Search Results

Photographer:

Schiedt, Duncan P., 1921-2014  Search this

Extent:

65 Cubic feet (124 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

1900-2012, undated

Summary:

Duncan Schiedt (1921-2014) was a jazz scholar, writer, photographer, film maker, researcher and pianist. He authored four books relating to jazz history. Many of his photographs and articles were featured in magazines, periodicals and documentaries. Schiedt also collected the work of other photographers on the subject of jazz. The collection primarily consists of photographs created by or collected by Mr. Schiedt.

Scope and Contents:

The collection consists of Schiedt's own photographs of jazz performers, photographs of jazz performers taken by other photographers, research notes, films, and recordings of jazz.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged into five series.

Series 1: Background Information and Research Materials, 1915-2012, undated

Series 2: Photographic Materials, 1900-2012, undated

Subseries 2.1: Historical Photographs and Negatives, 1915-2012

Subseries 2.2: Artist Files Photographs, 1900-2000, undated

Subseries 2.3: Subject Files Photographs, 1916-2002, undated

Subseries 2.4: Roscoe Allen Photographic Prints, undated

Subseries 2.5: Individual Instrumentalists Photographic Prints and Negatives, 1938-1990, undated

Subseries 2.6: John Minor Negatives, undated

Subseries 2.7: Indianapolis Theater Photographic Prints and Negatives, 1935-1956, undated

Subseries 2.8: Theater and Vaudeville Negatives, 1910-1948, undated

Subseries 2.9: Glass Plate Negatives and Copy Prints, undated

Subseries 2.10: Publicity and Festival Negatives, 1930-1962, undated

Series 3: Charles T (Ted) Grubb Papers, 1919-1999, undated

Series 4: Scrapbooks, 1901-1950, undated

Series 5: Audiovisual Materials, undated

Biographical / Historical:

For over sixty-five years, professional photographer Duncan Preston Schiedt combined his love of jazz with his love of photography. Born in 1921 in Atlantic City, New Jersey to Jacob and Kitty Schiedt, he later moved with his family to New York City. In the mid-1930s, he discovered the two loves of his life. Ironically, he first heard jazz or "swing music" as it was then known in a radio broadcast while attending a boys' school in England in 1936. Back in the States by 1938, he was enthralled when a friend showed him his basement darkroom and taught him how to develop film. He soon bought his own camera and began taking pictures in the Times Square movie palaces, nightclubs, and big band shows of New York. In World War II, he served as a cameraman in the Army Air Force, where he recorded atomic bomb tests in the western Pacific area, including Bikini Atoll.

In 1950, Schiedt married Betty Benjamin and moved to Hollywood where he worked at the Atomic Energy Commission's film laboratory for eight months. After returning to civilian life, he worked as a photographer in advertising in New York before moving in 1951 to Pittsboro, Indiana, where his parents had relocated. He had two children, Cameron and Leslie.

Thereafter, his interests in jazz and photography merged and became more than a hobby, as he transformed himself into one of the country's leading jazz historians and photographers. He traveled the country to photograph performers in movie houses, night clubs, big-band shows, jazz festivals, and other venues. Schiedt always shot in black and white, since to him that was the essence of jazz. As he wrote in the introduction to his book, Jazz in Black and White: The Photographs of Duncan Schiedt, "Jazz is a black and white music. Its range, from blinding brilliance to deepest shadings, seems to demand the drama that black and white can so easily provide. Consequently, when I take a photograph of a jazz subject, I see it in those terms."

He processed all his own film in his own darkroom so that any picture bearing his name was totally his own work. His photographs have been exhibited in numerous galleries, including the Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, the Chicago Public Library, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Pensacola Art Museum. While shooting, Schiedt also interviewed his subjects, and those interviews added to his ever-growing scholarship in the field. He was the author of three books, The Jazz State of Indiana, Twelve Lives in Jazz,and Jazz in Black and White: The Photographs of Duncan Schiedt, and co-author of Ain't Misbehavin': The Story of Fats Waller. His photographs and articles have been published in the leading jazz periodicals and magazines. Over the years, he also amassed a first-rate collection of historical photographs of jazz musicians. Both his historical photographs and his original work were featured extensively in Ken Burns' Public Broadcasting Station series "Jazz." Duncan Schiedt died on March 12, 2014.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Leonard Gaskin Papers, NMAH.AC.0900

Provenance:

Donated to the Archives Center in 2014 by Duncan Schiedt's daughter and son, Leslie Michel and Cameron Schiedt.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Jazz  Search this

Musicians  Search this

Music  Search this

Citation:

Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection, 1900-2012, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1323

See more items in:

Duncan P. Schiedt Photograph Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep81f29a1f3-28db-4274-babb-fe5a9ee71064

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1323

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2018-03-30T22:55:59.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

See more by:

smithsonianfolkways

Data Source:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_y7-rK9i89dA

Creator:

Friedman, B. H. (Bernard Harper), 1926-2011  Search this

Names:

Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center  Search this

Whitney Museum of American Art  Search this

Asher, Elise, 1914-  Search this

Baur, John I. H. (John Ireland Howe), 1909-1987  Search this

Bertoia, Harry  Search this

Biddle, Flora Miller  Search this

Bluhm, Norman, 1921-1999  Search this

Brooks, James, 1906-1992  Search this

Bultman, Fritz, 1919-1985  Search this

Castelli, Leo  Search this

Copley, William Nelson, 1919-1996  Search this

Dine, Jim, 1935-  Search this

Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011  Search this

Gill, Brendan, 1914-1997  Search this

Goodnough, Robert, 1917-  Search this

Gray, Cleve  Search this

Gray, Francine du Plessix  Search this

Hall, Joellen  Search this

Huebler, Douglas  Search this

Kanovitz, Howard  Search this

Knowlton, Grace, 1932-  Search this

Krasner, Lee, 1908-1984  Search this

Kunitz, Stanley, 1905-2006  Search this

Marca-Relli, Conrad, 1913-2000  Search this

Matter, Mercedes  Search this

McDarrah, Fred W., 1926-2007  Search this

McEwen, Rory, 1932-  Search this

Motherwell, Robert  Search this

Newman, Arnold, 1918-2006  Search this

Newman, Barnett, 1905-1970  Search this

Norman, Dorothy, 1905-1997  Search this

Ossorio, Alfonso, 1916-1990  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Richenburg, Robert  Search this

Rosset, Barney  Search this

Roth, Philip  Search this

Rothschild, Judith  Search this

Salvesen, Magda  Search this

Sandler, Irving, 1925-  Search this

Scarpitta, Salvatore, 1919-2007  Search this

Schueler, Jon, 1916-  Search this

Simon, Sidney, 1917-1997  Search this

Slivka, David, 1913-  Search this

Still, Clyfford, 1904-1980  Search this

Stout, Myron, 1908-1987  Search this

Interviewee:

Cage, John, 1912-1992  Search this

Correspondent:

Leary, Timothy Francis, 1920-  Search this

Extent:

30.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Diaries

Transcripts

Sound recordings

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Date:

1926-2011

bulk 1943-2010

Summary:

The papers of writer, art critic and collector Bernard Harper Friedman, 1926-2011, bulk 1943-2010, measure 30.6 linear feet. Extensive professional and personal correspondence, 41 diaries, a large number of his published and unpublished writings, and subject files document Friedman's career as a writer, relationships with cultural institutions and art world figures, and his personal life. Also included are biographical materials, interviews, printed material, 5 scrapbooks and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of writer, art critic and collector Bernard Harper Friedman, 1926-2011, bulk 1943-2010, measure 30.6 linear feet. Extensive professional and personal correspondence, 41 diaries, a large number of his published and unpublished writings, and subject files document Friedman's career as a writer, relationships with cultural institutions and art world figures, and his personal life. Also included are biographical materials, interviews, 5 scrapbooks, and photographs.

Biographical materials include educational records, documentation of Friedman's World War II service in the U.S. Navy, and birth, marriage, and death certificates.

Correspondence is with friends, family, artists, art world figures and institutions, writers, publishers, and literary agents. Among the correspondents are: John I. H. Baur, Harry Bertoia, Flora Biddle, Norman Bluhm, James Brooks, Fritz Bultman, Leo Castelli, William N. Copley, Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Brendan Gill, Robert Goodnough, Cleve and Francine Gray, Howard Kanovitz, Grace Knowlton, Stanley Kunitz, Conrad Marca-Relli, Mercedes Matter, Fred W. McDarrah, Rory McEwen, Robert Motherwell, Arnold Newman, Barnett Newman, Dorothy Norman, Alfonso Ossorio, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Robert Richenburg, Barney Rosset, Philip Roth, Judith Rothschild, Irving Sandler, Salvatore Scarpitta, Jon Schueler, Sidney Simon, David Slivka, Clyfford Still, Myron Stout, Calvin Tompkins, and David Windham.

There are transcripts of interviews with B. H. Friedman, his daughter and wife conducted by the Yale University School of Medicine's "Adult Development Study," and 2 recordings of interviews with Friedman for radio broadcast.

Writings by Friedman include manuscripts of novels, short stories, plays, articles, monographs, and art criticism, some published versions of his work, and a variety of notes. Also found are recordings of lectures by B. H. Friedman and panel discussions in which he participated. Other authors represented are John Cage, W. B. Henry, and Jon Schueler. Friedman's diaries, 1948-1993 (41 volumes) record activities, thoughts, and events.

Subject files compiled by Friedman reflect professional and personal interests, activities, and projects. Many concern publicity for published writings or efforts to find publishers. Especially well documented is his interest in Jackson Pollock, Timothy Leary, and Alfonso Ossorio, and his affiliation with the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The majority of printed material is about or mentions Friedman. Five scrapbooks consist mainly of printed material.

Most photographs are of B. H. and Abby Friedman, their family, and friends. Among the individuals pictured are: Elise Asher, Cary and Norman Bluhm, Sandy Friedman, Joellen Hall, Doug Huebler, Howard Kanowitz, Stanley Kunitz, Lee Krasner, Sheridan Lloyd, Barnett and Annalee Newman, Alfonso Ossorio, Magda Salvesen, Salvatore Scarpitta, John Schueler, and Myron Stout. A photograph album records scenes from a 1979 performance of Whispers, a stage adaptation by Alan Wynroth from Friedman's novel of the same title.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged as 9 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1926-2011 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1946-2011 (Boxes 1-15; 14.7 linear feet)

Series 3: Interviews, 1969-2001 (Box 15; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Writings, 1940s-2010 (Boxes 16-23; 8 linear feet)

Series 5: Diaries, 1948-1993 (Boxes 24-25; 1.75 linear feet)

Series 6: Subject Files, 1940-2010 (Boxes 25-30; 4.45 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1954-2010 (Box 30-31; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1960-2006 (Boxes 30-32; 0.8 lilnear feet)

Series 9: Photographs, circa 1950s-2008 (Box 30; 0.4 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

Bernard Harper Friedman (1926-2011), a writer best known as the author of the first biography of Jackson Pollock, was also an art critic and art collector involved in the cultural life of New York City.

Bernard Harper Friedman, known professionally as B. H. Friedman, was called Bob by family and friends. After interrupting his studies at Cornell University to serve in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he graduated in 1948 with a degree in English. Friedman and his new bride, fellow student Abby G. Noselson (1926-2003), returned home to New York City and he began a real estate career in his uncles' firm, Uris Buildings Corporation. While a businessman, Friedman spent much of his spare time writing. He produced fiction, plays, and criticism; Friedman's articles on art, literature and music appeared in a wide variety of periodicals. During this period, Friedman also pursued his interests in jazz, collecting abstract art, and psychedelic drug experiences with Timothy Leary.

His first published novel, Circles, about the Abstract Expressionist milieu, appeared in 1962. A year later, B. H. Friedman became a full-time writer. For nearly 20 years, he divided his time between New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he was affiliated with the Fine Arts Work Center as a director and consultant. During this period, he published several novels and two biographies: Jackson Pollock: Energy Made Visible and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, written with Flora Biddle. More novels and short story collections were published, and staged readings of seven plays were presented between 1987 and 2007. Tripping, a memoir of using psychedlics with Timothy Leary, appeared in 2006.

A founding member of Fiction Collective, a nonprofit publishing group run by and for writers, Friedman was also a member of several national writers' organizations. He served as a trustee of the Whitney Musuem of American Art, 1961-1968, and then as honorary trustee. B. H. Friedman died from complications of pneumonia on January 4, 2011 in New York City.

Related Materials:

Also available is an oral history interview with Bernard Harper Friedman, 1972 November 10, conducted by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art.

Provenance:

The Bernard Harper Friedman papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2012 by his daughter, Daisy Friedman.

Restrictions:

The collection is ACCESS RESTRICTED; written permission is required. Use of original materials requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

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.

Occupation:

Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Interviews  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries

Transcripts

Sound recordings

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Bernard Harper Friedman papers, 1926-2011, bulk 1943-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.friebern

See more items in:

Bernard Harper Friedman papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw97a7e6f48-cdda-41ab-921f-8919151a0609

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-friebern

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

2.44 Cubic feet (consisting of 4.5 boxes, 1 folder, 5 oversize folders, 2 flat boxes (partial), 1 map case folder.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Business ephemera

Business letters

Publications

Receipts

Business cards

Trade literature

Logs (records)

Sales catalogs

Print advertising

Ephemera

Catalogs

Advertising mail

Commercial catalogs

Invoices

Trade cards

Technical reports

Trade catalogs

Advertising

Manuals

Reports

Manufacturers' catalogs

Commercial correspondence

Catalogues

Printed materials

Illustrations

Bulletins

Technical manuals

Printed material

Transcripts

Letterheads

Printed ephemera

Advertisements

Advertising cards

Radio scripts

Correspondence

Advertising fliers

Business records

Date:

1893-1992

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Accounting and Bookkeeping forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents:

The radio category contains material primarily related to radio company products, radio broadcasts and programs, technical documentation on the use of radios, and material documenting the effect of radio on modern life. The bulk of the material covers sales catalogues and advertisements, though no complete records for single companies are present.

The radio broadcast transcripts and programs include fictional or anecdotal stories, transcripts of contests, interviews, or speeches, and notifications about future broadcasts.

Literature concerning the effect of radio on modern life includes brief radio historiographies, discussions about the need for advanced education for the radio field, and documentation of the use of radio in leisure time or in rural life. Additional publications address the uses and effects of radio during times of war. While no extensive documentation exists on any one topic, the publications may provide general histories of the radio with snapshots of specific facets of radio history.

Arrangement:

Radio is arranged in three subseries.

Business Records and Marketing Material

Genre

Subject

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Missing Title

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Radio is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

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:

Radio -- History  Search this

Radio -- Receivers and reception  Search this

Radio  Search this

Radio -- Transmitters and transmission  Search this

Radio -- Apparatus and supplies  Search this

Radio broadcasting  Search this

Radio broadcasts  Search this

Radio in politics  Search this

Radio advertising  Search this

Radio -- Receivers and reception -- Design and construction  Search this

Radio audiences  Search this

advertising -- Business ephemera  Search this

Consumer goods -- Catalogs  Search this

Periodicals  Search this

Broadcast advertising  Search this

Radio comedies  Search this

Broadcasting  Search this

Broadcasting -- United States  Search this

War  Search this

Retail trade  Search this

Radio programs  Search this

Transmission of culture  Search this

Radio -- 1930-1940  Search this

Radio -- Antennas  Search this

Genre/Form:

Business ephemera

Business letters

Publications -- Business

Receipts

Business cards

Trade literature

Logs (records)

Sales catalogs

Print advertising

Ephemera

Catalogs

Advertising mail

Commercial catalogs

Invoices

Trade cards

Technical reports

Trade catalogs

Advertising

Manuals

Reports

Manufacturers' catalogs

Commercial correspondence

Catalogues

Printed materials

Illustrations

Bulletins

Technical manuals -- 20th century

Printed material

Transcripts

Letterheads

Printed ephemera

Publications

Advertisements

Advertising cards

Radio scripts

Correspondence

Advertising fliers

Business records

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Radios, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Radios

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Radios

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep805ffaf5e-f3b1-4f2a-9714-a4f2c6774754

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-radios

Author:

Aspray, William  Search this

Physical description:

xix, 363 p. : ill. ; 27 cm

Type:

Congresses

Date:

1993

C1993

Topic:

Computer industry  Search this

Electronic industries  Search this

Electric industries  Search this

Competition, International  Search this

Data Source:

Smithsonian Libraries

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_sil_462946

Creator:

Gray, Cleve  Search this

Names:

Berry-Hill Galleries  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Connecticut. Commission on Arts, Tourism, Culture, History and Film  Search this

Jacques Seligmann & Co  Search this

Neuberger Museum of Art  Search this

Pratt Institute  Search this

Princeton University  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

Barzun, Jacques, 1907-  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Davis, Jim, 1901-1974  Search this

Dillenberger, Jane  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this

Ernst, Jimmy, 1920-1984  Search this

Gabo, Naum, 1890-1977  Search this

Grace, Louise N.  Search this

Gray, Francine du Plessix  Search this

Lipchitz, Jacques, 1891-1973  Search this

Marin, John, 1870-1953  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Richter, Hans, 1888-1976  Search this

Smith, David, 1906-1965  Search this

Villon, Jacques, 1875-1963  Search this

Weber, Nicholas Fox, 1947-  Search this

Extent:

9.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Poems

Articles

Photographs

Reviews (documents)

Notes

Illustrations

Notebooks

Sketches

Drafts (documents)

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Manuscripts

Paintings

Prints

Watercolors

Drawings

Lectures

Date:

1933-2005

Summary:

The Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005, measure 9.2 linear feet. Papers include biographical material, alphabetical files, writings, artwork, audio/visual records, artifacts, printed material, and photographs. Extensive alphabetical files contain personal and professional correspondence as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Especially well-documented are: Gray's involvement with the Vietnam protest movement; and Threnody, his best-known work composed of fourteen large panels lamenting the dead of both sides sides in Vietnam, commissioned by the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Scope and Content Note:

The Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005, measure 9.2 linear feet. Papers include biographical material, alphabetical files, writings, artwork, audio/visual records, artifacts, printed material, and photographs. Extensive alphabetical files contain personal and professional correspondence as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Especially well-documented are: Gray's involvement with the Vietnam movement; and Threnody, his best-known work composed of fourteen large panels lamenting the dead of both sides sides in Vietnam, commissioned by the Neuberger Museum of Art.

Among the biographical material are award and membership certificates, biographical notes, and personal documentation.

The alphabetical files contain Cleve Gray's personal and professional correspondence, as well as subject files relating to projects and interests. Correspondence is with friends and family, colleagues, publishers, museum curators and directors, art dealers, collectors, and fans. Among the correspondents of note are: Jacques Barzun, James E. Davis, Naum Gabo, Louise N. Grace, Hans and Fridel Richter, and Jacques and Gaby Villon. Other substantial correspondence includes: Berry-Hill Galleries, Betty Parsons Gallery, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Jacques Seligmann and Co., Neuberger Museum of Art, Pratt Institute, Princeton University, and Rhode Island School of Design. Subject files mostly consist of correspondence, but include printed material and some photographs. Among the subject files are: Art Collection of Cleve and Francine Gray, Artist-Dealer Consignments and Visual Artists' Rights Act of 1989, Artists' Tax Equity Act of 1979, Promised Gifts to Museums, Threnody, Vestments, and Vietnam Protest. Of particular interest are files relating to the Estate of Hans Richter (Cleve Gray, executor), and Gray's research correspondence and illustrations for his Cosmopolitan article "Women-Leaders of Modern Art."

Writings are manuscripts and drafts, research materials, notes, and miscellaneous writings by Cleve Gray and other authors. Those by Gray include articles and catalog introductions on a wide range of art-related topics, as well as book and exhibition reviews. Also found are a book proposal, texts and notes for lectures and talks, miscellaneous notes, poems, political statements, and student papers. Of particular interest are autobiographical notes in the form of a chronology that his biographer, Nicholas Fox Weber, cited as an "autochronology."

Among the writings by other authors are pieces about Cleve Gray including Nicholas Fox Weber's manuscript Cleve Gray. A significant amount of material relates to three books edited by Gray: David Smith by David Smith: Sculpture and Writings, Hans Richter, and John Marin. Research material survives for an unpublished volume, Naum Gabo. Also included are notes relating to his translation of A l'Infinitif by Marcel Duchamp. Jane Daggett Dillenberger is represented by a lecture, "The Resurrection in Art." The remaining items by other authors are unsigned; of particular interest is a small notebook of reminiscences and notes about Jackson Pollock.

Artwork by Cleve Gray consists mostly drawings and sketches, and a small number of paintings, prints, and watercolors. Works by other artists consist are an unsigned mobile of paper cut-outs, possibly by Alexander Calder, and a pencil drawing signed Dick (probably Richard Avedon).

Audio recordings are a radio broadcast featuring Cleve Gray, several lectures by Gray on John Marin, and a lecture titled "Meaning in the Visual Arts." Other recordings are of Hans Richter and an interview with Jimmy Ernst conducted by Francine du Plessix Gray. Also found is a videocassette of "Glenville School Students at SUNY (Lincoln Center Activity)."

Artifacts are a Chinese scroll representative of those that hung in Cleve Gray's studio, two of his paintbrushes, Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association blue ribbon, and Neuberger Museum of Art Lifetime Achievement Award.

The vast majority of printed material - articles, clippings, exhibition catalogs and announcements, reproductions of art work, etc. - are about or by Cleve Gray. Miscellaneous items and publications mentioning Gray consist of annual reports, brochures, calendars, newsletters, programs, etc. Clippings about Vietnam and Vietnam protest memorabilia reflect his passionate involvement in the anti-war movement; a small number of these items mention Gray or were written by him.

Photographs are of artwork, events, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects. Most of the art work appearing in the photographs is by Cleve Gray and includes images of destroyed paintings. Also found is an original print of Photo Abstraction by Gray, circa 1934. Of particular note are photographs of Threnody, among them preparatory drawings and views of the work in progress. Photographs of artwork by other artists include Louise N. Grace, Jacques Lipchitz, John Marin, Hans Richter, and Jacques Villon.

Photographs of people are mainly portraits of Gray, and views of him with his wife and sons. Other individuals appearing in photographs are Hans Richter and some of Richter's descendants. Pictures of places consist of Gray's studio.

Events are an unidentified exhibition opening. Miscellaneous subjects are mostly exhibition installations. Illustrations consist of photographs published in David Smith by David Smith: Sculpture and Writings. Also found are small number of negatives and color transparencies.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into 8 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1943-circa 2001 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 2: Alphabetical Files, 1936-2005 (Boxes 1-5, 9; 4.3 linear ft.)

Series 3: Writings, 1935-2000 (Boxes 5-6; 0.85 linear ft.)

Series 4: Artwork, circa 1933-1987 (Boxes 6, 9, OV 12; 0.45 linear ft.)

Series 5: Audio/Visual Records, 1971-1989 (Box 6; 0.25 linear ft.)

Series 6: Artifacts, 1957-1999 (Box 6, RD 11; 0.45 linear ft.)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1933-2005 (Boxes 7-8; 1.25 linear ft.)

Series 8: Photographs, circa 1934-2002 (Boxes 8-10; 1.15 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

Abstract Expressionist painter, sculptor, and writer Cleve Gray (1918-2004) lived and worked in Connecticut where he was politically active in the Vietnam protest movement and other liberal causes.

Born Cleve Ginsberg in New York City (the family changed its name to Gray in 1936), he attended the Ethical Culture School and at a young age developed a fascination with color and paint. At the urging of friends, Cleve's parents allowed him to accompany a school friend for lessons with George Bellows' student Antonia Nell. She encouraged and inspired the young artist, and a still life he painted in her class was shown at the National Academy of Design's 1932 annual exhibition. Miss Nell also introduced him to Louise N. Grace, an artist who became a good friend and had a lasting influence on him. While a student at Phillips Academy, Cleve studied painting with Bartlett Hayes and aspired to paint in France. Upon his graduation in 1936, he was awarded the Samuel F. B. Morse Prize for most promising art student.

Gray's mother was always supportive of his career choice. His businessman father, who didn't understand his son's desire to be an artist, insisted on a college education. Cleve chose Princeton, where he majored in art and archaeology, and studied painting with James E. Davis. His senior thesis was on Chinese landscape painting; both Eastern philosophy and art were long-term influences on Gray's work and outlook. He graduated summa cum laude in 1940, and then spent several months painting while living at the farm of a family friend in Mendham, New Jersey.

When a doctor suggeted that a dry climate might relieve sinus and asthma problems, Gray moved to Tucson, Arizona. Once settled in the desert, he contacted Louise N. Grace, whom he had met as a young teenager through his art instructor. Miss Grace, an artist and daughter of the founder of W. R. Grace and Co., was a highly cultured and independent woman older than his parents. The summer before Gray entered Phillips Academy, she had hired him to brush ground color onto canvases for murals she was painting for "Eleven Arches," her home in Tuscon then under construction. Miss Grace invited Gray to visit "Eleven Arches" to see the completed murals, and despite the substantial age difference, their friendship deepened; Gray found in her intellectual and spiritual guidance that was lacking in his own family. He remained in Tucson until enlisting in the U. S. Army in 1942, and they corresponded frequently during the the war. When a stroke in 1948 prevented Miss Grace from participating in the extensive tour of Europe she was arranging for a small group of friends, including Gray, she provided sufficient funds and insisted he make the trip on his own. Another stroke, suffered while Gray was traveling, left her in a coma; he was not permitted to see her again. Upon her death in 1954, Gray inherited "Eleven Arches."

Between 1943 and 1946, Gray was stationed in England, France, and Germany, serving in Army Signal Intelligence. Most of his work was performed at night, and he spent his free time drawing. While in London, Gray produced many colored pencil drawings of buildings that had been bombed. In France, a Red Cross volunteered to introduce him to Jacques Villon; although unfamiliar with the artist, Gray knew of Villon's brother, Marcel Duchamp, and accepted the invitation. Jacques and Gaby Villon lived near Gray's billet and he became a frequent visitor. Their friendship was important to his development as an artist. After being discharged from the Army in 1946, Gray remained in France to work with Villon who introduced him to the study of color and the concept of intellectual quality in painting. Gray also studied informally with André Lhote, Villon's former teacher. "American Painters in Paris," an exhibition presented in 1946 at Galerie Durand-Ruel, included work by Cleve Gray.

He returned to New York City in 1946. In the tight post-war rental market Gray managed to find a small room upstairs from a grocery store on East 106th Street for use as a studio. He commenced painting the London Ruins series based on drawings he had made during the war, and began thinking about exhibiting in New York. Gray secured introductions to Pierre Matisse, Curt Valentin, and Dorothy Miller. They encouraged him, but no opportunities came his way until Germain Seligmann, whose gallery was expanding its scope to include contemporary art, followed the advice of Curt Valentin and looked at Gray's work. Gary's first solo exhibition, held at Jacques Seligmann and Co., included selections from the London Ruins series, paintings done in Maine and Arizona, and a few portraits. The New York Times called it "an auspicious first," and one of the London Ruins series was selected by Edward Alden Jewell for the "Critic's Exhibition" at Grand Central Gallery.

Gray found New York City too frenetic. In 1949 he bought a large, old house in Warren, Connecticut, and lived and worked at "Graystones" for the remainder of his life. Half of a 6-car garage was converted to a studio; many years later, his studio moved to a barn, its renovation and design planned by sculptor and architect Tony Smith.

He married Francine du Plessix in 1957. Always interested in literature and philosophy, in the 1960s Francine du Plessix Gray began contributing articles to The New Yorker and is still affiliated with the magazine. Her reviews and articles appeared in prominent publications, and she wrote several award-winning novels and biographies. Their sons, Thaddeus and Luke (now a painter), were born in 1959 and 1961. Francine's mother, Tatiana du Plessix (the hat designer Tatiana of Saks), and step-father, the sculptor Alexander Liberman (also former art director of Vogue and later editorial director of Condé Nast publications) became Cleve Gray's closest friends.

The paintings and drawings of Cleve Gray - first consisting of figures and portraits, and then abstract compositions - were often produced in series. The earliest series, London Ruins, grew from the colored pencil drawings made while stationed in London during World War II. Travels to France, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Hawaii, Spain, Egypt, Japan, and Czechoslovakia, inspired many series, among them: Etruscan, Augury, Ceres, Demeter Landscape, Hera, Morocco, Hawaii, Ramses, Perne, Hatshepsut, Roman Walls, Zen, and Prague. His hometown, the Holocaust, and musicians inspired other series: Warren, Sleepers Awake!, Bela Bartok, and Four Heads of Anton Bruckner. Some series were works on paper, others were collage canvases, and a few series later spawned prints. Gray began using acrylics in the 1940s. Although the medium offered many benefits, he did not always like its appearance and frequently returned to oils. Around 1966 Gray was painting almost exclusively with acrylic, and eventually developed a technique of thinning the paint and applying successive layers of color (sometimes by pouring or with a sponge) on cotton duck rather than traditional canvas.

Gray was attracted to sculpture, too, working in that medium at different points in his career. His first sculpture, in plaster, was completed in 1959. In the early 1960s he visited a commercial sand-casting foundry and became excited about learning to cast in bronze. He made about a dozen sculptures to cast in sand, but due to too much undercutting, their casting became too difficult a problem. Lava flows seen while in Hawaii during 1970 and 1971 inspired a return to sculpture. This time, he used wood, papier maché, and metal. Gray then decided these pieces should be cast in bronze, and he was determined to do it himself. Friends taught him the lost wax process and he began working at the Tallix Foundry in Peekskill, New York where, over the next year, he cast about forty bronzes.

Gray's best known work is Threnody, a lament for the dead of both sides in Vietnam. In 1972, Gray received a commission to fill a very large gallery of the soon-to-open Neuberger Museum of Art (State University of New York, College at Purchase) designed by Philip Johnson. Friends of the Neuberger Museum paid his expenses and Gray, who was enormously excited about the project he considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, donated his time. Developing plans for the execution of Threnody consumed most of his time during 1972 and 1973. Composed of a series of fourteen panels, each approximately twenty feet square, the piece presented a number of technical challenges. It was constructed and painted in situ during the summer and early fall of 1973. Since then, Threnody has been reinstalled at the Neuberger Museum of Art on several occasions.

Gray was commissioned to design liturgical vestments for two Episcopal churches in Connecticut in the 1970s. A chasuble, stoles, and a mitre were commissioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut in 1984.

He won the "Outdoor Art at the Station Competition," for Union Station, Hartford, Connecticut. His very large porcelain enamel tile mural, Movement in Space, was installed on the façade of the transportation center in 1988.

Gray began writing occasional articles and exhibition reviews in the late 1940s. His concern with rational structure in art led him to question Abstract Expressionism and write "Narcissus in Chaos." This article, published in 1959 by The American Scholar, drew considerable attention. In 1960, Cosmopolitan published "Women - Leaders of Modern Art" that featured Nell Blaine, Joan Brown, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Sonia Gretchoff, Grace Hartigan, Ethel Magafan, Louise Nevelson, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Between 1960 and 1970, Gray was a contributing editor of Art In America, producing numerous articles (a few co-authored with Francine) and reviews for the periodical. He edited three books, David Smith by David Smith: Scupture and Writings, Hans Richter, and John Marin, all published by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, and translated Marcel Duchamp's A l'Infinitif.

During the early 1960s, Gray became intensely focused on the situation in Vietnam. His first artistic response came in 1963 with Reverend Quan Duc, painted to commemorate a Buddhist monk who had immolated himself. Francine, too, felt strongly about the issue and over time the couple became increasingly active in the anti-war movement. They joined a number of organizations and helped to found a local chapter of Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam. The years 1968 and 1969 were an especially intense and active period for the Grays. They protested, wrote and spoke out against the war, raised funds to support anti-war political candidates, and on a few occasions were arrested and jailed. Writing for Art in America, editing the book series, and anti-war activities left little time for his art. In 1970 Gray refocused his attention on painting.

Beginning in 1947, Gray was always represented by a New York Gallery: Jacques Seligmann and Co. (1947-1959), Staempfli Gallery (1960-1965), Saidenberg Gallery (1965-1968), Betty Parsons Gallery (1968-1983), Armstrong Gallery (1984-1987), and Berry-Hill Galleries (1988-2003). He was represented by galleries in other cities, as well, but not as consistently or for such long periods.

He exhibited extensively in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally. In addition to numerous solo exhibitions presented by the dealers who represented Gray, there were retrospective exhibitions at: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Brooklyn Museum, Columbus Museum of Art, Krannert Art Museum (University of Illinois, Champaign), Princeton University Art Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, and Wadsworth Atheneum.

Many museums' permanent collections include the work of Cleve Gray, among them: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Butler Institute of American Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Neuberger Museum of Art (SUNY, College at Purchase), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Newark Museum, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Phillips Collection, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), Smithsonian Institution, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Yale University Art Gallery.

Cleve Gray served as artist-in-residence at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in 1963 and at the Honolulu Academy of Arts in 1970, both sponsored by Ford Foundation programs. In 1980, he was appointed an artist-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome, where Francine concurrently served as a writer-in-residence; they returned for shorter periods during each of the subsequent seven years. Cleve Gray was presented the Connecticut Arts Award in 1987, and the Neuberger Museum of Art Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Hartford in 1992, and was elected a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998. In addition, he was a trustee of the Neuberger Museum of Art, New York Studio School, Rhode Island School of Design, and Wadsworth Atheneum.

Cleve Gray hit his head and suffered a massive subdural hematoma after falling on ice outside of his home. He died the following day, December 8, 2004.

Separated Material:

Exhibition catalogs and announcements and two scrapbooks donated to the Archives in 1967 and 1968 were microfilmed on reels D314-D315. Items on reel D315, transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library in 1975, are not described in this finding aid.

Provenance:

The Cleve Gray papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by Mr. Gray in 1967 and 1968. The bulk of the collection was given by his widow, Francine du Plessix Gray, in 2007 and 2008.

Restrictions:

Use of original material requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordigs with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

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.

Occupation:

Sculptors -- Connecticut  Search this

Painters -- Connecticut  Search this

Topic:

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

Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Protest Movements -- United States  Search this

Designers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

Genre/Form:

Poems

Articles

Photographs

Reviews (documents)

Notes

Illustrations

Notebooks

Sketches

Drafts (documents)

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Manuscripts

Paintings

Prints

Watercolors

Drawings

Lectures

Citation:

Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.grayclev

See more items in:

Cleve Gray papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw92d3d47d0-baa3-4085-80f2-9b5d1730c052

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-grayclev

Creator:

Midtown Galleries  Search this

Names:

Midtown-Payson Galleries  Search this

Betts, Edward H., 1920-  Search this

Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988  Search this

Cadmus, Paul, 1904-1999  Search this

Coiner, Charles T., 1897-  Search this

Davis, Gladys Rockmore, 1901-1967  Search this

Etnier, Stephen, 1903-1984  Search this

Etting, Emlen, 1905-1993  Search this

Fiene, Ernest, 1894-  Search this

Gruskin, Alan D. (Alan Daniel), 1904-1970  Search this

Gruskin, Mary J.  Search this

Guston, Philip, 1913-1980  Search this

Hale, Nathan Cabot  Search this

Healey, Francis C.  Search this

Kingman, Dong, 1911-  Search this

Lahm, Ren'ee, 1897-1945  Search this

Magafan, Ethel, 1916-1993  Search this

Maldarelli, Oronzio, 1892-1962  Search this

Mangravite, Peppino, 1896-  Search this

Martin, Fletcher, 1904-1979  Search this

Meyer, Fred  Search this

Moller, Hans, 1905-  Search this

Nagler, Edith Kroger, 1890-1986  Search this

Nagler, Fred, 1891-1983  Search this

Palmer, William C., 1906-  Search this

Parsons, Betty  Search this

Peirce, Waldo, 1884-1970  Search this

Reinhardt, Siegfried, 1925-1984  Search this

Rosenthal, Doris Patty, 1889-1971  Search this

Saarinen, Lilian Swann, 1912-1995  Search this

Schoener, Jason  Search this

Sepeshy, Zoltan, 1898-1974  Search this

Shulkin, Anatol, 1899-1961  Search this

Simkhovitch, Simka, 1893-1949  Search this

Sokole, Miron, 1901-  Search this

Soyer, Isaac, 1902-1981  Search this

Taubes, Frederic, 1900-  Search this

Thon, William, 1906-2000  Search this

Varga, Margit, 1908-2005  Search this

Vickrey, Robert, 1926-2011  Search this

Wingate, Arline, 1906-1998  Search this

Extent:

86.82 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Video recordings

Date:

1904-1997

Summary:

The records of Midtown Galleries measure 86.82 linear feet and date from 1904 to 1997. The collection documents the operation and general administration of the business and includes artist records, exhibition material, inventories, financial records, photographs, and printed material.

Scope and Content Note:

Records of Midtown Galleries [including the addition], circa 1904-1997, comprise 86.82 linear feet on 117 microfilm reels. Records are sparse for the early years when the gallery was operated as a cooperative. As the business expanded and became profitable, recordkeeping was more systematic and thorough. Records consist of administrative correspondence, 1927-1989 and undated; exhibition records, 1934-1982 and undated; inventories and sales records, 1946-1980 and undated; financial records, 1933-1957; miscellaneous, 1934-1985 and undated; photographs, circa 1925-circa 1980; printed matter, 1932-1982 and undated; personal papers of Alan D. and Mary J. Gruskin, 1932-1983 and undated; and Papers of Francis C. Healey, 1932-1935 and undated An addition, represents scattered material, 1932-1997 and undated, that remained after the gallery closed in 1995. It includes administrative records, 1934-1995 and undated; photographs circa 1938-1988 and undated; artists records, 1932-1993 and undated; exhibitions, 1958-1993 and undated; videotapes, 1977-1988; and oversize printed matter, 1973-1977 and undated Because microfilmimg of the Midtown Galleries records was already underway when this material was received, it could not be integrated with the main portion of the collection.

Administrative correspondence is categorized as General Correspondence, Artists Correspondence, and Artists Applications. General Correspondence is with clients, collectors, museums and galleries, arts organizations, and businesses providing services to Midtown Galleries, and concerns routine business matters. Artists Correspondence contains both personal and business letters since the Gruskins were close friends of many artists represented by Midtown Galleries. Artists Applications consists of correspondence with artists seeking representation by Midtown Galleries. Both accepted and rejected artists are included in this subseries.

Exhibition records includes schedules and general correspondence about cooperative exhibitions and traveling shows. Exhibition files, arranged by title, contain correspondence concerning arrangements for each show.

Inventories include listings by artist and by warehouse location; also, lists of paintings on consignment, paintings returned to artists, loan/shipping log, and "traffic cards." Sales records include "groups totals,: artists account ledger, and sales slips.

Financial records consist of bills paid, banking records, accounting records, and tax returns with related documentation.

Miscellaneous items include manuscripts of Isabel Bishop Catalogue Raisonne and Biography by Karl Lunde and The Art of Philip Guston by Lester D. Longman. Also included are legal documents such as Act of Incorporation, partnership agreement, and leases; 32 guest registers, 1924-1985 and undated, and 15 samples of artist-designed fabrics produced by Onandoga Silk Co., 1946-1947.

Photographs of people include founders Alan D. Gruskin and Francis C. Healey, Mary J. Gruskin (Mrs. Alan D.) and many artists affiliated with Midtown Galleries. Photographs of works of art are by Midtown artists and others. Also, illustrations for Painting in the U.S.A. by Alan D. Gruskin; 2 albums of photographs of the work of Waldo Peirce, circa 1925-1930s (probably compiled by Peirce). Photographs of exhibitions include Midtown Galleries exhibitions and shows elsewhere featuring works by Midtown artists. Miscellaneous photographs include: Gruskin's Department Store (Pa.); models used by artists Julien Binford, Henry Koerner, and Doris Rosenthal; properties owned by Julien Binford and Hans Moeller; Anatol Shulkin's travel pictures of the Soviet Union; store window displays featuring Midtown artists, and fashion models at Midtown Galleries.

Printed matter includes material produced by Midtown Galleries: exhiition catalogs, 1932-1983 and undated; news releases, 1932-1983 and undated; Midtown News, 1965-1970; and miscellaneous items, 1943-1970 and undated Printed matter produced by others includes is comprised of artists files consisting mainly of newsclippings; also, articles about Midtown Galleries and the Gruskins.

Personal papers of Mary J. and Alan D. Gruskin contain biographical information, correspondence, financial records, miscellaneous items, calendars, and writings of Alan D. Gruskin. Correspondence, 1931-1970 and undated, with family and friends concerns personal business; also, letters of condolence on the death of Alan D. Gruskin, 1970. Financial records include personal finances and documentation of gifts of artwork to institutions, with appraisals and tax information. Calendars, 1939-1983, record both personal engagements and some business appointments. Writings of Alan D. Gruskin include manuscripts and drafts of columns, short stories, a screenplay, radio broadcasts, and lecture notes from courses at Harvard.

Papers of Francis C. Healey are comprised of correspondence that relates to both gallery and ersonal business. Also included are scripts and drafts for radio broadcasts, printed matter, press releases, and proposals for radio programs.

Administrative records received with the addition include general correspondence, correspondence with clients, and correspondence regarding gifts, sales and purchases. Records concerning the sale of Midtown Galleries to John Whitney Payson include Gruskin's and Payson's inventories. Also, included is a history of the gallery.

Photographs are of the Gruskins, their friends, and country house; also, views of Midtown exhibitions, openings, artists, and individual works of art.

Artists records are comprised mainly of artists files, largely containing printed matter. Among the artists records are a file of holiday cards by various artists, many with original artwork. Also included are catalogs of group shows featuring Midtown artists at other galleries

Exhibition materials include announcements, news releases, catalogs, miscellaneous printed matter, and a guest book. A small number of these items are dated after Payson's purchase of Midtown Galleries.

Videotapes of William Palmer, Isabel Bishop, and Robert Vickrey, as well as oversize printed matter relating to Midtown artists, complement the artists records.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 10 series. A detailed explanation of the arrangement of each series is provided with the series descriptions. Each series is subdivided, often by record type, with categories usually arranged chronologically; exceptions are noted. Administrative correspondence (Series 1) is arranged alphabetically, as are many inventories sales records (Series 3). Photographs of people, exhibitions, and works of art (Series 6) are arranged alphabetically, as are the artists files and exhibition clippings portions of the printed matter (Series 7). The addition is described separately in Appendix A; and, wherever possible, reel and frame numbers of related materials received and filmed with the addition have been included in the main text's series descriptions.

Missing Title

Series 1: Administrative Correspondence, 1927-1989, undated (51 linear ft.)

Series 2: Exhibitions, 1932-1982, undated (4 linear feet)

Series 3: Inventories and Sales Records, 1932-1980, undated (5.3 linear ft.)

Series 4: Financial Records, 1933-1957 (3.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Miscellaneous, 1934-1985, undated (2 linear feet)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1925-circa 1980 (6.5 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Matter, 1932-1990, undated (7.25 linear ft.)

Series 8: Personal Papers of Alan D. and Mary J. Gruskin, 1904-1990, undated (4.5 linear feet)

Series 9: Papers of Francis C. Healey, 1932-1935, undated (0.5 linear ft.)

Series 10: Addition, 1932-1997, undated (2.5 linear feet)

Historical Note:

Alan D. Gruskin (1904-1970) hoped to become an artist, but while still a student realized that his talents were better suited to art administration than painting. Following graduation from Harvard University, he worked at a New York gallery that specialized in old masters, returning home to Pennsylvania after a year to pursue a writing career that ultimately proved unsuccessful. Gruskin returned to New York and opened Midtown Galleries at 559 Fifth Avenue in 1932. Specializing in work by living American artists, Midtown was one of a rather small number of commercial galleries in New York City that showed contemporary American art. Midtown Galleries represented academic and realist painters, and purposely avoided abstract art.

Founded during the Depression, Midtown Galleries was a shoe-string operation in its early years. Originally operated as a cooperative, Midtown Galleries' participating artists contributed to the costs and work of presenting exhibitions. Between 1932 and 1935, Gruskin served as "Art Director" of the gallery and his business partner, Francis C. Healey was "Publicity Director." Healey appears to have been responsible for weekly broadcasts on NBC radio designed to interest people in visiting the gallery. The 15-minute programs consisted of discussions with museum directors, curators, artists, writers, and musicians about a broad range of cultural topics. Copies of the scripts were offered for a dime, and the payments mailed by radio listeners bought Gruskin's meals. During this period, Gruskin lived in the gallery. After Healey's departure in 1935, Midtown Galleries ceased to be run as a cooperative.

Midtown Galleries usually represented approximately two dozen artists, and many remained with the gallery for decades. They included: Julien Binford, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Gladys Rockmore Davis, Emlen Etting, Maurice Freedman, Dong Kingman, Oronzio Maldarelli, William C. Palmer, Waldo Peirce, Doris Rosenthal, Zoltan L. Sepeshy, Frederic Taubes, William Thon, Margit Varga, and Robert Vickrey.

Gruskin worked to educate and interest the public in American art and to promote the artists he represented. In addition to countless reviews, articles, and catalog essays, he wrote three books: Painting in the U.S.A. (1946), The Watercolors of Dong Kingman and How the Artist Works (1958), William Thon: The Artist and His Technique (1964). Gruskin advocated the use of fine art in advertising and industry, obtaining commissions for his artists and at the same time assisting clients in building corporate collections. A prime example is the Upjohn Company which, at Gruskin's urging, included reproductions of paintings in "Your Doctor Speaks," a series of public service announcements. Many of the paintings were purchased subsequently, forming the basis of the Upjohn Collection. A traveling exhibition, The Upjohn Company Collection of Contemporary American Paintings, was circulated by Midtown Galleries and featured in a Life magazine article about fine art and advertising. Another example is the fabric patterns, based on paintings by several of Midtown Galleries' artists, commissioned by the Onandoga Silk Company; the fabrics were used for dresses by popular designers, with fashion shows and window displays of paintings by the participating artists at selected department stores throughout the country. Working closely with architects and interior designers, Gruskin and Midtown Galleries were innovators in the use of domestic and business settings to showcase art with Art In Interiors, a series of exhibitions held annually between 1952 and 1961.

Midtown Galleries was a pioneer in circulating traveling exhibitions to colleges and art associations in communities distant from major art museums and commercial galleries. Beginning in 1936 and or more than 35 years, Midtown Galleries circulated 8-10 shows throughout the country each year; most were group shows organized around a theme, though occasional solo exhibitions were offered. Other important exhibitions off the premises were the Central Illinois Art Exposition, 1939, and the contemporary American art exhibition at the New York World's Fair, 1964-1965. The 1939 show organized by Gruskin for the Bloomington, Illinois, Art Association was a large exhibition of American art borrowed from a variety of institutions; the very well-publicized show was heavily attended, drawing visitors from a large area of the rural Midwest, many of whom had never visited a museum or seen original art.

Missing Title

1932 -- established as a cooperative gallery at 559 Fifth Ave. by Alan D. Gruskin (Art Director) and Francis C. Healey (Public Relations Director); Midtown Galleries presented programs on contemporary American art broadcast by NBC radio

1934-1935 -- Tudor City Art Galleries at 8 Prospect Place, New York City, featuring works by Midtown Galleries' artists and others, administered by Gruskin and Healey

1935 -- departure of Francis C. Healey; gallery moved to 605 Madison Ave.; gallery ceased to be run as a cooperative

1936 -- began traveling exhibitions to universities, museums, and regional art associations

1939 -- Central Illinois Art Exposition (Bloomington, Ill.)

1946 -- San Francisco branch opened and closed; publication of Painting in the U.S.A. by Alan D. Gruskin

1951 -- gallery moved to 17 East 57th Street

1958 -- publication of The Watercolors of Dong Kingman and How the Artist Works by Alan D. Gruskin

1962 -- gallery moved to 11 East 57th Street

1964 -- exhibition of contemporary American art at the New York World's Fair, organized by Midtown Galleries; shown in American Interiors Pavilion, this was the only exhibit of its kind at the Fair; publication of William Thon: The Artist and His Technique by Alan D. Gruskin

1966 -- loan of Midtown Galleries' records for microfilming by the Archives of American Art; this small selection, along with many other gallery records, was donated by Mary Gruskin to the Archives between 1972 and 1991, with an additional gift in 1997

1970 -- death of Alan D. Gruskin (1904-1970); Mary J. Gruskin assumes position of Director

1972 -- first portion of Midtown Galleries' records donated to the Archives of American Art by Mrs. Gruskin

1985 -- sale of Midtown Galleries to John Whitney Payson; Bridget Moore, Director, and Mary J. Gruskin, Director Emerita

1986 -- majority of Midtown Galleries' records acquired by the Archives of American Art

1990 -- name changed to Midtown-Payson Galleries; gallery moved to 745 Fifth Ave.

1991 -- additional gift of records by Mrs. Gruskin

1992 -- records arranged, described, and prepared for microfilming

1993 -- microfilming began; continued sporadically, in small segments

1995 -- Midtown-Payson Galleries closed

1997 -- additional gift of records by Mrs. Gruskin

1999 -- microfilming completed

Provenance:

Midtown Galleries loaned a small number of records consisting of news releases, 1939-1966, and exhibition schedules to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1966. Subsequently, Mary J. Gruskin donated this material, along with many other gallery records, to the Archives in several installments between 1972 and 1991; an additional gift was received in 1997. The portion loaned in 1966 is now integrated with the main records and has been refilmed in sequence. Unfortunately, the addition of 1997 was received in Washington, D.C. after microfilming was well underway. The addition has been microfilmed and described separately as Series 10. Wherever possible, the main text has been annotated with reel and frame numbers for related items contained in the addition.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.

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.

Topic:

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

Function:

Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State)

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Video recordings

Citation:

Midtown Galleries records, 1904-1997. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

AAA.midtgall

See more items in:

Midtown Galleries records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw914dd4711-6742-49ca-86c0-2e99aad538ea

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-midtgall

Names:

Andrade-Watkins, Claire  Search this

Bambara, Toni Cade  Search this

Dash, Julie  Search this

Gerima, Haile  Search this

Gunn, Bill, 1934-1989  Search this

Jafa, Arthur  Search this

Jones, Robert Earl, 1904-2006  Search this

Massiah, Louis  Search this

Micheaux, Oscar, 1884-1951  Search this

Moses, Ethel  Search this

Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976  Search this

Sanchez, Sonia, 1934- (poet, reader)  Search this

Snead, James A., 1953-1989  Search this

Spence, Louise, 1945-  Search this

Tucker, Lorenzo  Search this

Donor:

Bowser, Pearl, 1931-  Search this

Extent:

approximately 100 Motion picture films

213 Sound cassettes (7 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Motion picture films

Sound cassettes

Sound cassette

Oral histories (document genres)

16mm motion picture film

Vhs (videotape format)

Place:

England

Harlem (New York, N.Y.)

Roanoke (Va.)

Memphis (Tenn.)

Date:

bulk 1920-2001

Biographical / Historical:

Pearl Bowser is a filmmaker, producer, author, lecturer, and highly acclaimed scholar of African American film who is recognized as an authority on the works of Oscar Micheaux, a noted writer, director, and producer of race films from 1919 to 1948.

Born Pearl Johnson on June 25, 1931, in Sugar Hill, Harlem, New York, she was named after her mother (also Pearl Johnson), a domestic worker who had been raised in a Catholic nunnery. On occasional Saturdays, the younger Pearl would accompany her mother to work in apartments in lower Manhattan, where she would assist her by folding handkerchiefs for a small allowance. After moving to a lower part of Harlem when she was about four years old, she met Harlem entrepreneur "Bumpy" Johnson, for whom she and other children in the neighborhood did odd jobs such as counting coins or attending to his ice-cream stand. Johnson, who would sometimes give the children joy rides in his Cadillac, occasionally allowed Pearl and the other children to borrow books from his extensive library, provided that they read them and submitted to a quiz.

As a child, Bowser had several racist encounters. For example, one of her white kindergarten teachers at her elementary school wore gloves in the classroom as to not touch Black pupils. She was also occasionally teased for having a gap between her teeth but felt insulated from sustained bullying because she had several older brothers who sometimes protected her. On a separate occasion, when she was about nine years old, her mother sent her on a trip from New York to the South to visit relatives. Although her mother had purchased tickets for her to be in a Pullman car, when she changed trains in Washington, DC., she was forced to ride in the car behind the engine, which left her covered in soot.

An avid reader, Pearl excelled in elementary and high school and received a scholarship to attend Brooklyn College, where she majored in biology. She supplemented her income by recording the numbers in one of Bumpy Johnson's shops. Disappointed with the quality of the education she was receiving, Bowser withdrew from Brooklyn College, eventually landing a job at CBS where she worked on a team that analyzed Nielsen ratings.

In 1955, Pearl married fellow New Yorker LeRoy Bowser. By the mid-1960s, although Pearl and LeRoy Bowser had separate interests, they both were working simultaneously in the civil rights movement. While LeRoy was active in Brooklyn CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and went to the South in the summer to teach for what was the beginning of HeadStart, Pearl, along with other production activists, took to the streets documenting African American culture and issues—working to bring these films to schools. Additionally, Bowser wanted to write a cookbook to earn funds for Brooklyn's CORE organization. She was approached by David Davis, the editor of Tuesday Magazine. Tuesday had distribution in the Herald Tribune across the country as a Sunday supplement. As the urban-world magazine exploded in Black communities, "Joan" Bowser's two-page pictorials on Southern cooking with a set of recipes became very popular in the five years she wrote them. Bowser retained copyrights to the articles, and easily completed her cookbook a short time later.

Bowser's colleague at ABC, Charles Hobson, found a used book written by Peter Noble about Black films and Oscar Micheaux. The volume was slim and contained what little information contained in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) files. Hobson and his colleagues wanted to write a book about the topic, and they assigned Bowser to begin the research. As part of the project, Bowser went to California to interview actors who may have been in early Black films or may have worked with Micheaux. What she learned began her intensive scholarship into Micheaux and his fellow filmmakers.

In 1971, she organized her first film festival, the Black Film History Series. In 1979, she organized the nation's first American women's film festival in New York City. She also presented a major retrospective, Independent Black American Cinema 1920-1980, which toured the country during 1981 and 1982. She also directed the Journey Across Three Continents film and lecture series, which toured the country from 1983-1985. Bowser also served as president of the prestigious Flaherty Film Seminar in 1987. In 1989, she, alongside Grant Munro, programmed the 35th Flaherty Film Seminar, which featured films such as Finzan, Zajota and the Boogie Spirit, Daughters of the Dust, and many more. She has also been a judge at the world-renown Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESCPACO) in Burkina Faso (formerly known as Upper Volta).

In the 1980s Bowser was awarded an independent artists grant by the Ford Foundation to travel west and collect oral histories from individuals in Oscar Micheaux's orbit, loosely following the route he would have travelled decades earlier. Stopping in cities such as Roanoke, Virginia; Memphis, Tennessee; and Jackson, Mississippi, she collected dozens of oral histories from actors, actresses etc. that knew Oscar Micheaux. Through this research she became an eminent figure in the Black independent film industry. Working as a programmer, she travelled around the United States and the world showing films by domestic and Black filmmakers within the Diaspora.

Despite her wealth of experience working as a programmer, it wasn't until the 1990s that Bowser made her directorial debut with the documentary film Midnight Ramble. Funded by American Experience, the film looks at African Americans and Hollywood movies from 1910 through the 1950s. In 2000, she, along with Louise Spence, co-authored Writing Himself into History: Oscar Micheaux, His Silent Films and His Audiences, a book about the pioneering filmmaker. Additionally, she is founder and director of Chamba Educational Film Services, a film distribution company that specialized in distributing films by African American filmmakers. In the early 1980s, she renamed her company/collection as African Diaspora Images, a collection of historical and contemporary films documenting Black film history. She subsequently joined Third World Newsreel, where she was director of their theater department.

In 2012, Pearl Bowser donated her extensive collection of books, sound cassettes, films, film memorabilia, and papers to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Sources:

1940 United States Federal Census; New York, New York, New York, population schedule, p. 61B, house number 1486, family 195, Pearl Bowser; Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012 accessed: 10 Sept 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm: m-t0627-02665

Bowser, Pearl. Pearl Bowser Oral History. Interview by Tuliza Fleming and Jennifer Lyon, July 21, 2011.

Provenance:

Acquired as a donation from Pearl Bowser in 2012.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Access to collection materials requires an appointment.

Occupation:

Filmmakers  Search this

Actors -- Interviews  Search this

Topic:

Documentary films  Search this

Film festivals  Search this

African American actors  Search this

African American actresses  Search this

African diaspora  Search this

Race films  Search this

African American motion picture producers and directors  Search this

African American women authors  Search this

Meetings  Search this

Conferences  Search this

Lectures and lecturing  Search this

Amateur films  Search this

Motion picture soundtracks  Search this

Oral history  Search this

Radio broadcasts  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound cassette

Oral histories (document genres)

16mm motion picture film

VHS (videotape format)

Citation:

Pearl Bowser Collection, National Museum of African American History and Culture

Identifier:

NMAAHC.A2012.79.AV

See more items in:

Pearl Bowser Audiovisual Collection

Archival Repository:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/io3209e9c6d-3045-4a0a-941e-6519385b18d5

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmaahc-a2012-79-av

Collection Creator:

Junkin, Hattie Meyers, 1896-1985  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Folder 5

Type:

Archival materials

Text

Collection Restrictions:

No restrictions on access

Collection 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.

See more items in:

Hattie Meyers Junkin Papers

Hattie Meyers Junkin Papers / Series 3: General materials of Hattie Meyers Junkin

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg2f9c2563e-5c4a-47d6-abbb-276111be86a4

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nasm-xxxx-0171-ref141

Collection Creator:

Ya-Ching, Lee  Search this

Container:

Box 12, Folder 3

Type:

Archival materials

Text

Date:

1942

Collection Restrictions:

No restrictions on access.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Lee Ya-Ching Papers, NASM.2008.0009, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Lee Ya-Ching Papers

Lee Ya-Ching Papers / Series 2: Professional

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg29e88526f-9151-49c1-b55b-04e5f0f91295

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nasm-2008-0009-ref117

Collection Creator:

Ya-Ching, Lee  Search this

Container:

Box 4, Folder 4

Type:

Archival materials

Text

Date:

1941 - 1945

Collection Restrictions:

No restrictions on access.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Lee Ya-Ching Papers, NASM.2008.0009, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Lee Ya-Ching Papers

Lee Ya-Ching Papers / Series 2: Professional

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg2ab05c827-3569-4eb5-8b73-53a8e9bcd2d1

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nasm-2008-0009-ref39

Collection Creator:

Ya-Ching, Lee  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Folder 1

Type:

Archival materials

Text

Date:

1939

Collection Restrictions:

No restrictions on access.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Lee Ya-Ching Papers, NASM.2008.0009, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Lee Ya-Ching Papers

Lee Ya-Ching Papers / Series 2: Professional

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg20c46250e-976d-4b97-bfc4-d6dc4ed9dda1

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nasm-2008-0009-ref46

Collection Creator:

Mangravite, Peppino, 1896-  Search this

Extent:

1 Sound discs (lacquer)

Container:

Box 8, Folder 1

Type:

Archival materials

Sound discs (lacquer)

Date:

1953 October 11

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.

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:

Peppino Mangravite papers, 1918-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Peppino Mangravite papers

Peppino Mangravite papers / Series 5: Miscellaneous Records / Audio/Visual Records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9a3b673b5-3b64-41f5-8026-064f9cb4af54

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-mangpepp-ref118

Collection Creator:

Mangravite, Peppino, 1896-  Search this

Extent:

(Boxes 3, 8; 0.65 linear ft.; Reel 5881)

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1955, 1972

Scope and Contents note:

During the summer of 1955, sponsored by Columbia University, and with the assistance of the United States Information Agency, Mangravite traveled to England, France, and Italy, where he met with artists and scholars, and art department heads of several European universities to discuss Columbia University's plans for a new Art Center. He interviewed Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Giorgio De Chirico, Marino Marini, Henry Moore, Giorgio Morandi, Georges Rouault, and Graham Sutherland. Original audio recordings (7" reel to reel audio tapes) of all interviews except Giorgio Morandi are found here, along with excerpts of Mangravite's conversations with Braque, Chagall, De Chirico, Marini, and Morandi copied for radio broadcast (three 33-1/3 rpm lp recordings). Transcripts of all interviews are included, though there is no English translation of Rouault's interview. Each artist was also photographed with Mangravite on the day of his interview, except for Henry Moore who is represented by a single photograph taken circa 1955. The photographs are filed in this series.

In 1972, Mangravite recorded an interview with Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City, and the two artists were photographed together on that occasion. No transcript of the recording is among the Mangravite papers.

Photographs of other artists are filed with Series 7: Photographs, and a manuscript "Language of the Hand and Eye: Artists on Art, Life, and Education," by Mangravite, based on his interviews with European artists, can be found with Series 4: Writings, Notes, and Lectures.

Collection Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.

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:

Peppino Mangravite papers, 1918-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.mangpepp, Series 3

See more items in:

Peppino Mangravite papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9433dab21-031f-4f98-a6c8-babcbce06810

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aaa-mangpepp-ref29

Subject of:

MelPat Associates, American, 1965 - 1986  Search this

Lou Rawls, American, 1933 - 2006  Search this

United Negro College Fund, American, founded 1944  Search this

President Jimmy Carter, American, born 1924  Search this

Wilma Rudolph, American, 1940 - 1994  Search this

National Urban League, American, founded 1910  Search this

American Association of Blacks in Energy, American, founded 1977  Search this

One Hundred Black Men, Inc., American, founded 1963  Search this

National Association of Black Social Workers, American, founded 1968  Search this

Interracial Council for Business Opportunity, American, founded 1963  Search this

National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, American, founded 1969  Search this

American Bridge Association, American, founded 1932  Search this

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, American, founded 1821  Search this

National Association of Market Developers, American, founded 1953  Search this

The Girl Friends, Inc., American, founded 1927  Search this

Prince Hall Freemasonry, founded 1784  Search this

Sears, Roebuck & Co., American, founded 1893  Search this

Morehouse College, American, founded 1867  Search this

Opportunities Industrialization Center of America, Inc., American, founded 1964  Search this

National Newspaper Publishers Association, American, founded 1827  Search this

National Pharmaceutical Association, American, founded 1947  Search this

Chi Delta Mu Fraternity, Inc., American, founded 1913  Search this

Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1932  Search this

Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc., American, founded 1964  Search this

National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., founded 1919  Search this

The Links, Incorporated, American, founded 1946  Search this

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, American, founded 1909  Search this

Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1937  Search this

Republican Party, American, founded 1854  Search this

Charms, Inc., American, founded 1952  Search this

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, founded 1908  Search this

National United Church Ushers Association of America, Inc., American, founded 1919  Search this

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, American, founded 1920  Search this

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., American, founded 1906  Search this

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., founded 1922  Search this

Eta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1943  Search this

National Pharmaceutical Association, American, founded 1947  Search this

National Medical Association, American, founded 1895  Search this

National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., founded 1919  Search this

National Association of University Women, American, founded 1910  Search this

Shriners International, American, founded 1870  Search this

Daughters of Isis, American, founded 1910  Search this

American Tennis Association, American, founded 1916  Search this

Democratic Party, American, founded 1828  Search this

CBS Broadcasting, Inc., American, founded 1927  Search this

A. Philip Randolph, American, 1889 - 1979  Search this

Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1929  Search this

Congressional Black Caucus, American, founded 1971  Search this

369th Veterans Association, American  Search this

Benjamin Hooks, American, 1925 - 2010  Search this

National Bankers Association, American, founded 1927  Search this

Association for the Study of African American Life and History, American, founded 1915  Search this

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., American, founded 1911  Search this

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, American, founded 1914  Search this

Alliance for Women in Media, American, founded 1951  Search this

Created by:

C. Melvin Patrick, American, died 1985  Search this

Medium:

ink on paper

Dimensions:

H x W x D: 10 13/16 × 8 7/16 × 7/16 in. (27.5 × 21.4 × 1.1 cm)

Type:

magazines (periodicals)

Place made:

Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America

Date:

1980

Topic:

African American  Search this

Advertising  Search this

African Methodist Episcopal  Search this

Associations and institutions  Search this

Black Press  Search this

Business  Search this

Communities  Search this

Fraternal organizations  Search this

Fraternities  Search this

Government  Search this

HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)  Search this

Journalism  Search this

Labor  Search this

Mass media  Search this

Men  Search this

Methodist  Search this

Political organizations  Search this

Politics  Search this

Professional organizations  Search this

Religion  Search this

Social life and customs  Search this

Sororities  Search this

Television  Search this

The Black Church  Search this

U.S. History, 1969-2001  Search this

Urban life  Search this

Women  Search this

Women's organizations  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Anne B. Patrick and the family of Hilda E. Stokely

Object number:

2012.167.14

Restrictions & Rights:

Public domain

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Documents and Published Materials-Published Works

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd533a4aa5f-52b1-4ee7-8dd0-1df51498bd61

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2012.167.14

Published by:

MelPat Associates, American, 1965 - 1986  Search this

Created by:

C. Melvin Patrick, American, died 1985  Search this

National Association of Market Developers, American, founded 1953  Search this

Subject of:

National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, American, founded 1969  Search this

National Urban Affairs Council, American, founded 1971  Search this

Interracial Council for Business Opportunity, American, founded 1963  Search this

Prince Hall Freemasonry, founded 1784  Search this

Chi Delta Mu Fraternity, Inc., American, founded 1913  Search this

Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc., American, founded 1964  Search this

Continental Societies, Inc., American, founded 1956  Search this

Rose Morgan, American, 1912 - 2008  Search this

William Otis Walker, American, 1896 - 1981  Search this

National Newspaper Publishers Association, American, founded 1827  Search this

African Methodist Episcopal Church, American, founded 1816  Search this

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, American, founded 1909  Search this

Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1937  Search this

The Links, Incorporated, American, founded 1946  Search this

National Association of Black Accountants, Inc., American, founded 1969  Search this

Carats, Inc., American, founded 1959  Search this

People United to Save Humanity, American, founded 1971  Search this

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, founded 1908  Search this

Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1932  Search this

National United Church Ushers Association of America, Inc., American, founded 1919  Search this

National Pharmaceutical Association, American, founded 1947  Search this

National Medical Association, American, founded 1895  Search this

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., founded 1922  Search this

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, American, founded 1920  Search this

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., American, founded 1906  Search this

Eta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1943  Search this

National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc., American, founded 1935  Search this

National Urban League, American, founded 1910  Search this

National Association of University Women, American, founded 1910  Search this

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., American, founded 1911  Search this

Shriners International, American, founded 1870  Search this

Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks of the World, American, founded 1898  Search this

Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc., American, founded 1929  Search this

Vernon Jordan, American, born 1935  Search this

National Business League, American, founded 1900  Search this

Congressional Black Caucus, American, founded 1971  Search this

Arthur Ashe Jr., American, 1943 - 1993  Search this

National Bankers Association, American, founded 1927  Search this

National Bar Association, American, founded 1925  Search this

369th Veterans Association, American  Search this

Percy Ellis Sutton, American, 1920 - 2009  Search this

Morehouse College, American, founded 1867  Search this

Joe Louis, American, 1914 - 1981  Search this

Clarence D. King, American, 1888 - 1981  Search this

Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, American, founded 1914  Search this

National Black Veterans Association, American, founded 1974  Search this

Medium:

ink on paper

Dimensions:

H x W x D: 10 13/16 × 8 7/16 × 1/2 in. (27.5 × 21.4 × 1.3 cm)

Type:

magazines (periodicals)

Place made:

Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America

Place depicted:

Martha's Vineyard, Oak Bluffs, Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America

Date:

1982

Topic:

African American  Search this

Advertising  Search this

African Methodist Episcopal  Search this

Associations and institutions  Search this

Black Press  Search this

Broadway Theatre  Search this

Business  Search this

Communities  Search this

Film  Search this

Fraternal organizations  Search this

Fraternities  Search this

Government  Search this

HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)  Search this

Journalism  Search this

Labor  Search this

Mass media  Search this

Men  Search this

Methodist  Search this

Political organizations  Search this

Politics  Search this

Professional organizations  Search this

Religion  Search this

Social life and customs  Search this

Sororities  Search this

The Black Church  Search this

U.S. History, 1969-2001  Search this

Urban life  Search this

Women  Search this

Women's organizations  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Anne B. Patrick and the family of Hilda E. Stokely

Object number:

2012.167.16

Restrictions & Rights:

Public domain

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Documents and Published Materials-Published Works

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd595b77a5e-4524-45a5-90d3-81855fc7528c

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2012.167.16

Creator:

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this

Names:

Duke Ellington Orchestra  Search this

Washingtonians, The.  Search this

Ellington, Mercer Kennedy, 1919-1996 (musician)  Search this

Strayhorn, Billy (William Thomas), 1915-1967  Search this

Collector:

National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Musical History  Search this

Extent:

400 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Phonograph records

Papers

Photographic prints

Posters

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Music

Clippings

Awards

Audiotapes

Place:

New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century

Harlem (New York, N.Y.) -- 20th century

Washington (D.C.) -- 20th century

Date:

1903 - 1989

Summary:

The collection documents Duke Ellington's career primarily through orchestrations (scores and parts), music manuscripts, lead sheets, transcriptions, and sheet music. It also includes concert posters, concert programs, television, radio, motion picture and musical theater scripts, business records, correspondence, awards, as well as audiotapes, audiodiscs, photographs, tour itineraries, newspaper clippings, magazines, caricatures, paintings, and scrapbooks.

Scope and Contents:

Dating approximately from the time Duke Ellington permanently moved to New York City in 1923 to the time the material was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1988, the bulk of the material in the Duke Ellington Collection is dated from 1934-1974 and comprises sound recordings, original music manuscripts and published sheet music, hand-written notes, correspondence, business records, photographs, scrapbooks, news clippings, concert programs, posters, pamphlets, books and other ephemera. These materials document Ellington's contributions as composer, musician, orchestra leader, and an ambassador of American music and culture abroad. In addition, the materials paint a picture of the life of a big band maintained for fifty years and open a unique window through which to view an evolving American society.

The approximate four hundred cubic feet of archival materials have been processed and organized into sixteen series arranged by type of material. Several of the series have been divided into subseries allowing additional organization to describe the content of the material. For example, Series 6, Sound Recordings, is divided into four subseries: Radio and Television Interviews, Concert Performances, Studio Dates and Non-Ellington Recordings. Each series has its own scope and content note describing the material and arrangement (for example; Series 10, Magazines and Newspaper Articles, is organized into two groups, foreign and domestic, and arranged chronologically within each group). A container list provides folder titles and box numbers.

The bulk of the material is located in Series 1, Music Manuscripts, and consists of compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and other composers. Series 6, Sound Recordings also provides a record of the performance of many of these compositions. The materials in Series 2, Performances and Programs, Series 3, Business Records, Series 8, Scrapbooks, Series 9, Newspaper Clippings, Series 11, Publicity and Series 12, Posters provide documentation of specific performances by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Ellington was a spontaneous and prolific composer as evidenced by music, lyrical thoughts, and themes for extended works and plays captured on letterhead stationery in Series 3, Business Records, in the margin notes of individual books and pamphlets in Series 14, Religious Materials and Series 15, Books, and in the hand-written notes in Series 5, Personal Correspondence and Notes.

During its fifty-year lifespan, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra were billed under various names including The Washingtonians, The Harlem Footwarmers and The Jungle Band. The soloists were informally called "the band", and Series 3 includes salary statements, IOU's, receipts and ephemera relating to individual band members. Series 1, Music Manuscripts contains the soloists' parts and includes "band books" of several soloists (for example; Harry Carney and Johnny Hodges) and numerous music manuscripts of Billy Strayhorn. The changing role of Strayhorn from arranger hired in 1938 to Ellington's main collaborator and composer of many well-known titles for Duke Ellington and His Orchestra including "Take The A' Train" and "Satin Doll" can be traced in these music manuscripts. Series 7, Photographs and Series 2, Performances and Programs contain many images of the band members and Strayhorn. This Collection also documents the business history of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Series 3, Business Records contains correspondence on letterhead stationery and Series 11, Publicity contains promotional material from the various booking agencies, professional companies, and public relations firms that managed the Orchestra.

The materials in the Duke Ellington Collection provide insight into public and institutional attitudes towards African Americans in mid-twentieth-century America. The business records in Series 3 beginning in 1938 and published sheet music in Series 1 depict Duke Ellington's progression from an African-American musician who needed "legitimization" by a white publisher, Irving Mills, to a businessmen who established his own companies including Tempo Music and Duke Ellington, Incorporated to control his copyright and financial affairs. Programs from the segregated Cotton Club in Series 2, Performances And Programs and contracts with no-segregation clauses in Series 3: Business Records further illustrate racial policies and practices in this time period. The public shift in perception of Duke Ellington from a leader of an exotic "Jungle Band" in the 1930s to a recipient of the Congressional Medal Of Freedom in 1970 is evidenced in Series 2, Performances And Programs, Series 12, Posters, Series 7, Photographs and Series 13, Awards. Reviews and articles reflecting Ellington's evolving status are also documented in Series 8, Newspaper Clippings, Series 9, Scrapbooks, Series 10, Newspaper and Magazine Articles.

The materials in the Duke Ellington Collection reflect rapid technological changes in American society from 1923-1982. Sound recordings in Series 6 range from 78 phonograph records of three minutes duration manufactured for play on Victrolas in monaural sound to long-playing (LP) phonograph records produced for stereo record players. Television scripts in Series 4, programs in Series 2 and music manuscripts (for example, Drum Is A Woman) in Series 1 demonstrate how the development of television as a means of mass communication spread the Orchestra's sound to a wider audience. The availability of commercial air travel enabled the Ellington Orchestra to extend their international performances from Europe to other continents including tours to Asia, Africa, South America and Australia and archival material from these tours is included in every series.

Series 4, Scripts and Transcripts and Series 6, Audio Recordings contain scripts and radio performances promoting the sale of United States War bonds during World War II, and Series 7, Photographs includes many images of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra's performances for military personnel revealing the impact of historic events on Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Series 2: Programs and Performances, Series 9, Newspaper clippings and Series 8, Scrapbooks document the 1963 Far East tour aborted as a result of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

The Duke Ellington Collection contains works by numerous twentieth-century music, literature, and art luminaries. Series 1, Music Manuscripts contains original music manuscripts of William Grant Still, Eubie Blake, Mary Lou Williams, and others. Series 4, Scripts and Transcripts contains a play by Langston Hughes, and Series 12, Posters contains many original artworks.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Music Manuscripts, circa 1930-1981, undated

Series 2: Performances and Programs, 1933-1973, undated

Series 3: Business Records, 1938-1988

Series 4: Scripts and Transcripts, 1937-1970

Series 5: Personal Correspondence and Notes, 1941-1974, undated

Series 6: Sound Recordings, 1927-1974

Series 7: Photographs, 1924-1972, undated

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1931-1973

Series 9: Newspaper Clippings, 1939-1973, undated

Series 10: Magazine Articles and Newspaper Clippings, 1940-1974

Series 11: Publicity, 1935-1988

Series 12: Posters and Oversize Graphics, 1933-1989, undated

Series 13: Awards, 1939-1982

Series 14: Religious Material, 1928-1974

Series 15: Books, 1903-1980

Series 16: Miscellaneous, 1940-1974

Biographical / Historical:

A native of Washington, DC, Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899. Edward was raised in a middle-class home in the Northwest section of Washington described by his sister Ruth--younger by sixteen years--as a "house full of love." Ellington himself wrote that his father J.E. (James Edward) raised his family "as though he were a millionaire" but Edward was especially devoted to his mother, Daisy Kennedy Ellington. In 1969, thirty-four years after his mother's death, Ellington accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom with these words, "There is nowhere else I would rather be tonight but in my mother's arms." Both his parents played the piano and Ellington began piano lessons at the age of seven, but like many boys he was easily distracted by baseball.

In his early teens, Ellington sneaked into Washington clubs and performance halls where he was exposed to ragtime musicians, including James P. Johnson, and where he met people from all walks of life. He returned in earnest to his piano studies, and at age fourteen wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" also known as "Poodle Dog Rag." Ellington was earning income from playing music at seventeen years of age, and around this time he earned the sobriquet "Duke" for his sartorial splendor and regal air. On July 2, 1918, he married a high school sweetheart, Edna Thompson; their only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, was born on March 11, 1919. Duke Ellington spent the first twenty-four years of his life in Washington's culturally thriving Negro community. In this vibrant atmosphere he was inspired to be a composer and learned to take pride in his African-American heritage.

Ellington moved to New York City in 1923 to join and eventually lead a small group of transplanted Washington musicians called "The Washingtonians," which included future Ellington band members, Sonny Greer, Otto Hardwicke and "Bubber" Miley. Between 1923 and 1927, the group played at the Club Kentucky on Broadway and the ensemble increased from a quintet to a ten-piece orchestra. With stride pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith as his unofficial guide, Ellington soon became part of New York's music scene; Smith proved to be a long-lasting influence on Duke's composing and arranging direction. At the Club Kentucky, Ellington came under the tutelage of another legendary stride pianist, "Fats" Waller. Waller, a protege of Johnson and Smith, played solos during the band's breaks and also tutored Ellington who began to show progress in his compositions. In November 1924, Duke made his publishing and recording debut with "Choo Choo (I Got To Hurry Home)" released on the Blu-Disc label. In 1925, he contributed two songs to Chocolate Kiddies, an all-black revue which introduced European audiences to black American styles and performers. By this time Ellington's family, Edna and Mercer, had joined him in New York City. The couple separated in the late 1920's, but they never divorced or reconciled.

Ellington's achievements as a composer and bandleader began to attract national attention while he worked at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, from 1927 to 1932. The orchestra developed a distinctive sound that displayed the non-traditional voicings of Ellington's arrangements and featured the unique talents of the individual soloists. Ellington integrated his soloists' exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, their high-squealed trumpets, their sultry saxophone blues licks and Harlem's street rhythms into his arrangements. In the promotional material of the Cotton Club, the band was often billed as "Duke Ellington and His Jungle Band." With the success of compositions like "Mood Indigo," and an increasing number of recordings and national radio broadcasts from the Cotton Club, the band's reputation soared.

The ten years from 1932 to 1942 are considered by some major critics to represent the "golden age" for the Ellington Orchestra, but it represents just one of their creative peaks. These years did bring an influx of extraordinary new talent to the band including Jimmy Blanton on double bass, Ben Webster on tenor saxophone, and Ray Nance on trumpet, violin and vocals. During this ten year span Ellington composed several of his best known short works, including "Concerto For Cootie," "Ko-Ko," "Cotton Tail," "In A Sentimental Mood," and Jump For Joy, his first full-length musical stage revue.

Most notably, 1938 marked the arrival of Billy Strayhorn. While a teenager in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Strayhorn had already written "Lush Life," "Something To Live For" and a musical, Fantastic Rhythm. Ellington was initially impressed with Strayhorn's lyrics but realized long before Billy's composition "Take the A' Train" became the band's theme song in 1942 that Strayhorn's talents were not limited to penning clever lyrics. By 1942, "Swee' Pea" had become arranger, composer, second pianist, collaborator, and as Duke described him, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine." Many Ellington/Strayhorn songs have entered the jazz canon, and their extended works are still being discovered and studied today. Strayhorn remained with the Ellington Organization until his death on May 30, 1967.

Ellington had often hinted of a work in progress depicting the struggle of blacks in America. The original script, Boola, debuted in Carnegie Hall in November of 1943, retitled Black, Brown and Beige. The performance met with mixed reviews, and although Ellington often returned to Carnegie Hall the piece was never recorded in a studio, and after 1944 was never performed in entirety again by the Ellington Orchestra. Nonetheless, it is now considered a milestone in jazz composition.

After World War II the mood and musical tastes of the country shifted and hard times befell big bands, but Ellington kept his band together. The band was not always financially self-sufficient and during the lean times Ellington used his songwriting royalties to meet the soloists' salaries. One could assign to Ellington the altruistic motive of loyalty to his sidemen, but another motivation may have been his compositional style which was rooted in hearing his music in the formative stage come alive in rehearsal. "The band was his instrument," Billy Strayhorn said, and no Ellington composition was complete until he heard the orchestra play it. Then he could fine tune his compositions, omit and augment passages, or weave a soloist's contribution into the structure of the tune.

In 1956, the American public rediscovered Duke and the band at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. The searing performances of tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves on "Diminuendo and Crescendo In Blue," his premiere soloist, alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges on "Jeep's Blues", and the crowd's ecstatic reaction have become jazz legend. Later that year Duke landed on the cover of Time magazine. Although Ellington had previously written music for film and television (including the short film, Black and Tan Fantasy in 1929) it wasn't until 1959 that Otto Preminger asked him to score music for his mainstream film, Anatomy of a Murder, starring Jimmy Stewart. Paris Blues in 1961, featuring box-office stars Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier in roles as American jazz musicians in Paris, followed.

Ellington's first performance overseas was in England in 1933, but the 1960s brought extensive overseas tours including diplomatic tours sponsored by the State Department. Ellington and Strayhorn composed exquisite extended works reflecting the sights and sounds of their travels, including the Far East Suite, 1966. They wrote homages to their classical influences; in 1963, they adapted Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and celebrated Shakespeare's works with the suite Such Sweet Thunder in 1957. With Ella Fitzgerald, they continued the Norman Granz Songbook Series. Ellington also began to flex his considerable pianist skills and recorded albums with John Coltrane (1963), Coleman Hawkins (1963), Frank Sinatra, and Money Jungle (1963) with Charles Mingus and Max Roach. The First Sacred Concert debuted in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral in 1965. In his final years, Ellington's thoughts turned to spiritual themes and he added a Second (1968) and Third (1973) Concert of Sacred Music to his compositions.

In his lifetime, Duke received numerous awards and honors including the highest honor bestowed on an American civilian, the Congressional Medal Of Freedom. In 1965, Ellington was recommended for a Pulitzer Prize to honor his forty years of contribution to music but the recommendation was rejected by the board. Most likely he was disappointed, but his response at the age of sixty-six was, "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young."

Ellington never rested on his laurels or stopped composing. Whenever he was asked to name his favorite compositions his characteristic reply was "the next five coming up," but to please his loyal fans Ellington always featured some of his standards in every performance. Even on his deathbed, he was composing the opera buffo called Queenie Pie.

Duke Ellington died on May 24, 1974 at seventy-five years of age. His funeral was held in New York's Cathedral of St. John The Divine; he was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. His long-time companion Beatrice "Evie" Ellis was buried beside him after her death in 1976. He was survived by his only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, who not only took up the baton to lead the Duke Ellington Orchestra but assumed the task of caring for his father's papers and his legacy to the nation. Mercer Ellington died in Copenhagan, Denmark on February 8, 1996, at the age of seventy-six. Ruth Ellington Boatwright died in New York on March 6, 2004, at the age of eighty-eight. Both Mercer and Ruth were responsible for shepherding the documents and artifacts that celebrate Duke Ellington's genius and creative life to their current home in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

William H. Quealy Collection of Duke Ellington Recordings (AC0296)

Rutgers University Collection of Radio Interviews about Duke Ellington (AC0328)

Duke Ellington Oral History Project (AC0368)

Duke Ellington Collection of Ephemera and realated Audiovisual Materials (AC0386)

Annual International Conference of the Duke Ellington Study Group Proceedings (AC0385)

Robert Udkoff Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0388)

Frank Driggs Collection of Duke Ellington Photographic Prints (AC0389)

New York Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society Collection (AC390)

Earl Okin Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0391)

William Russo Transcription and Arrangement of Duke Ellington's First Concert of Sacred Music (AC0406)

Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0415)

Music manuscripts in the Ruth Ellington Collection complement the music manuscripts found in the Duke Ellington Collection.

Carter Harman Collection of Interviews with Duke Ellington (AC0422)

Betty McGettigan Collection of Duke Ellington Memorabilia (AC0494)

Dr. Theodore Shell Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0502)

Edward and Gaye Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0704)

Andrew Homzy Collection of Duke Ellington Stock Music Arrangements (AC0740)

John Gensel Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0763)

Al Celley Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC1240)

Materials at Other Organizations

Institute of Jazz Studies

Separated Materials:

Artifacts related to this collection are in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) and include trophies, plaques, and medals. See accessions: 1989.0369; 1991.0808; 1993.0032; and 1999.0148.

"

Provenance:

The collection was purchased through an appropriation of Congress in 1988.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but the original and master audiovisual materials are 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.

Copyright restrictions. Consult the Archives Center at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Paul Ellington, executor, is represented by:

Richard J.J. Scarola, Scarola Ellis LLP, 888 Seventh Avenue, 45th Floor, New York, New York 10106. Telephone (212) 757-0007 x 235; Fax (212) 757-0469; email: rjjs@selaw.com; www.selaw.com; www.ourlawfirm.com.

Occupation:

Composers -- 20th century  Search this

Topic:

Big bands  Search this

Pianists  Search this

Bandsmen -- 20th century  Search this

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

Musicians -- 20th century  Search this

Music -- Performance  Search this

African American entertainers -- 20th century  Search this

African Americans -- History  Search this

Popular music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

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

African American musicians  Search this

Genre/Form:

Phonograph records

Papers

Photographic prints

Posters

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Music -- Manuscripts

Clippings

Awards

Audiotapes

Citation:

Duke Ellington Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Processing and encoding partially funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0301

See more items in:

Duke Ellington Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep850a376a1-6b6d-48bc-9076-cffef76fea2c

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0301

Series Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Folder 1-2

Type:

Archival materials

Text

Date:

1927-1949

Scope and Contents:

Topics include brief overviews of radio history, proposals for mass educational programming through broadcasts, the effect of radio on rural life, and commentary on proposed legislation impacting radio broadcasting.

Series Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Series 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.

Series Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Radios, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Radios

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Radios / Subject

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep89440547c-3210-4ab2-bb7c-77f0c2a08d7c

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-radios-ref55

Series Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1922 May

Series Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Series 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.

Series Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Radios, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Radios

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Radios / Genre / Serial Publications

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8bf584fb0-c27a-4d0b-b4cd-bf96731de6a4

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-radios-ref66

Series Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Container:

Box 72, Folder 3

Type:

Archival materials

Scope and Contents:

Radio broadcasts, 1932

Series Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Series 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.

Series Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Patent Medicines, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Patent Medicines

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Patent Medicines / Business Records, Marketing Material, and Other / Publishers, Forms, Physicians

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep885c9aaf0-5d91-46e5-a774-4013d7e00869

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-patentmedicines-ref3334