Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Judith Wilson Papers, 1966-2010, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.wilsjudi
Creators:
Wilson, Judith, 1952-
Dates:
1966-2010
Languages:
Collection is in English.
Physical Description:
11.2 Linear feet
27.94 Gigabytes
Repository:
The papers of African American art historian Judith Wilson measure 11.2 linear feet and 27.94 GB and date from 1966 to 2010. Wilson's career is documented through correspondence with friends, colleagues, artists, universities, and art organizations; notebooks; files on writing projects, conferences, lectures, symposia and other professional activities; and a small amount of printed material. Also found is research material on artist Bob Thompson, including photographs, printed material, correspondence, notebooks and a documentary video recording. Additionally, the collection includes 124 cassette tapes of sound recordings of interviews of artists and art collectors, panel discussions and Wilson's lectures, and six video recordings. Some of the materials are in digital format.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of art historian Judith Wilson measure 11.2 linear feet and 27.94 GB and date from 1966 to 2010. Wilson's career is documented through correspondence with friends, colleagues, artists, universities, and art organizations; notebooks; files on writing projects, conferences, lectures, symposia and other professional activities; and a small amount of printed material. Also found is research material on artist Bob Thompson, including photographs, printed material, correspondence, notebooks, and a documentary video recording. Additionally, the collection includes 124 cassette tapes of sound recordings of interviews of artists and art collectors, panel discussions and Wilson's lectures, and six video recordings. Numerous interview recordings are related to Wilson's dissertation on the artist Bob Thompson. Some of the materials are in digital format.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged as 9 series.
  • Missing Title
  • Series 1: Correspondence, 1975-2009 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
  • Series 2: Notebooks, 1977-2008 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 2-3)
  • Series 3: Writing Projects, 1972-2010 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 4-5)
  • Series 4: Conferences, Lectures, and Symposia, 1978-2009 (2.0 linear feet; Boxes 5-7, 17.11 GB; ER01-ER05)
  • Series 5: Professional Records, 1979-2009 (1.0 linear foot; Boxes 7-9)
  • Series 6: Research Material on Bob Thompson, 1966-2006 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 8-10, 1.70 GB; ER06-ER07)
  • Series 7: Printed Material, 1981-2010 (0.5 linear feet; Box 10)
  • Series 8: Interviews, 1978-2008 (1.0 linear foot; Boxes 11-12, 0.697 GB; ER08-ER09)
  • Series 9: Video Recordings, 1979-2007 (4 folders; Box 12, 8.42 GB; ER10-ER15)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Judith Wilson (1952- ) is an African American art historian in San Francisco, California. Wilson began her career as an editor for Ms. Magazine in 1975. In 1979 she wrote a profile of Alma Thomas for that magazine, after which she began writing regularly about visual art and cultural politics, reviewing exhibitions, writing feature articles, and serving as guest editor for several publications. Her research interests included African American art and black visual culture. She received her Ph.D. in art history from Yale University with a dissertation on the artist Bob Thompson. Her teaching career included full-time positions in art history at University of Virginia, Yale, and the University of California, Irvine, as well as part-time and visiting professorships at several other schools. In 2006 she retired from the University of California, Irvine after eight years. During her career Wilson served on editorial and advisory boards for art publications and wrote many catalog essays, contributed to anthologies, and presented numerous conference papers, many of which were later published.

Administration

Author
Erin Kinhart
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated in 2012 by Judith Wilson-Pates.
Processing Information
The collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared by Erin Kinhart in 2014. The collection has been minimally rearranged and retains the existing/original folder titles when possible. All materials have been rehoused in archival folders and boxes for long-term stability, but often staples and other fasteners have not been removed. Materials within folders have not been rearranged. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund. Additional finding aid description of the sound recordings was completed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2023.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Judith Wilson papers, 1966-2010. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
"Bob Thompson Happening" (1965) video: Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Joanne Elkin. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Terms of Use
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.
Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Office. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Art historians -- California -- San Francisco Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women art historians Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American educators Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Thompson, Bob, 1937-1966 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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