The glaze recipes in the studio practice files are access restricted; written permission is required to view these documents. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact 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:
Toshiko Takaezu papers, circa 1925-circa 2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
An interview of Billie Ruth Sudduth conducted 2007 July 26-27, by Mija Riedel, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, at the artist's home and studio, in Bakersville, North Carolina.
Sudduth speaks of her childhood in Alabama; her adoptive family; growing up in a creative and musical environment; an early exposure to women working with their hands; buying a Cherokee basket at age 12; childhood piano lessons and later exploring rhythm in her baskets; attending Huntingdon College; a strained relationship with her mother; meeting her biological family; attending the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa and earning a Master's degree in social work; working as a social worker and psychologist for over 20 years; balancing a career with family; taking a basket-making class in an effort to relax and do something for herself; making baskets in spare time and teaching herself new techniques; her family's move to Las Vegas, Nevada; teaching basket-making classes to adults; developing Math in a Basket curriculum; an interest in Fibonacci and the inclusion of its ratio in her baskets; an interest in color and natural dyes; returning to North Carolina and focusing full time on basket making; receiving a North Carolina Arts Council Emerging Artists grant to photo-document her body of work; becoming interested in chaos theory and its application to her basketry; the popularity and success of Math in a Basket; teaching experiences at Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and John Campbell Folk School; receiving a North Carolina Arts Council Visual Artist grant to study Cherokee, Choctaw, and other Native American tribes' basketry; her extensive basket collection; the honor of being named a North Carolina Living Treasure; participating in juried shows, including exhibiting at the Smithsonian Craft Show for 12 years and the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show for seven years; the evolution of her workspace and studio; making the Carolina snowflake, which was exhibited at the White House; her exhibition history; an increasing respect for and recognition of baskets as art objects; the advantages university-trained artists have over self-taught artists; learning the business side of art making through trial and error; living and working in an incredible community of artists and collectors in North Carolina; a growing interest and participation in donating her baskets for fundraisers; and looking forward to spending more time with her grandchildren. Sudduth also recalls Cynthia Bringle, Carol Sedestrom Ross, Kenneth Trapp, Howard Risatti, Katie Gingrass, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Billie Ruth Sudduth is a basketmaker from Bakersville, North Carolina. Mija Riedel (1958- ) is a curator and writer from San Francisco, California.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 15 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr., 42 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.
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. 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:
Nina Howell Starr papers, circa 1933-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian's Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
This collection consists of 2.5 cubic feet relating to to Dr. Alfred Koestler's research relating to behavioral performance of chimpanzees in aerospace environments, particularly regarding space decompression. The following types of material are included: black and white photography; color prints and slides; newspaper articles; Ham and Enos ink footprints; over 140 4 by 3.25 inch glass-mounted lanterns slides; publications about both the general aeromedical work at Holloman and specifically about the work of Dr. Koestler; and publications authored by Dr. Koestler.
Biographical / Historical:
Alfred Koestler (1934-2014) was born in Kelheim, Germany. He studied engineering for two years at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, before attending Baylor University, Texas, where he received his doctorate in experimental and industrial psychology. Koestler conducted aerospace medical research for the United States Air Force at Holloman in support of Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. He was a Research Psychologist (Physiological and Experimental) in the Comparative Psychology Division's 6571st Aeromedical Research Laboratory. He worked with comparative-experimental psychology in evaluating behavioral performance in chimpanzees in aerospace and related hazardous environments which posed risks to the military and civilian populations. His most notable work was in space decompression studies. After his work at Holloman, he taught at the University of Texas at El Paso, and then became Director of Psychological Services for Blue Bell, Inc. in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1987 he became Vice President for Human Resources for the US Operations of the Robert Bosch Corporation.
Provenance:
Audrey Koestler, Gift, 2015
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Billie Ruth Sudduth, 2007 July 26-27. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Basket makers -- North Carolina -- Interviews Search this
The collection is stored off-site. Advanced notice must be given to view the collection.
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1946-1995
Scope and Contents:
The records now in the archives are relatively complete and continuous since the late 1960s. Prior to that time, documentation is scant.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into ten series: (1) Correspondence of officers, 1946-1976; (2) executive committee and secretarial files, 1968-1977; (3) membership lists, 1959-1976; (4) programs for annual meetings, 1949-1976; (5) Human Organization, copies of publications in monographic series, 1959-1972; (6) secretary's records, 1975-1978(7) treasurer's records (J. Thomas May), 1983; (8)memoranda of the membership committee to the executive committee, 1979-1984; (9) records regarding trhe Malinowski Award, 1976-1986; (10)records of officers (Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Art Gallagher, Thomas Greaves, Gilbert Kushner, and Marion Pearsall), ca. 1953-1991.
Historical Note:
The Society for Applied Anthropology was founded at a meeting at Harvard University in October 1941. It was incorporated in the same year under the laws of the state of Massachusetts. The purpose of the society has been "the promotion of scientific investigation of the principles controlling the relations of human beings to one another and the encouragement of their wide application."
The main organ of the Society for Applied Anthropology has been the Journal of Applied Anthropology, which became Human Organization in 1949. One issue of a newsletter, apparently part of a promotional effort to increase the society's membership, was issued in mimeograph in 1950. An early project of the society, started in 1951, was the Clearinghouse for Research in Human Organization and its Bulletin, published between 1951 and 1957, aimed to keep members informed of ongoing research and publications in applied anthropology. Beginning in 1978, the society has published the periodical Practicing Anthropology.
Since 1956, the society has issued special publications, largely in a series of monographs which was begun in 1959.
Since its establishment, the society has understood anthropology as broadly defined and its membership has included anthropologsts, psychologists, psychiatrists, sociologists, industrial managers and engineers, and persons of other allied vocations. Quite early in its history, the members were divided into active and subscribing members. In 1962, the active members became fellows of the society, a group of professionals who elect the society's officers from their own ranks.
The officers of the society have been a president, vice president (in early days the society also had regional vice presidents and more recently a president-elect instead of a vice-president), secretary, treasurer, editor of Human Organization, editor of Practicing Anthropology, and elected councillors. These form the executive council that has control of the society's affairs. With the establishment of the class of fellows, there was also established a Council of Fellows which hears reports from the officers and deals with other matters brought before it by the executive committee.
Several significant developments have taken place in the society which may be of significance directly or indirectly in considering the available documents. The society, for example, was a pioneer among social science organizations in developing a code of ethics. Adopted first in 1948, the code has been revised in 1963 and again in 1974. Another development came shortly after the society was founded when it began to make contracts to carry out applied anthropological work for government and private organizations. The arrangements involved the society's turning and making a contract with an individual to carry out the work. Yet another development came with the authorization in 1952 of local affiliates of the society.
Such local organizations were temporarily established in North Carolina. During the 1980s, the idea of affiliates came up again.
Quite early in its history, the society established a central office in the city of New York. It was moved to Ithaca, New York, in 1956 and to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1966. In 1970, certain business activities were turned over to the office of the executive director of the American Anthropological Association in Washington. In 1983, this arrangement was ended and the Society for Applied Anthropology established its own office in Washington.
Restrictions:
The Society for Applied Anthropology records is open for research.
Access to the Society for Applied Anthropology records requires an appointment.
![view Holloman Space Decompression Studies [Koestler] digital asset: Finding aid](https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max=170&id=https://sirismm.si.edu/siris/findingaid.gif "Finding aid")
