National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1928, 1930
Scope and Contents:
The films are: (1) "The Making of Wrought Iron", produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, shows an artist sketching a grille and Yellin shaping a grille for a chair. (2) "The Florida Film" shows examples of Yellin's first work as used in the Singing Tower, Mountain Lake, Florida. Both are distributed by Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Extent:
1 Film reel (16mm, black-and-white silent film, 250 ft.)
Container:
Reel AC0254-OF0001
Type:
Archival materials
Moving Images
Film reels
Date:
circa 1930
Scope and Contents:
"The Making of Wrought Iron" produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art shows an artist sketching a grille and Yellin shaping a grille for a chair.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Extent:
1 Film reel (16mm, black-and-white silent film)
Container:
Reel AC0254-OF0002
Type:
Archival materials
Moving Images
Film reels
Date:
circa 1928
Scope and Contents:
"The Florida Film" (175 ft., ca. 1928, edge code dates 000-1928), shows examples of Yellin's first work as used in the Singing Tower, Mountain Lake, Florida. Poor quality: grainy, overexposure and underexposure; no detail in white areas; poor contrast. Intertitles as follows: 1. "Starting"; 2. "Finishing Up with a Wood Stick"; 3. "The Result of Applied Craftsmanship"; 4. "A Scroll in Iron"; 5. "Examples of Samuel Yellin's Finest Work as Used in the Singing Tower [Bok Tower?], Mt. Lake, Florida".
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1971
Scope and Contents:
The documents are two items by Myra Tolmach Davis: "Sketches in Iron: Samuel Yellin," a copy of a typescript addressed to George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), for Master of Museology degree, June 6, 1971. 67 pp. The article, "Samuel Yellin's Sketches in Iron," published in Historic Preservation, vol. 23, no. 4 (Oct. Dec.), 1971, pp. 4 13, is virtually identical to the text of her thesis.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1975
Scope and Contents:
This series consists of 86 prints from 35mm negatives by Richard Hofmeister, Office of Printing and Photographic Services, Smithsonian Institution, April 1, 1975, with an itemized checklist, "The Samuel Yellin Metal Working Building & Collection, Philadelphia..." These photographs show Smithsonian curator Richard Ahlborn during his visit to the Yellin shop on April 1, 1975, and the exterior of the building, library, factory, study, and collection rooms. The original 35mm negatives by Richard Hofmeister, who accompanied Ahlborn on this research trip, are in the Office of Imaging, Printing and Photographic Services (OIPP) negative library, nos. 75, 4495 to 75 4499.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 3
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Scope and Contents:
Images include Mr. Harvey Yellin, Richard Ahlborn, the exterior of the building, carvings from Samuel Yellin's collection, examples of Yellin's work, etc.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 4
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 4
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 4
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 4
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 6
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 7
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 1
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1971
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Thesis: Myra Tolmach Davis, "Sketches in Iron: Samuel Yellin," to George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), for Master of Museology degree, June 6, 1971. 67 pp.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 2
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1971
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life Search this
Container:
Box 2, Folder 6
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Samuel Yellin Collection,1928-1975, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Samuel Yellin was an American master blacksmith. In 1910, he built the Arch Street Metalworker's studio.
Scope and Contents:
The collection is divided into three series:
Series 1: Motion pictures, 1928, 1930
Series 2: Documents, 1971
Series 3: Photographs, 1975
Arrangement:
Collection divided into three series.
Series 1: Motion Picture Films, 1928
Series 2: Documents, 1971
Series 3: Photoprints
Biographical / Historical:
Yellin, born in Poland, began learning ironwork at seven. He migrated to America in 1906 and taught at the Pennsylvania Museum and the school of Industrial Art. In 1910, he built the Arch Street Metalworker's studio, which eventually employed more than 200 craftsmen. Yellin was also an avid collector of fine examples of ironwork.
Provenance:
The collection was donated Harvey Z. Yellin in 1975.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees regarding intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The papers of influential blacksmith, sculptor, metalsmith and educator, L. Brent Kington, measure 9 linear feet and date from 1944 to 2012. The collection provides a valuable overview of Kington's career through correspondence relating primarily to exhibitions, subject files, drawings, photographs of Kington and his artwork, printed matter and audiovisual material. An additional 5.2 linear feet of papers was accessioned from 2007 to 2012 and remains unprocessed.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of influential blacksmith, sculptor, metalsmith, and educator, L. Brent Kington, measure 9 linear feet and date from 1944 to 2012. The collection provides a valuable overview of Kington's career through correspondence, subject files, drawings, photographs of Kington and his artwork, printed matter and audiovisual material.
Correspondence in Series 1 relates primarily to exhibitions in the United States at institutions such as the the American Craft Museum, the Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, and the National Ornamental Metal Museum, in which Kington's work was represented.
Kington's education at Cranbrook Academy of Art, his career at Southern Illinois University, his involvement with various professional organizations, his appearances at conferences and workshops, and his relationships with individual galleries, are more fully represented in Series 2: Subject Files.
The collection also includes printed matter, including exhibition announcements and catalogs for group and solo exhibitions in which Kington's work was featured, and publications containing articles about Kington.
Photographs in the collection include images of Kington's artwork and also picture Kington at various stages throughout his career. Audiovisual material includes an oral history interview with Kington from 2001, and two video recordings of a blacksmith workshop and a program entitled Brent Kington: Image of an Artist.
An additional 5.2 linear feet of papers was accessioned from 2007 to 2012 and remains unprocessed.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into six series. Original arrangement has generally been maintained throughout the collection, with some merging of chronological correspondence in Series 1 to facilitate access.
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1955-2004, undated (box 1; 0.8 linear ft.)
Series 2: Subject Files, 1956-2005, undated (box 1-3; 1.6 linear ft.)
Series 3: Printed Material, 1952-2003, undated (box 3-4, OV 5; 0.9 linear ft.)
Series 4: Photographs, circa 1944-2001 (box 4; 0.4 linear ft.)
Series 6: Unprocessed Addition to the L. Brent Kington Papers, 1956-2012 (boxes 6-12, OV 13; 5.2 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
L. Brent Kington was born in Topeka, Kansas, in 1934. He received a BFA from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, in 1957 and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1961. Kington began his career primarily as a silversmith working with small-scale objects such as jewelry, silverware, and toys, and then became interested in using forged iron to create sculpture. He sought the help and instruction of the few blacksmiths he could find working in a "traditional" style and began working with large-scale sculptures forged in iron and steel, weathervanes, and other kinetic sculpture. Kington's subsequent research, such as his exploration of forge welding techniques of iron and his experimentation with laminated, non-ferrous alloys, constituted an important contribution to the resurgence of traditional blacksmithing and was highly influential in the fields of blacksmithing and metalsmithing in general.
Kington served as Director of the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale from 1981 to 1994. He was a lecturer at SIU from 1961 to 1962, assistant professor from 1962 to 1967, associate professor from 1967 to 1972, professor from 1972 to 1996, and is currently professor emeritus. A committed educator and an avid spokesman for the arts, he has been honored many times as a guest lecturer, visiting artist, exhibit juror, workshop demonstrator, and panelist in the United States and abroad. In 1987 he spent a summer in Cortona, Italy as guest professor in the University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program.
Since 1962, Kington's sculpture and metalwork has been shown in more than 350 group and solo exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada, Mexico, and South America. Over the years Kington has served in various professional organizations. He has been a Trustee of the American Craft Council, Director of the Artist-Blacksmith Association of North America (ABANA), and President of the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG). In 1978 he was elected to the American Craft Council's Academy of Fellows and has been the recipient of two Artist Fellowship grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Kington continues to work from his home and studio in Makando, Illinois.
Related Material:
The Archives also has a transcribed interview of L. Brent Kington, conducted May 3-4, 2001 by Mary Douglas for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. The interview was conducted in Kington's home and studio in Makando, Illinois.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in installments by L. Brent Kington from 2001 to 2012. Materials donated from 2007 to 2012 remain unprocessed.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
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.
