Starting in 1955, the Archives of American Art began documenting Philadelphia-related art material for the Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project. This epic undertaking has involved working with numerous institutions and estates across the city to preserve material related to Philadelphia artists and organizations.

"[The archives] contains not only the papers of painters, sculptors, craftsmen, collectors and dealers, but also those of historians, curators, critics, museums, societies, and institutions- the persons and places that have had to do with art in America” - Art-Related Archival Materials in the Phila. Region 1984-89 Survey

The Art Department, along with the Rare Book Department, Theatre Collection, and Print and Picture Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia, lent material to be filmed for the Philadelphia Project. Primary material from the Art Department includes documents from Sarah Ball Dodson, Cyrus E. Dallin, Christian Brinton, Wilson Eyre, Violet Oakley, and Edith Emerson. In 1990, the Art Department donated the letters to Edith Emerson and Violet Oakley to the Archives of American Art. While those items are no longer here, a portion of the holdings is still in the Art Department, available for anyone to see upon request. 

Up until this fall, the discoverability of this collection was limited. Researchers looking on the Archives of American Art website would find that the Free Library held the microfilm reels, but if that researcher then searched for the reels in our online catalog, nothing would come up! To make sure this collection is easily accessible, the Art Department has recently added the reels to the original survey’s record. Each name and organization has been added as authors to the record, making it all searchable on our online catalog. The Art Department has also typed up the originally handwritten index of these microfilm holdings and linked this index to the record, which you can also view here. 

On Thursday, November 13, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., the Art Department and Newspapers and Microfilm Department will host a program showing some of the original material lent for the project. There will also be microfilm readers available to view these reels from the Philadelphia Project. 

Can’t make it to the program? That’s okay, these items are always available for anyone to view at any time! There’s no need to set up an appointment to view the microfilm reels or the items from the Art Department. Visit the Newspapers and Microfilm Department or Art Department in the Parkway Central Library anytime during our open hours.