Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Introduction:
Cultural Conservation was identified by the Smithsonian as a scientific and humanistic concern for the continued survival of the world's traditional cultures. Like its sister concept, environmental conservation, it grew from several related insights of scientists and humanists over the preceding quarter century.
First, living individuals and groups exist within ever-widening webs of relationships that form systems. The concept of ecosystem, for example, has helped us to understand interrelationships between natural species and to devise strategies for conserving threatened parts of our environment. In the understanding of traditional cultures as well we are learning to look at larger economic, political and social contexts as elements in systems of which traditional cultures are also parts. Seeing them in these larger contexts allows planning for their continued vitality.
Second, the world's resources are limited, not unlimited. When cultures die, because their practitioners die or are forced or induced to give up their culture, great resources of understanding are lost. We all lose evidence of the variety of human cultural possibilities. Lost as well is native peoples' knowledge of their environment, based on intimate, painstaking observations compiled over generations - knowledge that may provide crucial information about managing ecosystems and the uses of particular plants. And aesthetic systems as complex and meaningful as any in humankind perish or leave artifacts devoid of their original meanings.
But more importantly, the people whose cultures are defaced, if they remain alive, lose the essential human tool for comprehending and coping with the world, for understanding and integrating their lives, and for orienting and raising their children. The effects of their loss - social dysfunction and alienation - may last for generations.
Finally, the Smithsonian has come to understand that it is possible to foster the continued vitality of "endangered species" - natural or cultural - without dismantling or derailing national and international economic, political and social institutions. Conservation can be made part of development plans. In the cultural sphere, this enables the bearers of traditional culture themselves to adapt their ideas and actions to a changing environment. They have done this when necessary for hundreds of years, within the context of their own cultural thought, on their own terms.
Cultural conservation had been an underlying, if implicit, principle of the Festival of American Folklife since its beginning in 1967. In 1985 the Festival inaugurated a program that explicitly explored the question of cultural conservation from several points of view. The exhibit examined the kinds of contexts in which cultural conservation becomes a necessary concern; it documented efforts on the part of the keepers of tradition themselves to conserve their own culture in the face of a changing social and physical environment; and it explored the efforts of U.S. public cultural institutions to address the problem of cultural conservation. Festival visitors were invited to participate in and comment on the exhibit, the performances by keepers of these valued traditions, and the discussions of various aspects of this important topic.
Marjorie Hunt served as Cultural Conservation Program Coordinator, and Ann Dancy as Assistant Coordinator.
Consultants and fieldworkers:
Consultants
George Abrams, Greig Arnold, Duncan Earle, Alicia MarÃa González, Rayna Green, Bess Hawes, Glenn Hinson, Stephanie Honeywood, Alan Jabbour, Robert Laughlin, Dorothy Sara Lee, Maxine Miska, Emily Norton, Frank Proschan, Bernice Reagon, Daniel Sheehy, Nicholas Spitzer, Nancy Sweezy, Ken Taylor, Bob Teske, Terry Zug
Fieldworkers
Roland Freeman, Marjorie Hunt, Yvonne Lockwood, Frank Proschan
Foodways fieldworkers
Olivia Cadaval, Yuet-fung Ho, Janet Theophano
Presenters:
Morrie Abrams, Barry Ancelet, Greig Arnold, Hal Cannon, Walter Murray Chiesa, Duncan Earle, Alicia MarÃa González, Rayna Green, Glenn Hinson Louise Jeffredo, Dorothy Sara Lee, Phyllis May, Mick Moloney, Barry Lee Pearson, Frank Proschan, Daniel Sheehy, Nicholas Spitzer, John Vlach
Foodways presenters
Cheryl Brauner, Olivia Cadaval, Alicia MarÃa González, Laurie Kalb, Tim Lloyd, Frank Proschan, Janet Theophano
Participants:
Crafts
Greig Arnold, 1951-, Makah woodcarver, Neah Bay, Washington
Miguel Caraballo, Sr., mask maker, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Miguel Caraballo, Jr., mask maker, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Greg Colfax, Makah woodcarver, Neah Bay, Washington
Lorenzo Martinez, violin player, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Robert D. Martinez, 1963-, guitar player, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Roberto Martinez, 1929-, vihuelaplayer, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Mayan Marimba Music
Jeronimo Composeco, Indiantown, Florida
Pedro Diaz, Willingboro, New Jersey
Pedro Franciso, Indiantown, Florida
Juan Gaspar, Indiantown, Florida
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1985 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, Calif.) Search this
Container:
Box 12, Folder 15
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1975-1978
Collection Citation:
Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation. Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and Joyce F. Menschel, Vital Projects Fund, Inc.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Marion Sanford and Cornelia Chapin papers, 1929-1988. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Funding for the preservation of the Cornelia Chapin Home Movies was provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Marion Sanford and Cornelia Chapin papers, 1929-1988. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Funding for the preservation of the Cornelia Chapin Home Movies was provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
The papers of painter Frank Harmon Myers measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1891 to 1976, with the bulk of the records dating from 1908 to 1963. The records shed light on the artist's career in Ohio and California through biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, artwork, printed materials, and photographic materials.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter Frank Harmon Myers measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1891 to 1976, with the bulk of the records dating from 1908 to 1963. The records shed light on the artist's career in Ohio and California through biographical materials, personal and professional correspondence, artwork, printed materials, and photographic materials.
Biographical materials include Myers' resume, letters that confirm some of the courses he studied and taught, one membership list and meeting minutes of the Carmel Art Association, notes from a Myers art lecture on Sante Fe, one sales ledger, and drafts and notes of "And The Glory," a biography on Myers written by his wife, Ella Price Myers. Correspondence is a mixture of personal and professional letters, shedding light on Myers' freidnships, personal and professional relationship with his wife, and his travels. Correspondents include artists Sheldon Dixie and Albert Berne, poet and advertiser John Bunker, Myers' nephew Sheldon, and his son Frank. The series also includes a map that of the United States on which Myers traced his sketching trips, 1926 to 1950, a cartoon by Herman Wessel, and clippings related to John Weis. Printed materials include newspaper and magazine clippings concerning Myers' artwork, career, and exhibitions, a series of advertisements illustrated by Myers, two lithographs of his artwork, and some exhibition ephemera. Artwork consists of childhood drawings by Myers of Native Americans, holiday themes, and portraits; later sketches, mostly in charcoal and pencil, include figure and portrait studies, city scenes, and several still lifes; one 1916 landscape painting by Myers, cloth with a linoleum block design, paint samples from Myers' studio, and small sketches and doodles drawn on scraps of paper. Photographic materials depict Myers' artwork, portraits of the artist, his family and friends, and his home in Pacific Grove.
A fair amount of the collection's files include notes with contextual information written by Ella Price Myers.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1891-1976 (Box 1; .2 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1921-1973 (Box 1-2; 1 linear feet)
Series 3: Printed Materials, 1924-1963 (Box 2, OV 3; .5 linear feet)
Series 4: Artwork, circa 1908-1956 (Box 2, OV 4; .6 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographical Materials, 1910-1962 (Box 2; 4 folders)
Biographical / Historical:
Frank Harmon Myers (1899-1956) was an impressionist painter and art educator who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Pacific Grove, California. Myers was born in Cleves, Ohio, and moved to Cincinnati around 1907. His interest in art took off prior to his teenage years, illustrating a series of body-length portraits of Native Americans, several landscapes, and art with holiday themes. Myers studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati under Frank Duveneck, H. H. Wessel, and John Ellsworth Weiss; took a summer course at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Daniel Garber, Hugh Henry Breckenridge, and Joseph Thurman Pearson Jr.; and the School of Fine Arts at Fontainebleau, France, under Jean Despujols and Gourguet. Myers began showing his art at the Closson Galleries circa 1920 and taught at the Art Academy of Cincinnati from 1921 to circa 1941. In 1932, Myers spent a year on sabbatical in Sante Fe, New Mexico, painting animals, people, ranches and farms, villages, and landscapes. He and his wife, Ella Price Myers, moved to Pacific Grove, California, in 1940 so that Myers could pursue painting full-time. His work was frequently exhibited at the Carmel Art Association from this point onwards, with additional solo shows at Pebble Beach Galleries, San Jose State College, M. H. De Young Museum, Crocker Art Gallery, and others. Myers paintings were featured in group exhibitions at The Salon, Paris, Harlow Galleries, New York, St. Louis City Museum, Missouri, Alright Museum, New York, and more. Myers served as president of the Carmel Art Association in 1953.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds one scrapbook of Frank Myers publicity, circa 1925-1945, lent for microfilming on reel D42. Loaned materials were returned to Ella Price Myers and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Ella Price Myers, Myers' widow, from 1960 to 1974. An addition was donated in 1994 by Myers' daughter-in-law Patricia Clarke Myers, ex-wife of Myers' only son Frank P. Myers.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Frank Harmon Myers papers, 1891-1976. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
