Arthur Upham Pope papers

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Collection Data

Description: Collection consists of Pope's correspondence and other papers, records of the Institute and scrapbooks of clippings. General correspondence, 1921-1951 (bulk from 1920s and 1930s) of Pope concerns his work as an art adviser, trips to Iran, exhibitions of Persian art, writing, lecturing and other professional activities, and personal matters. Some correspondence is with his wife, Dr. Phyllis Ackerman (1893-1977), and relates to their work as Iran specialists. Reprints, manuscripts and typescripts, ca. 1930-1951, of speeches and articles by Pope, Ackerman and others are included, as well as page proofs of the Survey of Persian Art. Also, correspondence, reports, minutes and printed material from political committees with which Pope was involved, and miscellaneous personal and financial papers. Records of the Institute, ca. 1930-1951, consist of correspondence, most of which is Pope's as director; and minutes, financial documents, reports, memoranda, press releases, radio scripts, and printed materials. Topics include exhibitions, conferences, lectures, celebrations, and concerts, as well as the Institute's archives, library, museum, and bookshop. Also covered are archaeological expeditions and anthropological work, fundraising and other financial matters, activities of the School for Asiatic Studies which was part of the Institute, and board and committee business.
Names: Pope, Arthur Upham, 1881-1969 (Creator); Ackerman, Phyllis, 1893-1977 (Correspondent); Behr, Elizabeth (Contributor); Carruthers, John, 1951- (Contributor); Grunebaum, Gustave E. von (Gustave Edmund), 1909-1972 (Contributor); Hoenigswald, Henry M., 1915-2003 (Contributor); Keeling, E. H. (Edward Herbert) (Contributor); Kelley, Charles Fabens, 1885-1960 (Contributor); Longden, Alfred A (Contributor); Mirzayanz, J.B (Contributor); Payne, Robert, active 1589 (Contributor); Pinchot, Cornelia Bryce, 1881-1960 (Contributor); Pope, Arthur Upham, 1881-1969 (Addressee); Ragini Devi; Ross, E. Denison (Edward Denison), Sir, 1871-1940 (Contributor); Schmidt, Erich Friedrich, 1897-1964 (Contributor); Schroeder, Eric, 1904- (Contributor); Sizer, Theodore, 1892-1967 (Contributor); Smith, Myron Bement (Contributor); Stora, Maurice (Contributor); Stora, Raphael (Contributor); Taylor, Myron Charles, 1874-1959 (Contributor); American Institute for Iranian Art and Archaeology (Contributor); Asia Institute (Contributor); Committee for National Morale (Correspondent); Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced German Scholars (Contributor); Friends of the Spanish Republic (Correspondent); International Brigade Dependents and Wounded Aid Committee (Correspondent); Iranian Institute of America (Contributor); School for Asiatic Studies (Contributor); School for Iranian Studies (Contributor); United China Relief (Correspondent); United States. Army (Contributor); United States. Office of Strategic Services (Contributor); United States. Office of War Information (Contributor); Writers' War Board (Correspondent); Pope, Arthur Upham, 1881-1969 (Author)
Dates / Origin: Date Created: 1921 - 1951
Library locations: Manuscripts and Archives Division; Shelf locator: MssCol 2454
Topics: Archaeology -- Iran; Architecture -- Iran; Art, Iranian; World War, 1939-1945 -- Iran; Art consultants; Art historians; Asia -- Study and teaching -- United States; China -- Civil War, 1945-1949 -- History; Iran -- Study and teaching -- United States; Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939
Genres: Scrapbooks
Notes: Biographical/historical: Pope was an American authority on Iranian art and archaeology. He began his work on Iran during the 1920's, making many expeditions to Iran from the 1920's until his death; serving as Honorary Art Advisor to the Iranian government beginning in 1925; advising the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum, and the Textile Museum of the District of Columbia on Iranian art during the 1920's and 1930's; acting as a middleman between dealers and purchasers of Iranian art objects and antiquities; serving as organizer, director, or co-director of international exhibitions of Iranian art in Philadelphia, 1926, London, 1931, and Leningrad, 1935; editing the important multi-volume Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric to the Present Times (first published in 1938 by the Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Institute of Persian Art and Archaeology); conducting, beginning in 1929, a photographic survey of Iranian Islamic architecture in Iran, as well as in Armenia, the Caucasus, Turkestan, Afghanistan, India, Iraq, and the African coast; founding, in 1930, the American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology; and writing and lecturing in his field. Pope's wife, Dr. Phyllis Ackerman, 1893-1977, was also an Iran specialist. Her work was on early and prehistoric myths and symbols in Iranian culture, and art and textiles of Iran and other Asian and European cultures. She was on the faculty of the American Institute of Persian Art and Archaeology, and was the Assistant Editor of Pope's Survey of Persian Art.... The American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology, whose records make up a large part of the collection, was founded in order to carry out research, publication, and instruction in Iranian languages, art, and culture. Pope was the first Director. In 1937 the name was changed to the American Institute for Iranian Art and Archaeology to reflect current usage; the Institute was also known by the shorter "Iranian Institute". The Institute opened its School for Iranian Studies, with Pope as Chancellor, in the Spring of 1939, offering courses for academic credit. In 1942 the School's name was changed to the School for Asiatic Studies, and its program was expanded to offer courses in other. Asian languages and cultures. In 1947 the Institute's name was changed to the Asia Institute, reflecting its new focus on the languages and cultures of all of Asia. The new Asia Institute was composed of the Iranian Institute (carrying on the Iranian work of the original organization), the School for Asiatic Studies, and the Institute of Asiatic Economics. The Institute had a museum, library, archives, and bookstore; its publication program produced a semi-annual Bulletin, a reprint series, Pope's Survey of Persian Art..., and other books and publications; it organized archaeological expeditions, either independently, or jointly with other institutions, to Kish, Barghouthiat, Rayy (Rhages), North and South Luristan, Astarabad, Damghan, and other sites in or important to Iran; it sponsored projects and expeditions to document and preserve the traditional arts and crafts of Iran producing, among other things, a film documenting carpet weaving techniques, late 1930's; and offered lectures, concerts, and other presentations of Iranian and, later, Asian culture. During World War Two the Institute helped train Office of War Information field representatives, and also offered its special skills to the Office of Strategic Services, the State Department, and the United States Army. During the Nazi years, the Institute received grants from the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced German Scholars to finance the salaries of some of its faculty. Pope retired from the Institute in 1953.; Content: Pope's correspondence, 1921-1951 (the bulk dates from the 1920's and 1930's) concerns his work as an adviser to individuals interested in buying Iranian art objects and antiquities (his clients included Mrs. John D. Rockefeller and William Randolph Hearst); trips to Iran; the Exhibition of Persian Art held at the Sesquicentennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1926, and the related Conference on Oriental Art held in New York and Philadelphia; the International Exhibition of Persian Art, London, 1931; the Survey of Persian Art...; some Institute matters; writing, lecturing, and other professional activities; and personal matters. Some letters are addressed to Dr. Ackerman and relate to her own work and to Pope's. Reprints, manuscripts, and typescripts, ca. l930's-1951, of speeches and articles by Pope, Ackerman, and others are included, as well as page proofs of the Survey of Persian Art... Also included are correspondence, reports, minutes, and printed material from various World War Two and Spanish Civil War committees with which Pope was involved. These include: United China Relief; Committee for National Morale (which Pope organized and directed); Writers' War Board; the International Brigade Dependants and Wounded Aid Committee (London); Friends of the Spanish Republic; others. A few miscellaneous personal and financial papers are included. Records of the Institute, ca. 1930-1951, consist of correspondence and subject files in various alphabetical sequences. Both types of files consist largely of correspondence, most of which is Pope's as Director of the Institute and the School. Minutes, financial documents, reports, programs, invitations, announcements, press releases, memoranda, clippings, guest registers, radio scripts, course catalogs, syllabi, reading lists, course schedules, descriptive brochures, and other printed material are included. Despite the staff's multi-lingual activities, records are in English, with a few letters in French. Discussed are: exhibitions, conferences, lectures, concerts, luncheons, annual and honorary dinners, and celebrations; the Institute's archives, library, museum, and bookshop; archaeological expeditions and anthropological work; appeals to foundations and other fundraising and financial matters; Board and committee matters; membership; publicity; planning; research, teaching, and office staff applications, appointments, activities, and deaths; and School activities. Scrapbooks of clippings (some mounted but unbound) of articles from United States newspapers relating to archaeological, artistic, and political matters in or relating to Iran, and activities of the Institute and of Pope, Sir Edward Denison Ross, and other Iran scholars, 1930-1941. Mounted, unbound clippings of articles about other countries in Asia, and five scrapbooks containing clippings of articles about current events in China, 1945-1947, are included.
Physical Description: Extent: 19 linear feet (21 boxes)
Type of Resource: Text
Identifiers: NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b11635616; MSS Unit ID: 2454; Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 7bfb8630-b977-013c-4708-0242ac110002

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Arthur Upham Pope papers

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