Smithsonian Digitizes Oral Histories of 89 Women Who Shaped American Art
The Smithsonian's Archives of American Art has newly digitized a collection of oral histories: transcripts of interviews with 89 American women artists, art historians, patrons and collectors have been converted from analog recordings and published online. Some of the interviewees were originally recorded under their husbands' names only; the digitized transcripts restore their own full names to the archival record for the first time.
The project was funded by the American Women's History Initiative Pool, and the newly released transcripts carry searchable subject tags and biographical information for each interviewee. The set spans decades and includes painter Lois Dodd's 1988 interview, artist Dorothea Tanning's 1990 interview and collector Emily Tremaine's 1973 interview, documenting how these women helped shape American art.
Jennifer Snyder, an oral history archivist at the Archives of American Art, said the materials bring renewed visibility to women creators and champions who were long overlooked. During the project, intern Gaby Stephenson also updated the Wikidata entries for all 89 women. The Archives of American Art, part of the Smithsonian Institution, is a primary-source repository for American art history, holding artists' letters, photographs and recorded interviews for researchers worldwide.
(Source: Smithsonian Institution)
Source: Smithsonian Institution
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的史密森尼美国艺术博物馆大楼，美国艺术档案馆隶属史密森尼学会。Wikimedia Commons 图片（CC BY-SA 3.0）。 / Photo: The Smithsonian American Art Museum building in Washington, D.C.; the Archives of American Art is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).
