Oral history interview with Olin Dows
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 4 digital wav file. Duration is 4 hr., 16 min.
label: General
content: Sound quality is poor.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Dows, Olin, 1904-1981
label: Interviewer
content: Phillips, Harlan B. (Harlan Buddington), 1920-1979
label: Names
content: Federal Art Project
label: Names
content: New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project
label: Names
content: Bruce, Edward, 1879-1943
label: Names
content: Watson, Forbes, 1880-1960
topic: label: Topic
content: Art and state
label: Topic
content: Federal aid to the arts
label: Topic
content: Arts administrators -- Washington (D.C.) -- Interviews
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: Dows, Olin, 1904-1981
label: Interviewer
content: Phillips, Harlan B. (Harlan Buddington), 1920-1979
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Olin Dows (1904-1981) was a painter and arts administrator; he primarily lived and worked in Rhinebeck, New York. Dows was born in Irvington-on-Hudson, NY. He graduated from Harvard University in 1926 and also studied at the Yale School of Fine Arts. In 1935 he was appointed director of the Treasury Relief Art Project, funded by the Works Progress Administration. In 1938 he painted a series of murals for the post office in Rhinebeck, NY, and in 1941 painted murals for the post office in Hyde Park, NY. From 1938 to 1941 Dows was on the Board of Directors of the American Federation of Arts. In 1942 he enlisted in the Army Engineers Corps and was commissioned as a war artist, covering the European Theater of Operations. An exhibit of works produced by this project was held in 1944, entitled "The Army at War." Dows was discharged from the army in 1945. A book of his watercolors, Franklin Roosevelt at Hyde Park, was published in 1949.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 74 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1963 October 31
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.dows63
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The original transcript was edited. In 2021 the Archives retranscribed the original audio and attempted to create a verbatim transcript. This interview was audited and edited by Allison Tracy-Taylor in 2025.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview with Olin Dows conducted on 1963 October 31, by Harlan B. Phillips for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Dows speaks of his youth and education at Harvard and Yale; parental and family influence; his European travels; his philosophy of painting; the influence of Mexican painters; dealers he knew and worked with; joining the Public Works of Art Project; how the PWAP was administered; the effect of politics on the project; artists who were involved in it; mural competitions and problems with them; the media and public image of the project; art criticism; the long-term effects of the project; camaraderie among those involved. He recalls Edward Bruce and Forbes Watson.