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Accession Number: 8
The Doris Ulmann Collection
Papers, 1930-1976
Photos and negatives, c. 1928-1935
1.9 linear ft.
Online
Catalog Record (BANC)
Overview
History
Series Description
Series I - Doris
Ulmann Correspondence
Series II - Ulmann
Will and Bequest
Series III - Doris
Ulmann Foundation
Series IV - Ulmann
Photographs Correspondence
Series V - Clippings and Articles
Series VI - Commentary
on the Ulmann Photographs
Series VII - Slides of Ulmann Prints
Series VIII - Lists of Ulmann Negatives and
Prints
Series IX - Prints, Snapshots, and Copy Negatives
Access and Use
Provenance: The Doris
Ulmann papers were collected as a result of Berea College's close association
over the years with the Doris Ulmann Foundation. In addition to the papers
in the Southern Appalachian Archives, the college also possesses a number
of copy negatives of Doris Ulmann photographs. These are under the jurisdiction
of the Berea College Art Department and are administered by the Doris
Ulmann Foundation, as are approximately 4000 posthumous prints in the
Berea College Art Department collection. The surviving original negatives/plates
are preserved at the University of Oregon's Special Collections Library.
Use: All requests
for use of the Ulmann photographs at Berea should be made to the chairperson,
Berea Art Department.
Preferred Citation: The Doris Ulmann Collection, Berea College
Special Collections & Archives, Berea, Ky.
Related Archives
- John C. Campbell Folk School Records, SAA 47
Overview
The papers of Doris Ulmann in this collection reflect her life and career as
a photographer of the Southern Appalachian people, the activities of the Doris
Ulmann Foundation, and the disposition of her photographs. Important items
in the collection are:
Doris Ulmann correspondence
The Ulmann will and bequest
Ulmann Foundation correspondence
Among the correspondents are:
John Jacob Niles, folklorist
and ballad collector
Allen Eaton, author and authority on Appalachian arts and crafts
Lester Pross, former chairperson, Berea College Art Department
Francis Hutchins, former president, Berea College
History
Doris Ulmann was born in New
York City in 1884. After receiving a public school education, she attended
the School of Ethical Culture and Columbia University and later studied
photography at the Clarence H. White School of Photography. She married
and divorced Charles H. Jaeger, a prominent orthopedic surgeon.
Ulmann's published works include Portraits of the Medical Faculty of the
John Hopkins University (1922), A Portrait of American Editors (1925), Roll,
Jordan, Roll (1933, text by Julia Peterkin), and Handicrafts of the
Southern Highlands (1937, text by Allen Eaton). In 1971 the Jargon Society
published The Appalachian Photographs of Doris Ulmann, with a remembrance
by John Jacob Niles, a folklorist and ballad collector who accompanied Ulmann
on her trips through the Southern Appalachians. These photographic portraits
of Southern Appalachian People, taken in the late 1920s and early 1930s, are
classics. During her time in the mountains, Ulmann showed an especial fondness
for the John C. Campbell Folk School and Berea College, and portraits of students
and people from these two areas are found in her collection.
Ulmann died in New York City on August 28, 1934, and her will and bequest established
the Doris Ulmann Foundation.
Series Description
1 Manuscript Box, 7 boxes of negatives
| Series
I |
Doris
Ulmann Correspondence |
Box 1 |
This series includes correspondence related to inquiries and trips to
Berea College. The primary correspondents are Ulmann, John Jacob Niles,
and Allen Eaton.
| Series
II |
Ulmann
Will and Bequest |
Box 1, cont. |
Correspondence related to the death of Ms. Ulmann and legal documents
concerning the disposition of her estate comprise this series.
The organizational and legal papers of the Doris Ulmann Foundation, including
minutes and treasurer's reports, are included in this series.
| Series
IV |
Ulmann
Photographs Correspondence |
Box 1, cont. |
This series includes letters dating from 1935 concerning the disposition
and administration of the Ulmann negatives and prints.
Newspaper clippings and magazine articles are included in this series,
all relating to Doris Ulmann's life and career.
| Series
VI |
Commentary
on the Ulmann Photographs |
Box 1 |
This series consists of an audiotape of a lecture by Prof. Lester Pross
on Ulmann’s artistic achievement.
These 113 slides of prints held by the Doris Ulmann Foundation were taken by
Berea art professor Greg Spaid for classroom use.
This series includes a printout of the Art Department's database, with brief
description of each photo, its condition, and its identifying number. A detailed
description by John Jacob Niles and Rena Niles of some of the subjects is also
included, along with a listing of the copy negatives housed in Special Collections
by identification number.
| Series
IX |
Prints,
Snapshots, and Copy Negatives |
Boxes 1-8 |
Six snapshots of Ulmann at work and glossy prints of five of her photos are in
this series. The bulk of the series consists of seven boxes of copy negatives,
administered through the Berea Art Department by the Doris Ulmann Foundation.
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