This collection consists of 442 copy photographs including color dye coupler photo transparencies and silver gelatin photo-negatives which document U.S. Navy aircraft and aviation activities during World War II. They include aerial combat, aircraft carrier landings and takeoffs, bombings, explosions, flights, and signal exchanges. Aircraft shown in...

This collection contains original material from the Photographic Section of the Army Air Service, American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in World War I. The material was originally assembled by Edward Steichen, Chief of Photographic Section, AEF. The collection includes an article by Steichen on aerial photography in the Army Air Service; histories of ...

The scattered papers of art critic and writer Charles Henry Caffin measure 1.2 linear feet and date from circa 1883-1973, bulk circa 1883-1918. Found within the papers are an interview transcript, two letters, printed materials, one scrapbook, and family photographs dating from circa 1883 to circa 1911, many by noted photographers Arnold Genthe, Frances Benjamin Johnston, Gertrude Käsebier, Edward Steichen, and Alfred Stieglitz. The scrapbook contains Caffin's columns for the New York American, 1913-1915.

The papers of filmmaker and art historian Judith Wechsler measure 16 linear feet and consist of film production material from several of Wechsler's documentary films released between 1989 and 1994. Most of the collection consists of sound recordings and motion picture film. Documentaries with production material in the collection include Jasper Johns: Take An Object, produced with Hans Namuth, Harry Callahan (1994), Aaron Siskind: Making Pictures (1991), and five episodes of The Painter's World: Changing Constants of Art from the Renaissance to the Present (1989), a six-part television series produced by WGBH in Boston. Episodes of the series for which records are found include "The Training of Painters," "The Arrested Moment," "Portraits," "Abstraction," and "Painting and the Public". Also found are two reels of soundtrack labeled "Two Photographers," a title for which no other documentation is found. Notable content includes interviews with Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, David Hockney, Philip Pearlstein, Joel Meyerowitz, Dominique de Menil, Walter Hopps, Aaron Siskind, and Harry Callahan, found in their unedited state among the original sound recordings. Production elements found include original sound recordings, work print picture and soundtrack, outtakes, various pre-print master material, and video copies of completed works.

The papers of photographer and teacher Imogen Cunningham, date from 1903 to 1991. The collection measures 5.9 feet of material, including correspondence, business and financial records, writings, printed matter, and photographs, and provides a good overview of Cunningham's life and career.

The Richard Murray research material regarding mural painting in the United States measures 20.5 linear feet and dates from 1896 to 2006 with the bulk of the material dating from 1970 to 2006. The collection is comprised of Murray's extensive research files, scattered writings, and photographic materials for his life-long research on mural painting in the United States.

The papers of sculptor, painter, and publishing executive Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman date from circa 1913-2003 and measure 59 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical materials; correspondence with family, galleries, museums, and many artists; numerous recorded interviews and transcripts with and by Liberman, including one of Walter Hopps; writings and writing project files; extensive subject files maintained by Liberman; exhibition files; printed materials; scattered drawings; and extensive photographs of Liberman's artwork, exhibitions, Liberman, and of Liberman with notable artists, dealers, collectors, and critics. Many of the photographs were taken by noted photograhers. Also found within the papers are unidentified sound and video recordings. Additional sound and video recordings have been integrated into other series.

The photographs document many aspects of African life and culture including agriculture, animals, archeology, architecture, art and artisans, children, cityscapes, dance and music, domestic scenes, education, flora, hunting and fishing, industry, landscapes, leaders, markets, medicine, recreation, rituals and celebrations, and transportation. Photographs taken by Eliot Elisofon to document his travels and work. The images portray many aspects of African life and culture including agriculture, wildlife, archaeology, architecture, art and artisans, children, cityscapes and landscapes, leaders, markets, medicine, recreation, ritual and celebration, and transportation. Artisans shown include an Asante weaver making kente cloth in Ghana; a Dogon carver in Mali making a kanaga mask; an Ebrie goldsmith in Cote d'Ivoire; Hausa dyers in Kano, Nigeria; and Nupe beadmakers in Nigeria; as well as artists at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Kinshasa, Congo. Portraits of leaders include the Asante court at Kumase in Ghana; Ebrie chiefs and notables in Cote d'Ivoire; the timi (king) of Ede, a Yourba town, Nigeria; the emir of Katsina, Nigeria; and the Kuba king and his court in the Congo. There are informal portraits showing children of the Kuba royal court dancing, Fulbe women with gold earrings in Mali, Mangbetu women in the Congo, and Maasai elders in Kenya. Masked dances documented include a Dogon dama festival celebration in Mali, an Igbo festival in Nigeria, and Kuba and Pende masked dancers in the Congo. There are also images of Yoruba gelede (men's association) masks in Nigeria. Non-masked dancers shown include Dan professional acrobatic dancers in Cote d'Ivoire, Irigwe dancers in Nigeria, Mangbetu dancers in the Congo, Mbuti dancers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Wodaabe men dancing in Nigeria. Events shown include Hausa riders in chain mail during the Independence Day celebration in Katsina, Nigeria. Images of art in situ include ancestral altars in the King of Benin's palace in Nigeria; Dogon rock paintings in Mali; and Yoruba Shango shrine sculptures in the palace courtyard of timi (king) of Ede in Nigeria. Landscapes include views of mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Animals shown include birds, buffalos, elephants and giraffes. Traditional architecture shown includes Asante shrine houses with raised wall decorations in Ghana, Dogon villages in Mali and mosques in Mopti.

The records of the Downtown Gallery date from 1824 to 1974 (bulk 1926-1969) and measure 109.56 linear feet. The records present a comprehensive portrait of a significant commercial gallery that operated as a successful business for more than forty years, representing major contemporary American artists and engendering appreciation for early American folk art. There is an unprocessed addition to this collection dating circa 1970 of a single financial/legal document.

The personal papers of Charles Lang Freer, the industrialist and art collector who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. The papers include correspondence, diaries, art inventories, scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeil Whistler and other press clippings, and photographs.