Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with William Abbenseth

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.abbens64
Creators:
Abbenseth, William, 1898-1972
McChesney, Mary Fuller
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project
Dates:
1964 November 23
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
13 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of William Abbenseth conducted 1964 November 23, by Mary Fuller McChesney, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Abbenseth discusses his training in photography; his WPA assignments including photomurals of San Francisco architecture, for the Index of American Design, and the California Housing Authority, the Artists at Work series, documentation of the New York World's Fair, and other projects; his relationship with Benjamin F. Cummingham, Ray Dannenbaum, Joseph A. Danysh, Hy Hirsch, and Beatrice Judd Ryan; and his involvement with the f/64 Group.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
William Abbenseth (1898-1972) was a photographer in San Francisco, California.

Administration

Sponsor
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.

Digital Content


Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.

More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 54 minutes.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Federal aid to the arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographers -- California -- San Francisco -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cunningham, Ben, 1904-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dannenbaum, Ray Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Danysh, Joseph A., 1906-1982 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hirsch, Hy Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ryan, Beatrice Judd Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Group f.64 Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Index of American Design Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Federal Art Project (Calif.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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