Professional Documents
Culture Documents
by Jean Fitzgerald
1995
Contact Information
Reference Department
Archives of American Art
Smithsonian Institution
Washington. D.C. 20560
www.aaa.si.edu/askus
Table of Contents
Collection Overview................................................................................................................ 1
Administrative Information..................................................................................................... 1
Biographical Note....................................................................................................................1
Scope and Content Note........................................................................................................ 2
Arrangement.............................................................................................................................2
Names and Subject Terms..................................................................................................... 2
Series Descriptions/Container Listing.................................................................................. 4
Series 1: Biographical Material, undated, 1907-1981................................................... 4
Series 2: Correspondence, undated, 1909-1991........................................................... 4
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1944-1976........................................................5
Series 4: Notes, 1959-1968............................................................................................. 6
Series 5: Teaching Files, 1964-1971.............................................................................. 6
Series 6: Writings, circa 1910-1976............................................................................... 7
Series 7: Interview Transcripts, undated, 1951............................................................ 7
Series 8: Printed Material, 1903-1991............................................................................ 8
Series 9: Photographs, 1916-1976................................................................................. 9
Series 10: Oversized Material, undated, 1947-1948, 1967.......................................... 10
Appendix: List of Notable Correspondents from Series 2................................................10
Collection Overview
Repository: Archives of American Art
Dates: 1903-1991
Abstract: The papers of photographer and teacher Imogen Cunningham, date from
1903 to 1991. The collection measures 5.9 feet of material, including
correspondence, business and financial records, writings, printed matter,
and photographs, and provides a good overview of Cunningham's life and
career.
Administrative Information
Provenance
The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art by Imogen Cunningham in 1974 and 1976,
and by her son, Gryffyd Partridge, in 1991.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Jean Fitzgerald in 1995. The finding aid was
modified by Stephanie Ashley in 2001 prior to EAD conversion.
Preferred Citation
Imogen Cunningham papers, 1903-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.
Biographical Note
Born in Portland, Oregon on April 12, 1883, Cunningham's family moved to Seattle in 1889. Inspired by
Gertrude Kasebier's work, she purchased her first camera in 1901. After studying chemistry and botany at the
University of Washington, she worked for the Edward S. Curtis Studio, Seattle, from 1907 to 1909. Receiving
a scholarship, Cunningham studied for a year at the Technische Hochschule, Dresden.
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Upon her return to Seattle in 1910, she opened a studio and had the first major exhibition of her work at the
Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1912.
In 1915, Cunningham married printmaker Roi Partridge and gave birth to her first son, Gryffyd. Two years
later, her family moved to California, where she gave birth to twin sons, Padraic and Rondal. In 1920, the
family moved to Oakland, where her husband taught at Mills College. During the 1920s, she exhibited her art
work and began photographing plant forms.
Along with Ansel Adams, John Paul Edwards, Sonya Noskowiak, Henry Swift, Willard Van Dyke, and
Edward Weston, Cunningham formed the f/64 Group, a society of purist photographers in 1932. During
the same year she began working for Vanity Fair and other magazines and began a career as a portrait
photographer, including Martha Graham, Cary Grant, Morris Graves, Alfred Stieglitz, and Spencer Tracy as
her subjects. She divorced her husband in 1934.
In 1947, Cunningham established a studio in her San Francisco home, and continued to exhibit extensively
until her death on June 24, 1976.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into ten series according to material type:
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1907-1981, undated (box 1; 4 folders)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1909-1991, undated (boxes 1-4; 3.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1944-1976 (box 4; 15 folders)
Series 4: Notes, 1959-1968 (box 4; 10 folders)
Series 5: Teaching Files, 1964-1971 (box 5; 4 folders)
Series 6: Writings, circa 1910-1976 (box 5; 21 folders)
Series 7: Interview Transcripts, 1951, undated (box 5; 2 folders)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1903-1991 (boxes 5-7; 1.2 linear feet)
Series 9: Photographs, 1916-1976 (box 7; 12 folders)
Series 10: Oversized Material, 1947-1948, 1967, undated
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Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984
Andreson, Laura
Bissantz, Edgar, 1901-
Bourke-White, Margaret, 1904-1971
Bristol, Horace
Bullock, Wynn
Butler, John Davidson, 1890-1974
Coburn, Alvin Langdon, 1882-1966
Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956
George Eastman House
Graves, Morris, 1910-
Group f.64.
Hellman, Lillian, 1905-1984
Henry Art Gallery
Kanaga, Consuelo, 1894-
Lange, Dorothea
Mann, Margery
Moholy-Nagy, László, 1895-1946
Newhall, Beaumont, 1908-1993
Newman, Arnold, 1918-2006
Noskowiak, Sonya, d. 1975
O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986
Partridge, Roi, 1888-1984
Schoener, Allon
Sheeler, Charles, 1883-1965
Steichen, Edward, 1879-1973
Steinert, Otto, 1915-
Strand, Paul, 1890-1976
Struss, Karl, 1886-
Toklas, Alice B.
Van Dyke, Willard
Weston, Edward, 1886-1958
White, Minor
Witkin, Lee D.
Witkin Gallery
Zorach, William, 1887-1966
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Series Descriptions/Container Listing
Box Folder
1 1-3 Biographical Material, 1907-1981
1 4 Miscellaneous Family Tree Information, undated, 1970
Correspondence is arranged chronologically with undated correspondence at the beginning of the series, followed by
dated correspondence.
Box Folder
1 5 Unidentified Correspondents, undated
Reel 5034
1 6 Surnames Unknown, undated
Reel 5034
1 7-10 Surnames Known, A-P, undated
Reel 5034
1 11 Gryffyd Partridge Family, undated
Reel 5034
1 12 Padriac Partridge Family, undated
Reel 5034
1 13 Roi Partridge, undated
Reel 5034
1 14 Rondal Partridge Family, undated
Reel 5034
1 15-16 Surnames Known, P-Z, undated
Reel 5034
1 17-63 Correspondence, 1909-May 1956
Reel 5034
Page 4
1 64-99 Correspondence, July 1956-1961
Reel 5035
Box Folder
2 1-21 Correspondence, 1962-Sept. 1964
Reel 5035
2 22-67 Correspondence, Oct. 1964-Dec. 1968
Reel 5036
2 68-78 Correspondence, Jan. 1969-Aug. 1969
Reel 5037
Box Folder
3 1-43 Correspondence, Sept. 1969-Sept. 1971
Reel 5037
3 44-82 Correspondence, Oct. 1971-Feb. 1974
Reel 5038
Box Folder
4 1-22 Correspondence, March 1974-Jan. 1975
Reel 5038
4 23-46 Correspondence, Feb. 1975-1976
Reel 5039
4 47 Correspondence, 1977-1982
Reel 5039
4 48 Correspondence, 1983
Reel 5039
4 49 Correspondence, 1984-1991
Reel 5039
4 50 Correspondence, 1931-1976
Unfilmed addition
Box Folder
Legal documents
4 51 Deposit receipts for real estate, 1944-1946
4 52 Loan agreements, 1954-1975
4 53 Permission contracts to reproduce art work, 1957-1974
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4 54 Imogen Cunningham's will, 1962
4 55 Teaching contracts, 1969-1972
4 56 Insurance policies, 1973-1975
4 57 Petition for estate of Paula Daveney, 1976
Financial Material
4 58 Bank account records, 1944-1973
4 59 Check registers, 1966-1968
4 60 Sales and gift records, 1954-1975
4 61 Household accounts, 1950-1953
4 62 Stocks, 1957-1970
4 63 Imogen Cunningham Trust (see entry under Correspondence), 1974-1976
4 64 Medical receipts, 1976
4 65 Miscellaneous financial material, undated, 1973
Box Folder
4 66-68 Address books, undated
(4 books)
4 69 Notebook, undated
4 70 Lecture notes, undated
4 71 Passenger lists (2), 1960
4 72 Packing list for circulating exhibition, circa 1965
4 73 Jane Foster's notes: Excerpts from My Ten Years as a Counterspy by Boris Morros, 1959
4 74 Notes on household appliances, undated
4 75 Miscellaneous notes, undated, 1968
4 76 Address book, undated
Unfilmed addition
Page 6
Box Folder
5 1-4 Teaching Files, 1964-1971
Box Folder
Writings by Cunningham
5 5 "About the Direct-Development of Platinum Papers for Brown Tones," circa 1910
5 6 Speech upon receiving California College of Arts and Crafts Degree, 1968
5 7 Miscellaneous writings, undated, 1958
Writings by Others
5 8 Exhibition captions by unidentified authors, undated
5 9 "Draft Letter: Photographer's Rights" by unidentified author, undated
5 10 "The Aspen Photo Conference" by Beaumont Newhall, 1951
5 11 Script: "Visit with Imogen Cunningham," the Jane Todd Program, KCBS Radio, July
1952
5 12 Script: "Art Festival #2; This is San Francisco," KCBS Radio, September 17, 1955
5 13 "Photography and the Critic" by Margery Mann, 1968
5 14 Review by Carol Atkins of book Imogen Cunningham: Photographs, 1970
5 15 Review by Steve Carr of book Imogen Cunningham: Photographs, 1970
5 16 Review by G. Goodger-Hill of book Imogen Cunningham: Photographs, 1970
5 17 Review by Jochen W. Hagberg of book Imogen Cunningham: Photographs, 1970
5 18 Review by Paul Neevel of book Imogen Cunningham: Photographs, 1970
5 19 Review by Lynn Reese of book Imogen Cunningham: Photographs, 1970
5 20 Typescript by David Haberstich for exhibition catalog "The Camera and the Human
Facade," 1970
5 21 Typescript by Margery Mann for exhibition announcement, 1973
5 22 "Notes on a 'Notebook' " by Peter Nicastro, 1973
5 23 "Imogen in Utopia" by unidentified author, circa 1974
5 24 Transcript of speech by Ernie Laszlo honoring Dr. Karl Struss, Apr 29, 1974
5 25 "Portrait: Active American - Imogen Cunningham" by Leif Wigh, 1976
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Box Folder
5 26 Unidentified video interview, undated
Reel 5039
5 27 Radio interview: "Standard Brands, Woman's Magazine of the Air," Apr 20, 1951
Reel 5040
Clippings are on reel 5040. All other printed materials are on reel 5041.
Box Folder
5 28-84 Clippings, 1913-1991
5 85-97 Exhibition announcements and catalogs for Cunningham, undated, 1914-1971
5 98-100 Exhibition announcements and catalogs for Cunningham, 1971-1981
Box Folder
6 1-2 Exhibition announcements and catalogs for Cunningham, 1982-1991
Box Folder
6 3-7 Exhibition announcements and catalogs for others, 1941-1990
Box Folder
6 8-9 Press releases, 1955-1978
Box Folder
6 10-12 Calendars of events, 1965-1985
Box Folder
6 13-14 Programs, 1954-1989
6 15 Brochures for Guggenheim fellowships, 1967-1970
Box Folder
6 16 Brochures for art museums and galleries, undated, 1973-1976
Box Folder
7 1 Brochures for art museums and galleries, undated, 1973-1976
Box Folder
7 2-6 Brochures for schools and workshops, undated, 1931-1973
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Box Folder
7 7 Brochures for publications, concerning Cunningham, undated, 1973-1979
7 8 Brochures for publications, concerning others, undated, 1978
Box Folder
7 9 Brochures concerning individuals, undated, 1970
(Alice Eastwood and S. Groswold Morley)
Box Folder
7 10 Brochures for University of California at Berkeley Libraries, 1965-1985
7 11 Miscellaneous brochures, undated
7 12 Reproductions of art work, undated
Box Folder
7 13 Miscellaneous printed material, 1903-1967
Box Folder
7 14 Photographs of Imogen Cunningham (4), 1916-1976
Box Folder
7 15 Photographs of family members, Padraic, Marjorie, and Kayla Partridge (16), 1951-1952
Box Folder
7 16 Photographs of miscellaneous family members (5), undated and 1965
Box Folder
7 17 Photographs of residences (32), circa 1946
Box Folder
7 18 Photographs of miscellaneous friends (15), 1925-1968
Box Folder
7 19 Photographs of unidentified children, undated
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Box Folder
7 20-21 Photographs of the gallery opening at Mount Angel Abbey (22), 1971
Box Folder
7 22-23 Photographs of gallery installations (58), 1969-1970
Box Folder
7 24 Photographs of award ceremonies (5), 1973
Box Folder
7 25 Photographs of art works by others (3), undated
Box
OV 8 5 Imogen Cunningham Garden Plats, undated, 1947-1948
OV 8 Concert Poster, undated
OV 8 1967 Wall Calendar signed by Cunningham, 1967
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