These records consist mostly of the correspondence of Warren H. Robbins, which documents activities of the National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) since its inception. Also included are some correspondence and memoranda of Jean M. Salan, John E. Reinhardt, and David L. Stratmon, a previous Associate Director of MAA (Museum …

Exhibition documents (1970-1989) collected by the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, to support the research of the museum's curators.

This collection is comprised of the professional papers of Gordon D. Gibson. The collection contains his correspondence, field notes, research files, museum records, writings, photographs, sound recordings, and maps.The bulk of the collection consists of Gibson's southwestern Africa research. This includes his field notes, film scripts, photographs, sound recordings, and grant proposals he wrote in support of his fieldwork in Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. In addition, the collection contains his research notes, maps, drafts, publications, and papers presented at conferences. While most of his research focused on the Herero and Himba, the collection also contains his research on the Ovambo and Okavango and other southwestern African groups. In the collection is a great deal of photocopies and microfilms of literature on southwestern African ethnic groups, many of which are in Portuguese and German and which he had translated for his files. He was also interested in African material culture, especially Central African headgear. His research on African caps is well-represented in the collection, and includes photos of caps at various museums, source materials, research notes, and textile samples of knots and loop work. Gibson's files as the curator of African ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History also make up a significant portion of the collection. Among these records are his files for the museum's Hall of African Cultures and other African exhibits; his files on the museum's African collections, early donors and collectors of the collections; his personnel files; documents relating to his committee work; department and museum memos; meeting minutes; and his records as head of the Old World Division and acting chair of the department. The collection also documents the efforts to establish the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Film Center, now the Human Studies Film Archives, as well as his work on the planning committee to establish the Museum of Man at the Smithsonian. Memos and minutes relating to the Smithsonian's Center for the Study of Man are also present in the collection. In addition to Gibson's field photos, the collection also contains African photos taken by others. Among these are Herbert Friedmann's photos of Kenya; Hausmann's Libya photos; photos by Ralph Kepler Lewis during the Morden Africa Expedition in Kenya; and photos by Lawrence Marshall, Volkmar Wentzel, Alfred Martin Duggan Cronin, and Father Carlos Estermann. There are also photos of the exhibit cases from the Hall of African Cultures; photos of Smithsonian and non-Smithsonian African artifacts; and copies of photographs he obtained from different archives, including the National Anthropological Archives. Other materials in the collection include his files as film reviews editor for the American Anthropologist during the 1960s and 70s and his activities in different organizations.

This accession consists of records that document development of the International Center and includes correspondence with individuals and institutions interested in the activities of the Center; related background materials and articles on African, Near Eastern, and Asian subjects; original statements on the Center; and booklets in various languages on the …

This accession consists of National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) exhibition records created during the tenures of Warren M. Robbins, Director, 1964-1982; John E. Reinhardt, Acting Director, 1982-1983; Sylvia H. Williams, Director, 1983-1996; Roslyn A. Walker, Director, 1997-2002; and Sharon F. Patton, Director, 2003-2008. Exhibitions include: "Traditional Costumery and Jewelry in Africa;" "Traditional Costumes and …

An exhibition to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Anacostia Community Museum, formerly known as the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, organized by the museum and held there September 15, 2007 through November 9, 2008. The exhibit explored the development of community life of neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, beginning with the original inhabitation by Native Americans up to the present.

The Myron Bement Smith collection consists of two parts, the papers of Myron Bement Smith and his wife Katharine and the Islamic Archives. It contains substantial material about his field research in Italy in the 1920s and his years working on Islamic architecture in Iran in the 1930s. Letters describe the milieu in which he operated in Rochester NY and New York City in the 1920s and early 1930s; the Smiths' life in Iran from 1933 to 1937; and the extensive network of academic and social contacts that Myron and Katharine developed and maintained over his lifetime. The Islamic Archives was a project to which Smith devoted most of his professional life. It includes both original materials, such as his photographs and notes, and items acquired by him from other scholars or experts on Islamic art and architecture. Smith intended the Archives to serve as a resource for scholars interested in the architecture and art of the entire Islamic world although he also included some materials about non-Islamic architecture.

This accession includes 16mm and 35mm film, 1/4" audiotapes, videotapes, and cassette recordings documenting the construction of the Quadrangle museum complex and discusses the importance of the collections to be exhibited there. The materials document interviews with S. Dillon Ripley, Secretary; Jean Paul Carlhian, Architect of the Quadrangle; and Sylvia H. Williams, Director …

This accession consists of records documenting special programs and other educational activities and products created by the National Museum of Natural History, Office of Education, usually in conjunction with special exhibitions. Special exhibitions documented in this accession include African Voices; Ban Chiang: Discovery of a Lost Bronze Age; 5000 Years of …

This accession documents closed, denied, and unfinished exhibitions at the National Museum of African Art (NMAfA). These records contain correspondence, research, notes, checklists, label texts, brochures, floor plans and designs, clippings, loan information, photographs, slides, transparencies, and negatives. Some materials are in electronic format. Exhibitions documented in this accession include …