The papers of African American painter, printmaker, and educator Reginald Gammon measure 2.4 linear feet and 5.30 GB and date from 1927 to 2007, with bulk of the materials dating from 1960-2005. The collection consists of scattered biographical materials, including video and sound recordings of interviews; correspondence with artists, galleries, organizations, and museums; writings and notebooks; teaching files; printed materials; photographic material; and artwork in the form of sketches, drawings, and paint sketches.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American painter, printmaker, and educator Reginald Gammon measure 2.4 linear feet and 5.30 GB and date from 1927 to 2007, with bulk of the materials dating from 1960-2005. The collection consists of scattered biographical materials, including video and sound recordings of interviews; correspondence with artists, galleries, organizations, and museums; writings and notebooks; teaching files; printed materials; photographic material; and artwork in the form of sketches, drawings, and paint sketches.
Biographical materials include Gammon's academic records and diplomas, certificates, military records, an address book, and information about his memorial service. There is a folder on The Spiral Group which includes an exhibition catalog and photographs. There are video interviews, a conversation video, and two TV advertisements, all digital; one analog and one digital audio interview.
Approximately one-half of the collection consists of correspondence with other artists, museums, galleries and arts organizations. Correspondents include Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Vivian Browne, Thomas Frey, Joseph Greenberg, Harwood Art Center, Patrick King, Hughie Lee-Smith, Midtown Galleries, National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, New Mexico African American Artists Guild, Harvey Overton, Schomberg Center, Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Museum, Western Michigan University, and Jonathan Wynberg, among many others.
Writings by Gammon consists of essays, a research proposal, notes, grant applications, and notebooks wherein Gammon jotted down thoughts and drafted letters.
Teaching files are related to Reginald Gammon's tenure at Western Michigan University. There are teaching certifications, lecture notes, one sound recording (sound cassette) of a lecture, student recommendations, and grade books, among other items.
Printed materials primarily consist of exhibition catalogs and announcements, including the catalog Ida Y Vuelta on Gammon's 1998 exhibition in Rodez, France. Other materials found in this series are clippings that feature Gammon and his work, periodicals, posters designed by Gammon, and source materials related to jazz. and limited subject files.
Photographic materials include prints, slides, digital photographs, and negatives depicting Reginald Gammon and his artwork, friends and family, and various studios and events.
Artwork includes pencil and ink sketches, drawings, and paint sketches. The series also contains storyboards for children's books as well as mockups for advertisements.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1936-2006 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, 3, 5.29 GB; ER01-ER03)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1964-2005 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1-3)
Series 3: Writings and Notebooks, 1948-circa 2000 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 4: Teaching Files, 1969-1991 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1955-2005 (0.4 linear feet; Box 2, OV 4)
Series 6: Photographic Material, 1927-2007 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2-3, 0.010 GB; ER04)
Series 7: Artwork, 1937-circa 1999 (0.5 linear feet; Box 2-3)
Biographical / Historical:
Reginald A. Gammon (1921-2005) was a painter and art educator who worked in New York City, Michigan, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was a member of Spiral, an African American artist's collective based in New York City, as well as a member of the New Mexico Afro-American Artist Guild. He taught in the New York public schools and at Western Michigan University.
Gammon was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1941, he received a scholarship to study art at the Philadelphia Museum College of Arts (then the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts) and the following summer worked in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard refurbishing battleships for the war effort. While working, he also attended school at night. He was drafted and served in the Navy from 1944-1946 with an African-American unit stationed in Guam. He lived in Philadelphia briefly after the war and moved to New York City in 1948. During his early years in New York City, Gammon worked at various jobs such as sorting mail for the post office and designing advertising copy. Around this time, he first met his future wife Janice Goldberger whom he married in 1972.
In 1963, Gammon was invited to join Spiral, a group of African American artists which included Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Alvin Hollingsworth, Norman Lewis, Richard Mayhew, and Hale Woodruff. As a member of this group, Gammon participated in the 1965 exhibition First Group Showing: Works in Black and White. Spiral disbanded later that same year. In 1969, Gammon and Benny Andrews formed the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition. This politically active group of artists picketed the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of Modern Art to protest the exclusion of black artists and curators.
Gammon also taught at the Saturday Academy Program for New York public schools. He set up an informal studio so that children from Harlem could work with resident artists. This position and a recommendation from Hughie Lee-Smith led to an offer from Western Michigan University for a visiting lectureship that turned into a full-time teaching position in which Gammon served until 1991, when he retired as Full Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts and Humanities.
After his retirement from Western Michigan University, Gammon and his wife moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and he became involved in the New Mexico Afro-American Artist Guild and the Albuquerque United Artists, among other civic organizations. He regularly participated in exhibitions and art fairs sponsored by the Guild and served as their treasurer from 1999 until his death. He was artist-in-residence from 1992-2005 at the Harwood Art Center where he also maintained a studio.
Gammon was also one of the founding members of the New Grounds Print Workshop, where he completed his final collection of artworks - a collection of over 100 prints of historically significant gospel singers and jazz musicians. Gammon died on November 4, 2005.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 2007 and 2008 by Reginald Gammon's widow Janice Gammon.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Use of archival audiovisual recordings and electronic records 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.
The papers of African American arts administrator and director of Cinque Gallery, Ruth Jett, measure 7.8 linear feet and 0.242 gigabytes, and date from 1914 to 2014. The collection contains biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, and colleagues including William Branch, Vinie Burrows, John and Vivian Hewitt, Langston Hughes, and Charles and Frances White; and administrative and professional files which include material related to the American Society of African Culture, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Cinque Gallery, the Cinque Artists Program at the Romare Bearden Foundation, the Library of Congress Center for the Book, and the Schomburg Corporation. The collection also includes writings, primarily typescript copies of literary works by others, including Langston Hughes and Ossie Davis, as well as notes; printed material such as clippings, exhibition and event announcements, books and magazines, and press releases; and photographic material including photographs, snapshots, negatives, and slides depicting Ruth Jett and other individuals, travel, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace fellows and events, and works of art. Also found is a small amount of artwork including a sketchbook, sketches, a painting, and a print.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American arts administrator and director of Cinque Gallery, Ruth Jett, measure 7.8 linear feet and date from 1914 to 2014. The collection contains biographical material; correspondence with family, friends, and colleagues including William Branch, Vinie Burrows, John and Vivian Hewitt, Langston Hughes, and Charles and Frances White; and administrative and professional files which include material related to the American Society of African Culture, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Cinque Gallery, the Cinque Artists Program at the Romare Bearden Foundation, the Library of Congress Center for the Book, and the Schomburg Corporation. The collection also includes writings, primarily typescript copies of literary works by others, including Langston Hughes and Ossie Davis, as well as notes; printed material such as clippings, exhibition and event announcements, books and magazines, and press releases; and photographic material including photographs, snapshots, negatives, and slides depicting Ruth Jett and other individuals, travel, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace fellows and events, and works of art. Also found is a small amount of artwork including a sketchbook, sketches, a painting, and a print.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in seven series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1914-2014 (Box 1, OV 9; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1952-2014 (Boxes 1-2; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 3: Administrative and Professional Files, 1954-2009 (Boxes 2-5, OV 9; 3.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1949-circa 1990s (Box 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1928, 1949-2014 (Boxes 5-7, OVs 9-13; 2.1 linear feet, ER01; 0.242 GB)
Series 6: Photographic Material, 1947-2010 (Boxes 7-8, OV 14; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 7: Artwork, undated (Box 8, OV 14; 3 folders)
Biographical / Historical:
Ruth Jett (1920-2014) was an art administrator and Director of the Cinque Gallery, New York, N.Y.
Born and raised in Alabama, Ruth Jett attended Miles College in Birmingham before moving with her mother and some siblings to Harlem, New York. In the early 1950s, Jett worked with the Committee for the Negro in the Arts, overseeing early productions by several Black playwrights including William Branch, Alice Childress, Ossie Davis, and Julian Mayfield. From the 1950s until her retirement in 1978, Jett held a variety of positions at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, notably managing the Fellowships in Diplomacy program for a number of years.
After she retired from the Carnegie Endowment, Ruth Jett worked with a number of cultural and arts organizations, including the Library of Congress Center for the Book, the Schomburg Corporation/ Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Friends of the Symphony of the New World.
Ruth Jett served on the Cinque Gallery Board of Directors beginning in 1981. She was appointed Executive Director in 1989 and served in that position until the early 2000s. When the gallery closed in 2004, she then worked with the Romare Bearden Foundation on the Cinque Artists Program to continue the gallery's legacy and commitment to supporting artists.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the Cinque Gallery records, 1959-2010, bulk 1976-2004.
Provenance:
The Ruth Jett papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2018 by Juan Rodriguez, a friend of Jett.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Archival audiovisual recordings must be digitized for research access. Researchers may access digitized audiovisual materials in the Archives' Washington, D.C. or New York, N.Y. Research Centers by appointment. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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:
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 24, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1994 February 3-5
Scope and Contents:
The Program in African American Culture, National Museum of American History; Anacostia Museum, Smithsonian Institution; Howard University, School of Divinity; and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library sponsored performances, presentations of papers, a drumming workshop, demonstrations, and panel discussions in the Carmichael Auditorium, the Palm Court, the Taylor Gallery, and the Flag Hall from Thursday, February 3, 1994, to Saturday, February 5, 1994. The panelists were Marimba Ani (Dona Richards), Mao Clemmons, Floyd Coleman, C. Daniel Dawson, Jualynne E. Dodson, K. Kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau, Amitiyah Elayne Hyman, Rosalind Robinson Jeffries, Lawrence N. Jones, Leslie King-Hammond, Jacqui Malone, John Mason, Rafaa B. McRae, Rob Parsell, John Parks, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Cheryl J. Sanders, Joyce J. Scott, Robert Farris Thompson, Eleanor W. Traylor, Kaylynn Sullivan Twotrees, and Sheila S. Walker. The performers were Alpha Phi Alpha, Anthony Brown, Bucketmasters, Milton Cardona, Yolonda Coleman, Get Set V.O.P., Kupigana Ngumi Afrikan Warriors, C.K. Ladzekpo, Lee "Mixashawn" Rozie, Moving Star Hall, New York Grupo de Capoeira Angola, Baba Ngoma, Kombo Omolara, 3 Levels of Genius (3LG), Urban Bush Women, Felipe Garcia Villamil, Sule Greg Wilson, and Women of the Calabash. Program number AC408.83.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
68 cassette audiotape recordings of oral history interviews and presentations, and 55 newsletters compiled by the New York Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society, 1960-1991.
Audiotapes and Newsletters from the New York Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society Meetings.
Arrangement:
1 series. Unarranged.
Biographical / Historical:
The New York Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society is located in New York and focuses on the life and career of musician and composer, Edward "Duke" Ellington.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Morris Hodara, February 4, 1992.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site, by appointment, but collection is unprocessed.
Rights:
Certain restrictions on usage: Any use of these recordings for publication (in electronic or print form) must provide a credit line with the name of the speaker or interviewee, the name of the person conducting the interview, and the date (when available). The credit line also must contain the following statement: "original recording in the Duke Ellington Society Archives at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, New York, New York." Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
New York Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society Collection, 1960-1991, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. (See "Reproductions" for additional credit line information.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0390
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Wrestling with history : a celebration of African American self-taught artists : from the collection of Ronald and June Shelp / Sandra Kraskin, curator
Title:
Celebration of African-American self-taught artists
