Ivan Karp (1943-2011) was a curator of African Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) from 1984 to 1993. He was also a professor at Emory University from 1993 to 2011. He conducted fieldwork among the Iteso (Teso) of Kenya and made significant contributions to the areas of African systems of thought, social theory, museum studies, and public scholarship. His collection contains his research on the Iteso of Kenya; his work at Emory University and the Smithsonian Institution; his reviews of manuscripts and books; recommendations that he wrote for his colleagues and students; his published articles and papers presented at conferences; and his project files on various topics including museum studies, African philosophy, public scholarship, agency and personhood, and the history of social anthropology.

An exhibition on Anna J. Cooper, Washington D. C. educator and author. It was organized by the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum and held there from February 1981 to September 1982. Louise Daniel Hutchinson served as curator. These records document the planning, organizing, execution, and promotion of the exhibition. Materials include correspondence, research files, exhibit scripts, administrative records, brochures, press coverage, education packets, loan agreements, and floor plans.

An exhibition designed to encourage museum visitors to examine the role of art in their community. Organized and displayed at the Anacostia Museum from July 15, 1990 to September 16, 1990 the show included murals and sculptures viewed in Washington, DC and also encompassed personal statements such as hairstyles, clothes, and jewelry.

This accession consists of records which document the research, development, fundraising, publicity, production, and execution of exhibitions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and the Renwick Gallery. Curators represented include Virginia M. Mecklenburg, Joann Moser, Toby Jurovics, and Merry A. Foresta. Also includes materials ...

The records of the New York artist-cooperative Park Place, The Gallery of Art Research, Inc. and the Soho contemporary art gallery Paula Cooper Gallery measure 50 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from 1961 to 2006. The collection documents the founding of the Park Place Gallery and its artists through correspondence, artists' files, photographic materials, financial records, printed and digital materials, and scattered business records. The bulk of the collection is Paula Cooper Gallery records; nearly two-thirds of which are artists' files containing a variety of materials such as correspondence, printed materials, and photographic materials. Also found is additional business correspondence, business records, financial records, and printed materials for Paula Cooper Gallery, as well as a handful of records from Paula Johnson Gallery.

This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.

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 of African Art). ...

The papers of curator Ninfa Valvo regarding the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum measure 2 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1973. The papers mostly consist of material related to the de Young Museum in the form of administration records, photographs of exhibition installations and artwork, and museum programs and calendars.

The papers of painter Richard W. Dempsey measure 2.9 linear feet and date from 1929 to 1989, with the bulk of the papers dating from the 1960s to the 1980s. The papers contain biographcial material, correspondence, writings, project and exhibition files, printed material, photographs, and artwork and notes related to planning artwork.

The papers of New York painter, Charles Cajori measure 5.8 linear feet and 0.070 GB and date from 1942-2011. The collection documents Cajori's activities as a painter, educator, and co-founder of the Tanager Gallery that was located on the Lower East Side in New York through correspondence; writings and notes; interviews, talks, and panel discussions, one digitized, on art and artists; and printed materials.