Oral history interview with Roswell Weidner
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 6 digital wav files. Duration is 4 hr.; 18 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Weidner, Roswell, 1911-1999
label: Interviewer
content: Pacini, Marina
label: Names
content: Barnes Foundation
label: Names
content: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
label: Names
content: United States. National Youth Administration
label: Names
content: United States. Work Projects Administration
label: Names
content: United States. Works Progress Administration
label: Names
content: Curran, Mary
label: Names
content: De Mazia, Violette, 1899-
label: Names
content: Garber, Daniel, 1880-
label: Names
content: Harding, George, 1882-1959
label: Names
content: Laessle, Albert, 1877-1954
label: Names
content: McCarter, Henry, 1866-1942
label: Names
content: Nuse, Roy Cleveland, b. 1885
label: Names
content: Pierson, Joseph
label: Names
content: Pinto, Angelo, 1908-1994
label: Names
content: Speight, Francis, 1896-1989
label: Names
content: Thrash, Dox, 1892-1965
label: Names
content: Weidner, Marilyn Kemp, 1928-
topic: label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: Art -- Study and teaching -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
label: Topic
content: Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Educators -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: These interviews are part of the Archives' 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 others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Weidner, Roswell, 1911-1999
label: Interviewer
content: Pacini, Marina
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Roswell T. Weidner (1911-1999) was a painter and educator from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 134 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1989 July 20-27
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.weidne89
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript: 35mm microfilm reel 4780 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Roswell Weidner conducted 1989 July 20-27, by Marina Pacini, for the Archives of American Art Philadelphia Project. Weidner discusses his early life, education, and art training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, first at the school at Chester Springs, and later at the main school in Philadelphia. He discusses the programs at both schools, and recalls some of the faculty members, including Roy Nuse, Albert Laessle, George Harding, Joseph Pierson, Francis Speight, Daniel Garber, and Henry McCarter. He discusses the courses, exhibitions, and the competitions for traveling scholarships. He also discusses his study at the Barnes Foundation with Violette De Mazia and Angelo Pinto. After leaving the Academy, he joined the National Youth Administration and then transferred to the WPA with the Museum Extension, the Painting Project and the Print Project. He speaks of his work for each of these programs, their administration, and some of the individuals involved including Dox Thrash. He recalls Mary Curran and the efforts made by Albert Barnes to have her removed as head of the Painting Project. Weidner discusses his fifty years as a teacher at the Academy, beginning in 1939, and the changes in the institution since then, including the introduction of printmaking, the growth of abstraction, the hiring of women and black instructors, and other changes. He speaks of his wife, Marilyn Kemp Weidner, a paper conservator, and the development of her practice, as well as his own future work.