Oral history interview with William J. Brown and Jane Brown
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 8 digital wav files. Duration is 5 hr., 4 min.
label: General
content: 2 of the cassettes are 60 min. and 2 are 90 min.
label: General
content: Sound quality of interview is poor.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Brown, William J. (William Joseph), 1923-1992
label: Interviewer
content: Kessler, Jane
label: Interviewee
content: Brown, Jane Brennan, 1931-
label: Names
content: Cranbrook Academy of Art
label: Names
content: Flint Institute of Arts
label: Names
content: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
label: Names
content: Penland School of Handicrafts
label: Faculty
content: University of Delaware
label: Names
content: Gray, Robert Ward, 1916-
label: Names
content: Merritt, Francis Sumner, 1913-2000
label: Names
content: Morgan, Lucy, 1889-1981
topic: label: Occupation
content: Arts administrators -- North Carolina -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Designers -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts
label: Topic
content: Handicraft
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics, and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Brown, William J. (William Joseph), 1923-1992
label: Interviewer
content: Kessler, Jane
label: Interviewee
content: Brown, Jane Brennan, 1931-
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: William J. Brown, art administrator and designer. Director of the Penland School of Crafts (formerly Penland School of Handicrafts) from 1962 to 1983.
function: label: Function
content: Art Schools -- United States
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 203 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1991 January 19-March 2
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.brown91
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript available on the Archives of American Art website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview with William J. Brown and Jane Brown conducted 1991 January 19-1991 March 2, by Jane Kessler, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Brown and his wife Jane discuss his childhood in Michigan, his early interest in sculpture and his attitude towards education; military service in WWII; studies at Cranbrook Academy; designing for Steuben Glass; working with Francis Merritt at the Flint Institute of Arts and at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts; teaching design at the University of Delaware and working summers at Haystack; Robert Gray, director of the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild; first impressions of The Penland School of Crafts and its founder Lucy Morgan; the development of the Penland School and its various programs; craftspeople who taught at Penland; and relations with the Penland board of trustees.