotapes

Articles

Photographs -- 20th century

Manuscripts -- Music -- 20th century

Citation:

Claude Williams Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0909

See more items in:

Claude Williams Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0909

Collector:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Names:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Collection Creator:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Fouse-Williams, Blanche Y.  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (unmounted, Silver gelatin on paper.)

Culture:

African Americans  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Scope and Contents:

Photo from Kansas City Museum, undated, ca. 1930's-1940's.

Local Numbers:

AC0909-0000001.tif(AC Scan No.)

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.

Technical Access: Do not use original materials when available on reference audio tapes.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff.

Topic:

Musicians -- 1930-1950  Search this

Guitars  Search this

African American musicians  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 20th century -- Photoprints

Collection Citation:

Claude Williams Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Claude Williams Papers

Claude Williams Papers / Series 3: Photographs / Events and performances, undated

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0909-ref645

Collector:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Names:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Collection Creator:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Fouse-Williams, Blanche Y.  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (unmounted, Silver gelatin on paper.)

Culture:

African Americans  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Scope and Contents:

Photo from Kansas City Museum, ca.1925. Claude Williams at far left.

Local Numbers:

AC0909-0000002.tif (AC Scan No.)

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.

Technical Access: Do not use original materials when available on reference audio tapes.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff.

Topic:

Orchestra  Search this

Musicians -- 20th century  Search this

African American musicians  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 20th century -- Photoprints

Collection Citation:

Claude Williams Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Claude Williams Papers

Claude Williams Papers / Series 3: Photographs / Events and performances, undated

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0909-ref646

Collector:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Names:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Collection Creator:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Fouse-Williams, Blanche Y.  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (unmounted, Silver gelatin on paper.)

Culture:

African Americans  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

ca. 1970s

Local Numbers:

AC0909-0000003.tif (AC Scan No.)

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.

Technical Access: Do not use original materials when available on reference audio tapes.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff.

Topic:

Musicians  Search this

African American musicians  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 20th century -- Photoprints

Collection Citation:

Claude Williams Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Claude Williams Papers

Claude Williams Papers / Series 3: Photographs / Events and performances

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0909-ref647

Collector:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Names:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Collection Creator:

Williams, Claude, 1908-2004  Search this

Fouse-Williams, Blanche Y.  Search this

Extent:

1 Item (unmounted, Silver gelatin on paper.)

Container:

Box 11

Culture:

African Americans  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

[1935.]

Local Numbers:

AC0909-0000004.tif (AC Scan No.)

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.

Technical Access: Do not use original materials when available on reference audio tapes.

Collection Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff.

Topic:

African American musicians  Search this

Musicians  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 20th century -- Photoprints

Collection Citation:

Claude Williams Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

See more items in:

Claude Williams Papers

Claude Williams Papers / Series 3: Photographs / Personal Photos, undated

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0909-ref648