http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt8r29q4jj No online items INVENTORY OF THE BEAUMONT AND NANCY NEWHALL PAPERS, 1843-1993 (bulk 1929-1993) Inventory prepared by Michael Baker. The Getty Research Institute Research Library Special Collections and Visual Resources 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100 Los Angeles, California 90049-1688 Phone: (310) 440-7390 Fax: (310) 440-7780 Email Requests: http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/library/reference_form.html URL: http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/library ©2003 J. Paul Getty Trust. INVENTORY OF THE BEAUMONT 920060 1 AND NANCY NEWHALL PAPERS, 1843-1993 (bulk 1929-1993) INVENTORY OF THE BEAUMONT AND NANCY NEWHALL PAPERS, 1843-1993 (bulk 1929-1993) Accession no. 920060 Inventory prepared by Michael Baker Getty Research Institute Contact Information: The Getty Research Institute Research Library Special Collections and Visual Resources 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100 Los Angeles, California 90049-1688 Phone: (310) 440-7390 Fax: (310) 440-7780 Email Requests: http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/library/reference_form.html URL: http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/library/ Processed by: Michael Baker Date completed: 1997, rev. 2004 Encoded by: Apex Data Services and J. Gibbs ©2003 J. Paul Getty Trust. Descriptive Summary Title: Beaumont and Nancy Newhall papers Dates: 1843-1993 Dates: 1929-1993 Collection number: 920060 Creator: Newhall, Beaumont, 1908- Creator: Newhall, Nancy Wynne Extent: ca. 150 lin. ft. (268 boxes, 3 flat file folders) Repository: Getty Research Institute Research Library Special Collections and Visual Resources 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100 Los Angeles, California 90049-1688 Abstract: The archive documents the work of Beaumont and Nancy Newhall, two key figures in the history of photography, through correspondence, extensive research files, published and unpublished writings, and photographs, slides and audiotapes. Beaumont Newhall's papers (136 lin. ft.) date from ca. 1843-1993, Nancy Newhall's papers (14 lin. ft.) date from ca. 1920-1989. Request Materials: To access physical materials on site, go to the library catalog record for this collection and click "Request an Item." Click here for access policy . Language: Collection material in English Access Open for use by qualified researchers, except the audiotapes that have not yet been reformatted. Publication Rights INVENTORY OF THE BEAUMONT 920060 2 AND NANCY NEWHALL PAPERS, 1843-1993 (bulk 1929-1993) Contact Library Rights and Reproductions Preferred Citation Beaumont and Nancy Newhall papers, 1843-1993 (bulk 1929-1993), Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 920060. Acquisition Information This collection was acquired in 1992, and supplements were received in 1993 and 1996. Additional material was moved into the collection from Special Collection Accession nos. 920082, 940082, 930036, and 93.R.23. Processing History Michael Baker began processing the collection in December 1995 and nearly completed it in August 1996. He compiled a draft of this finding aid and Annette Leddy extensively edited the front essays. Kelly Nipper completed processing and re-housing the collection, and revised the finding aid in 1999. Jocelyn Gibbs and Alan Tomlinson completed the final editing of the finding aid. Biographical / Historical Note Beaumont Newhall is perhaps the first champion of the study of photography as art, and of its history. He was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1908 and graduated from Harvard University in 1932. After an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Newhall became the Librarian at the Museum of Modern Art. In 1937, at the request of Director Alfred Barr, Newhall organized the museum's first exhibition of photographs. His History of Photography, published for the exhibition, introduced formal criteria for judging photography as a fine art. Revised five times and translated into several languages, it remains a widely read textbook on the history of photography. In 1940 Beaumont Newhall became the first Curator of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art. He was drafted in 1942 and sent to North Africa and Italy in a photo-reconnaissance division. In his absence Nancy Newhall, whom he had married in 1936, served as Acting Curator. Beaumont Newhall resumed his Curatorship after the war, but resigned in 1945 over artistic differences with the new director, Edward Steichen. In 1948, Beaumont Newhall became the first Curator of Photography at the George Eastman House, and then served as its Director from 1958 to 1971, building a significant photography collection. After his retirement, Newhall accepted a position as Visiting Professor of Art at the University of New Mexico, where he helped to establish the first doctoral program in the history of photography at an American university. He died in 1993. In his long career, Beaumont Newhall authored numerous articles and reviews of books about photography. In addition to History of Photography, he wrote Masters of Photography (with Nancy Newhall, 1958), The daguerreotype in America (1961), Frederick Evans (1964), Latent image: the discovery of photography (1967) and Focus: memoirs of a life in photography (1993). He also published a book of photographs, In plain sight: the photographs of Beaumont Newhall (1983) Nancy Newhall (Nancy Wynne Parker) was born in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1908. She graduated from Smith College, where she showed talent as a writer and painter, and married Beaumont Newhall in 1936. After serving as Acting Curator of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art (1942-45), she wrote articles about photographers, edited and introduced photography books by Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, and others, and collaborated with Ansel Adams on several books about the American West, including Yosemite Valley (1959), Death Valley (1954), The Tetons and Yellowstone (1970), and This is the American Earth (1960). With Minor White, she founded the magazine Aperture. She died in 1974, struck by a falling tree while rafting down the Snake River with Beaumont. Scope and Content of Collection The Beaumont and Nancy Newhall papers (ca. 150 linear feet) comprehensively document the professional lives of these two key figures in the history of photography. The Newhall marriage is portrayed through the letters they sent to each other during World War II and in later correspondence and letters of condolence to Beaumont upon Nancy's accidental death. Correspondence also offers profiles of major photographers who were their friends, such as Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, and Alfred Stieglitz, profiles amplified by snapshots and journal accounts. There is exhaustive documentation of the Newhalls' professional lives, including Beaumont's daily journals, minutes of meetings, notes, records, and correspondence. These disclose the drama behind such achievements as the founding of the Departments of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, N.Y. (MoMA) and George Eastman House, and the establishment of the country's first doctoral program in the history of photography, and essentially offer a history of the struggle for institutional acceptance of photography as a fine art form. Beaumont and Nancy Newhall's published and unpublished manuscripts, in typescript and clippings, span seven decades. Books from Beaumont Newhall's library have been transferred to the Getty Research Library. Arrangement INVENTORY OF THE BEAUMONT 920060 3 AND NANCY NEWHALL PAPERS, 1843-1993 (bulk 1929-1993) The archive is arranged in nine series: Series I. Research files, 1843-1993 Series II. Personal files, 1929-1993 Series III. Correspondence, 1934-1993 Series IV. Beaumont Newhall writings, 1925-1993 Series V. Lectures, 1934-1992 Series VI. Beaumont Newhall photographs, 1885-1984 Series VII. Nancy Newhall papers, ca. 1920-1989 Series VIII. Theses and publications, 1976-1987 Series IX. Oversize, 1852-1984 Subjects Adams, Ansel, 1902- Anschütz, Ottomar, 1846-1907 Brady, Matthew B., 1823 (ca.)-1896 Cartier-Bresson, Henri, 1908- Coburn, Alvin Langdon, 1882-1966 Emerson, P. H. (Peter Henry), 1856-1936 Evans, Frederick H. Gernsheim, Helmut, 1913- Lange, Dorothea Lunn, Harry Hyatt, 1933- Moholy-Vagy, László, 1895-1946 Morgan, Barbara Brooks, 1900- Newhall, Beaumont, 1908- Newhall, Nancy Wynne Porter, Eliot, 1901- Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965 Smith, W. Eugene, 1918- Stieglitz, Alfred, 1864-1946 Steichen, Edward, 1979-1973 Strand, Paul, 1890-1976 Talbot, William Henry Fox, 1800-1877 Vogel, Hermann Wilhelm, 1834-1898 Weston, Brett Weston, Edward, 1850-1936 White, Minor Friends of Photography George Eastman House Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) Salzburg Seminar Southworth & Hawes University of New Mexico Cameras Motion pictures--History and criticism Photographers Photography, Artistic Photography—Collectors and collecting Photography—Exhibitions Photography—Periodicals Photography—Processes Tintype Genres and Forms of Material Audiotapes Black-and-white slides INVENTORY OF THE BEAUMONT 920060 4 AND NANCY NEWHALL PAPERS, 1843-1993 (bulk 1929-1993) Color slides Diaries Ephemera Photographic prints Photographs, Original Contributors Adams, Ansel, 1902- Hagemeyer, Johan, 1884-1962 Newhall, Beaumont, 1908- Newhall, Nancy Wynne Series I. Research files, 1843-1993 Physical Description: ca. 66 lin. ft. Scope and Content Note Research files, including correspondence, photographs, notes, clippings, and exhibition materials, comprise the majority of the collection. Arranged alphabetically, these files