Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with William J. Brown

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.brown91
Creators:
Brown, William J. (William Joseph), 1923-1992
Kessler, Jane
Brown, Jane Brennan, 1931-
Dates:
1991 January 19-March 2
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
203 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview with William J. Brown and Jane Brown conducted 1991 January 19-1991 March 2, by Jane Kessler, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Brown and his wife Jane discuss his childhood in Michigan, his early interest in sculpture and his attitude towards education; military service in WWII; studies at Cranbrook Academy; designing for Steuben Glass; working with Francis Merritt at the Flint Institute of Arts and at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts; teaching design at the University of Delaware and working summers at Haystack; Robert Gray, director of the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild; first impressions of The Penland School of Crafts and its founder Lucy Morgan; the development of the Penland School and its various programs; craftspeople who taught at Penland; and relations with the Penland board of trustees.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
William J. Brown, art administrator and designer. Director of the Penland School of Crafts (formerly Penland School of Handicrafts) from 1962 to 1983.

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.
Existence and Location of Copies
Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
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.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 4 min.
General
2 of the cassettes are 60 min. and 2 are 90 min.
General
Sound quality of interview is poor.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Designers -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arts administrators -- North Carolina -- Interviews Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Decorative arts Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art Schools -- United States Function Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Handicraft Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Morgan, Lucy, 1889-1981 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Merritt, Francis Sumner, 1913-2000 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Gray, Robert Ward, 1916- Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Penland School of Handicrafts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Flint Institute of Arts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cranbrook Academy of Art Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
University of Delaware Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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