Willy Ley Papers
bulk 1930-1969
This collection consists of Willey Ley's personal files, including his business correspondence, book contracts, and galley proofs, as well as publicity concerning Dr. Ley and his activities, and inquiries and comments from Ley's readership during his tenure as columnist for Galaxy Magazine (1952-1969). The material also includes articles gathered by Ley on topics ranging from astronomy and space travel to biology and natural parks to mythology, psychic phenomena, and UFOs.
Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art records
The records of the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art measure 18.9 linear feet, date from 1973 to 1988, and document the brief thirteen-year history of LAICA's activities as a Southern California visual arts organization and exhibition space for contemporary art. Records detail the founding of the organization, operations and administration, exhibitions, events, and publications. More than half of the collection is comprised of exhibition, program, and event files that include correspondence with artists, curators, and others; printed materials; and photographs, negatives, and slides. There is a 0.9 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes slides; performance and exhibition notes and supplements; newsletters and other printed material; a chronology of exhibitions, projects, publications and activities. Materials date from 1974- 1987.
Downtown Gallery records
bulk 1926-1969
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.
Records
The bulk of this collection was processed by Jane Livermore, a devoted and tireless volunteer in the Smithsonian Institution Archives between 1995 and 2004. Livermore is a former Science Service employee. She worked in the organization's library, oversaw the educational project "THINGS of Science," and served as Assistant to the Director. The …
George Brown Goode Collection
The bulk of the George Brown Goode Collection (Record Unit 7050) predates the establishment of the present-day Smithsonian Institution Archives. A small addition of autograph letters was received from the Division of Political History, National Museum of American History in 1983 under accession number 83-081.
Charles W. White papers
bulk 1960s-1970s
The papers of Los Angeles painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White, measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. The collection contains biographical material, including a sound recording of an interview with White; personal and professional correspondence; writings by White and others about his philosophy of art, his life, and career; professional files documenting White's participation in a variety of boards, committees, juries, symposiums, professional projects, and commissions; teaching files documenting White's tenure at Otis Art Institute; extensive printed material charting White's career from the 1930s until his death; scrapbooks primarily documenting his early career; and a small series of photographs.
Photographs of Native Americans and Other Subjects
National Museum of Natural History (U.S.). Department of Anthropology
The collections consists mostly of original and copy prints. There are also some negatives, artwork, photographs of artwork, and printed materials. Included is a large miscellany of ethnological, historical, and some archaeological subjects collected by the Bureau of American Ethnology from a wide variety of sources. To these have been …
Ruth Leah Bunzel Papers
The bulk of this collection documents the professional life of Ruth Leah Bunzel from the 1940s to 1970s. The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, notes, research files, teaching materials, card files, artwork, and sound recordings.
African Postcard Collection
This collection includes postcards from 45 African countries. Subjects include agriculture; animals; artists; body arts; cityscapes; cultural landscapes; dance; education; expeditions; flora; industry; leaders; marketplaces; medicine; military; missionaries; music; portraits; recreation; rites and ceremonies; and transportation, among many other topics.
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2001 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
