Title: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Division of Archives and Manuscripts: Paul Vanderbilt's Subject Files
Inclusive Dates: 1951-1971

Creator:

• State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Division of Archives and Manuscripts

Call Number: Series 2489

Quantity: 3.8 cubic feet (10 archives boxes and 2 card boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Classified subject files, mainly 1954-1965, and other administrative materials of Paul Vanderbilt (1905-1992), the first curator of the Historical Society's Iconographic Collection, including correspondence, memoranda, reports and writings, reference material, product samples, photographic tests, notes, and reference materials pertaining to the organization of the section, its operation, and the cataloging, exhibit, and promotion of its collections. Prominent correspondents include Ansel Adams, Roy Stryker, George Talbot, and Franklin Wallick, as well as Historical Society administrators Leslie J. Fishel Jr., J.W. Jenkins, Clifford Lord, and Don McNeil. Numerous films and photographs created by Vanderbilt as head of Iconography are separately catalogued in the Visual Materials Section.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-ser02489

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Paul Vanderbilt was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1905. Both of his parents were teachers, and he was provided with an education that included Europe, public schools in Massachusetts, Amherst College, and Harvard University. In 1922 he studied at the Clarence White School of Photography. Graduation from Harvard came in 1927 with a degree in art history. Vanderbilt continued his studies in Europe in 1928 and 1929. During this time he also selected books for the Philadelphia Museum of Art while attending classes at London, Paris, and Lausanne. After his return to the United States Vanderbilt was librarian, editor of publications, and research assistant to the director at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

From 1941 to 1945 Vanderbilt was involved with two government projects. He served as a consultant for the U.S. Navy for the planning of the Navy Photographic Center from 1941 to 1942. In this position, he helped create controls for incoming still and motion picture photographs. From 1942 to 1944 he was a visual information specialist with the Office of War Information. During these years he helped plan the National Film Library for the Library of Congress. In 1944 Vanderbilt was named chief of the Photographic Section of the Library of Congress. In this position, Vanderbilt was involved in the reorganization of Roy Stryker's Farm Security Administration photo documentation project. Other titles Vanderbilt held at LC included chief and chair of the Fine Arts, Prints, and Photographs Divisions. During this period in his career he wrote Guide to the Special Collection of Prints and Photographs in the Library of Congress. (1955).

Vanderbilt came to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1953 as the curator of the Iconographic Collection, a position that was created for him by Director Clifford Lord in order to consolidate administrative responsibility for the Society's photographs then housed in the Library, Archives, and Museum. Under Vanderbilt's guidance, this collection evolved into one of the major resources for historic photographs in North America, transforming the way in which historical photographs were accessed and used. His work for the Historical Society involved developing policies, cataloging, reference, and preservation. In 1960 Vanderbilt began a project of landscape photography for the Society, eventually creating more than 6000 negatives.

Vanderbilt retired from the Historical Society in 1972. After this he devoted himself to the creation of thematic panels which juxtaposed historic images with some of his landscape work. These panels ultimately became the basis for his posthumous book, Between the Landscape and Its Other (1993). Vanderbilt was 87 years old and in the final stages of terminal cancer when he took his own life in 1992. Today, Vanderbilt is viewed as a pioneer in the development of visual imagery as a cultural and historical resource. His own photographs were selected for inclusion in The Photographer and the American Landscape, published by the Museum of Modern Art in 1963.

Series 2489 documents Paul Vanderbilt's administrative responsibilities as head of the Iconographic Section. This part of his professional life is also documented by Series 1829 (Iconography Correspondence, 1952-1982) and by several, separately catalogued oral history projects. The majority of the papers relating to Vanderbilt's earlier career, his post-SHSW career, and his personal life are available at the Archives of American Art except that the State Historical Society holds a small body of unprocessed personal papers accessioned as a manuscript collection. Numerous photographs, photo exhibits, and films produced by Vanderbilt as head of Iconography are available in the Visual Materials Archive.

While the overall content of Series 2489 is administrative, researchers will also find in it information that is helpful to understanding the creative side of Vanderbilt's personality and his view of visual imagery. Only a small quantity of material in Series 2489 relates directly to Vanderbilt's personal photography or the exhibition of his landscape work, although there are several files on the development and display of his thematic panels and pairings and an exhibit at the Chicago Institute of Art. A few files document Vanderbilt's relationships with friends and other professionals and his reputation as a nationally-recognized photographer. These include exchanges with George Talbot of TransAction magazine, who succeeded Vanderbilt as head of Iconography; a file about Roy Stryker, director of the Farm Security Administration project, and the effort by Franklin Wallick of the United Automobile Workers to develop a similar project; and correspondence with Ansel Adams.

Vanderbilt's subject files are arranged as part of a complex numerical classification scheme that is similar to the classified file he established to enhance access to topical photographs. In this system, files were first arranged into related subject groups and then individual files within each of these groupings were assigned classification numbers up to five digits long. In Vanderbilt's scheme two digit numbers denote the most general subjects, while additional digits placed to the right of the original numbers indicate a successive refinement of the original subject concept. For example, File 6605 “Microfilming tests and procedures” is a subfile of File 66 “Microfilming.” Unfortunately, some files appear to have little in common with the files with which the system suggests they are hierarchically related. Thus, File 663 “Restoration of Photographs” appears to have little relation to its superior, File 66 “Microfilming”. This problem impedes access to the series based on subject hierarchies. Also complicating use is the fact that some files contained little information while others had been retired from use. (Vanderbilt sometimes used the series to manage original photo collections and other materials while he was working on them. All such misfiled original material has been removed from the files to its proper location in the general Visual Materials holdings.) A final problem for access is that some material was unfoldered or never assigned classification numbers. This material has been interfiled or filed alphabetically at the end of the series. To aid research use, an alphabetical index to Vanderbilt's file descriptions follows the container list as an appendix. Cardex cards which listed all active and inactive file numbers are filed in Box 1.

The most important material in the series relates to administration of the newly-created photograph section; the determination of general policy and procedures; and the care, arrangement, description, and promotion of the collections. In files 172 and 175 there are incoming and outgoing memoranda to and from Society administrators such as Leslie J. Fishel Jr., J.W. Jenkins, Clifford Lord, and Don McNeil, and in files 19, 194, and 72 there are annual reports, field reports, and other special reports. While the administrative memoranda are incomplete for Vanderbilt's entire tenure as head of the section, the coverage is fortunately best for the early years of Vanderbilt's work when most policy was being developed. In addition to purely administrative material, this section includes book reviews, columns, ideas for books and publications, and other short writings by Vanderbilt.

A substantial group of material relates to the operation of the Iconographic Section and to Vanderbilt's special projects and exhibits. In this category there is material as diverse as correspondence regarding circulating exhibits, film screenings, and loans; background research and captions for exhibits; and cut lists and notes for SHSW promotional films.

A third type of record has been retained primarily for its evidence of the section's operations. Here one will find microfilm test strips, samples of paper and folder stock, a detailed inventory of photographic equipment, correspondence regarding new equipment and techniques, and cataloging manuals

Finally, Vanderbilt classified a large quantity of secondary reference material such as equipment catalogs, newspaper clippings, lists of Wisconsin material in other repositories, and information on topics that was simply interesting to him such as jokes or other uses of the name Iconography. The majority of the secondary information has been separated from the subject files and discarded.

Processing Information

Processed by Mark Dieter (archives intern, 1997) and Carolyn J. Mattern.

Series 2489 Box   1 Folder   1	Cardex cards
Box   1 Folder   2-17	11-145
Box   2 Folder   1-16	148-172
Box   3 Folder   1-18	172 (continued) - 3568
Box   4 Folder   1-41	36-485
Box   5 Folder   1-25	4852-553
Box   6 Folder   1-28	553 (continued) - 6578
Box   7 Folder   1-33	658-765
Box   8 Folder   1-21	766-88
	Unclassified material
Box   8 Folder   22	Civil War panoramas
Box   8 Folder   23	Color photography in field work
Box   8 Folder   24	Color portraits
Box   8 Folder   25	Film (early Vanderbilt?)
Box   8 Folder   26	General correspondence
Box   9 Folder   1	Graphic History Society
Box   9 Folder   2	Hinged panel design
Box   9 Folder   3	Little book layout, Unidentified
Box   9 Folder   4	Morgan, Fred, Chippewa (Ojibwe) dancing film
Box   9 Folder   5	Miscellaneous cut lists, captions and other film production materials,
Box   9 Folder   6	Museum promotion
Box   9 Folder   7	Oversize materials filming test
Box   9 Folder   8	Picture book project
Box   9 Folder   9	Remington, George
Box   9 Folder   10	SHSW collections, General
Box   9 Folder   11	Sites promotion and film
Box   9 Folder   12	Unidentified material
Box   9 Folder   13	Visual Instruction Bureau
	Misfiled material
Box   12 Folder   1-11	1591-6548
Box   12 Folder   12	Peck Cabin
	Card box
Box   10 Folder   1	53 Wisconsin lots at LC
Box   10 Folder   2	6572 Inventory of photographic equipment
Box   10 Folder   3	A Child's World Exhibit
Box   11	Unidentified cards and notes

File Description	File Number	Box/Folder
AASLH Broadcast Museum Radio/TV contests	553	Box 5/22-23 and 6/1
AASLH technical leaflets	669	7/20
Acquisitions	15	2/2
Adams, Ansel	492	12/7
Adams railroad collection, Notes	46451	4/35
Administrative memos, Outgoing	172	3/1
Administrative memos, Incoming	172	2/16
Administrative memos, Outgoing	175	3/2
Aitken Brothers, 1964	8265	8/11
Aperture incidence indexing systems	67	7/21
Architecture in Wisconsin	555	6/2
Archival permanence, Photographs	6689	7/19
Archive of minor architecture	1617	2/9
Art programs, Promotion	159	2/6
Bailey's Dam	463	4/32
Behavioral research	542	5/18
Bennett show, 1965	82615	8/10
Book reviews	429	4/13
Boy with leaking boot	545	5/19
Brigham family genealogy	4644	4/34
Brown, John	4483	4/28
Bruno Collection Exhibition	8258	8/8
Budget request notes	115	1/3
Canada, International Expo, 1967	447	4/27
Captioning procedures & samples	6826	7/25
Card catalog, SHSW	682	7/24
Chanticleer Press book	4426	4/21
Chemicals and paper	6583	7/3
Child's World exhibit	None	10/3
Circulating exhibitions-Catalogs	325	3/12
Circulating panels, Closed bookings	845	8/16
Circulating panels, Bookings	145	1/16
Circulating panels	148	2/1
City of Gold narration text	46475	4/36
Civil War films, Notes	342	3/14
Collecting policy reports	71	7/27
Collections in other divisions which include graphics	144	1/15
Color copying	666	7/18
Color photography in chronological field work	None	8/23
Color portraits	None	8/24
Color printing	6585	7/6
Comic strips, cartoons	584	6/9
Computations for a Viewfinder-MS	4424	4/19
Conditions governing special collections	305	3/10
Copying equipment	6582	7/2
Crane, James, Publications, cartoons	563	6/4
Damaged nitrate negatives to have filtered positives and new negatives made	4646	12/6
Darkroom equipment	65832	7/4
Description of individual collections, Drafts	759	7/35
Desiderata, Picture books	153	2/3
Dexter collection (Stereographs-Lists	317	3/11
Diary excerpts, Services	1916	3/8
Dickenson exhibit, 1962	8267	8/12
Diemer collection, Dating	361	4/2
Directory of collections in Wisconsin	532	5/14
Educational activities	715	7/28
Enlarging exposure system	654	6/18
Examples of negative deterioration	663	12/10
Executive Residence project	4445	4/23
Exhibit, Hine	141	1/11
Exhibition catalogs	372	4/4
Exhibitions, 1943-1946	879	8/20
Farm Security Administration, Wisconsin photos microfilm checklist	756	7/33
Filing equipment-Catalogs	61	6/14
Film preservation and cleaning	65877	7/8
Film programs, Past correspondence	1426	1/13
Film programs, Past programs	14262	1/14
Film-Early PV	None	8/25
Films, Future productions	4879	5/4
Filmstrips	514	5/9
Fishel portrait experiments	493	12/8
Fishel portraits	493	5/6
Flood of 1965 film	4861	5/1-2
Gaddis Drawing Film	486	4/43
Gallery slide shows	546	5/20
General Correspondence	None	8/26
Graphic History Society	None	9/1
Hinged panels	None	9/2
Hinged panels, Explanatory text	48	4/39
Iconographic collections other than SHSW	53	5/13
Iconographic photo lots at the Library of Congress	53	10/1
Iconography, Various applications, samples	54	5/17
Index of American Design	587	6/11
Indexing technique, Iconography of Wisconsin	671	7/22
Insurance	135	1/9
Intellectual dynamics, Proposed publication	44	4/13
Interviews with job applicants	1782	3/4
IOUs outstanding for material sold for film fund	1625	2/12
Jaquish project-Photo rental collection	5724	6/6
Joke file project	582	6/8
La Follette collection portraits	7562	7/34
La Follette photo release	764	7/37
Lamination	6632	7/13
Lantern Slides, Lists	59	6/13
Last of the Snow	4751	12/3-3A
Leather bookbindings, Preservation	665	7/17
Library film	4882	5/5
Light meters	658	7/1
Lincoln impersonators	564	12/9
Lincoln exhibition, NY fair, 1964	4287	4/12
Literary image vs. Photo image - Notes	426	4/11
Little Gallery displays	878	8/19
Loans, Active	166	2/15
Loans on display, Labels	1642	2/13
Log Cabin Showcase Film	4853	4/42
Macro-Micro exhibit	4425	4/20,31
Martin RR collection, Notes	4636	4/33
Mass communications history center	527	5/12
Medical museum show - Medical History	8269	8/15
Medical Museum films	485	4/40
Microfilming	66	7/9
Microfilming tests and procedure	6605	7/10
Miles film, Indians building a canoe	4873	5/3
Miscellaneous film production lists, exhibit captions, etc.	None	9/5
Modern painting program	1592	2/7
Morgan, Fred, Chippewa (Ojibwe) dancing film	None	9/4
Motion picture equipment, Original inventory, Everest gift	6571	6/23
Motion picture cameras, lenses, accessories	6577	6/27
Motion picture cataloging	68	7/23
Motion picture program, Public showings	74	7/31
Motion pictures, Production, organizations, etc	34	3/13
Motion pictures, Wisconsin	589	6/12
Motion pictures	69	7/26
Mounting	65834	7/5
Movie showings, Programs	142	1/12
Museum promotion	None	9/6
Neenah-Menasha project	445	4/25
New quarters-Construction and equipment	125	1/6
News photos and relations with sources	55	5/21
Newspaper column copying camera, Design	65707	6/21
Notes, specifications on supplies	62	6/15
Okee painting	4465	4/26
Operations, notes, etc.	727	7/30
Organization matters	81	8/7
Organization of the collections	122	1/5
Organization of the collections, pre-1954	88	8/21
Oversize materials test	None	9/7
Painting, historical, locally owned	5704	6/5
Painting restoration	664	7/14
Paintings, Cleaning	6644	7/15
Paintings, Draft advice on evaluation	6645	7/16
Paintings hanging in SHSW	161	2/8
Panoramic color camera experiments	452	4/29
Paper stock for folders, envelopes, mounting, etc	65	6/17
Peck cabin	None	12/12
Personal (PV)	393	4/6
Personnel matters	178	3/3
Photo dealers	6573	6/25
Photo equipment, card inventory	6572	6/24
Photo equipment inventory	6572	10/2
Photo Equipment-Exchange and Purchase	133	1/8
Photo program, Promotion	156	2/4
Photo testing data	6548	12/11
Photo testing data	6548	6/19
Photo-technical matters	655	6/20
Photograph America project	41	4/8
Photographers, SHSW	157	2/5
Photographers, Biographical data, etc.	35	3/15
Photographers, Wisconsin-contemporary	351	3/16
Photographic equipment	657	6/22
Photography, Esthetics	363	4/3
Photography, Teaching	422	4/9
Photography, History and criticism	352	3/17
Picture book project	None	9/8
Picture sources	534	5/15
Portage project	4446	4/24
Postcards	585	6/10
Printers of reproductions, foreign	7691	8/3
Prize for visual history productions	425	4/10
Procedures	12	1/4
Procurement	13	1/7
Procurement matters (Requisitions, memos, etc.	87	8/17
Projectors, still & motion picture	6578	6/28
Public relations, Proposals, ideas	77	8/4
Publication and use of SHSW pictures	76	7/36
Quotation for walls	138	1/10
Releases for the use of photographs	875	8/18
Remington, George	None	9/9
Reports	72	7/29
Reports, Field	194	3/9
Reports, Periodic, Statistics	19	3/7
Reports, writings, SHSW (PV)	18	3/5
Resources, lists	75	7/32
Restoration of photographs, deterioration	663	7/12
Routines, regulations, etc., of other collections	535	5/16
Selected pictures-Notes	3933	12/2
Services, catalogs, UW Extension price lists for photo lab	64	6/16
SHSW calendar	766	8/1
SHSW collection miscellany	None	9/10
SHSW motion pictures, Circulation and showings	765	7/38
SHSW staff, personnel	79	8/6
Simplot, Alexander	3568	3/18
Sites promotion and films-general	None	9/11
Sound	65874	7/7
Speakers' Bureau	773	8/5
Speech, Buffalo, draft, 1962	4383	4/17
Speech, Toledo outline, 1961	4382	4/16
Speech, Waterdown rotary, 1963	4381	4/14
Speech-Wisconsin Society for Internal Medicine-1965	43812	4/15
St. Lawrence Seaway	5214	5/11
Still cameras, lenses, accessories	6576	6/26
Stoughton paintings, Turner matter	1655	2/14
Straubel Collection, Text notes from Dorothy Wittig	4634	12/5
Stryker, Roy	495	5/8
Systems Management Magazine	662	7/11
Tapestries Exhibition, Madison Art Association	8261	8/9
Then and Now series (News photos)	36	4/1
Trans-Action	494	5/7
Turow prooofsheets-Future exhibitions	4633	12/4
Unidentified miscellany	None	9/12
Unidentified production notes	None	11/1
Unidentified bibliography	None	11/2
Unidentified “little book” layout	None	9/3
University of Wisconsin	388	4/5
Unwanted material, disposal	1618	2/10
Urban renewal exhibition	444	4/22
Van Schaick-Life story	4677	4/38
Van Schaick-Monroe-Ellis collection,	4675	4/37
Vanderbilt's Chicago Art Institute exhibit, 1965	82681	8/14
Vanderbilt's own photograph exhibits	8268	8/13
Visual Instruction Bureau (UW)	None	9/13
Wade House Film	4852	4/41
Wisconsin Magazine of History picture inserts or features	769	8/2
Wisconsin Arts Foundation and Council	573	6/7
Wisconsin as seen by artists	1591	12/1
Wisconsin History-Answers to queries	395	4/7
Wood engravings in magazines, Notes for index	453	4/30
Work sheets	11	1/2
Works of art, Disposal	162	2/11
Writings, future (Notes)	182	3/6