Central Administrative File, Records
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 Smithsonian Art Commission and National Collection …
Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art records
bulk 1885-1962
The records of the Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art measure 265.8 linear feet and date from 1883-1962, with the bulk of the material dating from 1885-1940. The collection includes extensive correspondence between the museum's founding director, John Beatty, and his successor, Homer Saint-Gaudens, with artists, dealers, galleries, collectors, museum directors, representatives abroad, shipping and insurance agents, and museum trustees. The collection also includes Department of Fine Arts interoffice memoranda and reports; loan exhibition files; Carnegie International planning, jury, shipping, and sale records; Department of Fine Arts letterpress copy books, and a copy of the original card catalog index to these records.
Departmental Records
This accession consists of records which document administrative issues, projects, and special events at the Archives of American Art and regional offices. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, and notes pertaining to grants, loans, fundraising, membership, contributions, policies and goals, marketing, public relations, educational outreach, acquisitions, publications, collections management, closing of regional …
Subject Files
These records are the administrative files of the Office of the Director, National Museum of Natural History. Most of the records date from the late-to-mid 1950s. Those records created prior to 1959 are the records of the Director of the United States National Museum, although they are records relating primarily to that …
Exhibition Records
Records in this record unit document the exhibition research and activities of the National Portrait Gallery and its Office of Exhibitions. Particularly well represented are exhibitions mounted between 1974 and 1976, with materials documenting research and publications on numerous artists, paintings, prints, broadsides, books, documents and letters. A large amount of correspondence …
Jacques Seligmann & Co. records
bulk 1913-1974
The records of Jacques Seligmann & Co. measure approximately 203.1 linear feet and date from 1904 to 1978, with bulk dates from 1913 to 1974. The collection includes extensive correspondence files, reference material on American and European collectors and their collections, inventory and stock records, financial records, exhibition files, auction files, and the records of subsidiary companies. The collection is an invaluable resource in tracing the provenance of particular works of art and provides a comprehensive view of the activities of collectors and art dealers in the years leading up to and following World War II.
Event Files
This accession consists of records which document planning of special events at the Smithsonian Institution, such as conferences, meetings, lectures, exhibition openings, receptions, and award presentations. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, and notes; proposals; budget summaries; event schedules; meeting agendas and minutes; program information; press releases; guest lists; photographs; floor plans …
The Garden Club of America collection
33 Linear feet ((garden files))
3,000 Lantern slides
37,000 Slides (35mm slides)
33 Linear feet ((garden files))
3,000 Lantern slides
This collection contains over 37,000 35mm slides, 3,000 glass lantern slides and garden files that may include descriptive information, photocopied articles (from journals, newspapers, or books), planting lists, correspondence, brochures, landscape plans and drawings. Garden files were compiled by Garden Club of America (GCA) members for most of the gardens included in the collection. Some gardens have been photographed over the course of several decades; others only have images from a single point in time. In addition to images of American gardens, there are glass lantern slides of the New York Flower Show (1941-1951) and trips that GCA members took to other countries, including Mexico (1937), Italy, Spain, Japan (1935), France (1936), England (1929), and Scotland. A number of the slides are copies of historic images from outside repositories including horticultural and historical societies or from horticultural books and publications. The GCA made a concerted effort in the mid-1980s to acquire these images in order to increase its documentation of American garden history. Because of copyright considerations, use of these particular images may be restricted.
Records
The records of the Office of Program Support, National Museum of American Art, 1965-1981, with related records from 1947, were received in the Archives from 1981 through 1994.
Joseph Cornell papers
bulk 1939-1972
The papers of Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) measure approximately 24.9 linear feet and date from 1804 to 1986 with the bulk of the material dating from 1939-1972. The collection documents the life, work, interests, and creative activities of the self-taught artist, who was best known for his shadow box constructions, assemblages, and collages. Papers include correspondence, diaries, source material, notes, writings, photographs, printed material, two- and three-dimensional ephemera, art works, and books, as well as a limited amount of legal and financial records, and some miscellaneous personal and family papers. The collection also includes the papers of his sister, Betty Cornell Benton, relating to the handling of Cornell's estate and the personal papers of his brother, Robert Cornell.
