Barbara W. Blackmun papers
name: label: Creator
content: Blackmun, Barbara Winston, 1928-2018
place: label: Place
content: Africa, West
label: Place
content: Nigeria
label: Place
content: Benin (Nigeria)
topic: label: Topic
content: Art -- History
label: Topic
content: Art, African
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Received from Monica Blackmun Visonà in 2016.
creator: label: Creator
content: Blackmun, Barbara Winston, 1928-2018
setName: label: See more items in
content: Barbara W. Blackmun papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Barbara Winston Blackmun was a scholar of African art history who conducted pioneering research into the art and history of the Aken'ni Elao, or carved tusks from the royal altars of Benin, Nigeria, as well as other Arican art. The collection contains Blackmun's notes, photographs, research data, correspondence, and writings and talks.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Barbara Winston Blackmun was a scholar of African art who conducted pioneering research into the art and history of Aken'ni Elao, the carved tusks from the royal altars of Benin, Nigeria.

Born in 1928 in Merced, California, Blackmun grew up in US national parks where her father managed camps for the Civilian Conservation Corps. She graduated from UCLA in 1949 with a BFA and a teaching certificate, and taught art, music, and drama at a public school in Trona, California. There she met and married Rupert Blackmun, a professor of industrial arts. The couple had three children.

In 1964, Rupert was asked to help build a polytechnic college in Malawi. The family spent five years there, with Blackmun teaching at both the polytechnic college as well as at the University of Malawi. There, Blackmun developed her interest in African art, conducting research into Maravi mask traditions. Upon returning to the United States in 1969, Blackmun enrolled at Arizona State University, earning her MA in art history in 1971. Following this, the Blackmuns moved to San Diego, where Blackmun joined the faculty at San Diego Mesa College.

In 1978 Blackmun enrolled in a PhD program in African art history at UCLA, and spent the summers of 1978 and 1979 working with Frank Willett at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. In 1981-1982, funded by a Fulbright award, Blackmun conducted field research in Benin City, Nigeria, interviewing members of the Igbesanmwan ivory carvers guild and others as she learned about the motifs carved into altar tusks.

Blackmun received her PhD in 1984, based on her study of the Benin altar tusks. Her work was significant for its examination of over 130 tusks held in museums and collections worldwide, and for her early use of computer analysis of the motifs depicted on the tusks. Blackmun continued research into tusks over the years, as well as other Nigerian art forms, including bronzes, terracottas, and other carved ivory objects.

From 1988 to 1990 Blackmun served as the director of the San Diego Museum of Man, overseeing the renovation of the museum's Africa gallery. In 2003, she founded the African Art Collection at San Diego Mesa College, curating numerous exhibits. She retired from San Diego Mesa College in 2010, but continued to remain active, lecturing, publishing, and consulting on African art history.  Blackman died in 2018.

Sources consulted

"Obituary: Barbara Winston Blackmun," https://networks.h-net.org/node/12834/discussions/2439735/obituary-barbara-winston-blackmun (accessed April 2, 2024)

Ezra, Kate. "Barbara Winston Blackmun, 1928-1918." African Art Vol. 52, No. 1, Spring 2019, pp. 11-13

Chronology

1928 -- Born on June 29

1949 -- Receives AB in fine art and teaching certificate from UCLA

1964-1969 -- In Malawi with family, teaching at Malawi Polytechnic College and the University of Malawi

1971 -- Receives MA in art history from Arizona State University Joins faculty at San Diego Mesa College

1978 -- Starts PhD program in African art history at UCLA

Summers, 1978 and 1979 -- Works with Frank Willett at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, UK

1981-1982 -- Field research in Benin City, Nigeria

1984 -- Receives PhD

1988-1990 -- Serves as director of the San Diego Museum of Man

2003 -- Founds the African art collection at San Diego Mesa College

2010 -- Retires from San Diego Mesa College

2018 -- Dies on July 6
label: Historical note
content: Aken'ni Elao, or carved altar tusks of Benin, Nigeria, are carved elephant tusks featuring scenes representing rituals and other activities of the Oba (traditional ruler of the Edo people), and were made as a historical record of events in the Kindom of Benin. The tusks were placed on the ancestral altars or shrines of the Oba, fitted into a pedestal in the shape of a head, made of bronze or brass.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7.25 Linear feet (11 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1979 - 2012
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2016-30
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged in two series: 1. Research; and 2. Writings and talks.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection came to the archives in a fairly organized state, and this organization was maintained with the exception of some minor re-ordering of folders for clarity.  Materials were rehoused into acid-free folders and boxes, but the majority of Blackmun's folder labels were retained as she often recorded a lot of information on the folders.
bibliography: label: Selected Bibliography
content: The Iconography of Crved Altar Tusks from Benin, Nigeria -- . (1984): University of California.

 "Who Commissioned the Queen Mother Tusks? A Problem in the Chronology of Benin Ivories."  -- African Arts -- (1991): 55-91.

 "The elephant and its ivory in Benin." Elephant: The Animal and Its Ivory in African Culture (1992): 163-186.

 "History and Statecraft on a Tusk from Old Benin." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 81, no. 4 (1994): 87-115.

 "Icons and Emblems in Ivory: An Altar Tusk from the Palace of Old Benin." Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 23, no. 2 (1997): 149-198.

 "From Time Immemorial: Historicism in the Court Art of Benin, Nigeria."  -- Symbols of Time in the History of Art --  (2002): 27-39.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Barbara W. Blackmun papers primarily document Blackmun's dissertation research into the carved altar tusks of Benin, Nigeria. Series 1: Research, includes tusk data files, charts, data and analysis on motifs and types, photographs, and correspondence. Also included is volume 1 of Blackmun's dissertation, "The iconography of carved altar tusks from Benin, Nigeria" and files related to the appendices (Volumes 2 and 3). Though the bulk of the material relates to the tusk research, there are files on other Nigerian art forms as well, such as bronzes, terracottas, and other carved ivory objects held in museums and collections wordwide.

Series 2: Writings and talks, are working files containing manuscripts and drafts, photographs and illustrations, correspondence, and notes for published articles as well as for lectures and talks given.


Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art holds the Barbara Blackmun Collection of photographic slides.

All three volumes of Blackmun's dissertation are held in the Library at the National Museum of African Art.