Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Edwin and Louise Rosskam

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.rosska65
Creators:
Rosskam, Edwin, 1903-1985
Doud, Richard Keith
Rosskam, Louise, 1910-2003
Dates:
1965 August 3
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
70 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Edwin and Louise Rosskam conducted 1965 August 3, by Richard Doud, for the Archives of American Art, at their home, in Roosevelt, N.J.
Scope and Contents
Edwin Rosskam speaks of his background and youth in Germany; coming to the United States; his education in painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; the early development of his interest in photography; getting his photojournalism career started; joining the Farm Security Administration and working under Roy Stryker; the view of America presented by the work produced by the FSA; photography exhibits he has done; the effect upon him of the people he met and photographed during his FSA career; the political impact of the FSA; applications and uses of the photographs produced by the FSA; the project's strengths and weaknesses; books and other projects he has contributed to. He recalls Roy Stryker, Dorothea Lange, Marion Post Wolcott, John Vachon, and the novelist Richard Wright. Louise Rosskam discusses the impact upon her of the people who were photographed, propagandistic aspects of the work, and the impact of the FSA project on photojournalism.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Edwin (1903-1985) and Louis Rosskam (1910-2003) were photographers from Roosevelt, N.J.

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 line.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This interview 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 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 49 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Documentary photography Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographers -- New Jersey -- Roosevelt -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Lange, Dorothea Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stryker, Roy Emerson, 1893-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Vachon, John, 1914-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wolcott, Marion Post, 1910-1990 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wright, Richard, 1908-1960 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Farm Security Administration. Historical Section Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives of American Art
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