Elaine Heumann Gurian discusses how she first became involved with the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum (now Anacostia Community Museum) in 1986, when she served as the Deputy Secretary of Museums for the Smithsonian Institution. She describes her many conversations with John Kinard, and the assistance she provided in transitioning to new leadership after he passed away in 1989. She also describes the extraordinary impact the original museum had on the museum community, the early exhibits, and how the museum changed after relocating to the Fort Stanton site.
The interview was conducted on December 11, 1991. There is static throughout the recording, but the interviewee can be heard clearly.
Exhibition mentioned: The Rat: Man's Invited Affliction.
Biographical / Historical:
Elaine Heumann Gurian (1937-) was born in New York City. She earned a Bachelor in Art History from Brandeis University in 1958, and a Master of Education in Elementary Education and Art Education from the State College of Boston in 1966. She worked as an Art Teacher for the Solomon Schechter School in Newton Massachusetts, an Art Consultant for the Boston Mayor General's Office (1969-1971), and as Director of Education for Instate Contemporary (1969-1972). In 1987, she became the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Museums at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. Then in 1991, she became the Deputy Director for public program planning at the National Museum of the American Indian, followed by a role as Deputy Director for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. She continued to work as a senior consultant for projects at a range of institutions. In 2006, she authored the book Civilizing the Museum: The Collected Writings of Elaine Heumann Gurian. She also served as President of the Museum Group, and has received numerous awards and honors, including the Distinguished Service to Museums Award in 2004 from the American Association of Museums.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the ACM 25th Anniversary Oral History Project, which includes approximately 100 interviews of residents and influential people of the Anacostia area of Washington, DC.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Genre/Form:
Oral histories (document genres)
Collection Citation:
ACM 25th Anniversary Oral History Project, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution
The papers of painter and educator Edwin Ambrose Webster measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1821 to 1968. Found within the papers are biographical material; business and personal correspondence; writings; teaching and research files, including information on Webster's participation in the 1913 Armory show; printed material; artwork; and photographic materials of Webster, his family and friends, and his work.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and educator Edwin Ambrose Webster measure 2.2 linear feet and date from 1821 to 1968. Found within the papers are biographical material; business and personal correspondence; writings; teaching and research files, including information on Webster's participation in the 1913 Armory show; printed material; artwork; and photographic materials of Webster, his family and friends, and his work.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 8 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1821-1930 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1900-1940 (2 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings, 1910-1930 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Teaching Files, 1930-1933 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 5: Printed Materials, 1911-1939 (0.4 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 5-6)
Series 6: Artwork, 1890-1930 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-3, Artifacts 4, 7)
Series 7: Photographic Materials, 1875-1930 (8 folders; Box 1)
Series 8: Karl Rodgers Research Files, 1940-1968 (6 folders; Box 1)
Biographical / Historical:
Painter and educator Edwin Ambrose Webster (1869-1935) lived and worked in Provincetown, Massachusetts and was known for his vibrant landscapes and for opening the first modernist art school in Provincetown.
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Webster began his art studies at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts under Frank Benson and Edmund Tarbell, where he received a three year scholarship to study abroad at the Academie Julian. There, he studied under Jean Laurens and Jean-Joseph Constant and was awarded several additional student prizes for his work. Upon his return, Webster established himself as a founding member of the burgeoning art colony in Provincetown, opening his Summer School of Art in 1900, which he operated for the next thirty five years.
Alongside his teaching duties, Webster continued to develop a modernist style and was invited to exhibit in the 1913 Armory Show. In 1918, he traveled to France to study Cubism under Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger, and upon his return to Provincetown, began incorporating these techniques into his paintings as well as into his lectures and classes. As an active organizer within the art colony, Webster helped to found the Provincetown Art Association in 1914 and served as its director from 1917 to 1919. In 1916, he also hosted the first exhibition of the woodblock carving group, the Provincetown Printers, at his studio. Webster died at his Provincetown home in 1935.
Provenance:
The papers were donated in 1974 by the wife of Mrs. Webster's nephew, Mrs. Karl F. Rodgers. Additional materials were donated by Mrs. Rodgers in 1975.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
Occupation:
Art teachers -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Painters -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching -- Massachusetts -- Provincetown Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Citation:
Edwin Ambrose Webster papers, 1821-1968. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Joellen Bard's, Ruth Fortel's, and Helen Thomas' exhibition records of Tenth Street Days: The Co-ops of the 50s, 1953-1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Group work in art -- United States -- Exhibitions Search this
The papers of ceramicist and educator Mary Chase Stratton measure 0.5 linear feet and date from circa 1846 to 1959. The collection provides scattered documentation of Stratton's career through artwork including a lithograph signed by Gwen Lux; an award to William Stratton and an honorary degree to Stratton; correspondence from Stratton's father and a few others; personal photographs of Stratton, family members, and photographs of works of art; and a photograph of Charles Lang Freer by Edward Steichen. Also found are printed materials including a brochure for Pewabic Pottery, and several writings.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of ceramicist and educator Mary Chase Stratton measure 0.5 linear feet and date from circa 1846 to 1959. The collection provides scattered documentation of Stratton's career through artwork including a lithograph signed by Gwen Lux; an award to William Stratton and an honorary degree to Stratton; correspondence from Stratton's father and a few others; a partial license to dig for gold in the Colony of Victoria; personal photographs of Stratton, family members, and photographs of works of art; and a photograph of Charles Lang Freer by Edward Steichen. Also found are printed materials including a brochure for Pewabic Pottery, and several writings.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Mary Chase Stratton (1867-1961) was a ceramicist and educator, and a founder of Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, Michigan.
Stratton was born in Hancock, Michigan, to Dr. William Walbridge Perry and Sophia Barrett Perry. Stratton and her mother moved to Ann Arbor after the murder of Dr. Perry in 1877. Stratton's artistic interests were encouraged by her mother who hired art teacher Lily Chase to instruct her. The family later moved to Detroit where Stratton became a prominent figure in the art world. She co-founded Pewabic Pottery with Horace J. Caulkins around 1903 and after a few years in business they found a permanent home for the pottery studio in a Detroit building designed by William Stratton, who would become Stratton's husband in 1918.
The studio, now a National Historic Landmark, created architectural tiles found at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Kingswood School for Girls in Cranbrook, the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit, and numerous other public buildings. Stratton taught at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan where she established the ceramics department.
Stratton died in 1961.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Pewabic Pottery records, 1891-1973.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent by Mrs. Ella Peters, secretary to Stratton, for microfilming on reel 593 including a 144-page unpublished autobiography of Mary Chase Stratton. Loaned materials were returned to the donor and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Mary Chase Stratton in 1961. Some material was lent for microfilming in 1973 by Mrs. Ella Peters, secretary to Stratton.
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.
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.