Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Additional Online Media

Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Higgins, Frances Stewart, 1912-2004  Search this
Interviewer:
Adamson, Glenn, 1972-  Search this
Subject:
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Place of publication, production, or execution:
Illinois
Physical Description:
43 Pages, Transcript
General Note:
Originally recorded on 1 sound discs. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 21 min.
Access Note / Rights:
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Summary:
An interview of Frances Higgins conducted 2003 November 8, by Glenn Adamson, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Riverside Illinois.
Higgins speaks of her education at the Georgia College for Women and the Chicago Institute of Design; her marriage to fellow artist Michael Higgins; and the development of her glass techniques such as fused glass and the slumped method. She discusses her work for the Dearborn Glass Company, Heager Potteries, and General Electric; and the significance of several of these designs and patterns, including the popularity of Rondelays. She also comments on the Midwest Designer-Craftsmen; the glass blowing movement; the studio in Riverside; and the book, "Higgins: Adventures in Glass." Higgins also recalls Harvey Littleton, Maurice Heaton, Earl McCutcheon, Charles and Ray Eames, and others.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Frances Higgins, 2003 November 8. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript available on line.
Funding:
Funding for this interview was provided by the Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America. Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Biography Note:
Frances Stewart Higgins (1912-2004) was a glass artist of Riverside, Illinois. Glenn Adamson is an art historian.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Women artists  Search this
Decorative arts  Search this
Glass art  Search this
Theme:
Craft  Search this
Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12151
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)246706
AAA_collcode_higgin03
Theme:
Craft
Chicago's Art-Related Archival Materials: A Terra Foundation Resource
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_246706