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.
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.
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.
Treasure Hunt! Searching for scrap metal to recycle. Manufacturing steel. B. D. Eisendrath Tanning Co. of Racine; Manufacturing Association of Racine, Racine, WI.
Underground City! Mining rock salt under the streets of Detroit. Salt used in chemical processing, meat packing, and snow removal. International Salt Co., Detroit, MI.
Manchester Medicine Man! Industrialist reopens textile mills after receiving bank loan; installation of new textile manufacturing equipment. Amoskeag Cotton & Woolen Mills, Manchester, NH.
Signs of the Times! Making and maintaining signs with flashing lights called "spectaculars" on Broadway's Great White Way. Molding neon glass tubes. RKO Palace sign showing Judy Garland's stage show. Artkraft-Strauss Sign Co., New York, NY.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made directly with the Archives Center staff to view episodes for which no reference copy exists. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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 will be charged for reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Industry on Parade Film Collection, 1950-1959, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Georgia Six towns along the Chattahoochee River in Georgia and Alabama operate schools, hospitals, and public services. All dependent on textile mills. West Point Manufacturing Co.
New York Automation in garment center; apparel industry. Judy Bond, Inc., New York, NY.
Pennsylvania Hot extrusion of carbon-steel billets. Glass as lubricant for high temperature steels. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, PA.
California Manufacturing components for model railroad kits; hobby. Pacific Screws Products, San Francisco, CA.
Reference video, Box 10
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made directly with the Archives Center staff to view episodes for which no reference copy exists. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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 will be charged for reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Industry on Parade Film Collection, 1950-1959, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
12.77 Cubic feet (consisting of 26.5 boxes, 1 folder, 7 oversize folders, 2 map case folders, 1 flat box (partial), plus digital images of some collection material.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Print advertising
Periodicals
Publications
Advertising cards
Advertising mail
Printed ephemera
Patterns
Catalogues
Designs (textile)
Sales catalogs
Business cards
Legal records
Contracts
Textiles
Trade catalogs
Exhibition catalogs
Advertising
Advertisements
Mail order catalogs
Business records
Designs
Printed material
Labels
Instructional materials
Trademarks
Legal documents
Trade cards
Legislation (legal concepts)
Ephemera
Samples
Manuals
Sample books
Design patents
Advertising fliers
Illustrations
Catalogs
Sales letters
Business letters
Correspondence
Manufacturers' catalogs
Commercial correspondence
Letterheads
Invoices
Photographs
Sales records
Printed materials
Fabrics
Trade literature
Business ephemera
Receipts
Commercial catalogs
Date:
1784-1970
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:
This material is concentrated on the 19th century United States textile manufacture and trade, and the sale of textiles in the form of bale, bolt, roll, and fabric to commercial vendors or consumers as source material to make other goods. The first series contains day-to-day records of dealers and vendors, plus advertising and marketing material. Artisan and home production of goods are virtually not covered but are a couple of incidental publications related to arts, crafts (rugs, weaving, looms), and more refined work such as tapestry. The import/export of textiles is well represented with a large volume of records, which may also provide some insight into the shipping industry.
There is not much on the infrastructure of the industry in the way of directories, trade journals, trade associations, along with manufacturing and plants, though there are a few examples of each. There are virtually no catalogues, except for a few thin ones that were filed by company name. While not extensive, the sample books and swatches offer a glimpse into product lines. Material types offers limited, specific information on certain varieties such as cotton, wool, linen, rayon, etc. Thread might be incidentally present but is not specifically included since there is already a dedicated subject category for it.
There is a healthy sampling of product labels. A handful of intellectual property related documents cover protections of designs, plus patents and trademarks. There is a small bulk of publications related to tariffs and the wool industry.
Clothing patterns, home economics, sewing and seamstresses, household use of textiles (furniture covering, as a cleaning tool, bedding/pillows, etc.) are not covered within this category. Researchers should also look at any of a number of other Warshaw categories, particularly those related to clothing, hosiery, dry goods, furniture, curtains, etc. for period popularity of certain materials and patterns.
Arrangement:
Textiles 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:
Textiles 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.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Textiles, 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 New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Mills 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:
This subject category- Mills consists primarily of printed advertisements, advertising cards, bills/receipts, handbills, illustrations, pamphlets, catalogues, circulars, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery from operators of mills and manufacturers of mills and milling equipment.
Within the companies, a variety of types of mills is represented; the largest number is grain and flour mills, others produce yarn or fabric. A few may be related to mining and industrial processes or to other activities which are not clearly identified. A small amount of publications and a few general images are found in the last two folders.
Materials in the Archives Center:
Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Mills 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.
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Mills, 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).
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of History of Technology Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Search this
Extent:
270 Cubic feet (233 boxes, 850 oversize folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Linen tracings
Paper flimsies
Business records
Design drawings
Blueprints
Patents
Specifications
Reports
Photograph albums
Photographs
Trade literature
Date:
1784-2004, undated
bulk 1915-1930
Summary:
The engineering firm that became Lockwood Greene was founded by David Whitman, a mill engineer, in 1832. Amos D. Lockwood, a consultant, succeeded Whitman and entered a partnership with Stephen Greene in 1882. The firm specialized in industrial engineering and construction; they designed and built a wide variety of structures and work environments worldwide over the next century. Lockwood Greene was acquired by CH2M HILL in December, 2003. Before its acquisition by CH2MHILL it was reportedly the oldest industrial engineering, construction, and professional services firm in the United States.
Scope and Contents:
The Lockwood Greene records are a comprehensive range of documents related to the appraisal, building, construction, design, evaluation, and engineering of facilities for a variety of clients. The material covers the entire period of industrialization of the United States, and, provides a thorough record of the textile industry, both in New England and the South. Some of the textile mills are documented with unusual completeness, showing water and steam power layouts, factory village plans, and landscaping schedules. A broad range of other building typologies is also covered, including projects with public or retail functions, such as early automobile showrooms, hospitals, apartments and private dwellings, churches, and schools.
In-depth study of the company's earliest history is hampered by a scarcity of records, many of which were lost in the great fire that destroyed Boston's city center in 1872. Nevertheless, graphic and textual evidence does exist within the collection that illuminates these early projects, in addition to the fabric of surviving buildings. The Lockwood Greene records document several commissions that the firm would return to again and again over the course of many decades as clients requested plant additions, upgrades to mechanical and operating systems, and other substantive changes. Researchers are encouraged to examine the blueprints, elevations, and plans for these later additions in order to find illustrations of the firm's earlier interventions at the site. In addition to drawings, other visual evidence for nineteenth-century projects can be found in the company's extensive photo files, which often document structures for which drawings do not exist.
The Lockwood Greene records contain an abundance of graphic and textual evidence for structures designed after 1910 until the 1930s. After this period, visual documentation becomes much more limited. This is partially due to the evolution of drafting tools and information management technologies within the architecture and engineering profession. Lockwood Greene was an early adopter of technological innovations in rendering and data capture, beginning with the introduction of aperture cards and microfilm and extending to the adoption of computer-aided design (CAD) programs. These more modern formats were not part of the acquisition, and, at the time of writing, still reside with the company.
The Lockwood-Greene collection will be of interest to historians of architecture and engineering, as well as those that study the history of business and labor relations. It provides extensive textual and documentary evidence on the evolution and growth of American engineering and the increasing professionalization of the discipline through specialization during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Rich holdings of architectural drawings, photographs, and specifications provide unparalleled resources that trace the evolution of industrial buildings and their typologies; experimentation with building materials and systems, particularly with regards to fireproofing; and the history of textile manufacture in the United States. In addition, there is also rich visual and documentary evidence of the changing relationships between corporations and their employees through photographs, plans, and designs for company towns and mill villages, as well as through corporate records that illustrate the work culture of Lockwood Greene itself. The Lockwood-Greene collection will be of special interest to historic preservationists as the awareness of the significance of industrial and vernacular buildings continues to grow, and detailed design drawings and other visual material will be of especial value for restoration, rehabilitation, and adaptive-reuse projects.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into six series.
Series 1, Project Drawings, Renderings, and Plans, 1784-1969, undated
Series 2, Photographs and Slides, 1881-2001, undated
Series 5, Non-Lockwood Greene Publications, 1910-1984, undated
Series 6, Audio-Visual, 1964
Biographical / Historical:
Lockwood Greene, one of the nation's oldest engineering firms, traces it roots to 1832, when Rhode Island native David Whitman began a machinery repair service. Riding the wave of the early industrial revolution in textile manufacturing, Whitman added mill design services to his repertoire, which formed the backbone of a flourishing consulting business for the rest of the century. Whitman was one of the first itinerant mill engineers or "doctors" that traveled throughout New England advising various industrialists on the placement, design, and construction of their factories and the layout of the complicated system of machinery and shafting that they contained. His largest commission was the design of the Bates Manufacturing Company complex in Lewiston, Maine, which was incorporated in 1850 and soon became one of the largest textile producers in New England.
Upon Whitman's death in 1858, his unfinished work was assumed by Amos D. Lockwood, a prominent mill agent and astute businessman who had built a name for himself in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The successful completion of the projects at Lewiston brought enough additional demand for Lockwood's services to prompt him to relocate to Boston, where he formally opened an independent consulting office with partner John W. Danielson in 1871. For the next ten years, A.D. Lockwood & Company was involved in a least eight major mill design projects, half of which were for new construction. One of these projects, the design and construction of the Piedmont Manufacturing Company in Greenville (now Piedmont), South Carolina was especially significant and is considered to be a prototype for the Southern textile industry.
In 1882, Lockwood established a new business, Lockwood, Greene and Company, with Stephen Greene, a professionally-trained civil engineer who had joined the firm in 1879. As the firm grew, it expanded its scope as consultants supplying all of the necessary architectural and engineering services a prospective owner needed to initiate, equip, and run a complete plant. Acting as the owners' representative, the company supervised construction and installation but did not directly act as builders or contractors. Lockwood
Greene's objective expertise was legendary and made it a leader in this emergent field. As Samuel B. Lincoln explains in his history of the company:
"The new firm's knowledge and experience in the textile industry enabled it to analyze samples of cloth and, from such samples, to provide everything necessary for a completed plant to make such goods in any desired quantity. It did not at any time act as selling agents for machinery or equipment, neither did it accept commissions or rebates from suppliers: by this policy it maintained a position as impartial and independent engineer." (pages 105-107)
Greene became president of the company upon Lockwood's death in 1884. Under his leadership, the company expanded into additional industries and designed an array of other industrial building types that would prefigure the diversity of later work. In 1893, the company revolutionized American industry by designing and constructing the first factory whose operating power was provided entirely over electric wires from a remote power plant, rather than relying upon a water source or a stockpiled fuel supply. The Columbia Mills project created a great deal of publicity for the firm and was a signal to other manufacturers that there were viable alternatives to the use of steam power.
As changing economic conditions led Lockwood Greene to move away from its traditional reliance upon the textile manufacturing industry, it was very successful at soliciting projects for a wide variety of structures, from newspaper plants and automotive factories to convention halls and schools. After 1900, Lockwood Greene expanded its operations and opened branch offices in other cities, including Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Atlanta, and Charlotte. In 1915, Edwin F. Greene, president and son of Stephen Greene, reorganized the firm as Lockwood, Greene & Company, Incorporated This new entity served as the parent company and controlled three subsidiaries: one to own and operate cotton mills that Greene had acquired; one to manage other companies' textile mills; and one to provide engineering services.
Lockwood Greene expanded its operations tremendously as the textile industry boomed under wartime demand and in the years following. The severe textile depression from 1923 to 1928 caused the collapse of this structure, however, as Lockwood Greene continued to suffer deep losses in the textile mills that it owned. The parent company was dissolved in 1928 and the engineering subsidiary, which had remained profitable, was salvaged as Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated.
After a rocky start with the onset of the Depression, the company began to prosper during the Second World War and its growth continued steadily throughout the next several decades. In the late 1960s, as a result of declining business, the company's headquarters was transferred from Boston to Spartanburg, South Carolina. In 1981, Phillipp Holtzman USA, a subsidiary of Phillipp Holtzman AG of Frankfurt, Germany, acquired a majority interest in Lockwood Greene. In 2003, CH2M Hill, a global provider of engineering, construction, and operations services based in Denver, Colorado, acquired the company.
From its beginnings under David Whitman, Lockwood Greene has become one of the most diversified engineering firms in the United States. The firm is best known as a designer of industrial and institutional buildings, but the company has become a leader in many additional areas in recent years. Lockwood Greene dominates the market in the design and production of the germ- and dust-free "clean room" facilities required by the pharmaceutical industry and micro-electronics manufacturers. The company has also developed expertise in designing integrated security and networking systems for industrial plants, international port facilities, and military installations worldwide.
Banham, Raynor. A Concrete Atlantis: U.S. Industrial Building and European Modern Architecture, 1900-1925. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986.
Biggs, Lindy. The Rational Factory: Architecture, Technology, and Work in America's Age of Mass Production. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Greene, Benjamin Allen. Stephen Greene: Memories of His Life, with Addresses, Resolutions and Other Tributes of Affection. Chicago, R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, 1903.
Heiser, William J. Lockwood Greene, 1958-1968, Another Period in the History of an Engineering Business. Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated, 1970.
Lincoln, Samuel B. Lockwood Greene: The History of an Engineering Business, 1832-1958. Brattleboro, Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press, 1960.
Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated The Lockwood Greene Story: One-Hundred-Fifty Years of Engineering Progress. Spartanburg, South Carolina: Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated; undated.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Smithsonian Instituion Libraries
"[Trade catalogs from Lockwood, Greene & Co.]", Trade Literature at the American History Museum
Books, Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Lockwood Greene, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1997 (original drawings). An addendum to the collection was donated by CH2M HILL in 2007.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use. One film is tored at an off-site facility and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow. 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.
Thomas, J. Maurice (John Maurice), 1900 or 1901- Search this
Extent:
5.5 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Scrapbooks
Audiocassettes
Video recordings
Photographs
Date:
circa 1894-2001
Summary:
The papers of Washington, D.C. painter and art educator Alma Thomas, date from circa 1894-2001 and measure 5.5 linear feet. The papers document Thomas's work as a teacher, and her development and success as a painter of the Washington Color School, through biographical material, letters, notes and writings, personal business records, exhibition files, printed materials, scrapbooks, photographs, an audio recording, and two video recordings.
Scope and Contents note:
The papers of Washington, D.C. painter and art educator Alma Thomas, date from circa 1894-2001 and measure 5.5 linear feet. The papers document Thomas's work as a teacher, and her development and success as a painter of the Washington Color School, through biographical material, letters, notes and writings, personal business records, exhibition files, printed materials, scrapbooks, photographs, an audio recording, and two video recordings.
Biographical material includes identity cards, chronologies, an audio recording including a biographical account, and scattered documentation of Thomas's education and teaching careers with D.C. Public Schools, Howard University, and Thomas Garrett Settlement in Wilmington, Delaware. Also found are records relating to Thomas's participation in a summer marionette class taught by Tony Sarg in 1934, and a tour of European art centers which Thomas took in 1958.
Letters relate primarily to the exhibition of Thomas's work and related events and are from galleries, museums, other art institutions, colleagues, and friends including Franz Bader, Adelyn Breeskin, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Howard University Gallery of Art, Martha Jackson Gallery, Nathalie J. Cole Johnson, Vincent Melzac, Celine Tabary, and Joshua Taylor.
Notes and writings include four notebooks and autobiographical writings by Thomas, a "Birthday Book," and an annotated engagement calendar. J. Maurice Thomas's writings about Alma Thomas, her research for a bibliography on James Weldon Johnson, and writings by others, including Jacob Kainen, about Alma Thomas, are also found here.
Exhibition files contain a wide variety of documentation for many group and solo exhibitions of Thomas's work from the early 1950s through a 1998-2000 traveling retrospective exhibition, including solo exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1972. The records include letters from Franz Bader Gallery, David Driskell at Fisk University, and Vincent Melzac. Photographs include Thomas with individuals including William Buckner, Jeff Donaldson, David Driskell, James W. Herring, and Vincent Melzac. Also found is a photograph of the 1951 Little Paris Studio Group picturing Lois Mailou Jones, Celine Tabary, Alma Thomas, and others. Two video recordings are of events related to the 1998-2000 retrospective at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and the Columbus Museum of Art. Records documenting a 1981-1982 exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art, A Life in Art: Alma Thomas, includes the script of a video written by Adolphus Ealey.
Personal business records include price lists, gift and loan receipts, and files concerning the Art in Embassies Program, the Martha Jackson Gallery, a benefit auction for the Corcoran School of Art, and the designation of the Thomas family home in Washington, D.C. as a historic property.
Eleven scrapbooks document Thomas's teaching career through the activities of the art classes she taught at Shaw Junior High School.
Printed materials include announcements and catalogs for exhibitions and other events; clippings which document Thomas's career and subjects of interest to her; Christmas cards featuring block prints designed by Thomas; and other programs and publications featuring Thomas.
Photographs are of Alma Thomas, family, and friends and colleagues including Sam Gilliam, James V. Herring, and Nathalie V. Cole Johnson; art classes taught by Thomas; Thomas's homes in Columbus, Georgia and Washington, D.C.; and exhibitions not documented in Series 4: Exhibition Files, including photographs of Alma Thomas at an opening at Barnett Aden Gallery with Alonzo Aden and others.
Arrangement note:
The papers have been arranged into 8 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1911-2001 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Letters, circa 1930-2001 (Boxes 1-2; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Notes and Writings, circa 1920s-circa 1998 (Box 2; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1951-2000 (Boxes 2-3, OV 7; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Personal Business Records, circa 1950s-1994 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 6: Printed Material, circa 1908-2000 (Boxes 3-5, OV 7; 1.8 linear feet)
Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1930-1946 (Box 5; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1894-2001 (Boxes 5-6; 0.6 linear feet)
Biographical/Historical note:
Washington, D.C. painter and art educator Alma Thomas (1891-1978) was known for her abstract paintings filled with dense patterns of color, and was considered a major artist of the Washington Color School.
Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1894, and was the eldest of the four daughters of John Harris Thomas and Amelia Cantey Thomas. The family moved to Washington, D.C. in 1906 and Thomas was first introduced to art classes at Armstrong Technical High School. Following her graduation in 1911 she took a course in kindergarten teaching at the Miner Normal School, and subsequently worked as a substitute teacher in the Washington, D.C. public school system until 1914, when she took a teaching position on the Eastern shore of Maryland. From 1916 to 1923 she taught kindergarten at Thomas Garrett Settlement House in Wilmington, Delaware.
Thomas originally enrolled at Howard University in Washington, D.C. as a home economics major in 1921, but after studying under Lois Mailou Jones amd James V. Herring in Herring's newly established art department, she earned a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art in 1924, and became the first person to graduate from the program. Thomas then began her teaching career at Shaw Junior High School in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1924, until her retirement in 1960. During this time she established community arts programs that would encourage her students to develop an appreciation of fine arts. Activities included marionette programs, distribution of student-designed holiday menu cards for dinners given for soldiers at the Tuskegee Veterans' Hospital, art clubs, lectures, and student exhibitions. In 1943 she became the founding vice president of Barnett Aden Gallery, which was established by James V. Herring and Alonzo Aden and was the first integrated gallery in Washington, D.C.
In 1934 Thomas earned an M.A. degree in Art Education from Columbia University. At American University in Washington, D.C., she studied creative painting under Joe Summerford, Robert Gates, and Jacob Kainen from 1950 to 1960, and began to break away from representational painting and experiment more seriously with Abstract Expressionism. In 1958 she participated in a tour of the art centers of Western Europe under the auspices of the Tyler School of Fine Arts at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Following her retirement from teaching in 1960, Thomas devoted herself full-time to painting, and continued to develop her signature style. She was inspired by nature and the desire to express beauty through composition and color, and refused to be constrained by societal expectations related to her race, gender, and age, achieving her greatest success in the last decade of her life. Her work was exhibited at the Dupont Theatre Art Gallery, Franz Bader Gallery, and the Howard University Gallery of Art, before she was honored in 1972 with exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Thomas's work has been exhibited at the White House and can be found in the permanent collections of major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Separated Materials note:
In 1979, J. Maurice Thomas loaned papers for microfilming. Most, but not all, of the loaned material was later donated and is described in this finding aid. Loaned materials not donated at a later date are available on reels 1541-1543 and are not described in the container listing of this finding aid.
Provenance:
J. Maurice Thomas, the artist's sister, loaned portions of the collection for microfilming in 1979. Most, but not all of this material was then later donated in several accretions by J. Maurice Thomas, between 1979 and 2004. Charles Thomas Lewis, Thomas' nephew, gave additional papers in 2010.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copies 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.
Collection is open for research but the majority of the collection is 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.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Arthur d'Arazien Industrial Photographs, ca. 1930-2002, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection is open for research but the majority of the collection is 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.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Arthur d'Arazien Industrial Photographs, ca. 1930-2002, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Collection is open for research but the majority of the collection is 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.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Arthur d'Arazien Industrial Photographs, ca. 1930-2002, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
