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Garden Inspired Gifts for Mother’s Day, Let's Talk Gardens

Creator:
Smithsonian Gardens  Search this
Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2021-05-13T20:56:13.000Z
YouTube Category:
Education  Search this
Topic:
Gardens  Search this
See more by:
SmithsonianGardens
Data Source:
Smithsonian Gardens
YouTube Channel:
SmithsonianGardens
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:yt_LVElGGMksNE

Ethel Fisher papers

Creator:
Fisher, Ethel, 1923-  Search this
Names:
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Brentwood Art Center  Search this
Barnet, Will, 1911-2012  Search this
Boxer, Stanley  Search this
Coleborn, Keith  Search this
Ehrenkranz, Elaine  Search this
Fernandez, Rafael  Search this
Fine, Irving, 1914-1962  Search this
Getz, Ilse, 1917-  Search this
Jones, Keri  Search this
Kitaj, Sandra Fisher  Search this
Kott, Seymour  Search this
Lassaw, Ibram, 1913-2003  Search this
Pearson, Henry, 1914-2006  Search this
Thek, Paul  Search this
Extent:
12.5 Linear feet
0.558 Gigabytes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Gigabytes
Travel diaries
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Drawings
Sketches
Watercolors
Transcripts
Interviews
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Date:
1930-2017
Summary:
The papers of California and New York painter Ethel Fisher measure 12.5 linear feet and 0.558 GB and date from 1930 to 2017. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, project files, exhibition files, artists' files, personal business records, printed and digital material, artwork and several sketchbooks, a few sound and video recordings, and photographic material.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of California and New York painter Ethel Fisher measure 12.5 linear feet and 0.558 GB and date from 1930 to 2017. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, writings, project files, exhibition files, artists' files, personal business records, printed and digital material, artwork and several sketchbooks, a few sound and video recordings, and photographic material.

Biographical material includes Art Students League records, address books and business cards, artist statements and resumes, an interview transcript and sound cassette, and other miscellaneous documents.

Correspondence is with family, friends, colleagues, artists, galleries, and museums. The bulk of the correspondence is with daughter Sandra Fisher and husband Seymour Kott. Notable correspondents include Will Barnet, Keith Coleborn, Elaine Ehrenkranz, Rafael Fernandez, Henry Pearson, and others. There are also greeting cards and postcards, inluding numerous illustrated cards from Fisher to her husband Seymour.

Writings mostly consist of annotated appointment calendars and travel diaries along with some writings by others, such as a travel diary by Keith Coleborn and a graduate thesis by Keri Jones.

Project files include correspondence, grant applications, printed and digital material, and publication agreements for art projects, commissions, studio tours, auctions, and speaking engagements. Notable projects include material on the NBC-TV film Family Ties, art loans for the Showtime movie Town of the Eighties, and teaching material from Brentwood Art Center.

Exhibition files contain exhibition announcements, catalogs, publicity, reviews, correspondence, exhibition lists, price lists of artwork, and other material for Ethel Fisher's group and solo shows.

Artists' files include printed material about and limited correspondence with various artists in which Fisher was interested or with whom she was friends, including Stanley Boxer, Irving Fine, Ilse Getz, Ibram Lassaw, and Paul Thek.

Personal business records include consignments, price lists, loan agreements, receipts, donations, and sales documentation.

Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, announcements, magazines, and clippings about Ethel Fisher and other artists. There are also books inscribed to Fisher.

The artwork series includes sketchbooks, drawings, watercolors, and loose sketches.

Photographic material consists of photographs, digital photographs, slides, and negatives of Ethel Fisher, her artwork, exhibitions, events, family, friends, artists, studios, and travel. There are also "reference photos" of people, places, and objects which Fisher used for her portraits and paintings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1939-2014 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 1, 13)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1930-2017 (5.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-6, 13, 15)

Series 3: Writings, 1965-2014 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 6-7, 13)

Series 4: Project Files, 1954-2011 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 7, 12, 0.128 GB; ER01)

Series 5: Exhibition Files, 1945-2006 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 7-8)

Series 6: Artists' Files, 1952-2010 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 8, 12)

Series 7: Personal Business Records, 1959-2017 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 8, 13)

Series 8: Printed Material, 1940-2016 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 8-9, 12-13)

Series 9: Artwork and Sketchbooks, 1944-2014 (1.0 linear feet; Boxes 9, 12-15, OV16)

Series 10: Photographic Materials, 1942-2014 (2.2 linear feet;Boxes 9-11, 14, 0.430 GB; ER02)
Biographical / Historical:
Ethel Fisher (1923-2017) was a painter who lived in Pacific Palisades, California.

Ethel Fisher was born in Galveston, Texas in 1923. She studied art at the University of Houston, University of Texas, and Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. After college, she moved to New York City and attended The Art Students League on scholarship from 1943-1946. In New York, she studied with painter Will Barnet, Morris Kantor, and Robert Beverly Hale, and befriended many people in the art world. She married Gene Fisher and their first daughter Sandra was born. Sandra also became a painter and later married artist R. B. Kitaj.

Fisher and her family moved to Miami in 1948 where her daughter Margaret was born. Upon her divorce, Fisher travelled in Europe for about a year before returning to New York City in the early 1960s, where she continued to paint and maintained 2 studios for her artwork. She married art historian Seymour Kott in 1963.

In 1970, Fisher and her husband moved to Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, California. Throughout her career as a painter, Ethel Fisher has had solo and group exhibitions at galleries in Havana, Cuba; West Palm Beach, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; New York City, New York; and San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and continues to paint. In 2003, Fisher had solo exhibit of portraits at Platt Gallery in Los Angeles.
Provenance:
The Ethel Fisher papers were donated by Ethel Fisher in two installments in 1997 and 2015.
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 copy 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.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Study and teaching  Search this
Artists' studios -- Photographs  Search this
Women artists  Search this
Women painters  Search this
Genre/Form:
Travel diaries
Photographs
Sketchbooks
Drawings
Sketches
Watercolors
Transcripts
Interviews
Video recordings
Sound recordings
Citation:
Ethel Fisher papers, 1930-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.fishethe
See more items in:
Ethel Fisher papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9d7e887a2-bffd-4c8e-ad17-16d3139bc61f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-fishethe
Online Media:

Greeting Cards from Family and Friends

Collection Creator:
Fisher, Ethel, 1923-  Search this
Container:
Box 13, Folder 19
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1970s-1990s
Collection 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 copy requires advance notice.
Collection 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 Citation:
Ethel Fisher papers, 1930-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ethel Fisher papers
Ethel Fisher papers / Series 2: Correspondence
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9629a7069-a616-4d62-9a8b-02ca4168dcb4
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-fishethe-ref785

Greeting Cards from Artists and Friends

Collection Creator:
Fisher, Ethel, 1923-  Search this
Container:
Box 6, Folder 2-3
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1944-2013
Collection 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 copy requires advance notice.
Collection 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 Citation:
Ethel Fisher papers, 1930-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
See more items in:
Ethel Fisher papers
Ethel Fisher papers / Series 2: Correspondence
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9df2952b8-80ee-4913-b22f-723a94f1416d
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-aaa-fishethe-ref88

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Dry Goods

Creator:
Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this
Extent:
37.8 Cubic feet (consisting of 76 boxes (including 12 off-site), 12 folders, 16 oversize folders, 7 flat boxes (6 full, 1 partial), plus digital images of some collection material. )
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Ephemera
Business ephemera
Date:
1768-1973
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Dry Goods 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 consists primarily of scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, bills/receipts, printed advertisements, trade catalogs, handbills, pamphlets, advertising cards , photographs, cloth samples , leaflets, books, prospectus, order forms, chromolithographs, magazine advertisements, seals, postcards, business cards, children's books, greeting cards, almanacs, calendars, cardboard standups, fans, paper bag samples and import/export documents from businesses referred to loosely as department or variety stores. A number of these stores are still in business and tend to have a substantial amount of material . Such companies include I. Magnin, R. H. Macy, Woodward & Lothrop, F. H. Woolworth's, Sears, Roebuck & Company , Montgomery Wards, Wanamaker, etc. There are a few references to businesses who imported English, French, German, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Egyptian, Sudanese, Persian and Moorish articles.

Generally the stores included among these materials sold a variety of products consisting of clothing and clothing accessories, home furnishings, home construction kits, novelties, stationery , groceries and a number of other products sold in contemporary department and variety stores. There are also companies that specialized in a particular product or type of product. Researchers interested in these businesses should also consult the same subject category if it is included on the listing of vertical document boxes. It is also possible that if the company produced oversize catalogs these would be listed with the Warshaw Collection oversize materials. For example, there are a number of Montgomery Wards, Butler Brothers, Bellas Hess and Company and Sears, Roebuck and Company catalogs found among the oversize materials.

There are a number of images that appear on these materials. Most of these images tend to be illustrations of the exterior or interior departments of the stores . Product illustrations also appear throughout the catalogues, printed advertisements and price lists. Ethnic images particularly in French advertisements also appear regularly. Dry goods stores relied heavily on advertisements directed toward children especially during the Christmas/holiday season. Books for children illustrating characters from favorite stories or Christmas scenes are common among the larger stores namely Woodward & Lothrop.

Materials in boxes one through thirty-nine are organized by name of company. Publications that discuss the history of a particular company are included with the company related materials. Catalogues , calendars , almanacs and price lists are generally listed under the company name in the finding aid with dates . This is due to the fact that these materials are often requested by researchers in this manner. This does not imply that these are the only materials for that particular company in the folders .

Box thirty-nine is also partially arranged by type including patents, stocks , general images, associations and miscellaneous items. A few related publications such as a chain store bibliography and a book on the history of chain stores are also included.

Boxes forty and forty-one contain periodicals created by W. A. Spelman in New York. Published as a trade journal devoted to the interests of the retail merchants, it was primarily meant to aid the subscriber in meeting the increasing competition in the dry goods trade. It was also meant to guide merchants in the purchase of goods. Referred to as The Fancy Goods Graphic or Spelman's Fancy Goods Graphic, these publications date from 1881-1890 .

Import and export documents are found in boxes forty-one, through forty-three.

The processing of additional materials in 2017 integrated a significant volume of material, most notably the Jermain Business and Family papers and to a lesser extent, the Trimble Family Business records. Both offer insight to the operations of 19th Century family businesses. Also added was significant manuscript on the history of Montgomery Ward is also available.

Catalogues, especially thinner circular type editions have not been consolidated and may be found throughout the material in this collection. However there are several groupings listed in the Catalogue series, especially for regular issue bulky catalogues published by Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck and Company. See note regarding some items that have been microfilmed or transferred off-site.
Arrangement:
Dry Goods is arranged in two subseries.

Business Records and Marketing Material

General, including Accounting Books and Ledgers

Companies and Proprietors

Companies and Proprietors, Oversize Material

Trade Literature and Other

Export/Import Records

Jermain Business and Family Papers; plus associated Albany Records

Montgomery Ward History Manuscripts

Trimble Family Business Records

General, Marketing Material

Catalogues

General and Mail Order

Montgomery Ward

Sears, Roebuck and Company

Assorted [Off-Site, including Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Company]
Materials in the Archives Center:
Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)
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:
Dry Goods 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 but the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogs are stored off-site and are restricted due to fragile condition. Researchers should consult microfilm in NMAH library for 1880-1983 editions, drawer 692. Some additional items may be restricted due to fragile condition. 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.
Topic:
Dry-goods  Search this
Genre/Form:
Ephemera
Business ephemera
Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Dry Goods, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Dry
See more items in:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Dry Goods
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep81e1746bc-55a5-45b1-b0f3-04621bd43e6c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-dry
Online Media:

Greetings from Harry L. Lissfelt

Maker:
Boyer, Louise MIller  Search this
Object Name:
print
card, greeting
ID Number:
1984.0338.083
Accession number:
1984.0338
Catalog number:
1984.0338.083
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-2db7-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1391702

Merry Christmas from Helen, Taylor, Louise & Ernest Boyer

Maker:
Boyer, Louise MIller  Search this
Object Name:
print
card, greeting
ID Number:
1984.0338.084
Accession number:
1984.0338
Catalog number:
1984.0338.084
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-2db8-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1391703

Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Maker:
Boyer, Louise MIller  Search this
Object Name:
print
card, greeting
ID Number:
1984.0338.085
Accession number:
1984.0338
Catalog number:
1984.0338.085
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-2db9-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1391705

Seasons Greetings from Louise, Ernest, Helen and Taylor Boyer 1926-1927

Maker:
Boyer, Louise MIller  Search this
Object Name:
print
card, greeting
ID Number:
1984.0338.086
Accession number:
1984.0338
Catalog number:
1984.0338.086
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-2dba-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1391708

Christmas Greetings Pearce and Hester Boyer

Maker:
Boyer, Louise MIller  Search this
Object Name:
print
card, greeting
ID Number:
1984.0338.088
Accession number:
1984.0338
Catalog number:
1984.0338.088
See more items in:
Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-2dbc-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_1391710

Profiting with Xerox Digital Printing

Creator:
National Postal Museum  Search this
Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2021-07-26T18:31:09.000Z
YouTube Category:
Education  Search this
Topic:
Postal service;Letter mail handling;Stamp collecting  Search this
See more by:
SmithsonianNPM
Data Source:
National Postal Museum
YouTube Channel:
SmithsonianNPM
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:yt_yidpP_fM8Yw

Larry Zim World's Fair Collection

Collector:
Cooper-Hewitt Museum  Search this
Zim, Larry (Larry Zimmerman), 1931-1987  Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Cultural History  Search this
Names:
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909 : Seattle, Wash.)  Search this
Appalachian Exposition. (Knoxville, Tennessee: 1911)  Search this
Art and Techniques Exposition (Paris, France: 1937)  Search this
British Empire Exhibition (Wembley, London, England: 1924-1925)  Search this
British Empire Exposition (Glasgow, Scotland: 1938)  Search this
Bronx International Exposition (New York, New York: 1917-1918)  Search this
Brussels International (1910 )  Search this
California Midwinter International Exposition (1894 : San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this
California-Pacific International Exposition (San Diego, California: 1935-1936)  Search this
Canadian National Exposition (1937)  Search this
Centennial Exhibition (1876 : Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this
Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States (1888 : Cincinnati, Ohio)  Search this
Century of Progress International Exposition (1933-1934 : Chicago, Ill.)  Search this
Chicago Autumn Festival (1899)  Search this
Cincinnati Industrial Exposition (1882 : Cincinnati, Ohio)  Search this
Cotton States Exposition (1895 : Atlanta, Ga)  Search this
Esposizione Internationale (1911 : Turin, Italy)  Search this
Esposizione Internationale D'Arte (Venice, Italy: 1910)  Search this
Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte (1895 : Venice, Italy)  Search this
Exhibition of Art Treasures (1857 : Manchester, England)  Search this
Exhibition, Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association (1878 : Boston, Massachusetts)  Search this
Expo 67 (Montréal, Québec)  Search this
Exposicion Centro-Americana (1897 : Guatemala City, Guatemala)  Search this
Exposition International (1894 : Lyons, France)  Search this
Exposition International Coloniale Maritime et d'Art Flammand (Antwerp, Belgium: 1930)  Search this
Exposition International de Liege (1930)  Search this
Exposition Internationale Maritime (1887 : Le Havre, France)  Search this
Exposition Nationale Belge (1880 : Belgium)  Search this
Exposition Universelle (1885 : Antwerp, Belgium)  Search this
Exposition Universelle de Paris (1855 : Paris, France)  Search this
Exposition Universelle de Paris (1878 : Paris, France)  Search this
Exposition coloniale internationale de Paris (1931)  Search this
Exposition universelle de 1867 à Paris  Search this
Exposition universelle de 1889 (Paris, France)  Search this
Exposition universelle et internationale (1958 : Brussels, Belgium)  Search this
Exposition universelle internationale de 1900 (Paris, France)  Search this
Fiera di Milano (1939)  Search this
Foreign Exhibition (1883 : Boston, Massachusetts)  Search this
Franco-British Exhibition (London, England: 1908)  Search this
Franklin Institute Exhibition (1874 : Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)  Search this
Gewerbe Austellung (1896 : Berlin, Germany)  Search this
Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940 : San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this
Great Exhibition of 1851 (London, England)  Search this
Great Industrial Exhibition (1853 : Dublin, Ireland)  Search this
Great Lakes Exposition (Cleveland, Ohio: 1936-1937)  Search this
Hemisfair '68 (San Antonio, Texas: 1968)  Search this
Hudson-Fulton Celebration (1909)  Search this
Imperial International Exhibition (London, England: 1909)  Search this
International Exhibition (1897 : Brussels, Belgium)  Search this
International Exhibition of 1862 (London, England)  Search this
International Exhibition of 1871 (London, England)  Search this
International Exhibition of 1872 (London, England)  Search this
International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures (1865: Dublin, Ireland)  Search this
International Exposition (Barcelona, Spain: 1929-1930)  Search this
International Exposition (Brussels, Belgium: 1935)  Search this
International Exposition of Decorative Arts and Modern Industries (1925 : Paris, France)  Search this
International Exposition on the Environment (Spokane, Washington: 1974)  Search this
International Fire Exhibition 1903 : London, England)  Search this
International Marine Exhibition of Marine Hygiene and Exhibition of the Italian Glories (Genoa, Italy: 1914)  Search this
International Ocean Exposition (Okinawa, Japan: 1975)  Search this
Interstate and West Indian Exposition (Charleston, South Carolina: 1901-1902)  Search this
Italian Exposition (1904 : London, England)  Search this
Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition (Hampton Roads, Virginia: 1907)  Search this
Japan World Exposition (Osaka, Japan: 1970)  Search this
Japan-British Exhibition (London, England: 1910)  Search this
Knoxville International Energy Exposition (1982)  Search this
Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition (1905 : Portland, Or.)  Search this
Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904: Saint Louis, Mo.)  Search this
National Ecuadorian Exposition (Quito, Ecuador: 1909)  Search this
National Export Exposition (1899 : Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)  Search this
New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.)  Search this
New York World's Fair (1964-1965)  Search this
Pan-American Exposition (1901: Buffalo, N.Y.)  Search this
Panama-California Exposition (1915 : San Diego, Calif.)  Search this
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)  Search this
Scottish National Exposition (Edinburgh, Scotland: 1908)  Search this
Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition (1926 : Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this
Sydney International Exhibition (Sydney, Australia: 1879)  Search this
Texas Centennial Central Exposition (Dallas, Texas: 1936)  Search this
Universal Exhibition (1873 : Vienna, Austria)  Search this
Western Pennsylvania Exposition (1915 : Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)  Search this
World's Columbian Exposition (1893 : Chicago, Ill.)  Search this
World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition (1884-1885 : New Orleans, La.)  Search this
Extent:
46 Cubic feet (123 boxes and 150 map-folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Motion pictures (visual works)
Postcards
Greeting cards
Stationery
Panoramas
Sheet music
Posters
Shopping bags
Photographs
Stereographs
Menus
Place:
Disneyland (California)
Date:
1841-1988
Scope and Contents:
Memorabilia of fairs and World's Fairs throughout history, both in the United States and abroad, including photographs, stereographs, panoramas and slides; printed materials; postcards; sheet music; philatelic material; stationery and greeting cards; menus and food service items; posters; shopping bags; motion picture films; and other items.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into three series.

Series 1: World's Fair Materials, 1841-1988

Series 2: Reference and Miscellaneous Materials

Series 3: Larry Zim Materials

Series 4: Oversize Materials, 1909-1968
Biographical / Historical:
Larry Zim, whose actual name was Larry Zimmerman, was an industrial designer, a historian of World's Fairs who wrote extensively on the subject, and a collector of World's Fair memorabilia.
Provenance:
Collection by bequest of Larry Zim.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but two oversize folders are 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.
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:
Crystal Palace -- (New York, New York)  Search this
Exhibitions  Search this
Genre/Form:
Motion pictures (visual works)
Postcards
Greeting cards
Stationery
Panoramas
Sheet music -- 20th century
Posters
Shopping bags
Photographs -- 19th century
Sheet music -- 19th century
Stereographs
Menus
Citation:
Larry Zim World's Fair Collection, 1841-1988, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0519
See more items in:
Larry Zim World's Fair Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8523c6615-9c45-41fc-86c2-ca7717969437
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0519
Online Media:

Catherine L. Manning Collection

Names:
American Philatelic Congress  Search this
American Philatelic Society  Search this
Bureau Issues Association  Search this
National Philatelic Collection (U.S.)  Search this
National Philatelic Museum  Search this
Philadelphia Women's Stamp Club  Search this
Smithsonian Institution  Search this
United States. Bureau of Engraving and Printing  Search this
Universal Postal Union  Search this
Washington Philatelic Society  Search this
Women's Philatelic Society of New York  Search this
Belote, Theodore Thomas  Search this
Bruns, Franklin R. (Franklin Richard), 1912-1979  Search this
Colman, Hamilton F.  Search this
Elaine, Rawlinson  Search this
Ellis, F. L.  Search this
Robertson, Ruby Lee  Search this
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945  Search this
Sloane, George B. (George Benedict), 1898-1958  Search this
Wetmore, Alexander, 1886-1978  Search this
Extent:
6.44 Cubic feet (10 letter size document boxes; two flat boxes (17.5 x 11.5 x 3.25 in.); one tall legal size document box; and one oversize folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1897-1957, 1968, 1973, and 2007
Summary:
The Catherine L. Manning Collection consists of materials including correspondence and memoranda; exhibit pages; departmental reports; photographs of stamp sources and Manning; philatelic badges and name tags; floor plans; calendars; convention brochures and programs; clippings; and other related materials. Manning was a thirty-year curator of the National Philatelic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Her papers document the history of the Smithsonian's National Philatelic Collection for several decades as well as the philatelic history in the United States and for women stamp collectors.
Scope and Contents:
The Catherine L. Manning Collection consists of materials including correspondence and memoranda; exhibit pages; departmental reports; photographs of Manning; photographs of stamp sources; panoramic photographs of philatelic convention attendees; philatelic badges and name tags; floor plans; diaries and notebooks; convention brochures and programs; clippings; and other related materials. Manning was a thirty-year curator of the National Philatelic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Her materials document the history of the Smithsonian's National Philatelic Collection for several decades as well as philatelic history in the United States and the history of women stamp collectors.

Of note are the Manning materials related to her time at the Smithsonian and her interactions with colleagues such as Theodore T. Belote; Franklin R. Bruns, Jr., and Alexander Wetmore. Also of interest are the materials related to Manning's membership and involvement in the American Philatelic Congress, the American Philatelic Society, the Bureau Issues Association, the Washington Philatelic Society, the Philadelphia Women's Stamp Club, the Women's International Stamp Club, and the Women's Philatelic Society of New York. Manning's work as a charter member of the board of directors of the private non-profit National Philatelic Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is also documented.

Manning's interest in stamp designs is exhibited in the collection through the photographs of stamp sources and the newspaper clippings she collected as well as through her correspondence with authors and philatelic scholars about the topic, including F. L. Ellis and George B. Sloane who wrote for Stamps.

Some of Manning's personal philatelic collections and personal philatelic objects have been accessioned into the National Postal Museum's permanent museum collection.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into fourteen series.

Series

Series 1: Biographical Materials and Documents, 1897-1957, 1968, 2007

Series 2: Diaries and Notebooks, 1944-1957

Series 3: Catherine L. Manning Employment: H. F. Colman and Smithsonian Institution (SI); Bureau of Engraving and Printing Material and Stamp Mailing Envelopes, 1902-1973

Series 4: Philatelic Organizations, 1926-1956

Series 5: Philatelic, Non-Philatelic, and First Day of Issue Events, 1926-1956

Series 6: Philately - General, 1901-1947

Series 7: Women in Philately and Women on Postage Stamps, 1936-1957

Series 8: Stamp Source Material: Documents, Lists, Correspondence; Stamp Catalogs and Stamp Dealers; 1897, 1920s-1949

Series 9: Stamp Source Material: Images, 1900s-1950

Series 10: Post Office Department Material, 1927-1954

Series 11: Correspondence - Individual and Organization (A-Z), 1921-1954

Series 12: Correspondence - General (A-Z); Holiday Cards; Panoramic Photographs, 1928-1956

Series 13: Manning's Little Women Stamp Exhibit; Scott Catalogue 1944

Series 14: Objects and Oversize Materials, 1930-1955, and undated
Biographical / Historical:
Catherine Lemmon Manning (1881-1957), the first woman outside the sciences to achieve the title "Assistant Curator" at the Smithsonian Institution, tended the National Philatelic Collection for nearly thirty years. During her tenure, she organized the collection, processed thousands of specimens received from the Universal Postal Union and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, published articles, exhibited, and participated widely in the philatelic community.

A native of Washington, D.C., Manning worked for the stamp dealer John Murray Bartels in 1898. When Bartels sold his business in 1901, Manning continued to work for the new owner, Hamilton F. Colman. While with Colman, Manning also worked as the philatelic secretary for former New Jersey Senator, Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen and helped build his collection. As a result of her philatelic expertise, Manning was asked to assist the Smithsonian Institution in accessioning the Post Office Department collection which Postmaster General Frank Harris Hitchcock had transferred. Manning's philosophy that "it is better to generalize than specialize" determined the National Philatelic Collection's trajectory from the time she succeeded Joseph B. Leavy as Government Philatelist in 1922 until her retirement in 1951.

Throughout her life she received many honors, including being the first woman elected to office in the American Philatelic Society (vice president, 1935-1937). She was a charter member of the American Philatelic Congress and in 1936 received its award for service to philately. In 1938, Manning served on the committee that selected Elaine Rawlinson's design for the 1938 Presidential definitive series. According to her daughter-in-law Ruby Lee Robertson, Manning met numerous times at the White House with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a fellow philatelist. She was a charter member of the board of directors of the privately-run National Philatelic Museum in Philadelphia and received its 1949 silver trophy for achievement in philately. Manning retired from the Smithsonian on January 31, 1951. The American Philatelic Society inducted her into its Hall of Fame in 1990.

Also referred to as "Kate", Manning's personal collecting interests had a great range including mint and used stamps - U.S. and world, saved correspondence envelopes and postcards, greeting cards, poster labels (also known as Cinderellas), stamp exhibition souvenirs, special event covers for anniversaries and local events during her lifetime, first day covers, women on stamps, and especially the sources that inspired stamp designs.
Provenance:
Ruby Lee Robertson, Catherine L. Manning's granddaughter-in-law, donated Manning's philatelic estate to the National Postal Museum from 2006 to 2008. The materials in this collection were separated out from the museum collections in January 2009 and remained with the Curatorial Department until October 2023 with their release to the NPM Archives.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access to original archival materials is by appointment only. Researchers must submit request for appointment in writing. Please direct reference inquiries to the National Postal Museum Archives: NPM_Archives@si.edu.
Rights:
The National Postal Museum Archives makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and the NPM Rights and Reproductions for additional information. Please direct reference inquiries to the National Postal Museum Archives: NPM_Archives@si.edu.
Topic:
Museums -- Employees  Search this
Women museum curators  Search this
Stamp collecting  Search this
Stamp collectors  Search this
Citation:
Catherine L. Manning Collection, NPMA.2023.1, National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NPMA.2023.1
See more items in:
Catherine L. Manning Collection
Archival Repository:
National Postal Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/zn8b1865dd8-e095-472d-8dbe-ec53af39a8e0
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-npma-2023-1
Online Media:

Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection

Donor:
Little Manila Foundation  Search this
Extent:
4.33 Cubic feet (13 boxes)
Culture:
Filipino Americans  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Correspondence
Diaries
Photographs
Receipts
Date:
circa 1874-1980, undated
Summary:
Collection documents the lives of Filipino migrants in Stockton, California dating primarily from the 1920s to the 1970s and includes correspondence, photographic prints, military documents, financial records, books, wallets, and other ephemera.
Scope and Contents:
Collection consists of the archival materials from one steamer trunk and a plastic bin documenting the lives of Filipino migrants in Stockton, California dating primarily from the 1920s-1970s. These materials include correspondence, individual photographic prints and in albums from the Philippines and the United States, military documents, financial records, medical information, educational materials, books, wallets, Legionarios del Trabajo "Daguhoy" Lodge membership materials, greeting cards, and other forms of ephemera. Most of the correspondence is written in Visayan, the language spoken within the southernmost islands of Luzon in the Philippines. Some of these letters have been translated. A few of the photographs are identified but most have no information relating to the person(s) identity, location of where the image was taken or date.

The materials are arranged into twenty-three series. The first twenty-two series represent one person's story that was found in the contents of the containers. The last series relates to the Legionarios del Trabajo organization.

The collection is important for the study of early Filipino American agricultural workers. In addition to using these materials researchers should consult the three-dimensional objects that were also collected. These artifacts are stored onsite in the Museum's Division of Work and Industry and are part of the Asian Pacific American and agricultural collections. A steamer trunk, which was too large to house at NMAH, is currently stored off-site.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into twenty-three series.

Series 1: Enrique Andales, 1917-1937, undated

Series 2: Julian S. Arofo, 1950-1953

Series 3: A.T. Bastion, undated

Series 4: Julian Felicita Bernido, 1971

Series 5: Andres Salle Casinas, 1912-1980, undated

Series 6: Cesario Hotora Comparativo, 1925-1945, undated

Series 7: Hilario Samson Cuevas, 1925-1930, undated

Series 8: Vinancio Timosa Fellisarta, 1971

Series 9: Jose Madridejo Galinato, 1926-1949, undated

Series 10: Eufricino Janier, 1920-1929, undated

Series 11: Felimon Laga, 1922-1923, undated

Series 12: Seven Madrias, 1936-1938, undated

Series 13: Eusebio Maglente, 1920-1923, undated

Series 14: Epimaco Fariola Mansueto, 1874-1947, undated

Series 15: Sixto Olaco, 1921-1954, undated

Series 16: Anastacio Atig Omandam, 1924-1937

Series 17: Juan Campoco Pascual, 1936, 1948, undated Series 18: Julian Rogas, 1929-1936, undated

Series 19: Arcadio Simangca, 1961-1971

Series 20: Julio Saranza, 1971

Series 21: Pablo Mendoza Solomon, 1921-1971, undated

Series 22: Victoriano Yano, 1971

Series 23: Legionarios del Trabajo: Daguhoy Masonic Lodge, 1928-1935, undated
Historical:
The Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection documents the history of Filipinos and Filipinas in Stockton, California, from the 1910s to the 1980s. The materials were part of a trove of material discovered in 2005 in the Daguhoy Lodge—a Filipino fraternal society—by Antonio Somera, a former member of the Daguhoy Lodge. Somera discovered twenty-six suitcases, toolboxes, and wardrobe steamer trunks in the basement of the lodge. These containers held materials such as clothing, tools, and correspondence and other personal items; the containers were labeled with the names of Filipino individuals. Presumably, each container belonged to a single person who used the suitcase or steamer trunk to travel and store their materials. When the owners passed away, surviving members of the fraternal lodge packed the deceased's personal belongings into the steamer trunk or suitcase and it was put into long-term storage. No descendants of these individuals have been identified, nor have any descendants come forward to claim the objects. A few years after discovering the containers and displaying them in the lodge's basement in a makeshift exhibition, Somera brought the trunks to the attention of Professor Dawn Bohulano Mabalon and filmmaker Dillon Delvo. At the time, Mabalon was a history professor at San Francisco State University. In 2013, she published Little Manila is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California (2013), considered to be one of the most authoritative accounts on Filipino Americans in Stockton. Delvo was working as a filmmaker in the Bay Area and earning his master's degree in Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. Born and raised in south Stockton in Filipino families, Delvo and Mabalon had embarked on a long-term project to preserve the history of Filipinos in Stockton. In 2000, Mabalon and Delvo created Little Manila Rising (LMR), a non-profit organization that aims to preserve the history of Filipino American history in Stockton. LMR was founded in response to the gradual destruction of historic buildings and sites that had housed one of the earliest and largest Filipino communities outside of the Philippines. LMR eventually purchased a building called Little Manila Center at 2154 South San Joaquin Street in Stockton, which serves as a multi-purpose community center for a variety of community-based projects. After Mabalon passed away in 2018, Delvo assumed leadership of Little Manila Rising and serves as its Executive Director. As part of their vision of preserving the history of Filipino Americans in Stockton and the greater San Joaquin Delta region, both Mabalon and Delvo championed the preservation of the containers found in the Daguhoy Lodge's basement, particularly the steamer trunks which they recognized possessed important historical value. In 2019, Dr. Sam Vong, Curator of Asian Pacific American History in the National Museum of American History (NMAH) Division of Work and Industry, met with Delvo to explore the potential donation of the containers and their associated contents to the museum.

In the aftermath of their discovery, only one steamer trunk was opened and the contents cataloged, with the assistance of the Oakland Museum of California. The remainder were temporarily stored and displayed in the Little Manila Community Center on Hazelton Street. When Vong arrived in 2019 to meet Delvo and to evaluate the materials, the trunks were still locked; a locksmith was needed to avoid destroying the locks and to maintain the integrity of the objects. The locksmith was able to open all but three of the trunks. While most of the containers were in good condition, a few of the steamer trunks had suffered water damage due to flooding in the lodge's basement, resulting in mildew and mold.

After the trunks were opened, Vong created a preliminary inventory list. He identified each of the trunks with the name of an individual which were found in the trunk's contents. Because of the large volume of materials, Vong made additional trips to Stockton to complete the cataloging of objects and to make final selections of which containers to collect. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 delayed the collecting process, and the project was put on hold until Covid-lockdown restrictions were eased in 2022. At that point, Vong returned to Stockon to reevaluate the objects for acquisition.

Although LMR had hoped to donate all of the steamer trunks and containers to the Smithsonian, space constraints at NMAH precluded that. Ultimately, Vong collected one steamer trunk and all its contents. Those objects are housed in the NMAH Division of Work & Industry. Both Delvo and Vong recognized that the personal papers, photographs, and other archival materials contained in each container presented an opportunity to document the work and lives of the individuals who had left these containers behind. After consulting with NMAH Archives Center staff, it was decided that the NMAH Archives Center would collect the archival materials found in each of the containers. Taken as a whole, the individual groups of documents form the Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection.

Each series in the collection represents a single person's story that was found in the contents of the containers. Each name in the series, however, does not necessarily correspond to a single steamer trunk or suitcase. For example, the archival materials in the Pablo Mendoza Solomon series (Series 21) were found in two suitcases and two steamer trunks. Vong surmises that two things may have happened when Solomon passed away: surviving lodge brothers may have salvaged all Solomon's personal belongings and placed them in various suitcases, or Solomon's materials may have been haphazardly thrown into various containers when the trunks were recovered from the flooding in the lodge's basement. Other series, such as Julian Felicita Bernido (Series 4), contain only a couple of documents nested within another person's belongings.

The former owners of the suitcases and steamer trunks in this collection were young men who emigrated from different parts of the Philippines to work as sakadas, or contract workers in Hawai'i. After completing their contracts, some Filipinos left Hawai'i for California in search of adventure and better economic opportunities. Many of these Filipinos migrated up and down the western coast of the United States such as California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, finding work as seasonal workers on farms, salmon canneries, and other agricultural sectors. Filipinos and Filipinas were indispensable to growers in the San Joaquin Delta region, considered one of the most fertile regions in the country, and where the city of Stockton is located.

Filipinos and Filipinas gravitated toward Stockton, where they established one of the largest Filipino American communities outside of the Philippines. The community included businesses, recreational halls, hotels, and homes, as well places of worship and fraternal lodges, such as the Daguhoy Lodge. This lodge was one among a handful of lodges in Stockton that was established by some of the earliest Filipino residents in Stockton.

The Daguhoy Lodge catered primarily to men, although some of the archival documents in this collection suggest that Filipinas had a visible and important presence in lodge activities. The lodge provided a space for members to hold social gatherings, community meetings, and a place for worship. The lodge also provided short-term and long-term lodging for its members and for migrant Filipino workers who came in and out of Stockton as they followed the path of seasonal agricultural work. As a result, Filipinos used the lodge to temporarily store their personal belongings such as suitcases and steamer trunks.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: World Expositions, NMAH.AC.0060

Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, NMAH.AC.0143

Alexander Alland, Sr., Photoprints, NMAH.AC.0204

Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 8: Geography, NMAH.AC.0300

Duncan Family Yo-Yo Collection, NMAH.AC.807

Catherine Hann Papers, NMAH.AC.0921

Kamikawa, Omata and Matsumoto Families Papers, NMAH.AC.0924

Juanita Tamayo Lott Filipino American Photographs and Papers, NMAH.AC.0925

Bishop Mitsumyo Tottori Memorial Notebooks, NMAH.AC.0926

Division of Cultural History Lantern Slides and Stereographs, NMAH.AC.0945

Materials at Other Organizations

Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room Photograph Collection holdings include one photograph of the Legionarios Del Trabajo.
Separated Materials:
National Museum of American History, Divison of Work and Industry

The Asian Pacific American and the Agricultural collections contain one steamer trunk and its complete contents, along with agricultural implements and other materials found in the other containers from the basement of the Daguhoy Lodge. Associated accession numbers include 2021.0137 and 2022.0058.01.

Accession number 2021.0137.1, asparagus knife

Accession number 2021.0137.2, hair waver

Accession number 2021.0137.3, hook field knife

Accession number 2021.0137.6, pair of pruning shears

Accession number 2021.0137.7, vegetable knife

Accession number 2022.0058.01.01, steamer trunk

Accession number 2022.0058.01.1,1 brace

Accession number 2022.0058.02.1, band uniform jacket

Accession number 2022.0058.02.2, band uniform trousers

Accession number 2022.0058.03.2, band uniform trousers

Accession number 2022.0058.03.3, band uniform shirt

Accession number 2022.0058.03.4, band uniform cummerbund

Accession number 2022.0058.06.1, army jacket

Accession number 2022.0058.13, sleepwear

Accession number 2022.0058.14, thermal shirt

Accession number 2022.0058.15, sweater

Accession number 2022.0058.16, shirt

Accession number 2022.0058.22, collar

Accession number 2022.0058.26.1, fez

Accession number 2022.0058.28ab, pair of dress shoes

Accession number 2022.0058.29ab, pair of shin protectors

Accession number 2022.0058.30ab, pair of gloves

Accession number 2022.0058.31, flashlight

Accession number 2022.0058.33, lock

Accession number 2022.0058.34, ring

Accession number 2022.0058.35, cap

Accession number 2022.0058.36, straw hat

Accession number 2022.0058.37, Stetson hat

Accession number 2022.0058.38, bow tie

Accession number 2022.0058.43, thermos

Accession number 2022.0058.44, harmonica

Accession number 2022.0058.45, pillowcase

Accession number 2022.0058.46, pillowcase

Accession number 2022.0058.47, necktie

Accession number 2022.0058.61, tablecloth

Accession number 2022.0058.62, framed portrait

Accession number 2022.0058.63, certificate

Accession number 2022.0058.64, wallet

Accession number 2022.0058.65ab, pair of boots

San Joaquin County Historical Museum (SJCHM) has the steamer trunks that were not aquired by the National Museum of American History.
Provenance:
Collection donated by the Little Manila Foundation through Dillon Delvo, Executive Director, 2021.
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.
Topic:
Agriculture -- California  Search this
Migrant workers  Search this
Tagalog language  Search this
Genre/Form:
Correspondence -- 20th century
Diaries
Photographs -- 20th century
Receipts -- 20th century
Citation:
Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1515
See more items in:
Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep865b08d8d-170d-410c-9794-1f0f1f0b1388
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1515

Robert "Mack" McCormick Collection

Collector:
McCormick, Mack  Search this
Musician:
Badeaux, Ed, 1926-2015  Search this
Chenier, Clifton, 1925-1987  Search this
Cotten, Elizabeth  Search this
Estes, Sleepy John, 1899-1977  Search this
Hopkins, Lightnin', 1912-1982  Search this
House, Son  Search this
Howling Wolf  Search this
James, Harry  Search this
Jefferson, Blind Lemon, 1897-1929  Search this
Johnson, Robert, 1911-1938  Search this
Leadbelly, 1885-1949  Search this
Lipscomb, Mance, 1895-1976  Search this
Muddy Waters, 1915-1983  Search this
Rinzler, Ralph  Search this
Shaw, Robert, 1908 August 9-1985  Search this
Thomas, Henry, 1874-1952  Search this
Wallace, Sippie  Search this
Historian:
Oliver, Paul, 1927-2017  Search this
Singer:
Spivey, Victoria  Search this
Producer:
Strachwitz, Chris  Search this
Extent:
60 Cubic feet (171 boxes, 9 map folders)
Culture:
African Americans -- Mississippi  Search this
Arkansas  Search this
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Business cards
Compact discs
Contracts
Correspondence
Folklore
Newspaper clippings
Posters
Road maps
Television scripts
Ephemera
Black-and-white negatives
Contact sheets
Color slides
Business records
Family papers
Resumes
Diaries
Journals (periodicals)
Financial records
Audio cassettes
Manuscripts
Playbills
Field recordings
Writings
Transcripts
Manuscripts for publication
Color negatives
Negatives
Articles
Place:
United States -- Race relations
Delta (Miss.)
Sugarland Prison (Tex.)
Greenwood (Miss.)
Robinsonville (Miss.)
Dallas (Tex.)
Houston (Tex.)
San Antonio (Tex.)
Tunica (La.)
Texarkana (Tex.)
Galveston (Texas)
Date:
1858-2015, undated
Summary:
Field notes, manuscripts, photographs, booking contracts, correspondence, personal papers, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, interviews, and other research materials primarily relating to the history of American blues music. Collection documents the lives of significant blues musicians Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Mance Lipscomb; insight into the life, writings, and research practices of Robert "Mack" McCormick; and the business side of recording and selling the blues.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the life, writings, research practices, and business activities of blues scholar Robert "Mack" Burton McCormick who came to serve as a leading authority on the genre. Personal papers include diaries, curriculum vitae, biographical sketches, school papers, employment documents, correspondence, financial records, and an interview transcript. McCormick's writings consist of published magazine and journal articles, plays, essays, television scripts, short stories, and album liner notes. There are complete unpublished manuscripts, drafts with notes and research materials, and ideas for future work. McCormick's research practices and subjects of interest are documented in correspondence, field notes, annotated maps, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, city directories, interviews, photographic prints, negatives, slides, and contact sheets. American blues, Texas blues, and the music of significant blues artists, who McCormick served as an agent and manager for, dominated his extensive research efforts. In addition, the collection documents the recording, distribution and sale, and identification of consumer markets for American music in correspondence, contracts, agreements, music journals, publicity and promotional materials, music manuscripts, and interviews.

Throughout the collection preservation measures were performed to ensure long term use of the materials. Newspaper clippings were photocopied, and the originals were discarded. Audio cassette tapes have been reformatted and the digital copies will soon be available for research use.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into fifteen series.

Series 1: Photographic Negatives, Photographs and Slides, 1959-1998, undated

Subseries 1.1: Photographic Negatives and Contact Sheets, 1967-1977, undated

Subseries 1.2: Photographs, 1959-1998, undated

Subseries 1.3: Photographs, Texas Blues (TB), 1961-1964, undated

Subseries 1.4: Photographic Slides, 1964-1977, undated

Subseries 1.5: Negative and Photograph Indices and Assorted Material, 1963-1975

Series 2: Personal Papers, 1937-2015, undated

Subseries 2.1: Biographical Information, 1945-2003, undated

Subseries 2.2: Correspondence, Greeting Cards, and Postcards, 1937-2010, undated

Subseries 2.3: Education, 1938-1946

Subseries 2.4: Employment Records, 1948-1961, undated

Subseries 2.5: Family Papers, 1945-1988, undated

Subseries 2.6: Press, 1960-2015, undated

Subseries 2.7: Archive, 1972-2015, undated

Subseries 2.8: Campaign, 1959-2015, undated

Subseries 2.9: Financial Papers, 1952-2015

Subseries 2.10: Legal Papers, 1950-2015, undated

Subseries 2.11: Business Records, 1941-2006, undated

Series 3: Project Files, 1960-2003, undated

Subseries 3.1: Library of Congress, 1960-1964

Subseries 3.2: Newport Folk Festival, 1965-1969

Subseries 3.3: Hemisfair, 1968

Subseries 3.4: Smithsonian Institution, Festival of American Folklife 1966-1980, undated

Subseries 3.5: Other Blues Project, 2001-2003, undated

Series 4: Manuscripts and Writings, 1952-2015, undated

Subseries 4.1: Almost A Savage Joy, 1959-1980

Subseries 4.2: Another Fine Mess, 1981-1987, undated

Subseries 4.3: Blues: A New Look, 1965-1984, undated

Subseries 4.4: Blues Odyssey, 1971, undated

Subseries 4.5: Death and Tragedy, 1975-1980, undated

Subseries 4.6: Down in Texas Blues, undated

Subseries 4.7: Folk Songs of Men, 1952-1977, undated

Subseries 4.8: Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley, 1958-1976, undated

Subseries 4.9: Henry Thomas, 1975-2002, undated

Subseries 4.10: Ira, George, Edward, and Lee, 1994, undated

Subseries 4.11: The Magic Room, 1961-1962, undated

Subseries 4.12: Origin of Blues, 1991-2004, undated

Subseries 4.13: Snake in the Belly, 1956-1957, undated

Subseries 4.14: Wiley, 1957-1984, undated

Subseries 4.15: Articles, Ideas and Drafts, 1961-2004, undated

Series 5: Artist Files, 1880-2010, undated

Series 6: Texas Blues Research, 1858-2011, undated

Subseries 6.1: Texas Blues Research, 1910-2010, undated

Subseries 6.2: Lead Files, 1962-1980, undated

Subseries 6.3: Trip Notes, 1960-1989, undated

Subseries 6.4: Song Histories, 1920-1982, undated

Subseries 6.5: Music, 1928-2011, undated

Subseries 6.6: Record Catalogs, 1963-2006, undated

Subseries 6.7: Maps, 1958-1989, undated

Series 7: Robert Johnson, 1910-2015, undated

Subseries 7.1: Research Materials, 1910-2015, undated

Subseries 7.2: Who Killed Robert Johnson Manuscript, 1955-2015, undated

Series 8: Office Files, 1938-2000, undated

Series 9: Correspondence, 1959-2015, undated

Series 10: Organizations, Groups and Buffs, 1961-2003, undated

Series 11: Festivals and Living Museums, 1960-2003, undated

Series 12: Music Journals, 1971-2006, undated

Series 13: Subject Files, 1896-2015, undated

Series 14: People Files, 1928-2014, undated

Series 15: Audio Cassette Tapes and Digital Files, 1941-2007, undated
Biographical / Historical:
Robert Burton "Mack" McCormick (August 3, 1930-November 18, 2015) was a self-taught folklorist who spent a lifetime researching, collecting, and writing about vernacular music in the United States. Most of his work focused on the blues and other musical traditions of Black, brown, and white communities living throughout Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. After experiencing a difficult, transient childhood and eventually dropping out of high school, McCormick settled in Houston, Texas and began to work a series of odd jobs while relentlessly pursuing his goal of becoming a successful writer. Although researching and writing about music came to occupy most of his time, he also pursued passions as a screenwriter and novelist. The volume of historical research and personal interviews he conducted from the 1950s through the early 1970s is remarkable, and his published writings during this period about music and the musicians he doggedly studied were lauded by his peers as among the best in the field. Along the way he worked for a time as a manager for the careers of the Texas songsters Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb, and briefly ran his own record label. He made hundreds of hours of field recordings with musicians living throughout the South. He collaborated with colleagues such as Chris Strachwitz, founder of Arhoolie Records, and Paul Oliver, with whom McCormick spent over a decade researching and writing a manuscript on the history of Texas Blues. Beginning in the late 1960s, he was contracted by the Smithsonian Institution as a field worker for its annual Festival of American Folklife, and around the same time began researching the life of blues legend Robert Johnson for a manuscript that McCormick wrote and re-wrote but failed to publish in his lifetime.

McCormick's research, along with his personal archive, became the stuff of legend among fellow blues researchers and enthusiasts, particularly after his publishing output dwindled in the 1970s. He lived with a bipolar disorder that drew him into bouts of depression and paranoia. He came to distrust many of those colleagues working most closely with him, and sometimes shared untrue information to throw them off the trail of his research discoveries. He also "borrowed" heirloom photographs from the family members and descendants of blues artists and, in several cases documented in this collection, he refused to return them. Overcome with challenges that lay both within and without his control, he came to describe the massive archive in his Houston, Texas home as "the monster," and spent his final decades attempting with little success to publish his writings.
Related Materials:
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

W. C. Handy Collection, NMAH.AC.0132

Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 3, African American Music, NMAH.AC.0300

Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 16: Country, Western, and Folk Music, NMAH.AC.0300

Duke Ellington Collection, NMAH.AC.0301

Frank Driggs Collection of Duke Ellington Photographic Reference Prints, NMAH.AC.0389

Program in African American Culture Collection, NMAH.AC.0408

Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials, NMAH.AC.0415

Alan Strauber Photoprints, 1990-1994, 1999, NMAH.AC.0517

Jonas Bernholm Rhythm and Blues Collection, NMAH.AC.0551

Ray McKinley Music and Ephemera, NMAH.AC.0635

Bluestime Power Hour Videotapes, NMAH.AC.0657

Edward and Gaye Collection of Duke Ellington Materials, NMAH.AC.0704

Bill Holman Collection, NMAH.AC.0733

Andrew Homzy Collection of Duke Ellington Stock Arrangements, NMAH.AC.0740

Harry Warren Papers, NMAH.AC.0750

Benny Carter Collection, NMAH.AC.0757

W. Royal Stokes Collection of Music Photoprints and Interviews, NMAH.AC.0766

Fletcher and Horace Henderson Collection, NMAH.AC.0797

Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program Collection, NMAH.AC.0808

William Russo Music and Personal Papers, NMAH.AC.0845

Milt Gabler Papers, NMAH.AC.0849

Leonard and Mary Gaskin Papers, NMAH.AC.0900

Bobby Tucker Papers, NMAH.AC.1141

Floyd Levin Jazz Reference Collection, NMAH.AC1222

Duncan Schiedt Jazz Collection, NMAH.AC1323

Maceo Jefferson Papers, NMAH.AC1370

Jazz and Big Band Collection, 1927-1966, NMAH.AC.1388

Nick Reynolds Kingston Trio Papers, NMAH.AC.1472

McIntire Family Hawaiian Entertainers Collection, NMAH.AC.1511

Native Peoples Musicians and Music Collection, NMAH.AC.1512

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Arhoolie Business Records and Audio Recordings, 1960-2016, CFCH.ARHO

Moses and Frances Asch Collection, 1926-1986, CFCH.ASCH

CFCH Audiovisual Projects, 2011-2018, CFCH.AVPR

Diana Davies Photographs, 1963-1969, CFCH.DAVIE

Frederic Ramsey Audio Recordings, 1945-1959, CFCH.RAMS

Ralph Rinzler Papers and Audio Recordings, 1950-1994, CFCH.RINZ

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1968 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1968

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1969 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1969

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1970 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1970

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1972 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1972

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1973 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1973

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1974 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1974

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1975 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1975

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1976 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1976

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1983 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1983

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1985 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1985

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1987 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1987

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1988 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1988

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1989 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1989

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1991 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1991

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1996 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1996

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 1997 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.1997

Smithsonian Folklife Festival Records: 2011 Festival of American Folklife, CFCH.SFF.2011

Smithsonian Institution

Division of Performing Arts Records, 1966-1979, Accession T90055

Office of Public Affairs, Biographical Files, 1963-1988, Record Unit 420, SIA.FARU0420

National Museum of American History, Department of Public Programs, 1968-1992, Record Unit 584, SIA.FARU0584

Smithsonian Productions, 1967-2000, undated, SIA.FA09-055
Separated Materials:
National Museum of American History's Division of Culture and the Arts

Artifacts acquired as part of the collection include:

Washburn style G guitar, serial number 46472, Accession number 2019.0234.01.

Set of quills (or panpipes) made and played by blues artist Joe Patterson. Accession number 2019.0234.02.

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

Audio recordings acquired as part of the collection are listed in The Guide to the Mack McCormick Audio Tapes Collection prepared by Jeff Place, 2020-2022.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Susannah Nix to the Archives Center in 2019.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access to original materials in boxes 76-80 is prohibited. Researchers must use digital copies.

Additional materials have been removed from public access pending investigation under the Smithsonian Institution's Ethical Returns and Shared Stewardship Policy.
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.
Occupation:
African American musicians  Search this
Topic:
Drafts (documents)  Search this
Blues (Music)  Search this
Blues musicians  Search this
Photographs  Search this
Postcards -- 20th century  Search this
telephone -- Directories  Search this
Plays  Search this
African American music -- 20th century  Search this
Sharecropping  Search this
Plantations  Search this
Zydeco music  Search this
Commercial recordings  Search this
Piano music (Barrelhouse)  Search this
Genealogy  Search this
African Americans -- Texas  Search this
Songsters  Search this
Blues (Music) -- Delta (Miss. : Region)  Search this
Rodeos -- United States  Search this
Prisons -- Songs and music  Search this
Festival of American Folklife -- History  Search this
Festival of American Folklife -- Planning  Search this
Street scenes  Search this
Blues (Music) -- Texas.  Search this
African Americans -- Folklore  Search this
American South  Search this
African American -- Social life and customs  Search this
Blues (Music) -- Mississippi.  Search this
Blues (Music) -- Alabama.  Search this
Blues (Music) -- New Orleans (La.)  Search this
Conjunto music  Search this
Jazz -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Folk music -- United States  Search this
Ethnomusicology -- History  Search this
Sound recordings  Search this
Sound recording and reproduction  Search this
Tejano music  Search this
Transcripts  Search this
Folklorists  Search this
Zydeco musicians  Search this
Musicians, Cajun  Search this
Folk music -- United States -- History and criticism.  Search this
Music -- History and criticism  Search this
Festival of American Folklife  Search this
African Americans -- Alabama -- Music  Search this
Guitar -- 20th century  Search this
Guitar music  Search this
Guitarists  Search this
Country musicians  Search this
Sound recording executives and producers -- United States -- Biography.  Search this
Sound recording industry  Search this
Blues (Music) -- Southern States.  Search this
Blues musicians -- United States -- Interviews.  Search this
Hawaiian guitar  Search this
Hawaiian guitar music  Search this
African American farmers  Search this
Sharecroppers  Search this
Labor -- Southern states -- 20th century  Search this
manuscripts -- Editing  Search this
African Americans -- Songs and music  Search this
Sound recordings -- Album covers  Search this
African American prisoners  Search this
Crafts  Search this
Museum outreach programs  Search this
Folk music -- New Orleans (La.)  Search this
Black people -- Race identity  Search this
Race discrimination -- United States  Search this
Sound recordings -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Genre/Form:
Business cards
Compact discs
Contracts
Correspondence
Folklore
Newspaper clippings
Posters
Road maps -- United States
Television scripts
Ephemera -- 20th century
Black-and-white negatives
Contact sheets -- 20th cenury
Color slides -- 20th century
Business records -- 20th century
Family papers -- 20th century
Resumes
Diaries -- 20th century
Journals (periodicals) -- 20th century
Financial records -- 20th century
Audio cassettes -- 20th century
Manuscripts -- Music -- 20th century
Playbills
Field recordings
Writings -- 20th century
Transcripts -- 20th century
Manuscripts for publication
Manuscripts -- 20th century
Color negatives
Negatives -- 20th century
Articles -- 20th century
Citation:
Robert "Mack" McCormick Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.1485
See more items in:
Robert "Mack" McCormick Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep87d0d0dd0-eaee-4e5e-9e87-ebca1a5d86d7
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1485
Online Media:

Cable Photographs--Negatives

Collection Creator:
United Telegraph Workers.  Search this
Western Union Telegraph Company  Search this
Container:
Box 754, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Photographs
Date:
1942
Scope and Contents note:
Engineering fax, Cyrus Field, trumpet player, conscription, sample greeting card, Mr. Williver
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but Series 11 and films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audiovisual materials. 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:
Western Union Telegraph Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
See more items in:
Western Union Telegraph Company Records
Western Union Telegraph Company Records / Series 23: Photographs / 23.10: Cable Photographs (Facsimiles)
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep87744a1b0-623d-4030-9078-304c8fd6be1f
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0205-ref9872

Greeting card/Note card

Culture/People:
Nisga'a (Niska)  Search this
Artist/Maker:
Norman Tait, Nisga'a (Niska), b. 1941  Search this
Donor:
Mary Jane Lenz (MJL), Non-Indian, 1930-2016  Search this
Previous owner:
Mary Jane Lenz (MJL), Non-Indian, 1930-2016  Search this
Object Name:
Greeting card/Note card
Media/Materials:
Paper, ink
Techniques:
Printed
Dimensions:
10.5 x 13 cm
Object Type:
Painting/Drawing/Print
Place:
Vancouver; Greater Vancouver Regional District; British Columbia; Canada (inferred)
Date created:
1980-1985
Catalog Number:
25/593
Barcode:
250593.000
See related items:
Nisga'a (Niska)
Painting/Drawing/Print
Data Source:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ws64aaf838e-459d-4cd4-8fa0-086cf8132907
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:NMAI_266477
Online Media:

Greeting card/Note card

Culture/People:
Nisga'a (Niska)  Search this
Artist/Maker:
Norman Tait, Nisga'a (Niska), b. 1941  Search this
Donor:
Mary Jane Lenz (MJL), Non-Indian, 1930-2016  Search this
Previous owner:
Mary Jane Lenz (MJL), Non-Indian, 1930-2016  Search this
Object Name:
Greeting card/Note card
Media/Materials:
Paper, ink
Techniques:
Printed
Dimensions:
10.5 x 13 cm
Object Type:
Painting/Drawing/Print
Place:
Vancouver; Greater Vancouver Regional District; British Columbia; Canada (inferred)
Date created:
1980-1985
Catalog Number:
25/593
Barcode:
250593.001
See related items:
Nisga'a (Niska)
Painting/Drawing/Print
Data Source:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ws6db5a28cf-a42c-46e1-9715-e690738dea2b
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:NMAI_266478
Online Media:

Greeting card/Note card

Culture/People:
Nisga'a (Niska)  Search this
Artist/Maker:
Norman Tait, Nisga'a (Niska), b. 1941  Search this
Donor:
Mary Jane Lenz (MJL), Non-Indian, 1930-2016  Search this
Previous owner:
Mary Jane Lenz (MJL), Non-Indian, 1930-2016  Search this
Object Name:
Greeting card/Note card
Media/Materials:
Paper, ink
Techniques:
Printed
Dimensions:
10.5 x 13 cm
Object Type:
Painting/Drawing/Print
Place:
Vancouver; Greater Vancouver Regional District; British Columbia; Canada (inferred)
Date created:
1980-1985
Catalog Number:
25/593
Barcode:
250593.002
See related items:
Nisga'a (Niska)
Painting/Drawing/Print
Data Source:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ws619db43b6-6575-4f14-9299-7a1aa577ef27
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:NMAI_266479
Online Media:

Greeting card/Note card

Culture/People:
Nisga'a (Niska)  Search this
Artist/Maker:
Norman Tait, Nisga'a (Niska), b. 1941  Search this
Donor:
Mary Jane Lenz (MJL), Non-Indian, 1930-2016  Search this
Previous owner:
Mary Jane Lenz (MJL), Non-Indian, 1930-2016  Search this
Object Name:
Greeting card/Note card
Media/Materials:
Paper, ink
Techniques:
Printed
Dimensions:
10.5 x 13 cm
Object Type:
Painting/Drawing/Print
Place:
Vancouver; Greater Vancouver Regional District; British Columbia; Canada (inferred)
Date created:
1980-1985
Catalog Number:
25/593
Barcode:
250593.005
See related items:
Nisga'a (Niska)
Painting/Drawing/Print
Data Source:
National Museum of the American Indian
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ws6b7bf7da1-8c44-4792-9a1a-715203e41312
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:NMAI_266482
Online Media:

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