The papers of Abstract Expressionist painters James Brooks and Charlotte Park measure 18.7 linear feet and are dated 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Correspondence, subject files, personal business records, printed material, and a sound recording document his painting career, interests, professional and personal activities. Also found are biographical materials, interviews, writings, and art work. The collection also includes papers of his wife, Abstract Expressionist painter Charlotte Park, regarding her painting career, personal life, activities as executor of James Brooks' estate, and some material concerning the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation. There is a 1.4 linear foot addition to this collection donated in 2017 that includes 58 "week-at-a-glance" appointment books, three journals and one address/ telephone book of Charlotte Park; a hand written chronology with significant dates and notes; postcards and exhibition announcements sent to Charlotte and James; doodles; and a sketch, possibly by Don Kingman.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Abstract Expressionist painters James Brooks and Charlotte Park measure 18.7 linear feet and are dated 1909-2010, bulk 1930-2010. Correspondence, subject files, personal business records, printed material, and a sound recording document his painting career, interests, professional and personal activities. Also found are biographical materials, interviews, writings, and art work. The collection also includes papers of his wife, Abstract Expressionist painter Charlotte Park, regarding her painting career, personal life, activities as executor of James Brooks' estate, and some material concerning the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation. There is a 1.4 linear foot addition to this collection donated in 2017 that includes 58 "week-at-a-glance" appointment books, three journals and one address/ telephone book of Charlotte Park; a hand written chronology with significant dates and notes; postcards and exhibition announcements sent to Charlotte and James; doodles; and a sketch, possibly by Don Kingman.
Biographical materials include biographical notes and documents such as copies of birth and death certificates, curricula vitae, family history. Educational records are from Southern Methodist University and documentation of flight training courses at New York University. Brooks' military service in World War II is well documented by United States Army records with related correspondence. Also found is extensive documentation of his death and funeral.
Professional and personal correspondence is addressed to Brooks, the couple, and to Charlotte Park during the later years of Brooks' life when she managed his affairs. A significant amount of correspondence is categorized as art, autograph requests, personal, and teaching; also include is general correspondence that overlaps all categories. Art correspondence with museums, galleries, collectors, artists, and friends concerns exhibitions, Brooks' work, and invitations to exhibit, speak, or serve as a juror. Of note is the correspondence with Samuel M. Kootz Gallery. The personal correspondence is mainly social, and teaching correspondence consists largely of requests that he teach in summer programs, serve as a visiting artist/critic.
Six interviews with James Brooks are in the form of published and unpublished transcripts; a seventh is a sound recording with no known transcript. Charlotte Park participates in one interview.
Writings by Brooks are statements about his work and a tribute to Ilya Bolotowsky. Among the writings by others about Brooks are a catalog essay, academic papers, and lecture; also found are a few short pieces on miscellaneous topics. Three diaries include brief entries regarding his work, exhibitions, and activities.
Subject files maintained by Brooks concerning organizations, exhibitions, mural projects, a commission and teaching document his professional activities, relationships and interests.
Personal business records concern appraisals, conservation, gifts, insurance, loans, sales, shipping, and storage of artwork. Gallery records include agreements, consignments, lists, and receipts. Also, there are accounts for lettering work and personal income tax returns.
Printed material is mostly exhibition announcements, invitations, catalogs, and checklists, as well as articles and reviews. The majority are about/mention Brooks or include reproductions of his work; some concern artist friends, former students, and others.
Artwork by Brooks consists of pencil and ink drawings, two sketchbooks, and "telephone doodles." Other artists include Adolph Gottlieb (ink drawing of sculpture), Philip Guston (three pencil drawings of Brooks), and William King (two silhouettes of Brooks).
Photographic materials (photographs, digital prints, negatives, slides, and color transparencies) provide extensive documentation of Brooks' artwork and, to a lesser extent, exhibitions.There are pictures of Brooks as a very young boy, though the most views of him date from the 1930s through 1980s, and with friends. Places include Brooks' homes and studios in Montauk, New York and the Springs, East Hampton, New York; travel to Maine, Oregon and California. Views of the Middle East from World War II show Brooks with colleagues, local people engaged in daily activities, and scenery. Also of note are a copy print of "The Irascibles" by Nina Leen, and attendees at the dedication of Flight dining in view of Brook's LaGuardia Ariport mural.
Charlotte Park papers document the professional career and personal life of the Abstract Expressionist painter, art teacher, and wife of James Brooks through correspondence, personal business records, exhibition records, printed material, and photographs. In addition, this series documents artwork in the estate of James Brooks and posthumous exhibitions. Twelve years younger than her husband, Park began handling business matters for him as he aged and developed Alzheimer's disease. She also served as his executor. In the 1990s, a curator assumed management of the artwork and loans for exhibitions. After the James Brooks and Charlotte Park Brooks Foundation was established in 2000, its director handled most business activities. Some copies of Foundation minutes and correspondence are found among Park's papers.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 11 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1924-1995 (Box 1, OV 19; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1928-1995 (Boxes 1-3; 1.7 linear feet)
Series 3: Interviews, 1965-1990 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Writings, 1952-1999 (Box 3; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 5: Diaries, 1975-1984 (Box 3; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 6: Subject Files, 1926-2001 (Boxes 3-5, OV 20; 2.0 linear feet)
Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1932-1992 (Boxes 5-6; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1928-1992 (Boxes 6-11, OV 21-OV 22; 4.8 linear feet)
Series 9: Artwork, 1930s-1992 (Box 11; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographic Materials, 1909-2000s (Boxes 11-15; 4.1 linear feet)
Series 11: Charlotte Park papers, 1930s-2010 (Boxes 15-18, OV 23; 3.6 linear feet)
Series 12: Unprocessed Additition, circa 1930-2010 (Boxes 25-26; 1.4 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
James Brooks (1906-1992) and Charlotte Park (1919-2010) were Abstract Expressionist painters in East Hampton, N.Y. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Brooks spent his childhood in Colorado, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Texas. He begn drawing as a young boy, finding inspiration in magazine illustrations and comic strips. Before moving to New York City in 1926, he studied at Southern Methodist University (1923-1924) and at the Dallas Art Institute.
In New York, Brooks studied illustration at the Grand Central Art School. After exposure to museums led him to differentiate between illustration and fine art, Brooks enrolled at Art Students League. During this period he supported himself by doing lettering for magazine advertisements. From 1936-1942 he participated in the WPA Federal Art Project, executing murals at Woodside Library, Queens, New York (destroyed); the Post Office, Little Falls, New Jersey; and his famous Flight at LaGuardia Airport's Marine Air Terminal (painted over in the 1950s and restored in 1980).
During World War II Brooks served in the United States Army as an art correspondent in Cairo. When at the Office of Special Services, Washington, DC, he met Charlotte Park who worked there as a graphic artist and later became his wife. The couple moved to New York City in 1945 and married in 1947. Brooks resumed friendships with artists he knew from the WPA including Philip Guston, Bradley Walker Tomlin, and Jackson Pollock. Brooks and Park were especially close with Pollock and Lee Krasner; after they moved to Long Island, Brooks and Park, soon followed, first to Montauk and later to the Springs, East Hampton, New York.
By the late 1940s, Brooks had turned away from figural painting in the social realist style and moved toward abstraction. In the early 1950s, he was experimenting with enamel, gouache, and diluted oil paints, staining various grounds in ways that produced interesting shapes, adding spontaneous splashes of color over which he painted more deliberately. In the 1960s he switched to acrylics, leading to wider use of color and broader strokes.
Peridot Gallery presented Brooks' first solo exhibition in 1949. He helped organize and participated in the famous Ninth Street Show of 1951, earning critical acclaim. This assured him a place in two of the Museum of Modern Art's most important exhibitions of the period, Twelve Americans (1956) and New American Painting (1958). He showed at the Stable Gallery, Kootz Gallery, Martha Jackson Gallery and others. During his lifetime Brooks enjoyed five traveling retrospective exhibitions.
Prizes and awards included Carnegie Institute's Pittsburgh International Exhibition 5th prize for painting (1952), The Art Institue of Chicago's 62nd American Exhibition Logan Medal and Prize for Painting (1957) and 64th American Exhibition Harris Prize (1961), The National Arts Club Medal (1985), and a citation of appreciation for Flight from The North Beach Club Marine Air Terminal, LaGuardia Airport (1986).
Brooks taught for nearly three decades: drawing at Columbia University (1947-1948) and lettering at Pratt Institute (1948-1955); was a visiting critic, Yale University (1955-1960), University of Pennsylvania (1971-1972), and Cooper Union (1975); and served on the Queens College faculty (1966-1969). In addition, he was an artist-in-residence at The American Academy in Rome (1963), the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1969), and a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant (1973).
Brooks developed Alzheimer's disease around 1985 and died in East Hampton, New York in 1992.
Charlotte Park graduated from the Yale School of Fine Art (1939) and during World War II, when working in Washington, D.C., she met James Brooks. They moved to New York City in 1945, where she studied with Australian artist Wallace Harrison. Park taught children's art classes at several private schools in the early 1950s and at the Museum of Modern Art, 1955-1967.
Park's approach to Abstract Expressionism featured curved or linear shapes with vibrant colors and dynamic brushstrokes. Tanager Gallery presented her first solo show in 1957 and her work was included in numerous group exhibitions from the 1950s through 2000s, mainly in New York City and Long Island. After Park's second solo exhibition, held in 1973 at Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York, interest in her work revived; other one-person shows followed at Guild Hall (1979), Ingber Gallery (1980), and paired with James Brooks at Louise Himelfarb Gallery. The National Institute of Arts and Letters honored Park with its Art Award in 1974. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Parrish Art Museum, Guild Hall Museum, Telfair Museum of Art, and in many private collections.
Charlotte Park died in 2010.
Related Materials:
Also among the Archives of American Art's holdings are letters from James Brooks and Sean Scully, 1980-1989 addressed to Theodora ["Teddy"] S. Greenbaum, and an oral history interview with James Brooks conducted by Dorothy Seckler, 1965 June 10 and June 12.
Separated Materials:
Correspondence, interview transcripts, photographs, and printed material were loaned by James Brooks for microfilming in 1969 (reel N69-132). With the exception of an address book, a scrapbook, and a few photographs, Brooks donated almost all of the loan in 1979.
Provenance:
The majority of the collection was donated in 2013 by the James Brooks and Charlotte Brooks Foundation and an additional 1.4 linear feet donated 2017 by the Foundation. In 1979 James Brooks donated most of the material lent for microfilming in 1969.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
This scrapbook includes articles, newspaper clippings, letters and photographs from various events and marches Grace participated in regarding the fight for returning surplus lands to Native peoples. These events and materials include--Fishing Rights March (1970) in Yelm, Washington with the McCloud family; Fort Lawton "Surplus" March (1970) in Seattle, Washington; Pit River versus P.G..E. (1970) in Big Bend, California; DQU, Deganawidah Quetzalcoatl University founding (1971) in Davis, California; and documentation as National Commitee Director for the "Return Surplus Lands to Indian People".
Separated Materials:
The cover and back of the scrapbook binder are in Box 12 since they are oversized.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited users to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not changed, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Grace F. Thorpe Collection, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Mel Casas papers, 1963-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Mel Casas papers, 1963-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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:
Mel Casas papers, 1963-1998. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing and digitization of this collection received Federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center. Additional funding for the digitization of the papers was provided by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Exhibition records of the Contemporary Study Wing of the Finch College Museum of Art, 1943-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program. Funding for the digitization of two motion picture films was provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee, and for the remaining sound and video recordings from the Smithsonian's Collection Care Pool Fund. Funding for the digitization of the collection, not including audiovisual materials, was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Exhibition records of the Contemporary Study Wing of the Finch College Museum of Art, 1943-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program. Funding for the digitization of two motion picture films was provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee, and for the remaining sound and video recordings from the Smithsonian's Collection Care Pool Fund. Funding for the digitization of the collection, not including audiovisual materials, was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Exhibition records of the Contemporary Study Wing of the Finch College Museum of Art, 1943-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program. Funding for the digitization of two motion picture films was provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee, and for the remaining sound and video recordings from the Smithsonian's Collection Care Pool Fund. Funding for the digitization of the collection, not including audiovisual materials, was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Exhibition records of the Contemporary Study Wing of the Finch College Museum of Art, 1943-1975. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Hidden Collections grant program. Funding for the digitization of two motion picture films was provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee, and for the remaining sound and video recordings from the Smithsonian's Collection Care Pool Fund. Funding for the digitization of the collection, not including audiovisual materials, was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
The papers of Jerry Bywaters measure 1.0 linear feet and date from 1936 to 1978. The papers document Bywaters' career as a painter and art historian through a resume, interviews, and other professional activity material; artist files consisting of interviews, resumes, clippings, and photographs of works for various artists; and exhibition announcements, catalogs, and other printed material.
Professional activity consists of a resume, an interview with Maria Redelsperger, two interviews which are mostly an account of Bywaters' life than actual interviews, and photographs of Bywaters and his artwork.
Artist files consist of files on various artists Bywaters researched during his career. Materials include, resumes, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, interviews, and photographs of the artists or some of their works. Also included are two oral interviews with architect John Staub and Nina Cullinan who was associated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Bywaters did not conduct these interviews.
Printed material consists of exhibition announcements, exhibition catalogs, and and the article, "Art Museums: Repositories, or Creative Centers?" written by Bywaters.
REELS 1512-1513: Correspondence, ca. 1950-1979, with artists, museum personnel, writers, and others; biographical data; a 20 p. transcript of an interview of Bywaters by Marla Redelsperger, October 3, 1975; a 2 part "Autobiographical Sketch With Slides of Works" delivered June 18, 1975, in Dallas; a monograph by Bywaters, ART MUSEUMS: REPOSITORIES OR CREATIVE CENTERS; exhibition catalogs of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts; printed material about Bywaters; a personal photograph and photos of his works. Among the correspondents are Ivan Le Lorraine Albright, Alfred Barr, Mrs. George Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, John Canaday, Jose Cisneros, René d'Harnacourt, J. Frank Dobie, Lloyd Goodrich, Carl Hertzog, Peter Hurd, Fiske Kimball, Tom Lea, A. Hyatt Mayor, Ben Nicholson, Georgia O'Keeffe, Andrew Wyeth, and William Zorach.
REELS 1648-1649: Files on 55 Texas artists, containing biographical material, photographs, and catalogs. The files were the result of Bywaters' solicitation of information as director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and as a field worker for the Archives of American Art's Texas Documentation Pilot Project. Artists include: Jose Arpa, Henri Bert Bartscht, Keveau Bassett, John Biggers, Son Bradley, Milesio Casas, Cecil Long Casebier, Pat Colville, Ben L. Culwell, George Dahl, Otis Dozier, Edward G. Eisenlohr, Philip Hohn Evett, Xavier Gonzales, Wilfred Higgons, Dorothy Hood, DeForrest Judd, Chapman Kelly, Edmund D. Kinzinger, Tom Lea, Amy Freeman Lee, William Lester, Jim Love, Keith McIntyre, David McManaway, Octavio Medellin, Perry Nichols, Eleanor Onderdonk, Julian Onderdonk, Robert J. Onderdonk, Robert Preusser, Stephen T. Rascoe, Frank Reaugh, William Reily, Herbert Rogalla, E. M. Schiwetz, Lawrence Scholder, Vera Simons, Everett Spruce, Tom Stell, Robert Tiemann, Allie Tennant, Chester Toney, Olin H. Travis, Charles Unlauf, Wilbert Verhelst, Donald Vogel, Donald Weismann, Ralph White, Charles T. Williams, Bill Wiman, Dan Wingren, and Roger Winter.
REELS 3752-3753: Transcripts of oral history interviews with art patron Nina Cullinan (17 p.; reel 3752), and architect John F. Staub (31 p.; reel 3753), both conducted by Susan Bodin October 23, 1975. [Original cassette tapes are with the collection: Cullinan (1); Staub (2).
UNMICROFILMED: Three photographs relating to Bywaters' book Seventy-Five Years of Art in Dallas," 1978. One taken by Rogers, ca. 1918, is annotated "early art patron, Dallas," is of a woman inspecting possible purchases. Two taken by C.E. Arnold show the Dallas Fine Arts Building (destroyed in 1957) exterior, and an interior view, 1920, showing the Dallas Art Association permanent collection.
Biographical / Historical:
Jerry Bywaters (1906-1989) was an American artist, university professor, museum director, art critic and a historian of the Texas region. Based in Dallas, Bywaters worked to elevate the quality of Texas art, attracting national recognition to the art of the region. Bywaters was born in Paris, Texas in 1906, and he studied English at Southern Methodist University. In 1927 he began studying art While traveling through Europe, and he went on to study at Old Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut and at the Art Students League in New York City. Bywaters became known for producing landscapes, still lifes and portrait paintings, as well as lithographic prints and murals. In addition, Bywaters worked as an art and art history professor at Southern Methodist University, and he served as director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts from 1943 to 1964. Bywaters died in 1989.
Provenance:
Donated 1979 by Jerry Bywaters except for the correspondence on reel 1512, which he lent for microfilming. Microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project. Three photographs were inadvertently not microfilmed.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
History of Smithsonian Folklife Oral History Interviews
Extent:
0.5 cu. ft. (2 half document boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Transcripts
Date:
2005-2009
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives'
record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program
staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also reminiscences and
interviews recorded by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Smithsonian Institution predoctoral fellow, William S. Walker, of Brandeis University, conducted a series of oral history interviews on the history of folklife presentation
at the
Smithsonian, as part of his dissertation research.
Descriptive Entry:
The History of Folklife at the Smithsonian Oral History Interviews consist of 13.2 hours of analog and digital audio interviews and 369 pages of transcript.
Historical Note:
Folklife studies are carried on in several organizational units of the Smithsonian Institution: the Department of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History
(NMNH), the Festival of American Folklife (FAF), and the National Museum of American History (NMAH), and the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). Dr. Walker began
his project on the study and exhibition of folklife at the Smithsonian, focusing on the Folklife Festival and then expanded his interview scope to include other Smithsonian
cultural scholars and solicit their views on the FAF and cultural studies, exhibition and public programming at the Smithsonian.
JoAllyn Archambault (1942- ), Director of the American Indian Program at the National Museum of Natural History, is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
She earned her doctorate at the University of California in Berkeley in 1984. She was a faculty member of the Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukie,
Wisconsin (1983-86), and the Director of Ethnic Studies, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California (1978-83). As curator of Anthropology at the NMNH since
1986, she organized various exhibitions, including Plains Indian Arts: Change and Continuity, 100 Years of Plains Indian Painting, Indian Baskets and Their
Makers, and Seminole Interpretations.
Spencer Crew (1949- ) received the A.B. in history from Brown University in 1972 and holds a master's degree (1973) and a doctorate from Rutgers University (1979). He was
assistant professor of African-American and American History at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, 1978-1981; historian, 1981-1987, curator 1987-1989, Department
of Social and Cultural History, chair, 1989-1991, deputy director, 1991-1992, acting director, 1992-1994, director, 1994-2001 of NMAH. He then served as historical consultant
to the National Civil Rights Museum, in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1987-1991; consultant to the Civil Rights Institute, in Birmingham, Alabama, 1991-1994; and executive director
and chief executive officer for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center from 2001-2008; and was appointed Clarence Robinson Professor at George Mason University in
2008. At the Smithsonian, Crew curated several exhibitions, most notably Field to Factory: Afro-American Migration, 1915-1940
William W. Fitzhugh (1943- ), an anthropologist, specialized in circumpolar archaeology, ethnology and environmental studies. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College
in 1964. After two years in the U.S. Navy, he attended Harvard University where he received his PhD in anthropology in 1970. He joined the Anthropology Department at NMNH
in 1970. As director of the Arctic Studies Center and Curator in the Department of Anthropology, NMNH, he has spent more than thirty years studying and publishing on arctic
peoples and cultures in northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia and Scandinavia. His archaeological and environmental research has focused upon the prehistory and paleoecology of
northeastern North America, and broader aspects of his research feature the evolution of northern maritime adaptations, circumpolar culture contacts, cross-cultural studies
and acculturation processes in the North, especially concerning Native-European contacts. He curated four international exhibitions, Inua: Spirit World of the Bering Sea
Eskimos; Crossroads of Continents: Native Cultures of Siberia and Alaska; Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People; and Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga.
Rayna D. Green (1942- ) curator and Director of the American Indian Program at the NMAH, received the B.A. in 1963 and M.A. in 1966 from Southern Methodist University,
served in the Peace Corps as a history instructor and library director for the Teacher Training School in Harar, Ethiopia, and the Ph. D. in Folklore and American Studies
from Indiana University in 1973. A member of the Cherokee tribe, she administered National Native American Science Resource Center, Dartmouth College, before joining the staff
of the Smithsonian in 1984. She has written extensively of Native American culture and foodways. Her research and exhibit projects include a documentary narrative with Julia
Child, In the Kitchen with Julia, following on her co-curation of the long-running popular exhibition Bon Appétit: Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian.
Thomas W. Kavanagh (1949- ), an anthropologist, received the B.A. from the University of New Mexico in 1971, the M.A. from The George Washington University in 1980, and
the Ph.D. from University of New Mexico in 1986. He began his career at Indiana University and then joined the staff of the Smithsonian Institution. A scholar of Comanche
Indians of Oklahoma, he has published extensively on the Comanches and was appointed Consulting Anthropologist for the Comanche Nation. In the 2000s, he served as director
of the Seton Hall University Museum. His publications include Comanche Ethnography (2008), Comanche Political History (1996), North American Indian Portraits:
Photographs from the Wanamaker Expeditions (1996), and "Comanche" in the Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13 (Plains), Smithsonian Institution (2001).
Roger G. Kennedy (1926-2011) graduated from Yale University in 1949 and the University of Minnesota Law School in 1952, and pursued a diverse career in banking, television
production, historical writing, foundation management, and museum administration. He was appointed Director of the National Museum of History and Technology (NMHT) in 1979,
renamed it the National Museum of American History, and left in 1992 to become Director of the National Park Service. He focused on social and cultural history, and oversaw
controversial exhibits including A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the American Constitution and Field to Factory: Afro-American Migration, 1915-1940.
Keith E. Melder (1932- ) studied American history at Williams College (B.A. 1954) and Yale University (M.A. 1957; PhD, 1964). He was an intern at the NMHT in 1958 and returned
in 1961 as Curator of Political History until his retirement in 1996. His research focused on America political movements, especially the Women's Movement and the Civil Rights
era. Melder was also interviewed for two other Smithsonian Institution Archives projects, Record Unit 9603, African American Exhibits at the Smithsonian, and Record Unit 9620,
the American
Association of Museums Centennial Honorees Oral History Project, as well as for the Ruth Ann Overbeck Capitol Hill History Project of the Capitol Hill Historical Society.
Clydia Dotson Nahwooksy (1933-2009), a Cherokee, and her husband Reaves, a Comanche Nation member, worked most of their lives to preserve American Indian tribal culture.
Originally from Oklahoma, they spent 20 years in Washington, D.C., as cultural activists. In the 1970s, Clydia was director of the Indian Awareness Program for the Smithsonian
Institution's Festival of American Folklife. In 1986 both Nahwooskys entered the seminary, and the Rev. Clydia Nahwooksy was an active pastor and a member of the Board of
National Ministries and the American Baptist Churches USA General Board.
Ethel Raim (1936- ), Artistic Director of New York's Center for Traditional Music and Dance (CTMD), researched ethnic music and worked closely with community-based traditional
for almost five decades. Raim also had a distinguished career as a performer, recording artist, music editor, and singing teacher. In 1963 she co-founded and was musical director
of the Pennywhistlers, who were among the first to bring traditional Balkan and Russian Jewish singing traditions to the folk music world. Raim served as music editor
of Sing Out! magazine from 1965 to 1975. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she developed ethnic programs for the Newport Folklife Festival and the Smithsonian's Festival
of American Folklife. In 1975 Raim joined Martin Koenig as Co-Director of the Balkan Folk Arts Center, which developed into the CTMD in New York City.
Joanna Cohan Scherer (1942- ) received the B.A. from Syracuse University in 1963 and the M.A. from Hunter College, City University of New York in 1968. A specialist in
visual anthropology especially of Native Americans, historical photography, women and photography, North American Indian photography, and cultural anthropology. She joined
the staff of the Anthropology Archives of the National Museum of Natural History in 1966 and in 1975 advanced to served as anthropologist and illustrations editor for the
Smithsonian's multivolume series Handbook of North American Indians.
Robert D. Sullivan (1949- ) was educated at St. John Fisher College with a B.S. in anthropology in 1970, the M.A. in education management from the University of Rochester
in 1979, and pursued the Ph.D. in human studies (ABD) at The George Washington University until 2006. He served as Chief of Museum Education at Rochester Museum and Science
Center from 1970 to 1980, Director at the New York State Museum from 1980 to 1990, and Associate Director for exhibitions at National Museum of Natural History from 1990 to
2007.
Peter Corbett Welsh (1926-2010) was a curator and historian at the Museum of History and Technology, now known as the National Museum of American History. He was born on
August 28, 1926, in Washington, D.C. He received his B.A. from Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, in 1950 and completed a post-graduate year of study at the University
of Virginia. He received his M.A. from the University of Delaware where he was the first recipient of the Hagley Fellowship in 1956. Welsh served in the United States Army,
1951-1954. Prior to coming to the Smithsonian Institution, he was Research Assistant and Fellowship Coordinator at the Eleutherian-Mills Hagley Foundation, 1956-1959. Welsh
was Associate Curator in the Smithsonian's Department of Civil History, 1959-1969, and served as editor of the Smithsonian's Journal of History in 1968. As Curator he played
a major role in the development of the Growth of the United States hall for the opening of the Museum of History and Technology which depicted American civilization
from the time of discovery through the mid-twentieth century. Welsh was Assistant Director General of Museums, 1969-1970, and assisted with the implementation of the National
Museum Act through seminars on improving exhibit effectiveness. He also served as Director of the Office of Museum Programs, 1970-1971. After Welsh's tenure at the Smithsonian,
he became the Director of both the New York State Historical Association and the Cooperstown Graduate Program, 1971-1974. He then served as Director of Special Projects at
the New York State Museum in Albany, 1975-1976; Director of the Bureau of Museums for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission; President of The Welsh Group, 1984-1986;
and Curator (1986-1988) and Senior Historian (1988-1989) of the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, New York. In 1989, he became a full-time, independent museum consultant
and lecturer, and was a visiting professor of the State University of New York (SUNY) in 1992. Welsh was a contributor to numerous scholarly journals. He authored Tanning
in the United States to 1850 (1964), American Folk Art: The Art of the People (1967), Track and Road: The American Trotting Horse, 1820-1900 (1968), The
Art of the Enterprise: A Pennsylvania Tradition (1983), and Jacks, Jobbers and Kings: Logging the Adirondacks (1994).
Rights:
Restricted. Contact SIHistory@si.edu to request permission.
Files on ca. 150 exhibitions held 1958-1979. Files contain correspondence, mainly with the directors William Jordan and Jerry Bywaters; bio. info on artists, photos, writings, price lists, bills, press releases, exhibition catalogs and announcements, clippings and printed material.
REELS 1680-1681: Exhibition files include Schedules for 1965-1966, SMU art rental, Prints by Masters, Oskar Kokoschka, Paul Flores Drawings, Eskimo Exhibition, Dan Wingren, University Collects, Edgar Tafur, Onda Exhibition, Old Master Prints, Museum of Modern Art Drawings, IBM: The Bold Tradition, Heritage of Edward Weston, French Museums Fortnight, Architect Chooses Art, The American Woman as Artist, Wingren: Art 26 Project '67, 20th Print National Exhibition, Student Art Shows, Mirror of the Artist, Kepes Exhibition, Jewish Exhibition, British Fortnight, American Watercolor Society, Schedule 1968-1969, Tobin Exhibition, Ten in Focus, Roten Sales, DeForrest Judd, Japan Art Festival, Italian Fortnight, Da Vinci Models, Baskin Prints, American Drawings, 10 Contemporary Figures, Student Art, 1969, 1970, S.W. Watercolors, Printmakers, People Figures, R. Kotoske, Jasper Johns, Faculty Exhibits, Michael Thomas, Asiatic Artists, Photography as Printmaking, Prints from the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, North Texas Faculties, The Lakeside Studio Sales, Diane Hopkins, Graduate Student Exhibits, Drawings Exhibition, Contemporary Russian Painting, Contemporary American Masterpieces, Don Bradley, American Folk Art, Keith Achepohl, Possible Exhibits, 1970-1971, Howard Neufeld, Ex-students and activities file, Exhibitions completed-AFA, Exhibitions completed-Smithsonian, Exhibitions completed-Western Association of Art Museums, and Philbrook Art Center's Exhibition: Texas Collects 20th Century Art.
REEL 1908: Exhibition files include Recent Paintings by James Dowell, May 20-June 30 1979, Student Exhibition, MFA Qualifying Exhibition Schneider, Lovell, Peters, Bos, April 20-27 1979, MFA Qualifying Exhibition Hausman, Carlson, Jarzemsky, April 11-18 1979, Drawings: Matisse to Lichtenstein, February 20-April 8 1979, Drawings: Matisse to Lichtenstein Publicity and invitations, Egypt: Day and Night (Keith Achepohl), January 14-February 11 1979, Contemporary Paintings from the Meadows Collection, November 1-December 13 1978, Modern Sculpture from the Nasher Collection, September 17-October 22 1978, Faculty Show August-September 1978, Exhibition Committee, 1977-1978, and documentation from the 1971 "One i at a Time" exhibition, showing works by Charles Williams, Jim Love, Roy Fridge, David McManaway, Hal Pauley, and Roger Winter among others. Also included in addition to items mentioned previously is a catalogue with an introduction written by guest curator and former director of the Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, Douglas MacAgy.
Biographical / Historical:
Art gallery; Dallas, Tex.
Provenance:
Microfilmed as part of the Archives of American Art's Texas project.
Lent for microfilming 1980 by University Gallery, Southern Methodist University.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
The papers of Mexican born painter, sculptor, and educator Octavio Medellin measure 3.6 linear feet and date from circa 1935 to circa 1979. The collection is comprised of correspondence with Carlos Mérida, Stanley Marcus, Lucy Maverick, Bess Hubbard, Xavier Gonzalez, and others; commission files for projects in Texas; professional files that include notes, biographical essays, and material for the Medellin School of Sculpture, Mendocino Art Center, International Institute of Arts and Letters, and the San Antonio Religious Show; printed and documentary materials consisting of an art reproduction, booklets, exhibition catalogs, magazines and yearbooks, and video recordings of Swank in the Arts; and photographic materials of Medellin, his studio, family and friends, travel in Mexico, his students, and works of art.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of Mexican born painter, sculptor, and educator Octavio Medellin measure 3.6 linear feet and date from circa 1935 to circa 1979. The collection is comprised of correspondence with Carlos Mérida, Stanley Marcus, Lucy Maverick, Bess Hubbard, Xavier Gonzalez, and others; commission files for projects in Texas; professional files that include notes, biographical essays, and material for the Medellin School of Sculpture, Mendocino Art Center, International Institute of Arts and Letters, and the San Antonio Religious Show; printed and documentary materials consisting of an art reproduction, booklets, exhibition catalogs, magazines and yearbooks, and video recordings of Swank in the Arts; and photographic materials of Medellin, his studio, family and friends, travel in Mexico, his students, and works of art.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as five series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1939-1978 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 2: Commission Files, 1950-1973 (Box 1, OV 6; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 3: Professional Files, circa 1950-circa 1979 (Box 1, OV 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed and Documentary Materials, 1936-1979 (Boxes 1-2; 1.0 linear feet)
Series 5: Photographic Materials, circa 1935-circa 1979 (Boxes 2-4, OV 5; 1.8 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Octavio Medellin (1907-1999) was a painter, sculptor, and educator in Dallas, Texas. Medellin was born in Matehuala, Mexico to parents of Otomi heritage. His family moved to San Antonio, Texas when he was eight years old and he became a citizen of the U.S. in 1939. Medellin attended the San Antonio Art School with classmate Xavier Gonzalez and studied with José Arpa. He also studied at the Chicago Art Institute for a short time. Medellin returned to Mexico in order to study the arts, culture, and history of the country and was greatly influenced by the Mayan and Toltec ruins and artifacts he saw there. He returned to San Antonio in 1931 where he taught at the Witte Museum. Under the sponsorship of Lucy Maverick, an artist he met at La Villita Art Gallery who was involved in the historic preservation of San Antonio, Medellin returned to Mexico a few years later to visit the Yucatan region of the country. In 1966, Medellin opened the Medellin School of Sculpture that is now the Creative Arts Center of Dallas. He also taught at North Texas State University and the Dallas Museum of Art. He completed numerous commissions in the state of Texas including a monument at Calvary Hill Cemetery, a sculpture for the Houston Police Administration, mosaics and carvings for St. Andrew's Catholic Church and St. Bernard Catholic Church, and decorations for the sanctuary in Temple Emanu-el.
Medellin retired from teaching in 1979 and moved with his wife Consuelo to Bandera, Texas. He and his wife had two children, Patsy and Sergio. Medellin died in Dallas in 1999. He was buried in Calvary Hill Cemetery near his commissioned monument, The Garden of the Glorious Mysteries.
Related Materials:
Additional Octavio Medellin papers are at Syracuse University, Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse, New York, and the Southern Methodist University Bywaters Special Collections at the Hamon Arts Library, Dallas, Texas.
Provenance:
The collection was donated from 1981 to 1983 by Octavio Medellin.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual records with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
This series consists of the business and personal correspondence of Edith Gregor Halpert and the Downtown Gallery. For the most part, this series is general business correspondence concerning routine activities of the Downtown Gallery, including the American Folk Art Gallery and the Daylight Gallery, both operated by the Downtown Gallery on the same premises. Included are correspondence with clients, employees, other galleries, and colleagues concerning sales, loans, purchases, appraisals, and so forth; arrangements for shipping, framing, photography, reproduction permissions, and insurance; and gallery housekeeping and improvements, ordering of supplies, and other administrative concerns.
Also included is personal correspondence of Edith Gregor Halpert. There are letters and greeting cards from nieces, nephews, and other relatives; correspondence with longtime friends, including some who were art collectors, museum curators, or museum directors; and correspondence concerning upkeep and improvement of her Newtown, Connecticut, country home and entertaining there.
See Appendix A for a list of selected correspondents from Series 1
Arrangement note:
Letters (with enclosures) are arranged chronologically, with those of the same date alphabetized by name of correspondent; undated material is arranged alphabetically, followed by unidentified correspondents and letters bearing illegible signatures.
Box numbers provided in the Container Listing are approximate.
Appendix A: List of Selected Correspondents in Series 1:
Names and titles indicated in this list are those that appear on the letters. Where appropriate, terms have been standardized and cross-referencing provided. Because filing is not always consistent, researchers are advised to check both the name of an individual and the institution that he or she represented.
Abate Associates, Inc., 1956
Abbot and Land, 1965
Abbot, B. Vincent, 1944
Abbot, Bernice, 1957
Abbot, John E., 1945, 1948
Abbot Laboratories, 1950, 1952
ABC Employment Agency, 1951
Richard Abel and Co., Inc., 1968
Abendroth, Robert W., 1966-1967
Abercrombie and Fitch Co., 1962
Abilene Museum of Fine Arts, undated, 1949, 1954
Abingdon Square Painters, 1965
Abraham and Straus, 1930, 1960, 1965-1966, 1968
Abraham, Mae C., 1965
Abrahamsen, Mrs. David, 1962
Abramowitz, M., 1958
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1958-1960, 1965-1966, 1968-1969
"HemisFair '68," 1968 (see also: "International Exposition, HemisFair '68")
Hemmenway, Catherine C., 1961
Hemmingsen, R. V., 1963
Hemmingson, Victoria, 1965
Henderson, Hanford, 1960
Henderson, Priscilla A. B. (Mrs. A. I.), 1934-1955
Henderson, Ray, 1956
Hendrick, Mrs. James Pomeroy, 1961
Heninger, Helen, undated, 1963, 1969
Henquet, Roger, 1948, 1965
Henri, Robert, 1926-1927
Henry, David T., 1964
Henry, Helen (Mrs. Charles), undated, 1949
Henry, James F., 1958
Henry Street Settlement, 1958, 1962-1963
Hentschel, R. A. A., 1951-1954
Hepburn, Katharine, 1952
Herbert, Elmer, 1962
Herbert, James D., 1962
Herider, Ed. L., 1961
Heritage Gallery, 1960, 1964
Herman, Stanley, 1964
Herman, Vic, 1968
Herring, Audrey L., 1964
Herrington, Nell Ray (Mrs. A. W. S.), 1962, 1965
John Herron Art Institute, undated, 1934, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1957-1958, 1962-1964, 1967 (see also: Art Association of Indianapolis; Art School of the John Herron Art Institute)
Hertslet, G. Gordon, 1962, 1966
Hertz, Richard C., 1965
Hertzberg, Stuart E., 1967-1968
Heschel, Mrs. Abraham, 1961
Hess, Elaine Marie, 1965
Hess, Mrs. Thomas B., 1954
Hetzel, Margaret deL. (Mrs. Joseph L.), 1948
Hewitt, Ada M., 1953
Edwin Hewitt Gallery, 1953
Heydenryk, Henry, 1954, 1960, 1964
Heynick, Carla Marian, 1965
Hickok, M., 1958
Hiddens, Mrs. Earl, 1952
Hiersoux, Arne, 1966
Hi Fi/Stereo Review, 1960
High Museum of Art, 1950, 1955, 1961-1962, 1965-1968 (see also: Atlanta Art Association; Atlanta Art Association and High Museum of Art)
Highway Antique Shop, 1954
R. Hill and Son, Ltd., 1960
Hill, Ralph Nading, 1952, 1962
Hille, Elise B., undated
Hille and Curran, 1954
Hilleman, Alex L., 1956
Hiller, Paula, 1962
Hilles, Mrs. Frederick W., 1956
Hillman, Mrs. Joel, II., 1960
Hillside Hospital Clinic, 1949, 1953
Hillstrom, Richard L., 1958, 1962, 1964-1965
Hilltop Theatre, Incorporated, 1952
Hilsenrath, Yakov R., 1965
Hilson, Catherine [Katy] and/or John S., undated, 1958-1959, 1961-1966
Himel, Irving, 1963
Himmelsfarb, Samuel, 1955
Hines, Felrath, 1961
Hinkhouse, Inc., 1960, 1964
Hirsch, B., 1961
Hirsch, E. W., 1954
Hirschberg, J. Cotter, 1956
Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., 1958, 1960, 1963-1965, 1968
Hirschland, Dr. and/or Mrs. F. H., undated, 1959
Hirschland, Paul Michael, 1945
Hirschburg, Mrs. Roy, undated
S. A. Hirsh Manufacturing Co., 1966
Hirshberg, Henrietta, 1961
Hirshhorn, Mrs. Arthur, 1960
Hirshhorn, Joseph H., 1946, 1948, 1951-1954, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1965
Joseph H. Hirshhorn Collection, 1959-1960, 1962-1963, 1965-1966
[incomplete; without signature], undated, 1953, 1961, 1967, 1968
Collection Restrictions:
The microfilm of this collection has been digitized and is available online via the Archives of American Art website.
Collection Rights:
The Downtown Gallery records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Prior to publishing information regarding sales transactions, researchers are responsible for obtaining written permission from both artist and purchaser involved. If it cannot be established after a reasonable search whether an artist or purchaser is living, it can be assumed that the information may be published sixty years after the date of sale.
Collection Citation:
Downtown Gallery records, 1824-1974, bulk 1926-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing, microfilming and digitization of the microfilm of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
