By Thomas
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Thomas, Alma (1891-1978)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Alma Thomas papers
label: See more items in
content: Alma Thomas papers / Series 3: Notes and Writings
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1936-circa 1970s
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.thomalma, Subseries 3.1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: This series has been digitized in entirety with the exception of calendar pages with no annotations.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Thomas's writings include autobiographical essays and fragments, one of which has a painted sketch on the reverse, and one entitled "Year of the woman" in which Thomas eschews involvement with men who oppress women and expresses pride in remaining unmarried; four notebooks; an engagement calendar annotated with appointments and inspirational quotations; and "Alma's Birthday Book" containing lists of friends' birthdays. Thomas discusses her childhood, her education, her relationships with individuals such as the founders of the Barnett Aden Gallery, Alonzo Aden and James V. Herring, her motiviation for painting, and her desire to not be constrained by societal expectations related to race and gender.