Finding Aid for the Barbara Morgan photographs, 1928-1972
Processed by Sukey Garcetti in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli,
2010; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2011
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Barbara Morgan photographs
Date (inclusive): 1928-1972
Collection number: 1873
Creator:
Morgan, Barbara
Extent:
1 oversize box.
Abstract: The collection contains nineteen mounted photos by Barbara Morgan, on subjects including dance, Camp Treetops, nature, and
one from the Junkyard Series.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Processing Note
Processed by Sukey Garcetti in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Kelley Wolfe Bachli,
2010.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Barbara Morgan photographs (Collection Number 1873). Department of Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Biography
Barbara Brooks Morgan was born in Buffalo, Kansas on July 8, 1900, but grew up in Los Angeles, CA. She attended UCLA from
1919 to 1923, and later joined the art faculty (1925-30). She married Willard D. Morgan (ca. 1925) and relocated to New York
(1930). After the birth of her two sons, Douglas (1932) and Lloyd (1935), she began to concentrate on her photography career.
An accomplished designer, author, artist, and photographer, she is best known for her photographs of American modern dancers,
among them, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Pearl Primus, Jose Limon, and Charles Weidman. She contributed articles and reviews
to various publications and published several books including,
Martha Graham: Sixteen Dances in Photographs (1941),
Summer's Children: A Photographic Cycle of Life at Camp about Camp Treetops (1951), and
A Collection of Material about Barbara Morgan (1972), as well as having a photo in
Family of Man (1955). She died August 18, 1992 in Scarsdale, NY.
Scope and Content
The collection includes 19 mounted photos taken by Barbara Morgan. These photos include photos of dancers, nature, various
portraits, one of Camp Treetops (a children's camp, featured in her book
Summer's Children) and one from her junkyard series. There is one example of her experimental photomontages. The collection includes "Girl
Playing Recorder," which was included in the 1955 book
Family of Man.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Portraits
- Dance
- Auto Junkyard Series
- Camp Treetops
- Nature
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Morgan, Barbara Brooks,--1900- .
Women photographers.
Women artists.
Related Material
Barbara Morgan Wight Gallery Collection, 1938-1967. Collection 1872. Available at Library Special Collections, UCLA Library.
Container List
Auto Junkyard Series
1947
Box 1, Folder 13
Resurrection in the Junkyard
Date Taken: 1947
Date Printed: 1969
Physical Description: 13 1/4" × 10 1/4" on 16" × 18"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph
Camp Treetops (Summer's Children)
1947
Box 1, Folder 14
Girl Playing Recorder
Date Taken: 1945
Physical Description: 9 5/8" × 13 3/16" on 15" × 20"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph (from "Summer's Children" and "Family of Man - MOMA),
inscribed "For Annita Delano"
Box 1, Folder 8
Martha Graham in "Letter to the World"
Date Taken: 1940
Date Printed: 1971
Physical Description: 7 3/8" × 9 1/2" on 13" × 16"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph, Martha Graham seated on bench, inscribed "For Bertha Wardell"
Box 1, Folder 9
Martha Graham in "Letter to the World" ("For Annita Delano")
Date Taken: 1940
Physical Description: 9 1/2" × 13 1/8" on 16 1/2" × 19 1/2"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph, Martha Graham's skirt forming arc, inscribed "For Annita Delano"
Box 1, Folder 10
Valerie Bettis in "Desperate Heart"
Physical Description: 10 3/4" × 12 1/2" on 18 1/2" × 20"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph
Box 1, Folder 11
Charles Weidman in "Lynchtown" (Humphrey-Weidman Group)
Date Taken: 1938
Date Printed: 1969
Physical Description: 11 9/16" × 18 7/8" on 18" × 27:
Scope and Content Note
Photograph
Box 1, Folder 12
Jose Limon, "Peon" from "Mexican Suite"
Date Printed: 1970
Physical Description: 13 1/4" × 17 7/8" on 21" × 26"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph
Box 1, Folder 15
Walnut
Date Taken: 1943
Physical Description: 13" × 10 5/8" on 16" × 20"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph
Box 1, Folder 16
Ikons in Time-Stream (Hittite Mother Goddess 2000 BC + Empire State Bldg NYC 1938
AD)
Date Taken: 1964
Date Printed: 1971
Physical Description: 17 3/4" × 13 1/2" on 26" × 20"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph
Box 1, Folder 17
Fossil in Formation
Date Taken: 1965
Date Printed: 1971
Physical Description: 17 1/2" × 13" on 24" × 20"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph
Box 1, Folder 18
Artificial Life From the Laboratory
Date Printed: 1971
Physical Description: 18 7/8" × 15" on 27" × 22"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph
Box 1, Folder 19
Beech Tree I
Date Taken: 1945
Date Printed: 1970
Physical Description: 13" × 17 1/4" on 21" × 27"
Scope and Content Note
Photograph
Box 1, Folder 1
Dr Diasetz Suzuki
Date Printed: 1969
Physical Description: 10 5/8" × 7" on 15"x 11 1/8"
Scope and Content Note
Portrait photograph
Box 1, Folder 2
Dr Daisetz Suzuki (In Study) (in NYC during session of teaching at Columbia
University)
Date Taken: 1958
Physical Description: 10 3/4" × 9 1/2" on 16 1/2" × 19 1/2"
Scope and Content Note
Portrait photograph
Box 1, Folder 3
Gerald Heard
Date Printed: 1971
Physical Description: 12 3/4" × 10 5/8" on 20" × 16"
Scope and Content Note
Portrait photograph
Box 1, Folder 4
Professor Joseph Campbell and Student, Sarah Lawrence college
Date Taken: 195-
Date Printed: 1971
Physical Description: 12" × 9 1/2" on 18" × 14"
Scope and Content Note
Portrait photograph
Box 1, Folder 5
Charles Sheeler and His Favorite Beech Tree
Date Printed: 1971
Physical Description: 9 7/8" × 12 1/2" on 16" × 20"
Scope and Content Note
Portrait photograph inscribed "Best Wishes to the Carneys."
Box 1, Folder 6
Willard Morgan Tossing Cats (Strobe)
Date Taken: 1942
Date Printed: 1971
Physical Description: 7 13/16" × 13 1/2" on 15" × 19 7/8"
Scope and Content Note
Portrait photograph
Box 1, Folder 7
Lloyd's Head
Physical Description: 9 1/16" × 13" on 16 5/8" × 21 1/4"
Scope and Content Note
Portrait photograph of Morgan's son
