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.

The collection documents Howard F. Bowker, a coin collector and expert in the coinage of East Asia.

This accession consists of records documenting the curatorial activities of Harold P. Stern, assistant in research, 1951-1958; Associate Curator, 1958-1961; Curator of Japanese Art, 1961-1962; Acting Assistant Director, 1962; Assistant Director, 1963-1971; and Director, 1971-1977; and Ann Yonemura, Museum Specialist, 1976-1979; Assistant ...

These records consist of subject files created by Charles Robertson as Assistant Director, Resources, and Assistant Director, Museum Resources, mostly 1983-1984. Also included are exhibition records of Robertson as Associate Administrator and as Assistant Director.

The records pertain to the administration of David W. Scott, director, 1965-1968, Robert Tyler Davis, interim director, 1969, and Joshua C. Taylor, director, 1970- . Some records, most noticeably correspondence with Smithsonian Art Commission members, have been pulled up into the files from previous administrations. Also included are Smithson...

The Walt Kuhn Family papers and Armory Show records measure 31 linear feet and date from 1859 to 1984, with the bulk of material dating from 1900 to 1949. Papers contain records of the legendary Armory Show of 1913, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, which introduced modern European painting and sculpture to the American public. Papers also contain records of the Association of American Painters and Sculptors (AAPS), the artist-run organization that mounted the Armory Show; records of the New York artists' clubs the Kit Kat Club (founded 1881) and the Penguin Club (founded 1917); and the personal and family papers of New York artist Walt Kuhn (1877-1949), one of the primary organizers of the Armory Show.

The records of the Perls Galleries measure 79.6 linear feet and date from 1937 to 1997. Founded by Klaus Perls in 1937 and operating until 1997, the gallery dealt primarily in modern French art and the artwork of Alexander Calder. Found within the records are extensive correspondence (circa 44 linear feet) with artists, dealers, galleries, museums, and collectors; photographs and negatives of inventory and other artwork; exhibition files, scattered financial records; and exhibition catalogs and clippings.

The papers of C. Malcolm Watkins provide comprehensive documentation of his professional career from 1934 to 1980. The collection documents his interest in early American culture; his research on ceramics, historic archeology, and early California history; his curatorial and administrative activities in the Department of Anthropology, USNM, ...

The Howard W. and Jean Lipman papers measure 46.6 linear feet and span the years 1916 to 2000, with one brochure maintained in a research file dating to 1848. The bulk dates for the collection are 1932 to 1992. The papers primarily concern the art collecting activities and interests of the Lipmans which included modern American sculpture, American folk art, and other contemporary American paintings. Found within the papers are correspondence files, notes and printed material that served as research and reference material, along with financial material. The collection also contains writings, notes, and editorial material used by Jean Lipman in her dual roles as an editor for Art in America magazine and as a respected art critic and author.

These records consist of materials created and maintained by Milo Cleveland Beach, Director, 1987-2001, documenting exhibition planning and production, including "Chinese Scholar's Studio: Artistic Life in the Late Ming Period," "Rise to Power: Art of Ancient Japan," "Timur and the Princely Vision," "Yani: The Brush of Innocence," "Crushed ...