Reginald Gammon papers
name: label: Creator
content: Gammon, Reginald (1921-2005)
label: Names
content: Anacostia Community Museum
label: Names
content: Harwood Art Center (Albuquerque, N.M.)
label: Names
content: Midtown Galleries (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center (U.S.)
label: Names
content: New Mexico African American Artists' Guild
label: Names
content: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library
label: Names
content: Spiral (Group of artists)
label: Names
content: Western Michigan University -- Faculty
label: Names
content: Andrews, Benny, 1930-2006
label: Names
content: Bearden, Romare (1911-1988)
label: Names
content: Browne, Vivian E., 1929-1993
label: Names
content: Fray, Thomas
label: Names
content: Greenberg, Joseph J., 1915-1991
label: Names
content: King, Patrick
label: Names
content: Lee-Smith, Hughie (1915-1999)
label: Names
content: Overton, Harry
label: Names
content: Wynberg, Jonathan
topic: label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- New Mexico
label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New Mexico -- Albuquerque
label: Occupation
content: Educators -- New Mexico -- Albuquerque
label: Occupation
content: Educators -- Michigan
label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching
label: Topic
content: Artists' studios -- Photographs
label: Topic
content: African American artists
label: Topic
content: African American educators
label: Topic
content: African American painters
label: Topic
content: African American printmakers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated in 2007 and 2008 by Reginald Gammon's widow Janice Gammon.
creator: label: Creator
content: Gammon, Reginald (1921-2005)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Reginald Gammon papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of African American painter, printmaker, and educator Reginald Gammon measure 2.4 linear feet and 5.30 GB and date from 1927 to 2007, with bulk of the materials dating from 1960-2005.  The collection consists of scattered biographical materials, including video and sound recordings of interviews; correspondence with artists, galleries, organizations, and museums; writings and notebooks; teaching files; printed materials; photographic material;  and artwork in the form of sketches, drawings, and paint sketches.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Reginald A. Gammon (1921-2005) was a painter and art educator who worked in New York City, Michigan, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was a member of Spiral, an African American artist's collective based in New York City, as well as a member of the New Mexico Afro-American Artist Guild. He taught in the New York public schools and at Western Michigan University.

Gammon was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In 1941, he received a scholarship to study art at the Philadelphia Museum College of Arts (then the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts) and the following summer worked in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard refurbishing battleships for the war effort.  While working, he also attended school at night.  He was drafted and served in the Navy from 1944-1946 with an  African-American unit stationed in Guam. He lived in Philadelphia briefly after the war and moved to New York City in 1948. During his early years in New York City, Gammon worked at various jobs such as sorting mail for the post office and designing advertising copy.  Around this time, he first met his future wife Janice Goldberger whom he married in 1972.  

In 1963, Gammon was invited to join Spiral, a group of African American artists which included Charles Alston, Romare Bearden, Alvin Hollingsworth, Norman Lewis, Richard Mayhew, and Hale Woodruff.  As a member of this group, Gammon participated in the 1965 exhibition First Group Showing: Works in Black and White. Spiral disbanded later that same year.  In 1969, Gammon and Benny Andrews formed the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition.  This politically active group of artists picketed the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of Modern Art to protest the exclusion of black artists and curators. 

Gammon also taught at the Saturday Academy Program for New York public schools. He set up an informal studio so that children from Harlem could work with resident artists.   This position and a recommendation from Hughie Lee-Smith led to an offer from Western Michigan University for a visiting lectureship that turned into a full-time teaching position in which Gammon served until 1991, when he retired as Full Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts and Humanities.  

After his retirement from Western Michigan University, Gammon and his wife moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico and he became involved in the New Mexico Afro-American Artist Guild and the Albuquerque United Artists, among other civic organizations.  He regularly participated in exhibitions and art fairs sponsored by the Guild and served as their treasurer from 1999 until his death.  He was artist-in-residence from 1992-2005 at the Harwood Art Center where he also maintained a studio.  

Gammon was also one of the founding members of the New Grounds Print Workshop, where he completed his final collection of artworks  - a collection of over 100 prints of historically significant gospel singers and jazz musicians. Gammon died on November 4, 2005.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.4 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 5.3 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1927-2007
label: Date
content: bulk 1960-2005
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.gammreg
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Paintings
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Video recordings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1936-2006 (0.2 linear feet; Box 1, 3, 5.29 GB; ER01-ER03)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1964-2005 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1-3)

Series 3: Writings and Notebooks, 1948-circa 2000 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 4: Teaching Files, 1969-1991 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1955-2005 (0.4 linear feet; Box 2, OV 4)

Series 6: Photographic Material, 1927-2007 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2-3, 0.010 GB; ER04)

Series 7: Artwork, 1937-circa 1999 (0.5 linear feet; Box 2-3)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid created in 2014 by intern Dominique Luster.  The collection was fully processed and prepared for digitization by Rihoko Ueno in 2017 with funding provided by The Walton Family Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2016 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website.  Materials not digitized include blank pages, blank versos of photographs, and duplicates.  In some cases, exhibition catalogs and other publications have had their covers, title pages, and relevant pages scanned.  

Additional digital content, such as electronic records and digital user copies of sound and video recordings, may also be available for use at Archives of American Art offices.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Paintings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of African American painter, printmaker, and educator Reginald Gammon measure 2.4 linear feet and 5.30 GB and date from 1927 to 2007, with bulk of the materials dating from 1960-2005.  The collection consists of scattered biographical materials, including video and sound recordings of interviews; correspondence with artists, galleries, organizations, and museums; writings and notebooks; teaching files; printed materials; photographic material;  and artwork in the form of sketches, drawings, and paint sketches. 

Biographical materials include Gammon's academic records and diplomas, certificates, military records, an address book, and information about his memorial service.  There is a folder on The Spiral Group which includes an exhibition catalog and photographs.  There are video interviews, a conversation video, and two TV advertisements, all digital; one analog and one digital audio interview.

Approximately one-half of the collection consists of correspondence with other artists, museums, galleries and arts organizations.  Correspondents include Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Vivian Browne, Thomas Frey, Joseph Greenberg, Harwood Art Center, Patrick King, Hughie Lee-Smith, Midtown Galleries, National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center, New Mexico African American Artists Guild, Harvey Overton, Schomberg Center, Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Museum, Western Michigan University, and Jonathan Wynberg, among many others.   

Writings by Gammon consists of essays, a research proposal,  notes, grant applications, and notebooks wherein Gammon jotted down thoughts and drafted letters.  

Teaching files are related to Reginald Gammon's tenure at Western Michigan University.  There are teaching certifications, lecture notes, one sound recording (sound cassette) of a lecture, student recommendations, and grade books, among other items.

Printed materials primarily consist of exhibition catalogs and announcements, including the catalog Ida Y Vuelta on Gammon's 1998 exhibition in Rodez, France. Other materials found in this series are clippings that feature Gammon and his work, periodicals, posters designed by Gammon, and source materials related to jazz. and limited subject files.

Photographic materials include prints, slides, digital photographs, and negatives depicting Reginald Gammon and his artwork, friends and family, and various studios and events.  

Artwork includes pencil and ink sketches, drawings, and paint sketches. The series also contains storyboards for children's books as well as mockups for advertisements.