University of California Berkeley Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Katherine Field Caldwell FAMILY AND BERKELEY MEMORIES, AND THE STUDY AND PROFESSION OF ASIAN ART With an Introduction by Mary -Ann Lutzker Interviews Conducted by Suzanne B. Riess in 1992 and 1993 Copyright 1993 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well -placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the Vest, and the Nation. Oral history is a modern research technique involving an interviewee and an informed interviewer in spontaneous conversation. The taped record is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The resulting manuscript is typed in final form, indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Katherine Field Caldwell dated November 6, 1992. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Katherine Caldwell requires that she be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Katherine Field Caldwell, "Family and Berkeley Memories, and the Study and Profession of Asian Art," an oral history conducted in 1992 and 1993 by Suzanne B. Riess, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1993. Copy no. Katherine F. Caldwell, 1993 Photograph by Suzanne B. Riess Cataloging information CALDWELL, Katherine Field (b. 1906) Professor of Asian Art Ff Hilly *nd Berkeley Memories, and the Study and Profession of Asian Art. 1993, vii, 269 pp. Family history: Sara Bard Field, Charles Erskine Scott Wood, and father, Albert Ehrgott; memories of suffragists; poet and writer friends, artists, Beniamino Bufano, Ansel Adams, Genevieve Taggard, others; life in Los Gatos, and on Russian Hill, San Francisco; travel to Italy, 1924; college at Wisconsin, and Radcliffe; marriage to Professor James Caldwell, and observations of English department, UC Berkeley: Dylan Thomas, Josephine Miles, Benjamin Lehman, others; career in art history: Legion of Honor, Treasure Island Fair, San Francisco Museum of Art; graduate studies in Asian art, and faculty position, Mills College, 1951-1971; mentors Langdon Warner, Otto Maenchen; bringing the Brundage Collection to San Francisco, 1958, the Society for Asian Art, and docent program. Associate Mills Introduction by Mary-Ann Lutzger, Ph.D. , Professor, College. Interviewed 1992-1993 by Suzanne B. Riess. The Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. TABLE OF CONTENTS --Kathe rine Caldwell INTRODUCTION- -by Mary-Ann Lutzker, Ph.D. 1 INTERVIEW HISTORY- -by Suzanne Riess iv BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION vii I BEGINNINGS: FAMILY HISTORY, 1906-1918 1 Kay's Parents Separate 1 Earlier Memories of Absenses and Returns 3 Brother Albert and Life in Portland 7 The Charm and Intellect of Sara Bard Field 10 Sara in Pasadena Sanitarium, 1913 12 Goldfield: A Nevada Divorce, Malaria 15 In San Francisco with Mary and Lemuel Parton, 1914 18 Life with Father in Alameda, 1915 20 The 1915 Fair, The Suffragists 22 Berkeley in 1916: Houses, Playmates, Parks 23 Albert's Experiments 25 An Independent Child, Transportation 26 Father and Daughter 28 Social Isolation and Self-Consciousness 30 Uniqueness of Being the Child of a Suffrage Leader 32 Sara's First Address in San Francisco 33 II FAMILY TRAGEDY 36 The Accident, 1918, and Aftermath 36 Painful Memories, Visits 40 Sara's Breakdown 45 Presence and Influence of Charles Erskine Scott Wood 47 Kay's Life on Hold 49 III ENTERING THE ADULT WORLD 51 Women's Party Meeting, Washington, 1921, via Chicago 51 The Adult World, San Francisco 55 Rebellion, Reconciliation, Berkeley 56 Berkeley Fire, 1923 58 College Thoughts 60 People: Genevieve Taggard, Hedwiga Reicher, Ed Grabhorn 61 People: Powys Brothers, Nellie and Maurice Brown, Lincoln Steffens 64 Sexual Awareness 66 People: Tony Luhan, Ansel Adams, Ralph Stackpole 68 People: Helen and Ansley Salz, the Menuhins, and Others From the World of Music 70 People : Beniamino Bufano 74 The Home on Russian Hill 75 Los Gatos and the Marengos 77 People: Noel Sullivan 78 Poetry Talk 80 Sara and Colonel Wood as a Couple 82 Sara's Bout with Colitis, 1923 83 To Italy, January 1924 85 Languages 86 Seeing Art, and Life, in Europe with Pops 87 Paris: Frugality, Ezra Pound, Ulysses 89 Discoveries in a Diary, 1923 92 IV COLLEGE YEARS 96 College Choice 96 Wisconsin, and Alexander Meiklejohn 97 Meeting Janes Caldwell; Friends at Wisconsin 98 Jin, and Sara and Colonel Wood 102 Radcliffe Studies, A.N. Whitehead, and Others 104 Troubled Tutors 106 Issues of Feninisn and Westernness 108 Art History, Langdon Warner 110 Marriage, and Travel Time 114 Master's Degree: Paul Sachs, and Consequences for San Francisco 114 Asian Art Studies 116 V RETURN TO BERKELEY, ENGLISH DEPARTMENT 118 A Job, a First Home, and a Visitor, Ella Young 118 Benjamin Lehman, "Bull" Durham, and the Bronsons and the Clines 120 The Walter Morris Harts, T.S. Eliot, and Social Mores 122 The Denneses, and the Rosses 125 Jim Caldwell 's Academic and ACLU Interests 127 Friendship with Mr. Shiota 128 Ben Lehman's Circle, and Wives Judith Anderson and Henrietta Durham 131 A Story About Muriel Rukeyser 133 Una and Robinson Jeffers, and a Letter, 1929 134 An Evening with Dylan Thomas, 1949 137 The Loyalty Oath 139 A Woman's Place, Women Friends 141 Josephine Miles 143 Jim Caldwell 's Teaching, and His Personality 145 Having Children 149 A High Sierra Retreat, Woods Lake 152 Dan and Sara Caldwell 155 Sara Bard Field's Suicide Attempts 160 VI CAREER: TEACHING ASIAN ART 164 The Legion of Honor Job; Directors 164 Treasure Island Fair, Arts of the Pacific 165 About Elizabeth Huff, Alfred Salmony, Albert Bender, and Mills College 169 A Series of Job Opportunities 171 Grace McCann Morley and the San Francisco Museum of Art 173 Art History Graduate Studies, UC Berkeley, Faculty 177 Otto Maenchen and Anna Maenchen 179 More on Treasure Island, Arts of the Pacific 180 Art on the Gayway 182 Friends of Far Eastern Art, and Other Early Interest in Asian Art 183 More on Graduate Studies 185 Job at Mills College, 1951 190 Lynn White's Presidency of Mills 191 Course Work in Art History 193 The Students 194 Academic Life and Resources at Mills 196 Gallery Exhibitions at Mills 198 Professional Crisis, and Resolution 200 Further Teaching Experiences 202 Research in Japan on Nara Ehon 204 Continuing Professional Relationships 207 VII THE BRUNDAGE COLLECTION 209 The Germ of the Idea, 1958 209 A Lunch Meeting 210 Selling the Bond Issue 211 Dorothy and Morse Erskine 213 The Purpose of the Society for Asian Art 214 Rene-Yvon Lefebvre d'Argence 215 The Docent Program 218 Jan Fontein, and the Asian Art Museum Directorship 221 Stories of Avery Brundage 222 Activities of the Society for Asian Art 224 Harry Packard 226 VIII A TOUR OF 3 VINE LANE 229 APPENDICES 241 A. "Remembering the 1923 Fire," from Hillside Neighborhood Newsletter. 1992. 242 B. "An American Patron, Albert Bender of San Francisco," by Katherine Field Caldwell, American Federation of Arts Magazine of Art. August 1938. 243 C. "Guidebook to Sexy Sculpturing," by Ralph Craib, San Francisco Chronicle. June 26, 1964. 249 D. "From Winckelmann to Warburg, Art History at Mills," by Mary Manning Wale, Mills Magazine. May- June 1972. 250 E. "Farewell to Katherine Caldwell," by Nancy Thompson Price, Mills Quarterly. May 1971. 255 F. "Afterword" by Katherine Field Caldwell, Sara Bard Field. Poet and Suffragist. The Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley, 1979. 256 INDEX 266 INTRODUCTION --by Mary-Ann Lutzker, Ph.D. Katherine Caldwell is one of the most dynamic women I have met. At the age of eighty-five she is still deeply involved in the world of Asian art, women's issues and contemporary political events. She is a woman with liberal leanings and strong convictions, who in the midst of many a discussion about racial inequities, the deficit, the U.S involvement in Vietnam, abortion, and gender issues, has firmly proclaimed that she is a card-carrying member of the ACLU, sending out clear signals that her views are a reflection of her strong will and character. It was during the Cambodian crisis and the turmoil of the Vietnam Var that I first met Katherine in a seminar on Borobudur at the University of California, Berkeley. At the time I was a graduate student from England feeling overwhelmed by the Berkeley scene and the political events that were unfolding in Asia, particularly as Southeast Asia was to be the focus of my research.