Oral history interview with Eleanor M. Garvey
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes as X digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 30 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Garvey, Eleanor M.
label: Interviewer
content: Brown, Robert F.
label: Names
content: Clark University (Worcester, Mass.)
label: Names
content: Houghton Library
label: Names
content: Newark Museum
label: Names
content: Wellesley College
label: Names
content: Worcester Art Museum
label: Names
content: Abbot, Agnes Anne, 1897-1992
label: Names
content: Bentinck-Smith, William, 1914-
label: Names
content: Campbell, Alexander
label: Names
content: Campbell, Louisa Dresser, 1907-1989
label: Names
content: Coffey, Katherine, d. 1972
label: Names
content: Conant, Kenneth J.
label: Names
content: Der Nersessian, Sirarpie, 1896-1989
label: Names
content: Freedberg, S. J. (Sydney Joseph), 1914-1997
label: Names
content: Hofer, Philip, 1898-1984
label: Names
content: McAndrew, John
label: Names
content: O'Gorman, James F.
label: Names
content: Richardson, H. H. (Henry Hobson), 1838-1886
label: Names
content: Sawyer, Charles Henry, 1906-2005
label: Names
content: Winship, George Parker, 1871-1952
topic: label: Occupation
content: Museum curators -- Massachusetts
label: Topic
content: Artists' books
label: Topic
content: Book design
label: Topic
content: Illustrated books -- 19th century
label: Topic
content: Illustrated books -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Women museum curators
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: Garvey, Eleanor M.
label: Interviewer
content: Brown, Robert F.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Eleanor M. Garvey (1918- ) is a curator and writer from Cambridge, Massachusetts.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 76 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1997 February 28-June 13
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.garvey97
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Eleanor M. Garvey conducted 1997 February 28-June 13, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art in Garvey's office, Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Garvey discusses her childhood in Worcester, Massachusetts; majoring in art history at Wellesley College under Serape der Nersessian, Alexander Campbell, Agnes Abbott, and Kenneth Conant; study of education at Clark University, with drawing classes at the art school of the Worcester Art Museum; and the extremely useful experience working at the Museum under Charles Sawyer and Louisa Dresser.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Working as an art librarian and museum curator at Wellesley College (1947-1952), and art history professors John McAndrew, Sidney Freedberg, James O'Gorman; moving on to the Newark Museum (1952-1953) and its collections and administration under Katherine Coffey.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Joining the Dept. of Printing and Graphic Arts of the Houghton Library in 1953 beginning as secretary to curator Philip Hofer; Hofer's work on illustrated books; the development of the Houghton Library from the so-called "Treasure Room" of the main Harvard Library under the direction of George Parker Winship; Garvey's close relationship with William Bentinck-Smith, a Houghton patron and an authority on type design; the status of women professionals at Harvard.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Continued discussion of Houghton patron William Bentinck-Smith; publications and exhibitions while at Houghton, including: "The Artist and the Book, 1860-1960" (1961), "The Turn of a Century, 1885-1970" (1970), "Henry Hobson Richardson and His Office: Selected Drawings" (1974), and "Artists of the Book in Boston, 1890-1910" (1988), as well as her current project producing a catalog of 18th century Venetian illustrated books and her involvement in seminars on artists' books.