- unitid
-
{"value"=>"20697", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 308", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b11822932", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1924-1939", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1924/1939"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Aaron Douglas papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1 box", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"0.21 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Born in Topeka, Kansas in 1898, Aaron Douglas became the most celebrated artist-illustrator to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance. He attended the University of Nebraska (F.B.A.), Columbia University Teachers College (M.A.) and l'Academie Scandinave in Paris. Douglas' career spanned sixty years of painting, drawing and illustrating. He created numerous murals, usually of allegorical scenes on the historical life or cultural background of African Americans. In 1937 Douglas became a professor of art and chairman of the Art Department at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained until 1966, when he retired as professor emeritus. Fisk University bestowed an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts upon him in 1973. Douglas died in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1979. The Aaron Douglas papers consist of personal correspondence, letters of introduction, invitations, programs, and printed material. Of particular interest are the eighty-three undated letters, which make up the bulk of the collection, that Douglas wrote to his future wife, Alta Sawyer. Most of the letters were written during an approximate two-year period while she was still married to her first husband and before she and Douglas were married in 1926. Douglas wrote Sawyer endearing letters that were also philosophical in tone and discussed his artwork, aspirations, and the social scene in Harlem. Included are two letters to Douglas from writer Arna Bontemps and an open letter from Douglas on the letterhead of the short-lived magazine \"Fire!!.\"."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Douglas, Aaron", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Born in Topeka, Kansas in 1898, Aaron Douglas became the most celebrated artist-illustrator to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance. He attended the University of Nebraska (F.B.A.), Columbia University Teachers College (M.A.) and l'Academie Scandinave in Paris. Douglas' career spanned sixty years of painting, drawing and illustrating. He created numerous murals, usually of allegorical scenes on the historical life or cultural background of African Americans. In 1937 Douglas became a professor of art and chairman of the Art Department at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained until 1966, when he retired as professor emeritus. Fisk University bestowed an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts upon him in 1973. Douglas died in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1979.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Aaron Douglas papers consist of personal correspondence, letters of introduction, invitations, programs, and printed material. Of particular interest are the eighty-three undated letters, which make up the bulk of the collection, that Douglas wrote to his future wife, Alta Sawyer. Most of the letters were written during an approximate two-year period while she was still married to her first husband and before she and Douglas were married in 1926. Douglas wrote Sawyer endearing letters that were also philosophical in tone and discussed his artwork, aspirations, and the social scene in Harlem. Included are two letters to Douglas from writer Arna Bontemps and an open letter from Douglas on the letterhead of the short-lived magazine \"Fire!!.\".</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift, 409 Edgecombe Avenue Tenants Association, 1988</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>This collection was separated from the 409 Edgecombe collection (Sc MG 804).</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Researchers are restricted to photocopies of correspondence.</p>"}
- sponsor
-
{"value"=>"Home to Harlem Project, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation"}
- revisiondesc
-
{"value"=>"This finding aid was updated by Allison Hughes.", "date"=>"2020 August 13"}
- date_start
-
1924
- keydate
-
1924
- date_end
-
1939
- date_inclusive_start
-
1924
- date_inclusive_end
-
1939
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], Aaron Douglas papers, Sc MG 308, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}