Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Eleanor Dickinson Pentecostal Videotape and Audiotape Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0199
Creators:
Dickinson, Eleanor, 1931-
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life
Dates:
1967-1977
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.5 Cubic feet
2 boxes, 6 videotapes, 1 audiotape
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Videotapes of Pentecostal ceremonies, such as snake handling, laying on of hands, baptisms, foot washing, casting out of devils, dancing in ecstasy; a video interview with Brother Harrison Mayes at his home in Middleburg, Kentucky; and an audiotape of revival meetings.

Arrangement

Arrangement
Collection is arranged in one series:
Series 1, Audiovisual

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson, artist, produced several exhibits as well as a book on Pentecostal worship in the South entitled Revival! She documented Pentecostal and Baptist ceremonies using videotape, audiotape, line drawings and velvet painting.
Dickinson was born February 7, 1931, in Knoxville, Tennessee. She was educated at the University of Tennessee (B.A., Fine Art, 1952); the San Francisco Art Institute (painting and printmaking, 1961-1963); the Académie Grande Chaumière, Paris (drawing, 1971); the University of California at Berkeley (history, 1967 and 1981), and the California College of Arts and Crafts (Master of Fine Arts in Video, 1982). She began teaching at the California College of Arts and Crafts as Professor of Art in 1971.
She has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, has received grants in connection with her work, and is represented in more than a dozen public collections, including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, and the Oakland Museum.
A resume and selected bibliography, compiled in 1986, are in the Archives Center's collection control files.

Administration

Author
David Haberstich
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by Eleanor Dickinson in 1980 and transferred to the Archives Center from the National Museum of American History Division of Community Life in 1986.
Processing Information
Collection processed by David Haberstich, 2002, revised by Wendy Shay, 2017.
Custodial History
Collection transferred to the Archives Center from Division of Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life).

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Eleanor Dickinson Pentecostal Videotape and Audiotape Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of the artist.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. No reference copies exist. Orginals are not accessable.
Conditions Governing Use
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.

Related Materials
Related artifacts in Division of Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) (see accessions 306082, 306787, 1981.0570, and 1978.0344); related materials in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art and the Library of Congress.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Baptists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Evangelistic work Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Videotapes Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Appalachian Region Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Audiotapes -- 1940-1980 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Religion -- Videotapes Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Religion and culture -- Videotapes Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Foot washing (Rite) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Ecstatic dance Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Imposition of hands Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Foot -- Religious aspects Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Revivals Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Exorcism Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Baptism Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Snake cults (Holiness churches) -- Videotapes Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rites and ceremonies -- Videtoapes Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Pentecostal churches Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Mayes, Harrison Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu