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Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Accession 13-136

Robbins, Warren M.

Warren M. Robbins Papers, 1923-2009

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Robbins, Warren M.
Title:Warren M. Robbins Papers
Dates:1923-2009
Quantity:5 cu. ft. (5 record storage boxes)
Collection:Accession 13-136
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

This accession consists of the personal papers of Warren M. Robbins, founder and director of the Museum of African Art which became a part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1979 and was later renamed the National Museum of African Art. The records document his early life growing up in Worcester, Massachusetts; his work in the Foreign Service; his work at the Museum of African Art and the National Museum of African Art; his lectures and interviews regarding African art; and his personal relationships with a variety of individuals including Saul Bellow, Maya Angelou, Chaim Gross, S. I. Hayakawa, Frances Humphrey Howard, Hubert H. Humphrey, and Raphael Soyer. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, publications, lectures, audiovisual materials, images, clippings, and other related materials. Some materials are in German and French.

Descriptive Entry

This accession consists of the personal papers of Warren M. Robbins, founder and director of the Museum of African Art which became a part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1979 and was later renamed the National Museum of African Art. The records document his early life growing up in Worchester, Massachusetts; his work in the Foreign Service; his work at the Museum of African and the National Museum of African Art; his lectures and interviews regarding African art; and his personal relationships with a variety of individuals including Saul Bellow, Maya Angelou, Chaim Gross, S. I. Hayakawa, Frances Humphrey Howard, Hubert H. Humphrey, and Raphael Soyer. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, publications, lectures, audiovisual materials, images, clippings, and other related materials. Some materials are in German and French.

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 13-136, Warren M. Robbins Papers

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Container List

Box 1

Biographical

Birth certificate, September 4, 1923

Box 1 of 5

Classical High School - 1941, 2001-2004

Box 1 of 5

Classical High School - 50th reunion - Class of 1941, 1991

Box 1 of 5

University of New Hampshire - Academic record, 1941-1942

Box 1 of 5

University of New Hampshire - Yearbook, 1945

Box 1 of 5

University of New Hampshire - 50th reunion - Classes of 1945 and 1946, 1995

Box 1 of 5

American Dependents High Schools of Germany - Erinnerungen, 1950

Box 1 of 5

American Dependents High Schools of Germany - Erinnerungen, 1951

Box 1 of 5

Lebanon Valley College, 1975

Box 1 of 5

Passports, 1950-1998

Box 1 of 5

Identification cards, 1949-1997

Box 1 of 5

Family

Correspondence and clippings, 1935- 1948, 1977-1982

Box 1 of 5

Correspondence

The Aspen Institute, 1981-1995

Box 1 of 5

The Barnes Foundation, 1983, 1991-1993

Box 1 of 5

Saul Bellow, 1977-1998

Box 1 of 5

Caring Institute, 1991-1996

Box 1 of 5

Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1997

Box 1 of 5

Duke Ellington School of the Arts, 1979-1987

Box 1 of 5

General, 1958-1998, 2001-2002, 2009

Box 1 of 5

Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, 1980-1987

Box 1 of 5

Museum of African Art, 1966-1975

Box 1 of 5

Charles O. Perry, 1988

Box 1 of 5

Jesse O. Tanner, 1977-1980

Box 1 of 5

Letters to the Editor, 1961-1999

Box 1 of 5

Cards, 1978-1979

Box 1 of 5

Chronological Files

January to June 1993 (2 folders)

Box 1 of 5

Box 2

July to December 1993

Box 2 of 5

January to June 1994 (2 folders)

Box 2 of 5

July to December 1994 (2 folders)

Box 2 of 5

1995

Box 2 of 5

January to July 1996

Box 2 of 5

July 1996 to February 1997

Box 2 of 5

February to December 1997

Box 2 of 5

1998

Box 2 of 5

1999 (2 folders)

Box 2 of 5

2000

Box 2 of 5

2001

Box 2 of 5

January to April 2002

Box 2 of 5

April to October 2002

Box 2 of 5

2003

Box 2 of 5

2004

Box 2 of 5

Box 3

Europe

Correspondence - 1951

Box 3 of 5

Correspondence - 1952

Box 3 of 5

Correspondence - 1953

Box 3 of 5

Correspondence - 1954

Box 3 of 5

Correspondence - 1955

Box 3 of 5

Correspondence - 1956

Box 3 of 5

Correspondence - 1957-1963

Box 3 of 5

Correspondence - France, 1967-1991

Box 3 of 5

Correspondence - Italy, 1981-1990

Box 3 of 5

State Department, 1961-1962

Box 3 of 5

Foreign Service, 1950-1960, 1996, 1998 (2 folders)

Box 3 of 5

United States Information Agency, 1949-1962 (4 folders)

Box 3 of 5

Germany, 1949-1962 (3 folders)

Box 3 of 5

Box 4

Germany - Personal, 1955-1960

Box 4 of 5

Germany - Teaching, 1949-1950

Box 4 of 5

Germany - Publication - Erziehung, 1952-1952

Box 4 of 5

Publications - General, 1952-1955

Box 4 of 5

McCarthyism in Austrian papers, 1953-1954

Box 4 of 5

Washington, D.C. - Work to be done, 1958-1960

Box 4 of 5

Lectures

Brochures and announcements, 1986-1991

Box 4 of 5

Awards and Honors

University of New Hampshire - Honorary degree, 1979

Box 4 of 5

Certificate of Public Service - Advisory Council of the Bureau of African Affairs, October 15, 1970

Box 4 of 5

Subjects

Sale of the Frederick Douglass townhouses, 1989

Box 4 of 5

Cameroon - Afo-A-Kom, 1973-1974, 1980, 1983

Box 4 of 5

Friends of the Frederick Douglas Museum, 1991

Box 4 of 5

Duke Ellington School of the Arts - African Gallery, 1985-1991

Box 4 of 5

Duke Ellington School of the Arts - Pan African Day, 1989

Box 4 of 5

Duke Ellington School of the Arts - Sculpture garden, 1985-1989

Box 4 of 5

General, 1982-1995

Box 4 of 5

Clippings, 1953-1996

Box 4 of 5

Images

Warren Robbins - Individual portraits, 1974, 2004

Box 4 of 5

Warren Robbins - Early life

Box 4 of 5

Maya Angelou

Box 4 of 5

Leonard Baskin

Box 4 of 5

Saul Bellow, 1982-1983

Box 4 of 5

Wilbur J. Cohen

Box 4 of 5

R. Buckminster Fuller

Box 4 of 5

Chaim Gross, 1983

Box 4 of 5

Francoise Gilot

Box 4 of 5

S. I. Hayakawa, 1979, 1982

Box 4 of 5

Frances Humphrey Howard

Box 4 of 5

Hubert H. Humphrey

Box 4 of 5

Lady Bird Johnson

Box 4 of 5

Lyndon B. Johnson, 1967

Box 4 of 5

Mary McFadden

Box 4 of 5

Eleanor Roosevelt

Box 4 of 5

Raphael Soyer, 1983

Box 4 of 5

Europe and the Foreign Service, 1950-1963 (2 folders)

Box 4 of 5

Museum of African Art, 1964-1981

Box 4 of 5

Frederick Douglass Museum

Box 4 of 5

Smithsonian, 1981

Box 4 of 5

University of Michigan Outstanding Achievement Award, 1994

Box 4 of 5

Capitol Hill house, 1989, 1992, 1997, 2004

Box 4 of 5

General, 1983-2004

Box 4 of 5

Box 5

Audiovisual

Hawaii - Lecture, 1994 (VHS tape)

Box 5 of 5

Frostburg State University - 109th commencement, morning ceremony, December 19, 1996 (VHS tape)

Box 5 of 5

In Black America, 1984 (audiocassette)

Box 5 of 5

Sierra Leone (audiocassette)

Box 5 of 5

African Art festival - Tape 3, 1989 (audiocassette)

Box 5 of 5

National Museum of African Art opening at Quadrangle, September 15, 1987 (audiocassette)

Box 5 of 5

Interview with Bill Rubin about Picasso (audiocassette)

Box 5 of 5

Discussion of Picasso and Braque exhibition (audiocassette)

Box 5 of 5

Museum of African Art - Dinner, July 25, 1978 (audiotape)

Box 5 of 5

African art discussion with Mr. Adeyemi and Mr. Chindongo (audiotape)

Box 5 of 5

Warren Robbins interview with Steve Allison (side 1) and Funny Girl, You are a Woman, etc. (Side 2) (audiotape)

Box 5 of 5

Warren Robbins speech for Grant Hillaber farewell party, 1963 (audiotape)

Box 5 of 5

Radio Smithsonian - Art of Africa, program no. 527, 26:30 minutes (audiotape)

Box 5 of 5

Window on Washington - Anne Blair interview with Warren Robbins, 27:30 minutes, March 24, 1972 (audiotape)

Box 5 of 5

Warren Robbins (audiotape)

Box 5 of 5