The collection, which dates from 1800 to 2002 and measures 14.75 linear feet, documents two centuries of the depictions of African Americans in popular culture. The collection is comprised of papers, journals, books, audio visual materials, sheet music, correspondence, photographs and artifacts. Included in the audiovisual series are recordings of Maya Angelou and Alice Walker reading their works.
Scope and Contents note:
This collection documents various elements of African American history. The Diane Isaacs Collection of Black Memorabilia is arranged into three series: Printed Materials, Audio Visual Materials, and Miscellaneous. Material in each folder is arranged in chronological order from 1800 through 2002.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged by into three Series: (1) Printed Materials, (2) Audiovisual Material, and (3) Miscellaneous.
Biographical/Historical note:
Diane Isaacs was a professor of English and a collector of black memorabilia. She earned her Ph.D. from Teachers College at Columbia University in 1982 after she wrote a doctoral thesis entitled "Ann Petry's Life and Art: Piercing the Stereotypes." As a professor at Fordham College, the University of Maryland, and the University of Minnesota, Isaacs taught English courses throughout the 1980s and 1990s. She was a scholar of the Harlem Renaissance and published essays and articles pertaining to the contributions that African-American writers made to U.S. culture.
Isaacs married Professor Jay Leon Halio, another professor of English at the University of Delaware, on May 26, 2002 at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Topic:
Stereotypes (Social psychology) in advertising Search this
Calendar (partial) containing color cartoons and advertising for Fleischmann's yeast. The pages are tied together with string through two holes at the top of each card, and some have torn loose. The missing calendar pages may be found elsewhere in the box.
October page: image depicts a cook at a cast iron stove speaking with lady of the house-- "Mistress: Well cook, as long as buckwheat flour is in season we must have buckwheat cakes for breakfast. What yeast will you use? Cook: Fleischmann's yeast ma'am is my choice. I can make anything in de bakin line wif it. It's a right smart yeast."
Local Numbers:
AC0060-0000717.tif (AC Scan No.: October page)
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.
Topic:
Stereotypes (Social psychology) in advertising Search this
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Yeast, 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).
A collection of posters advertising minstrel shows. The posters feature stereotypical images of black characters.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into one series.
Provenance:
Collection donated by B. Thomas Smith, Jr., 2016.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
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.
The collection documents "Selling the Dream" was an hour long television documentary that aired in early 1991 as part of the public television series, Smithsonian World.
Scope and Contents:
Series 1, boxes 1-15: 16 mm color film shot for the program, arranged in two subseries. Subseries A, boxes 1-10, consists of primary source materials including film footage of a meeting of scholars, historians, archivists, Weiden & Kennedy advertising agency personnel, and Nike executives at the Smithsonian's Center for Advertising History for the Nike Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project; interviews with scholars, historians, industry representatives (including transcripts for some interviews); and documentation of a Mitsubishi GT3000 ad from pitch to production, including meetings between Grey advertising agency personnel and Mitsubishi account representatives, a live commerical shoot and a production session with a commercial narrator. Subseries B, boxes 11-15, consists of secondary materials created during production, including pre-production sync pulls, trims, and lifts as compiled and edited by producer Steven York and Associates. Series 2, box 16, contains documentary materials relating to the show's production and broadcast, including correspondence, press releases, and publicity. Transcripts for the interviews are located here.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into two series.
Series 1: Film
Series 2: Documentary Material
Biographical / Historical:
"Selling the Dream" was an hour-long television documentary that aired in early 1991 as part of the public television series "Smithsonian World." The program traces the evolution of advertising from the late 19th century through the creative revolution of the 1960s to explore how advertising both influences and reflects American culture. In addition to historical imagery, the program follows a contemporary Mitsubishi GT3000 automobile advertising campaign from conception to production. The program features interviews with the men and women who created the advertising as well as with scholars, historians, industry advocates and government officials who comment on the role and history of advertising in a comsumer culture. "Selling the Dream" was underwritten by Southwestern Bell and co-produced by WETA and the Smithsonian Institution. The Center for Advertising History served as a resource and consultant to the producers.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Smithsonian World through executive producer Sandra Bradley, in August 1991.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
There are reproduction restrictions on material in this collection. See repository details.
Topic:
Stereotypes (Social psychology) in advertising Search this
Advertising, postcards, trade cards, and stereographs, depicting African Americans in stereotypical or demeaning ways.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Provenance:
Collected from various donors and vendors by the Division of Music, Sports and Entertainment (now the Division of Culture and the Arts). Donors include Richard E. Ahlborn and Alice M. Miles; vendors include Tom's Hoard House.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
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.
