Guide to the San José State University Art Department Records MSS.2009.11.07
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
© 2009
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: San José State University Art Department Records
Identifier/Call Number: MSS-2009-11-07
Physical Description:
1 Box
(0.42 linear ft.)
Date (inclusive): 1912-2022
Date (bulk): 1951-1959
Abstract: The San José State University Art
Department Records, 1912-2022 (bulk 1951-1959), document the department's course curriculum,
as well as art exhibits created by students. The records consist of miscellaneous brochures,
pamphlets, course catalogues, flyers, and art ephemera. This collection is arranged into one
series: Series I. Course Curriculum & Miscellany, 1912-2022 (bulk 1951-1959).
The collection is open for research.
Copyright is assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections &
Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted
in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on
behalf of the Special Collections & Archives. Copyright restrictions may apply to
digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to
research and educational purposes.
San José State University Art Department Records, MSS-2009-11-07, San José State University
Library Special Collections & Archives.
Collection processed by Silke Higgins. Finding aid EAD encoded by Silke Higgins. Reviewed
by Danelle Moon and Erin Louthen. Folder-level description added by Kate Steffens in January
2020. Accural added by Eilene Lueck in November 2022.
This finding aid was created as part of the Survey and Cataloging Project, a two-year San
José State University Library grant project funded by the National Historical Publications
and Records Commission. The project began in 2008.The Project Director is Danelle Moon. The
Project Archivist is Erin Louthen.
In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for
current and prospective teachers in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns,
the institution was formally established as the first California State Normal School by the
State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School
to San José, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall
term of 1872. After a fire destroyed the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature
authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed in 1881, the
building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and
curriculum changes, Minns' Normal School is now San José State University, offering more
than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations, and is recognized as one
of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.
The San José State University Art Department originated in 1911, when a one-year course
leading to an elementary diploma in art was instituted by the San José State Teachers
College. Inspired by Calthea Vivian, the head of the Art Department from 1911-1916, students
began to take advantage of the course work offered. Soon after, under the new department
head Ruth W. Turner, the department expanded to include a two-year course leading to a
secondary diploma. Turner was succeeded by Dr. Marques E. Reitzel, under whose guidance the
Art Department gained its reputation as one of the finest in the West. During Reitzel's
time, the faculty was enlarged and the curriculum expanded to include course offerings in
commercial art and interior design. In 1956, Dr. Reitzel was succeeded by Dr. French, a San
José State University graduate, author, and painter. In 1957, the department consisted of 30
professors, making it the "largest group of artist-educators between San Francisco and Los
Angeles." The establishment of a graduate program further increased the number of students,
and led to many graduates entering the fields of commercial art and interior design, as well
as winning important fellowships in fine arts.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the Art Department won numerous awards for painting, ceramics,
sculpture, jewelry, silver craft, and weaving at exhibitions on the local, regional, and
national levels. Plans for a new campus building, located behind the Music Building,
originally included lecture halls, laboratory and activity rooms as well as an art gallery.
The Art Building was later expanded to include the Visual Resource Center, numerous shops
for wood, glass, machine, metal, spray, and welding work, along with facilities for jewelry
and small metal work, photography, foundry, glass and print making. Current students can
choose from a great variety of Art Department undergraduate and graduate programs. In recent
years, the work of Art Department students and graduates has been included in the Whitney
Museum of American Art Biennial Exhibition, and has also won awards in the National
Housewares Competition as well as international film and animation festivals. Today the
School of Art and Design has the largest number of full time students enrolled, surpassing
the college of Business and Engineering.
Edith Harvey Heron Collection, MSS-2005-01, San José State University Library Special
Collections and Archives.
San José State University Faculty Papers of H. Brett Melendy, MSS-2009-05-01, San José
State University Library Special Collections and Archives.
Robert Freimark Collection, MSS-2008-05-01, San José State University Library Special
Collections and Archives.
Scope and Content of Collection
The San José State University Art Department Records, 1912-2022 (bulk 1951-1959), document
the department's course curriculum, as well as art exhibits created by students. The records
consist of miscellaneous brochures, pamphlets, course catalogues, flyers, and art
ephemera.
This collection is arranged into one series: Series I. Course Curriculum & Miscellany,
1912-2022 (bulk 1951-1959).
Gilbert, Benjamin F., and Burdick, Charles.
Washington Square,
1857-1979: The History of San José State University
. San José, California: San
José State University, 1980.
Greathead, Estelle.
The Story of an Inspiring Past: Historical
Sketch of the San José State Teachers College from 1862 to 1928
. San José,
California: San José State Teachers College, 1928.
San José State University Faculty Papers of H. Brett Melendy, MSS-2009-05-01, San José
State University Library Special Collections and Archives.
San José State University. About SJSU.
http://www.sjsu.edu/about_sjsu/
San José State University. School of Art and Design.
http://ad.sjsu.edu/home.html (accessed
November 2009).
Walsh, James P.
San José State University: An Interpretive
History, 1950-2000
. San José, California: San José State University,
2003.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Education, Higher -- California -- San José.
Art -- California -- San José.
Art -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- California -- San José.
Art -- Exhibitions.
San José State University -- History.
San José State University -- Art Dept. -- History.
San Jose State College
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence and Memos 1942-1954
Box 1, Folder 2
Course Catalogs Undated
Box 1, Folder 3
Exhibit Booklets and Pamphlets 1950-1961
Box 1, Folder 4
Exhibit Flyers and Posters 1951-1963
Box 1
Box 1, Folder 5
Japanese Scroll Provenance 2022