Search Results

Collection Creator:

Conant, Howard  Search this

Container:

Box 1, Folder 48

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1971 November

Collection 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. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References 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:

Howard Somers Conant papers, 1944-1987. 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.

See more items in:

Howard Somers Conant papers

Howard Somers Conant papers / Series 2: Writings

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-conahowa-ref50

Interviewee:

Harris, Lyle Ashton, 1965-  Search this

Interviewer:

Fialho, Alex, 1989-  Search this

Names:

American Academy in Rome -- Students  Search this

California Institute of the Arts -- Students  Search this

Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project  Search this

Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Students  Search this

Whitney Museum of American Art  Search this

Baker, Houston A., Jr., 1943-  Search this

Barton, Nancy, (Artist)  Search this

Basquiat, Jean-Michel, 1960-1988  Search this

Butler, Cornelia H.  Search this

Carby, Hazel V.  Search this

Collier, Jim  Search this

Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.  Search this

Geer, Tommy  Search this

Goldin, Nan, 1953-  Search this

Gonzalez-Torres, Felix, 1957-1996  Search this

Gray, Todd, 1954-  Search this

Grayson, John, 1943-  Search this

Hemphill, Essex  Search this

Julien, Isaac  Search this

Lord, Catherine, 1949-  Search this

Mapplethorpe, Robert  Search this

Mays, Vickie M.  Search this

O'Dench, Ellen  Search this

O'Meally, Jackie  Search this

O'Meally, Robert G., 1948-  Search this

Riggs, Marlon T.  Search this

Seeley, J.  Search this

Sekula, Allan  Search this

Tate, Greg  Search this

Tilton, Jack  Search this

Watson, Simon  Search this

Wilson, Millie  Search this

Woodman, Francesca, 1958-1981  Search this

Extent:

6 Items (Sound recording: 6 sound files (8 hr., 6 min.), digital, wav)

95 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Interviews

Sound recordings

Place:

England -- London -- Description and Travel

Ghana -- Description and Travel

Netherlands -- Amsterdam -- Description and Travel

New York (N.Y.) -- Description and Travel

Tanzania -- Description and Travel

Date:

2017 March 27-29

Scope and Contents:

An interview with Lyle Ashton Harris, conducted 2017 March 27 and 29, by Alex Fialho, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Harris's studio and home in New York, New York.

Harris speaks of his childhood in the Bronx; his family's influence on his race-consciousness; living in Tanzania for two years as a child and the effects on his understanding of race and sexuality; his grandfather's extensive photographic archive; contact with the South African diaspora through his step-father; attending Wesleyan University; formative experiences in London, Amsterdam, and New York in the mid-1980s; his education and development as a photographer; attending CalArts and encountering West Coast AIDS activism; encountering systemic racism in Los Angeles; close friendships with Marlon Riggs and Essex Hemphill; exhibitions of his work in New York in the early 1990s; the production of his Ektachrome Archive and his impulse to photograph daily life; his work on the Black Community AIDS Research and Education (Black C.A.R.E.) project in Los Angeles; participating in the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program; being diagnosed with HIV and remaining asymptomatic; attending the Dia Black Popular Culture Conference in 1992; photographing and mounting "The Good Life" in 1994 and "The Watering Hole" in 1996; issues of blackness and queerness in his photographic work; his residency at the American Academy in Rome in 2000; moving to Accra, Ghana for seven years in 2005; his pedagogy as an art professor; his thoughts on the lack of voices of color in the Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic Oral History Project and in the larger power structures of the art world; and his hope that his artistic legacy will be evaluated in its proper context. Harris also recalls Jackie and Robert O'Meally, Jay Seeley, Ellen O'Dench, Francesca Woodman, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jim Collier, Robert Mapplethorpe, Allan Sekula, Hazel Carby, Isaac Julien, Catherine Lord, Millie Wilson, Todd Gray, John Grayson, Tommy Gear, Marlon Riggs, Essex Hemphill, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Nancy Barton, Vickie Mays, Connie Butler, Greg Tate, Henry Louis Gates, Houston Baker, Nan Goldin, Jack Tilton, Simon Watson, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Lyle Ashton Harris (1965- ) is an artist who works in video, photography, and performance in New York, New York. Alex Fialho (1989- ) is a curator and arts writer and works as Programs Director for Visual AIDS in New York, New York.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Occupation:

Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

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

Video artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

AIDS activists  Search this

AIDS (Disease) and the arts  Search this

Racism  Search this

African American artists  Search this

Gay artists  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews

Sound recordings

Sponsor:

Funded by the Keith Haring Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.harris17

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-harris17

Collection Creator:

Ybarra-Frausto, Tomás, 1938-  Search this

Container:

Box 23, Folder 11

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1987, 1992, undated

Scope and Contents note:

(clipings; notes for Prof J. Flores' sociology course; bibliography)

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.

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:

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material / Series 1: Subject Files

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-ybartoma-ref1376

Collection Creator:

Ybarra-Frausto, Tomás, 1938-  Search this

Extent:

(clippings/course readings; syllabus; essays by Juan Flores)

Container:

Box 8, Folder 64

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.

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:

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material / Series 1: Subject Files

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-ybartoma-ref594

Collection Creator:

Ybarra-Frausto, Tomás, 1938-  Search this

Extent:

(3 folders, 1 bound volume)

Container:

Box 14, Folder 49-52

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

undated, 1969-1996

Scope and Contents note:

(postcard of Jiméz' art; clippings; photocopies from catalogs; catalogs; press releases; activity book for children, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin Texas, 1983; catalog, Luis Jimémez: Working-Class Heroes: Images from the Popular Culture, Exhibits USA, Kansas City, Missouri, 1997; catalog, Man on Fire: Luis Jiménez, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1994)

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.

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:

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material, 1965-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material

Tomás Ybarra-Frausto research material / Series 1: Subject Files

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-ybartoma-ref941

Interviewee:

Ault, Julie  Search this

Interviewer:

Kerr, Theodore  Search this

Names:

Group Material (Firm : New York, N.Y.)  Search this

National Endowment for the Arts  Search this

Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project  Search this

Alderfer, Hannah  Search this

Alexander, Vikky, 1959-  Search this

Ashford, Doug  Search this

Beck, Martin, 1962-  Search this

Blake, Nayland, 1960-  Search this

Brennan, Patrick  Search this

Evans, Steven, (Curator)  Search this

Garrels, Gary.  Search this

Gonzalez-Torres, Felix, 1957-1996  Search this

Hawkins, Yolanda  Search this

Kalin, Tom  Search this

Klein, Jochen, 1967-1997  Search this

Lindell, John  Search this

Locks, Sabrina  Search this

Maharaj, Sarat (Sarat Chandra), 1952-  Search this

McCarty, Marlene, 1957-  Search this

McLaughlin, Mundy  Search this

Meyer, Richard, 1966-  Search this

Miller-Keller, Andrea  Search this

Moffett, Donald, 1955-  Search this

Nelson, Marybeth  Search this

Olander, William  Search this

Pasternak, Anne, 1964-  Search this

Phillips, Lisa, 1954-  Search this

Ramspacher, Karen  Search this

Rinder, Lawrence  Search this

Rollins, Tim, 1955-  Search this

Sandqvist, Gertrud  Search this

Serrano, Andres, 1950-  Search this

Staniszewski, Mary Anne  Search this

Szypula, Peter  Search this

Tucker, Marcia  Search this

Wagner, Frank  Search this

Wright, Charles  Search this

Extent:

6 Items (sound files (6 hr., 3 min.) Audio, digital, wav)

90 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Place:

New York (N.Y.) -- Description and Travel

Washington (D.C.) -- Description and Travel

Date:

2017 November 14-16

Scope and Contents:

An interview with Julie Ault conducted 2017 November 14 and 16, by Theodore Kerr, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at a studio in Brooklyn, New York.

Ault speaks of the nature of memory and giving an oral history; her skepticism of linear narratives; leaving rural Maine for Washington, DC at age 17; her family history; her interest in popular culture and commercial culture as a teenager; disco and nightclubs in Washington and New York in the late 1970's; working a variety of day jobs in New York, including a telephone answering service; meeting Tim Rollins for the first time in Maine; her interest in conversation; her relationship to questions; the formation of Group Material in 1979; her relationship with Andres Serrano; Group Material's collaborative dynamic, and its effect on her personal development; the complexities of trying to write or tell history; the shifting configurations and contexts of Group Material over 17 years of activity; mounting, and thinking critically about, individual exhibitions after Group Material; the first AIDS Timeline in 1989; the ephemerality of the Timeline; book projects as a means of depositing personal memories; her first memories of the AIDS crisis beginning in 1983; Group Material's Democracy and AIDS series at Dia in 1988; investigating the tension between art and activism in the context of HIV/AIDS; Karen Ramspacher's entry and contributions to Group Material; the initial decision to employ the form of a timeline and four arenas of research; different audience relationships and reactions to the Timeline; the collaborative process of creating the Timeline; losing NEA funding after the Timeline, amid the early '90s culture wars; Group Material's second exhibition of AIDS Timeline in 1990; her friendship with Felix Gonzalez-Torres; Group Material's third exhibition of AIDS Timeline in 1991; the Macho Man, Tell It To My Heart exhibition; and an acknowledgement of topics that could not be covered in the interview. Ault also recalls Doug Ashford, Vikky Alexander, Yolanda Hawkins, Mundy McLaughlin, Sarat Maharaj, Gertrud Sandqvist, Marybeth Nelson, Patrick Brennan, Hannah Alderfer, Peter Szypula, Sabrina Locks, Larry Rinder, Richard Meyer, Bill Olander, Marcia Tucker, Gary Garrels, Charles Wright, Frank Wagner, Martin Beck, Nayland Blake, Anne Pasternak, Mary Anne Staniszewski, John Lindell, Tom Kalin, Donald Moffett, Marlene McCarty, Jochen Klein, Lisa Phillips, Andrea Miller-Keller, Steven Evans, and others.

Biographical / Historical:

Julie Ault (1957- ) is an artist, writer, and curator in New York, New York. Theodore Kerr (1979- ) is a writer and organizer in New York, New York.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Occupation:

Political activists  Search this

Topic:

AIDS (Disease)  Search this

AIDS (Disease) and the arts  Search this

Art -- Political aspects  Search this

Authors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Curators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

History -- Philosophy  Search this

Oral history  Search this

Women artists -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funded by the Keith Haring Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.ault17

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-ault17

Interviewee:

Alexander, Peter, 1939-  Search this

Interviewer:

Karlstrom, Paul J.  Search this

Names:

Alexander, Peter, 1939-  Search this

Castelli, Leo  Search this

Elkon, Robert, 1928-1983  Search this

Neutra, Richard Joseph, 1892-1970  Search this

Pereira, William L., 1909-1985  Search this

Extent:

117 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

1995 December 13-1996 May 8

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Peter Alexander conducted 1995 December 13-1996 May 8, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.

This interview begins with an account of Alexander's family and educational background, including his study of architecture with Richard Neutra and further study in Philadelphia, London, and at USC, Los Angeles. He recalls working for architect William Pereira; his first New York exhibition; Robert Elkon and Leo Castelli, Los Angeles artists, the Hollywood connection; and Los Angeles in the 1960s. Alexander discusses the differences between New York and Los Angeles art worlds; his attachment to southern California; his arrogance in resisting the New York system and all it implied. He goes on to describe himself as a pagan, senusualist, and voyeur, qualities that inform his work, as does entertainment and popular culture.

Autobiographical in quality, his work embodies the notion of personality and character in determining his expression. He further discusses lessons learned from the old masters, the idea of artists as manipulators and art as voyeurism. Alexander considers his possible placement as a contemporary symbolist, contrasting his work to other current art which he sees as cynical. Finally, he claimed to see a new context and position for his art as a result of the interview, providing fresh insight into his activity as an artist.

Biographical / Historical:

Peter Alexander (1939- ) is a sculptor from Los Angeles, California.

General:

Originally recorded on 7 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 12 digital wav file. Duration is 6 hrs., 7 minutes.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Funding for the transcription provided by the Pasadena Art Alliance.

Funding for this interveiw provided by Pasadena Art Alliance

Topic:

Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles -- Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.alexan95

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-alexan95

Creator:

Nagle, Ron  Search this

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

Interviewer:

Berkson, Bill  Search this

Names:

Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this

San Francisco State University -- Students  Search this

Voulkos, Peter, 1924-2002  Search this

Extent:

84 Pages (Transcript)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Sound recordings

Interviews

Date:

2003 July 8-9

Scope and Contents:

An interview of Ron Nagle conducted 2003 July 8-9, by Bill Berkson, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in San Francisco, California.

Nagle speaks of his childhood in San Francisco and growing up in the "Outer Mission"; his early creative influences, including his father who "could build anything," his mother, who ran a ceramics club in their basement, and his high school friend Steve Archer, who customized cars; making and selling jewelry while in high school; the Beat scene in San Francisco; teaching his high school friend Rick Gomez about jewelry in exchange for lessons in throwing clay on the wheel; attending San Francisco State University, initially as an English major then switching to art; learning about Peter Voulkos from Gomez; taking a summer course with Henry Takemoto at the Art Institute [now the California School of Fine Arts]; his "manic" interest in art magazines; studying with Charles McKee at San Francisco State; working as a studio assistant for Peter Voulkos at the University of California at Berkeley, after his graduate school application was rejected; making connections in the Los Angeles art scene through friend and sculptor Ed Bereal; the influence of Kenneth Price, James Melchert, Peter Voulkos, 16th and 17th century Japanese ceramics, popular culture, and painters such as Giorgio Morandi, Albert Pinkham Ryder, Josef Albers, Philip Guston, Billy Al Bengston, and others; his first show at the Dilexi Gallery, "Works in Clay by Six Artists," 1968; teaching for 42 years; the relation between music and "studio art"; playing the piano and his broad interest in music; his band Mystery Trend; creating sound effects for the film, "The Exorcist;" his use of color; exhibitions at Garth Clark Gallery and showing internationally; his use of porcelain in the early 1990s; the idea of craft vs. art; the meditative and playful qualities of working with clay; his references to male and female physiology in his work; and his process.

Biographical / Historical:

Ron Nagle (1939- ) is a cermacist of San Francisco, California. Bill Berkson (1939- ) is a poet.

General:

Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 11 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 27 min.

Provenance:

This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.

Restrictions:

Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

Occupation:

Musicians -- California -- San Francisco  Search this

Topic:

Ceramics -- Study and teaching  Search this

Ceramics -- Technique  Search this

Ceramicists -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews  Search this

Jewelry making  Search this

Beat generation  Search this

Decorative arts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Interviews

Sponsor:

Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America.

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.

Identifier:

AAA.nagle03

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-nagle03

Collection Creator:

Hills, Patricia  Search this

Container:

Box 22, Folder 16

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

circa 1968

Collection Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings and born-digital records with no duplicate copy requires advance notice.

Collection Rights:

The Patricia Hills papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Collection Citation:

Patricia Hills Papers, circa 1950s-2015, bulk 1968-2009. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Patricia Hills papers

Patricia Hills papers / Series 8: Subject Files

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-hillspat-ref668

Collection Creator:

Asch, Moses  Search this

Distler, Marian, 1919-1964  Search this

Folkways Records  Search this

Container:

Box 3.16, Folder 11

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

undated

Scope and Contents note:

File consists of photocopies of empty folders. File titles include: International Spirits, National Council of Teachers of English, Lillian North, Postal Envelope Co, All Records Distribution, Another, De Terra, Children of Paradise, Anthropology Museum Shop, Artichoke Music, Armo Exporting, Argus Communications, Armchair Books, Aron's, Asia Foundation, Axelrod Music, Auroria Book Center, Audio Visual Methods, Brooklyn Heights Community Bookstore, Beerman's Music, Bee Gee Records, Bee Beep Toy Shop, B + M Enterprises, Baltimore County Public Schools, Ball Music, Baily's Music Rooms, Beautiful Book Co, Amazon Bookstore Inc, Alta Distribution Co, Alphabet Station, Allied School & UFFC Products, Natl Audubon Society Expedition Institute, Bearly, Kids, Bawa Muhaigalla Fellowship, Barrio Bilingual, Barefoot Books, Balsteins, Benerly Record Shop, A Bette's Story, Board of Education WI, Board of Ed VI, Board of Ed UT, Board of Ed OH, Board of Ed NC, Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, Bill Buchanon's Church & School Supply, Bryn Mawr, Bruce Magpie Prod, Concord Music, Concertina Newsletter, Concept Visual Inc, Columbia College, Colony Books, Children Mercantile, Children's Bookstore MD, Children's Bookstore OR, Children's Bookstore MT, Children's Book Shop, Children's Book Center, A Child's Place, Cheslow Music, Brown Toy House, Brooklyn Public Library, George Britton Folkshop, Stuart Brent Books, College Store Assoc, College of, Co-Op Bookstore, Co-Op Store, The Book Bag, Backhandel de Hermies, Afro-Art Foundation, Adventure Teaching Supplies, African Forum, African Music, Afro-American Bookstore, Acoustic Music, Chimaera, China Books, Christine's Cauldron, Christmas County Dance School, City Hall Records, City School Distribution, American Montessori Society, Pied Piper, Philadelphia School Distribution, Classic Encounters, Community Bookstore, Community Schools, Mr. Click, Scholastic RRRD, Popular Cultural Scientific, Smuggler's Shop, School Daze Cal, Simon Music Store, Shoppers World Plaid and Crest, Pinocchio Books, Pied Piper Records & Tapes, Polyglot Productions, Polish Bookstore, Poets Audio Center, Pooh Corner, Old Fogey Dist, Stallman Records, Stacun Music, Speyer School Service, So State School Supply, Southern Music, Southeastern Film & School Supply, So. Md. School Supply, Sound Warehouse, Sound Warehouse TX, Sound Good Records & Tape, Record City, Willie Dordill, Solant Music Stores, Snakeroot Productions, Lefter Music, Left Hand Books, Left Bank Books, Lee's Educational Center, Learning Tree RI, Learning Tree IL, Learning Tree GA, Learning Tree CA, Learning Tree MN, Learning Shop Inc OK, Learning Shop Inc IL, Meyer Music House, Metcalf Record, Mein Back Records, Memphis Public Library, Memphis Community Bookshop, Melton Books, PAF Playhouse, Pacasette Inc, Palm Record Tape Dist, FH Pence Co, Parnassess Books, GAMCO, Galperin Music, Galley Music, Grammaphone NYC, Gonernous State University, Goodman's Hebrew Books, Ginter Gretz, Greenwhich Village Disc, Green Grass Cloggers, Great Brown Oval, Gray's Dist, Granny's Place, Grand Music, Gramophone Shop, Alexandria Fuciana, Holmer Luther & Sons, Los Angeles Unified Pck. District, London Records, Long Island Comm, Lektronic Products, Little People Records, Linden Tree Children's Books, Lions Tale, Lincoln Music Co, Light House Christian Supply, Lift Budge Book Shop, Liberty Music, Liberation Information, Superior Records, Superior Music, Superintendent of Schools, Sunny Mountain Records, Sugar Loaf Folk, Sugarloaf Dulcimers, HJ Strickling, The Storybook Stores, Stop Look & Learn, Stop & Grow Book Shop, Stone's Southern School Supply, Stewart's House of Music, Starkman Book Service, Star Educational, Stanford Books, Stanfield Assoc, Standard Records, Stan's City Records, Grant Music, Get Smart Educational Shop, Gessler Pub, Gersten Enterprises, Gerry Dadds Records, Gerber Music, George's Song Shop, School Products, School House Equipment, School Equipment Co, School Board of, Sea Education Assn, Scotch House, Scottish Shopper, Scott's Music Center, Science Museums of Minnesota, Seeds for Knowledge, Sea Research Foundation, Sea Heritage, Shawnee Mission Unified School Dist, 1975 New Releases, Brigants Ed, Brics Tallahassee FL, Record Disp Atlanta GA, Publicity Letters, S Misc Speechphone, U Misc Speechphone, V Misc Speechphone, Yale Coop, Ronald Clyne, Returned Checks on Birch Tree Group, American National Choral Society of Boston, Lehman College, Eighth Ave Record Shop,

Collection Restrictions:

Access by appointment only. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at rinzlerarchives@si.edu or (202) 633-7322 for additional information.

Collection Rights:

Copyright restrictions apply. Contact archives staff for additional information.

Collection Citation:

Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.ASCH, File ASCH_03_016_011

See more items in:

Moses and Frances Asch Collection

Moses and Frances Asch Collection / Series 3: Business Records / 3.1: General Business A-L

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-cfch-asch-ref12325

Collection Creator:

Asch, Moses  Search this

Distler, Marian, 1919-1964  Search this

Folkways Records  Search this

Container:

Box 3.29, Folder 32

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1986

Scope and Contents note:

Includes correspondence, invoices, and packaging slips for the following businesses: Popular Cultural Scientific Books, Paragon Music, Polyglot Productions, Practical Bible Training School.

General note:

This file was transferred from the deaccessioned Domestic Distribution subseries (10/9/12).

Collection Restrictions:

Access by appointment only. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at rinzlerarchives@si.edu or (202) 633-7322 for additional information.

Collection Rights:

Copyright restrictions apply. Contact archives staff for additional information.

Collection Citation:

Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.ASCH, File ASCH_03_029_032

See more items in:

Moses and Frances Asch Collection

Moses and Frances Asch Collection / Series 3: Business Records / General Business M-Z

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-cfch-asch-ref9116

Collection Creator:

Sifuentes, Roberto, 1967-  Search this

Extent:

0.9 Linear feet (Boxes 4-5)

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

circa 1993-2000

Scope and Contents:

Printed material includes press clippings, promotional press packets, and source material including popular culture magazines and comic books.

Collection Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings and born-digital records with no duplicate copy requires advance notice.

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:

Roberto Sifuentes papers, circa 1988-2006, bulk 1993-2000. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.sifurobe, Series 6

See more items in:

Roberto Sifuentes papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-sifurobe-ref6

Creator:

Fuller Brush Company  Search this

Extent:

32.5 Cubic feet (77 boxes, 1 map-folder)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Articles

Clippings

Ledgers (account books)

Letters (correspondence)

Motion picture film

Newsletters

Photographs

Printed materials

Programs (documents)

Reports

Sales catalogs

Sales records

Trade catalogs

Trade literature

Training manuals

Financial statements

Market surveys

Business records

Place:

Connecticut -- Hartford

Kansas

Date:

1890-2017

Summary:

The collection documents the Fuller Brush Company founded by Alfred C. Fuller in 1906.

Content Description:

The collection documents the Fuller Brush Company from the early years of its existence. The contents include photographs; ledgers; correspondence; internal reports; manufacturing facility studies; quality control reports; financial statements; sales data; company newsletters, some loose and some in bound form; other internal publications; advertising; trade literature; product manuals; catalogs; training manuals and employee handbooks; company annual reports; convention programs and materials; films; materials relating to employee incentives; vinyl records of radio broadcasts; scripts, pressbooks, and other promotional material for motion pictures; informational audio-cassete tapes; contracts, trial testimonies, and other legal papers; industry surveys and marketing campaign proposals; and clippings and printed materials.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged into thirteen series. Unless otherwise noted, material is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: Historical background, 1916-2001

Series 2: Corporate records, 1917-2010 (bulk 1973-1976)

Series 3: Marketing, 1941-2013

Series 4: Operational records, 1913-1976 (bulk 1969-1976)

Series 5: Financial materials, 1919-1996

Series 6: Personnel, 1922-1984

Series 7: Sales managers, 1922-1990

Series 8: Distributors, 1921-2006

Series 9: Publications, 1920-1999

Series 10: Product materials, 1912-2017

Series 11: Photographs, circa 1890-2000

Series 12: Press Clippings and Publicity, 1921-2010

Series 13: The Fuller Brush Man and The Fuller Brush Girl, 1947-1953, 2004 (bulk 1947-1952).

Historical:

Founded in 1906 by Alfred C. Fuller in Hartford, Connecticut, the Fuller Brush Company predominately sold a wide range of cleaning products, marketed for personal care, housekeeping, and commercial users. Mostly a direct-selling company, it is perhaps best known for its independent, door-to-door salesmen, a figure referred to in popular culture as "the Fuller Brush Man." Calling on the housewives of America, the Fuller Brush Man would visit households with a gift, flyers, and a case full of samples, with which he would demonstrate the use of cleaning implements of various shapes and sizes. Through techniques such as developing new products based on customer feedback, and providing a satisfaction guarantee by allowing for product returns during the Fuller Brush Man's next visit, the Fuller Brush Company inspired new levels of trust and credibility in direct selling. In return, the company reaped massive profits. During the peak of the company's popularity, in around the 1950s, the Fuller Brush Man was a ubiquitous part of the American landscape, alluded to in comic strips, radio programs, and popular films, such as the 1948 Red Skelton comedy The Fuller Brush Man and the 1950 comedy The Fuller Brush Girl, starring Lucille Ball.

The Fuller Brush Company continually used its resources to promote and establish the identity of the Fuller Brush Man, to its own salespeople as well as the public. Traditional print advertisements were supplemented with extensive publicity coverage, carefully crafted by the Fuller Brush Company's advertising and public relations team. The company fostered a culture of achievable aspiration among new recruits, through in-house publications, which celebrated the accomplishments of fellow dealers, incentive programs, and a career ladder pipeline, which allowed high achieving salesmen to advance from independent dealers to regional sales managers--who were considered formal employees of the Fuller Brush Company. Some sales managers became local celebrities in their districts, adding their own charisma to the development of the Fuller Brush Man--such as New York District's Al Teetsel--whose "Fine and Dandy" personal motto established a cult following. Other Fuller Brush Company salesmen used the Fuller Brush Man's distinctive optimism, pluck, and perseverance to later become celebrities in their own right, such as evangelist Billy Graham, who attributed his high school days as a successful Fuller Brush Man to his future success.

While the Fuller Brush Company is best known for its door-to-door network of Fuller Brush Men, and its household products division, the company experimented with various channels of distribution and other specialized products during its over 100-year history. The Fuller Brush Company produced implements to clean guns during World War II, and in 1945 was honored with the E Award for its war effort contributions. In the 1940s, the Fuller Brush Company introduced female salespeople, or "Fullerettes" to their door-to-door ranks (mostly to promote their Debutante Cosmetics line, released by Daggett & Ramsdell, Inc. in 1948). The company returned to actively recruiting Fullerettes in 1966, and thereafter welcomed distributors of either sex. The company's Machine Division produced the mast for the sailboat "Columbia" in 1958, and in the 1960s, its Marine Division produced items for the maintenance of nautical equipment. Around the 1960s, its Household Division incorporated new items such as vitamins and hormone treatments into its personal care product line. The company experimented with retail brick-and-mortar locations, and, in 1974, instigated a telemarketing program. After 1985, the Fuller Brush Company began to move away from door-to-door sales techniques, redeveloping its sale channel distribution system to include mail order catalogs, a secure sales website for distributors, network-marketing techniques, and a reinterpretation of sales territories for distributors where district territories began to blur in favor of nationwide sales opportunities.

Founded in Hartford, Connecticut, the company remained in the region through the 1960s, though the company shifted locations to larger offices and manufacturing facilities as it grew. In 1960, operational facilities and headquarters moved to a large, custom-built campus in East Hartford, Connecticut. However, in 1968, the company was acquired by the Kitchens of Sara Lee, Inc. (then a part of the Consolidated Foods Corporation). During the 1970s the Fuller Brush Company experienced rapid changes in administration and organization. Under President Nat Zivin, headquarters relocated to Niles, Illinois in 1973. Later the same year, headquarters and operations moved to a large manufacturing facility in Great Bend, Kansas. The company remained a division of Sara Lee until 1989.

The Fuller Brush Company grew to involve multiple subsidiaries, including many that were international. The Fuller Brush Company established a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary in 1921, called the Fuller Brush Company, Limited. In 1942, the Fuller Brush Company bought out a competitor, the Albany, New York-based Mohawk Brush Company. The "bristlecomb" hairbrush, introduced by the Mohawk Brush Company in 1928, remained one of the Fuller Brush Company's signature products. In 1961, the Fuller Brush Company founded and incorporated Charter Supply Corporation as a wholly-owned Mohawk subsidiary. Charter Products operated as a "private label" division, to rebrand duplicate products. The Fuller Brush Company also owned subsidiaries in Mexico; in 1968, the Fuller Brush Company held 100% interest in House of Fuller, S.A. and Charter de Mexico, S.A., both established in Mexico. Also in 1968, the Fuller Brush Company was a partial owner of House of Fuller (Jamaica), Ltd. The Fuller Brush Company conducted business around the world, including dealings in England, France, Jamaica, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Spain, and Venezuela.

With growth came legal challenges. The Green River Ordinance, established in 1931, placed limits on door-to-door sales. The Fuller Brush Company challenged the ordinance, when it went to the Supreme Court in 1937. Over the course of its history, the Fuller Brush Company weathered lawsuits ranging from trademark disputes to labor treatment complaints from area managers in Puerto Rico.

After the sale by Sara Lee in 1989, the Fuller Brush Company was held by a series of private owners, including Lee Turner and Stuart A. Ochiltree. In June 1994, CPAC, Inc. purchased the company. In 1995, CPAC, Inc. also bought a longtime competitor of the Fuller Brush Company, Stanley Home Products, a company founded in 1929 by Stanley Beverage, a former sales vice president for the Fuller Brush Company. The two companies became siblings under the same parent organization; items from the Stanley Home Products line were sold by Fuller Brush Company distributors, and manufactured at the Fuller Brush Company plant in Great Bend. In 2012, both the Fuller Brush Company and Stanley Home Products filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The companies merged their product lines and catalogs, eliminating equivalent products, to cut costs and streamline operations.

In December 2012, David Sabin and Chicago-based private equity firm Victory Park Capital purchased the Fuller Brush Company. The company headquarters moved to Napa Valley, California. Facing increased financial difficulties, in 2016 the company began to phase out its independent distributor system and domestic manufacturing operations. Around January 2018, the company was sold to Galaxy Brush LLC of Lakewood, New Jersey.

Biographical:

Alfred C. Fuller (January 13, 1885 - December 4, 1973), was founder and first president of the Fuller Brush Company, as well as the "original Fuller Brush Man." He was born in rural Nova Scotia, to parents Leander Joseph Fuller and Phebe Jane Collins. The eleventh of twelve children, Fuller took pride in the resilient and self-sufficient spirit he developed growing up on a Nova Scotian farm, and valued such qualities throughout his life over formal education. Long after his success, he promoted himself as an average man among average men.

In 1903, at age eighteen, Alfred Fuller left his family home in Nova Scotia, and followed siblings who settled in the United States. He moved in with his sister Annie and her husband, Frank Adler, in Somerville, Massachusetts. After a series of odd jobs, Fuller considered trying his hand at selling brushes (he was inspired by a brother, Dwight, who made and sold brushes before his death by tuberculosis in 1901). Alfred discovered a knack for trade; unlike many other direct salesmen at the time, his sales technique emphasized product demonstrations. Eventually, Fuller decided to make his own brushes. He set up a workbench in his sister's basement in January 1906. Four months later, he moved to Hartford, Connecticut where he founded the Fuller Brush Company.

The rapid success of the company, improved Alfred C. Fuller's romantic prospects. With the enthusiastic support of his sister, Annie, Alfred initiated a courtship with a Nova Scotian woman who had formerly caught his eye, Evelyn Ellis. They were married on April 10, 1908. However, the marriage was strained, and they divorced in 1930. In 1932, Alfred Fuller remarried. His second wife, Mary Primrose Pelton, was also Nova Scotian, the daughter of a judge from Yarmouth. They remained together for the rest of his life.

Alfred C. Fuller and his first wife Evelyn had two sons. Alfred Howard was born in 1913 and Avard in 1916. Both would later rise to prominence within the Fuller Brush Company, serving as its second and third presidents. The elder son, Howard, was Fuller Brush Company President from 1943 until 1959. From an early age, Howard challenged his father regarding the direction of the company. With his bold and aggressive personality, Howard was able to institute changes to the company that resulted in higher profits, such as distributing catalogs before the salesman's visit, shortening product demonstrations, prioritizing many small sales over few large sales, and developing other techniques that emphasized speed and efficiency. However, his temperament also contributed to Howard and his wife Dora's untimely deaths. Howard, always interested in thrilling, high-risk pursuits (such as driving sports cars, piloting airplanes, and racing speedboats and sailboats) was cruising through Nevada at 120-miles per hour for a business trip, uncharacteristically accompanied by his wife, when his Mercedes-Benz 300 SL blew a tire. Both Fullers died in the accident.

Following the tragic accident, Avard assumed leadership of the Fuller Brush Company. Avard's more conservative nature ushered in an era of leadership where his father, Alfred C. Fuller, rose in honor and influence with the company. However, Avard relied on traditional sales strategies (such as promoting a culture around the Fuller Brush Man, rather than take a more active strategy toward integrating female distributors) which placed the Fuller Brush Company at a disadvantage with competitors such as Avon Cosmetics. Avard served as President of the Fuller Brush Company until 1969.

Although Alfred C. Fuller never reclaimed presidency of the Fuller Brush Company, he remained chairman emeritus for the duration of his life. A treasured company figurehead, celebrations were held in his honor long after his retirement. In 1956, a testimonial dinner was held where a portrait of Fuller was unveiled in honor of the 50-year anniversary of the Fuller Brush Company. In 1965, Alfred C. Fuller was further honored, when his birthplace was dedicated as a historic landmark. Alfred C. Fuller was known as "Dad" Fuller to the thousands of Fuller Brush Men and Fullerettes who represented the company door-to-door throughout the country, and made frequent appearances in in-house publications and external publicity. Working with Hartzell Spence, Alfred C. Fuller wrote an autobiography, titled A Foot in the Door, published by the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. in 1960. A practicing Christian Scientist with a devout Methodist mother, Fuller frequently alludes to the influence of his faith in his autobiography. Alfred C. Fuller passed away on December 4, 1973.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Stanley Home Products Collection (AC0788)

Earl S. Tupper Papers (AC0470)

Brownie Wise Papers (AC0509)

Ann and Thomas Damigella Collections (AC0583)

Industry on Parade Film Collection, episodes 66, 217 (AC0507)

Materials at the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Libraries Trade Literature Collection, includes some Fuller Brush Company catalogs;

The Work and Industry Division, National Museum of American History holds artifacts from the Fuller Brush Company from previous accessions, such as hairbrushes for women and men (including bristlecomb hairbrushes); shower brushes; toothbrushes; combs; a military brush; brush holders; and similar materials. (AG.A.6645-AG.A.6653; AG.A.6656-AG.A.6666; AG.77-FT-15.0523; ZZ.RSN833134).

The Medicine and Science Division, National Museum of American History holds a general purpose cleaning brush, and a bathroom fixtures cleaning brush from a previous accesssion (2006.0098).

National Portrait Gallery holds a portrait of Alfred Fuller.

Materials at Other Organizations

Hagley Museum and Library, Manuscripts and Archives Department

Avon Products Inc., Records, 1880-2012

University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, Archives

Columbia Pictures Records, 1934-1974 (collection #93555)

Includes materials related to the Fuller Brush man and Fuller Brush Girl, 1950.

Separated Materials:

Artifacts collected along with the acquisition of archival material are held by the Divisions of Work and Industry, and Medicine and Science.

Separated materials assigned to the Division of Work and Industry include a men's tie; buttons; ashtray; charm; and tape measure. See accession 2018.0089.

Separated materials assigned to Division of Medicine and Science include a bathing brush, a dental plate brush, a women's hair brush, a comb cleaner, and toothbrushes. Some items are maintained in original packaging, or are kept with original paper inserts. See accession 2018.0090.

Provenance:

Collection donated by the Fuller Brush Company through David Sabin, 2018.

Restrictions:

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

Rights:

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:

Advertising copy  Search this

Advertising, Point-of-sale  Search this

Broom and brush industry  Search this

Door-to-door selling  Search this

Household supplies  Search this

Print Advertising  Search this

Sales promotion  Search this

Traveling sales personnel  Search this

Manufacturing  Search this

Cosmetics industry  Search this

Industry -- U.S.  Search this

Direct selling  Search this

Businesspeople  Search this

Marketing  Search this

Radio broadcasts  Search this

Product demonstrations  Search this

Genre/Form:

Articles -- 20th century

Clippings -- 20th century

Ledgers (account books) -- 20th century

Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.

Motion picture film

Newsletters -- 20th century

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- 20th century

Printed materials

Programs (documents)

Reports -- 20th century

Sales catalogs

Sales records

Trade catalogs -- 20th century

Trade literature -- 20th century

Training manuals -- 20th century

Financial statements

Market surveys

Business records -- 20th century

Citation:

Fuller Brush Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1459

See more items in:

Fuller Brush Company Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1459

Collection Collector:

Maltsby, Portia  Search this

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture  Search this

Container:

Box 126, Cassette 31

Type:

Archival materials

Audio

Date:

undated

Scope and Contents:

Harrison continued Questions Introduction of panelists by Bernice Johnson Reagon. Panel III: Blues Performance: Live and Recorded Panelists:

Harrison continued Questions Introduction of panelists by Bernice Johnson Reagon. Panel III: Blues Performance: Live and Recorded Panelists:

David Evans, professor of music and director of regional studies graduate degree programs and ethnomusicology at Memphis State University. Sandra LiebIEB, assistant professor of literature and popular culture, Department of English, University of Illinois-Chicago Circle. She is also the author of Mother of the Blues.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use of reference audio and video cassette copies only.

Collection Rights:

Reproduction fees for commercial use. Copyright restrictions. Contact staff for information.

Collection Citation:

Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Program in African American Culture Collection

Program in African American Culture Collection / Series 1: Program Files

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0408-ref158

Collection Collector:

Maltsby, Portia  Search this

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture  Search this

Container:

Box 133, Cassette 8

Type:

Archival materials

Audio

Date:

undated

Scope and Contents:

Opening remarks by Bernice Johnson Reagon Introduction of panelists by Bernice Johnson Reagon. Each panelist discusses black aesthetics as it relates to their field of expertise. Bernice Johnson Reagon discusses the conflict of style of gospel music using the case of the congregation at United Methodist Church on John's Island. Jeff Donaldson is a professor of art at Howard University, specializing in African-American art history. He is a researcher, lecturer and visual artist. He discusses African-American visual art aesthetics. Clyde Taylor is an associate professor of english at Tufts University, specializing in African-American literature, Black popular culture, independent black cinema and third- world cinema. He discusses black popular culture aesthetics and historical issues.

Rosalyn Walker is a curator, curatorial collections and exhibitions, at the National Museum of African Art. She discusses African and western aesthetics and its influence on African art, and the process of selecting African art for museums.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use of reference audio and video cassette copies only.

Collection Rights:

Reproduction fees for commercial use. Copyright restrictions. Contact staff for information.

Collection Citation:

Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Program in African American Culture Collection

Program in African American Culture Collection / Series 1: Program Files

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0408-ref224

Collection Collector:

Maltsby, Portia  Search this

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture  Search this

Container:

Box 133, Cassette 9

Type:

Archival materials

Audio

Date:

undated

Scope and Contents:

Hale Smith is one of America's most distinguished composers. He is a professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut. He is a writer, consultant, and co-chair of the National Endowment for the Arts Composers Panel. He discusses improvisational art expression and its origins and its affects on cultural expression.

Mike Malone is a choreographer, dancer, and artistic director of Young Audiences, DC Chapter and of the Richard Allen Center for Culture and Art, New York. He discusses dance and its influence on popular culture.

Tulani Jordan is a hair sculptress, braider, writer and educator. She discusses the issue of beauty and hair. Haile Gerima, is a professor of film at Howard University. He is an award winning filmmaker. He discusses film aesthetics as it relates to African-Americans.

Pearl Williams-Jones is an associate professor of music at the University of the District of Columbia. She is a performer, researcher and lecturer on Black American gospel music. She discusses the black aesthetic in black gospel music.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use of reference audio and video cassette copies only.

Collection Rights:

Reproduction fees for commercial use. Copyright restrictions. Contact staff for information.

Collection Citation:

Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Program in African American Culture Collection

Program in African American Culture Collection / Series 1: Program Files

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0408-ref226

Collection Collector:

Maltsby, Portia  Search this

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture  Search this

Container:

Box 133, Cassette 12

Type:

Archival materials

Audio

Date:

undated

Scope and Contents:

Open discussion continued Issues addressed: The human element in African-American art. African Art The influence of popular culture on black cultural forms. Visual images (hair, film, television, art) and their influence on self-perception of African-Americans and African-American culture. Black aesthetics as a method of behavior.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use of reference audio and video cassette copies only.

Collection Rights:

Reproduction fees for commercial use. Copyright restrictions. Contact staff for information.

Collection Citation:

Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Program in African American Culture Collection

Program in African American Culture Collection / Series 1: Program Files

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0408-ref234

Collection Collector:

Maltsby, Portia  Search this

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture  Search this

Container:

Box 24, Folder 15

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1995 February 1-4

Scope and Contents:

Program in African American Culture and the Ethnic Imagery Project of the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Instituion; the Black Film Institute of the University of the District of Columbia; and the Black Film Review sponsored this program. Program held from Wednesday, February 1, through Saturday, February 4, 1995, in the Carmichael Auditorium and the Taylor Gallery. The symposium included panel discussions, film screenings, lectures, presentations of papers, and performances. The participants included:

Orlando Bagwell, film maker, producer, and director

Toni Cade Bambara, Black film historian; professor of film,Temple University

Steven Torriano Berry, cinematographer and director of photography

Camille Billops, film maker and sculptor

Jaqueline Bobo, Ph.D., associate professor, film and television studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Donald Bogle, author, critic, and leading authority on African Americans in American popular culture

India Cooke, violinist, composer, and educator

Thomas Cripps, Ph.D., University Distinguished Professor of History, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland

Manthia Diawara, Ph.D., professor of comparative literature and film, director of Africana Studies Program and the Institute of Afro-American Affairs, NYU

Carl Erikson, Boston based community activist and developer of Roxbury Cinema Multimedia Center

Gloria J. Gibson-Hudson, Ph.D., assistant director, Black Center/Archive; assistant professor, Department of Afro-American Studies, Indiana University

William Greaves, film maker, director, producer, actor

Frederick Dennis Greene, J.D., president of New York-based Lenox/Greene Films

Ed Guerrero, Ph.D., professor of film and literature, University of Delaware

George Hill, Ph.D., author, journalist, publicist, and entrepreneur

George Jackson and Doug McHenry, producers and partners in Jackson/McHenry Company

Clarence Lusane is an author, activist, lecturer, and freelance journalist in DC

Michelle Parkerson, writer and independent film maker from DC

Mark A. Reid, Ph.D., associate professor, African American and African Studies Program and the English Department, University of California, Davis

Jesse Algernon Rhines, Ph.D., assistant professor of political economy in the African American Studies Department, Rutgers University

Program number AC408.92.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Use of reference audio and video cassette copies only.

Collection Rights:

Reproduction fees for commercial use. Copyright restrictions. Contact staff for information.

Collection Citation:

Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Program in African American Culture Collection

Program in African American Culture Collection / Series 1: Program Files

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0408-ref1298

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Introduction:

By including a Finnish American component in the 1980 Festival, the Folklife Program reaffirmed its commitment to plans specially developed for the 1976 Bicentennial Festival. That program, called "Old Ways in the New World," was intended to dispel much of the "melting pot" notion of American culture by showing that many traditions brought from the Old World have tenaciously survived and developed in their new setting.

When immigrant groups arrived in the U.S., the "Old Ways" of cooking, singing, dancing, building, and playing they brought with them were often their only means of maintaining cultural identity. Eventually, by retaining these practices, the descendants of many of these ethnic groups developed a pride in their heritage. Often they chose a particular day, such as a patron saint's feast day, to celebrate their ethnicity. Such an annual occasion became a real "homecoming," when distant family or community members returned to their roots, eating traditional foods with foreign names and joining in Old World dances to the accompaniment of music and instruments from outside the mainstream of American popular culture.

While ethnic festivals in the United States are numerous, scholarly focus typically centered mostly on urban celebrations sponsored by larger immigrant groups such as Italians or Irish. By contrast, Laskiainen is a rural winter festival quietly sustained by one of the smallest immigrant groups, the Finns. As with Mardi Gras and other well known Shrovetide celebrations, Laskiainen was a day of feasting and other festivities in anticipation of the 40-day Lenten fast. Having been transplanted from Finland to northern Minnesota, the event has continued for more than 50 years, making it one of this country's oldest ethnic festivals.

Because it was impossible to transport the entire event with all its participants, the Smithsonian selected a cross section of foods, crafts, and entertainment to be demonstrated at the 1980 Festival, stressing wherever possible the wintertime aspects of the event: Christmas tree ornaments, the colorful Finnish woolen wear, the birchbark winter slippers used in lumber camps, and the sauna from which one emerges to plunge into the snow. Another essential aspect of Laskiainen that the Festival tried to retain was its family character. Among this year's participants were two brothers and a sister playing Finnish music, several husband-and-wife teams, and a young man weaving fishnets while his grandmother knitted caps and socks nearby.

Participants:

George Erick Ahlgren, 1931-, log hewer, Duluth, Minnesota

Joyce E. Davis, 1945-, -- kantele -- player, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jeanne A. Doty, 1953-, musician, Eveleth, Minnesota

Alex Hietala, 1911-1984, musician, Embarass, Minnesota

Geraldine Kangas, 1936-, cook, Aurora, Minnesota

John Kangas, 1931-, whip sled builder & operator, Aurora, Minnesota

Karen H. Kiviluoma, 1924-, cook, Makinen, Minnesota

Pentti Korpi, 1934-1993, log hewer, Duluth, Minnesota

Laimi Koskiniemi, 1904-1983, knitter and cook, Gilbert, Minnesota

Wilbert W. Koskiniemi, 1961-, fishnet maker, Makinen, Minnesota

Eva Lammi, 1914-2005, -- lastu -- maker, Virginia, Minnesota

Martin Mattson, 1930-, head log hewer, Esko, Minnesota

Robert J. Mattson, 1924-2003, whip sled builder & operator, Aurora, Minnesota

Marvin Salo, 1927-2003, woodsman, Embarrass, Minnesota

Gregg W. Santa, 1959-, musician, Hibbing, Minnesota

Wesley A. Santa, 1956-, musician, Hibbing, Minnesota

Larry H. Saukko, 1948-, musician, Tower, Minnesota

Lilya White, 1913-2004, spinner and cook, Aurora, Minnesota

Collection Restrictions:

Access by appointment only. Where a listening copy or viewing copy has been created, this is indicated in the respective inventory; additional materials may be accessible with sufficient advance notice and, in some cases, payment of a processing fee. Older papers are housed at a remote location and may require a minimum of three weeks' advance notice and payment of a retrieval fee. Certain formats such as multi-track audio recordings and EIAJ-1 videoreels (1/2 inch) may not be accessible. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at 202-633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.

Collection Rights:

Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1980 Festival of American Folklife, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.SFF.1980, Series 5

See more items in:

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1980 Festival of American Folklife

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-cfch-sff-1980-ref37

Creator:

Anacostia Museum  Search this

Names:

Anacostia Community Museum  Search this

Anacostia Neighborhood Museum  Search this

X, Malcolm, 1925-1965  Search this

Collection Creator:

Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum  Search this

Walker Art Center  Search this

Extent:

1 Video recording (VHS)

Culture:

African American  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Video recordings

Place:

Anacostia (Washington, D.C.)

Washington (D.C.)

United States

Date:

1994

Scope and Contents:

Brother Benjamin Karim shared insights about his personal friend and minister Malcolm X, under whom he served as an assistant minister in the Nation of Islam. After the gallery talk, Karim led the group on a tour through the exhibition 'Malcolm X: Man, Ideal, Icon.'

Gallery talk and Exhibition tour. Related to exhibition 'Malcolm X: Man, Ideal, Icon.' Dated 19940412.

Biographical / Historical:

'Malcolm X: Man, Ideal, Icon' examined Malcolm X as a historical figure through writings, speeches, and photographs; as the inspiration for representational and abstract art; and as a symbol for popular culture merchandise. The exhibition was held at the Anacostia Museum from April 3, 1994 - June 5, 1994.

Collection Restrictions:

Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.

Topic:

African Americans  Search this

Museum exhibits  Search this

Genre/Form:

Video recordings

Citation:

Remembering Malcolm by Benjamin Karim, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

ACMA.03-035, Item ACMA AV002049

See more items in:

Malcolm X: Man, Ideal, Icon Exhibition Records

Archival Repository:

Anacostia Community Museum Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-acma-03-035-ref508