American Folk Art Museum

NEH Application Cover Sheet (PW-253795) Humanities Collections and Reference Resources PROJECT DIRECTOR Dr. Valerie Rousseau E-mail: [email protected] Curator, Self-Taught Art and Art Brut Phone: 212-595-9533 x 104 47-29 32nd Place Fax: Long Island City, NY 111012409 USA Field of expertise: Arts, General INSTITUTION American Folk Art Musuem New York, NY 100236214 APPLICATION INFORMATION Title: Planning to digitize and create broad online access to the Henry Darger Papers at the American Folk Art Museum. Grant period: From 2017-05-01 to 2018-04-30 Project field(s): Arts, General Description of project: The American Folk Art Museum is the home to the single largest public repository of works by Henry Darger (1892-1973), one of the most significant self-taught artists of the 20th century. The Darger Papers collection totals 38 cubic feet and includes his epic 15,145-page novel called “The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion”, other manuscripts including his autobiography and journals, scrapbooks, and 12 cubic feet of source materials used by the artist to make hundreds of large-scale illustrations for the “Realms.” The manuscripts have never been published and are fragile, making access difficult and necessitating minimal handling. The grant will be used to consult with copyright and technical specialists, determine which materials will be digitized, complete a conservation survey, convene a panel of Darger scholars, and consult with digital humanities experts. BUDGET Outright Request 50,000.00 Cost Sharing 19,348.00 Matching Request 0.00 Total Budget 69,348.00 Total NEH 50,000.00 GRANT ADMINISTRATOR Karley Klopfenstein E-mail: [email protected] 47-29 32nd Place Phone: 212-595-9533 x 318 Long Island City, NY 111012409 Fax: USA American Folk Art Museum Digitizing the Henry Darger Papers 1. Description of the Project The American Folk Art Museum seeks a Foundations grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to prepare for the Henry Darger Papers at the American Folk Art Museum to be digitized and made widely accessible online. The American Folk Art Museum is the home to the single largest public repository of the papers of Henry Darger (1892-1973), one of the most significant self-taught artists of the 20th century. The collection totals 35 cubic feet of materials, including the epic 15,145-page novel called The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. The Realms, as it is known, is a tale of seven little girls—the Vivian Girls—who set out to rescue abducted children who have been enslaved by the adult Glandelinians. The heroes in this tale are children, who occasionally appear unclothed and are of mixed gender. The villains typically are adults. The manuscript is a story of war and peace, of good versus evil, and loosely parallels many of the events of the American Civil War. The Darger Papers also include two other manuscripts, journals, diaries, scrapbooks, planning journals, collages/portraits of characters. Additionally, there are 12 cubic feet of source materials used by the artist to make hundreds of large-scale watercolor illustrations for which the artist is acclaimed; personal papers; religious paraphernalia; and a collection of books. Henry Darger was born in Chicago in 1892 and was institutionalized in an asylum at a young age for behavioral problems. In 1909, at age 17, he escaped the asylum and returned to Chicago, where he lived for the rest of his life, working more than fifty hours a week as a dishwasher, bandage roller, and janitor for local hospitals. He led a solitary life and attended mass several times each day at a Catholic church near his home. In 1930, he rented a large second-floor room on Chicago’s North Side, which he inhabited until his death in 1973, at the age of 81. After his death, his landlords, Nathan and Kiyoko Lerner, discovered hundreds of watercolors, found images, and hand- bound volumes of Darger’s literary work among the clutter he had accumulated over the years. Nathan Lerner, an influential photographer and inventor, recognized the merit of the works and shared it among his art peers. Lerner took charge of the estate, ensuring its preservation. Darger’s watercolor paintings are critically acclaimed and in many prestigious collections around the world. The manuscripts and other unique papers in the collection of the American Folk Art Museum have never been published and are in fragile condition making access difficult and necessitating minimal handling. A HCRR Foundations grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will be used for the formative stages of efforts to preserve and create access to the Darger Papers which will have significant impact on the understanding of a complex and enigmatic artist whose work intersects many humanities themes. Activities include consulting with copyright and technical specialists to determine how to digitize the fragile materials, convening an advisory board with Darger scholars and museum colleagues to strategically determine which materials will be digitized and identify the best Web platform possible to communicate the scope of this oeuvre, completing a conservation survey, and consulting with digital humanities experts. The result of the planning process will be a white paper report that will 1) guide decision making for preserving and creating access to the Darger Papers, 2) describe technical requirements for future digitization, and 3) make recommendations for future conservation. American Folk Art Museum Digitizing the Henry Darger Papers 2. Table of Contents Table of Contents Narrative 1 History of Grants 11 List of Participants 12 Budget 13 Appendices 15 Key Participant Support letters Key Participant Resumes Henry Darger Finding Aid (TOC) The Art of Henry Darger List of Exhibitions American Folk Art Museum Digitizing the Henry Darger Papers 3. Narrative Project Narrative Significance The American Folk Art Museum is the home to the single largest public repository of artworks and writings by Henry Darger (1892-1973), one of the most significant self-taught or “outsider” artists of the 20th century. The American Folk Art Museum seeks a Foundations grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to prepare for the Henry Darger Papers at the American Folk Art Museum to be digitized and made widely accessible online. Henry Darger’s large-scale, double-sided watercolor paintings are critically acclaimed and in many prestigious collections around the world. Lesser known is the artist’s extensive writing activity, highly connected with his visual practice. All of his manuscripts are in the collection of the American Folk Art Museum, including his autobiography and several epic novels, the most famous being The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, which exceeds 15,000 pages. The manuscripts and other papers in the collection have never been published. Their fragile condition makes their access difficult, as it necessitates minimal handling. A HCRR Foundations grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will be used for the formative stages of efforts to preserve and create access to the Darger Papers which will have significant impact on the understanding of a complex and enigmatic artist whose writings and art dealt with many humanities themes. Activities include completing a conservation survey, convening an advisory board with Darger scholars and museum colleagues to strategically determine which materials will be digitized and identify the best Web platform possible to communicate the scope of this oeuvre, consulting with copyright and technical specialists to determine how to digitize the fragile materials, and consulting with digital humanities experts. The result of the planning process will be a white paper report that will 1) guide decision making for preserving and creating access to the Darger Papers, 2) describe technical requirements for future digitization, and 3) make recommendations for future conservation. About the Artist Henry Darger was born in Chicago in 1892. When he was nearly four, his mother died after she gave birth to a girl who was then given up for adoption. Darger never met his sister; he lived with his father, an impoverished tailor, until 1900, when he was placed in a Catholic institution for young boys, the Mission of Our Lady of Mercy. He attended public school during this period and was apparently a very good student, showing a particular interest in the Civil War. After evincing signs of behavioral problems, and at the recommendation of several medical evaluations, however, he was sent to live in an asylum for “feeble-minded” children in Lincoln, Illinois. The institution housed fifteen hundred unprivileged children, many of whom were severely developmentally disabled. There, Darger received a rudimentary education. After his father died in 1905, Darger made several attempts to escape from the asylum; in 1909, at age 17, he succeeded. He returned to Chicago, where he lived for the rest of his life, working more than fifty hours a week as a dishwasher, bandage roller, and janitor for local hospitals. He led a solitary life and attended mass several times each day at a Catholic church near his home. In 1930, he rented a large second-floor room on Chicago’s North Side, which he inhabited until he died at age of 81 on April 13, 1973. 1 | P a g e American Folk Art Museum Digitizing the Henry Darger Papers 3. Narrative Shortly after Darger died, his landlords, Nathan and Kiyoko Lerner, discovered hundreds of watercolors—most of them bounded in large scrapbooks—found images, and hand-bound volumes of Darger’s literary work among the clutter he had accumulated over the years.

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