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Frederic Huntington Douglas

April 12, 2024

"Frederic Douglas" redirects here. Not to be confused with Frederick Douglass.

Frederic Huntington Douglas (October 29, 1897, in Evergreen, Colorado – April 23, 1956) also known as Eric Douglas.[1] "was one of the first scholars to recognize the artistic achievements of American Indians as well as the arts of Africa and Oceania."[2]

Early life edit

Douglas was the son of Charles Winfred Douglas (1867–1944), a canon in the Episcopal Church,[3][4] and Josepha Williams Douglas (1860-1938), one of the first female doctors in the state of Colorado. Douglas spent his early years at his family's home in Evergreen, CO, which later became the Hiwan Homestead Museum.[5] He had two children with wife Freda: Ann Pauline Maher (1928–1988), David Douglas (1932–1999), and Eve (Mrs. Wallace Jolivette).[6]

Education edit

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1921 from the University of Colorado and from 1921 to 1926 studied Fine Arts at the University of Michigan and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.[6][1] Douglas married Freda Bendix Gillespie (1902-1979) in 1926.[1]

From 1926 to 1929, Douglas was primarily a painter and wood carver. He and his wife, Freda, went on a trip around the world in 1928. This trip helped to develop a lifelong love of world arts, especially Japanese prints, Balinese wood carvings, and Asian textiles. Douglas collected broadly in this areas, as well as American textiles and American Indian arts.[6]

Douglas received an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Colorado in June 1948 and the University of Colorado Recognition Metal in 1956.[1]>[7]

Career edit

Douglas was hired as curator of [American] Indian Art at the Denver Art Museum in 1929[6][2][1] and was preceded by Edgar C. McMechan who was the first curator of Indian Art at DAM beginning in 1925.[8] He served as director of the Denver Art Museum from 1940 to 1942.[1] From 1942 to 1947 he held the title of Curator of Indian Arts at DAM.[6] He served as curator of Native Arts at the Denver Art Museum from 1947 until April 23, 1956.[1] During this time he was joined by assistant curator, Kate Peck Kent,[8] who went on to become "professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Denver, a research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a resident scholar at the School of American Research."[9]

Douglas created the Indian Leaflet series in 1930 which provided "summary accounts of culture areas and specific tribes alternated with comparative discussions of artifact types."[2] He also established "Indian Fashion Shows" (or Indian Style Shows) that used clothing from the Denver Art Museum's American Indian collection that were modeled by "society ladies and Native Americans."[2] He presented this fashion show over 100 times across the country.[6]

He served as a Commissioner of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (Federal Arts and Crafts Board) and as a trustee of a number of museums.[6]

Frederic Douglas, along with Rene d'Harnoncourt and Henry Clumb, was involved in the Indian Court,[10][11] Federal Building, at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition during the World's Fair in San Francisco. He served as a commissioner of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (Federal Arts and Crafts Board) and as a trustee of "various museums."[6][2] Douglas was enlisted by Rene d'Harnoncourt to design the Indian Art of the United States exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which opened in 1941 and included a major catalog written by Douglas and d'Harnoncourt.[12][13][2] A joint statement by Douglas and d'Harnoncourt clearly articulates their position on invention, innovation, and adaptation of arts. They wrote: "There are people who have created for themselves a romantic picture of a glorious past that is often far from accurate. They wish to see the living Indian return to an age that has long since passed and they resent any change to his art. But these people forget that any culture that is satisfied to copy the life of former generations has given up hope as well as life itself. The fact that we think of Navajo silversmithing as a typical Indian art and of the horsemanship of the Plains tribes as a typical Indian characteristic proves sufficiently that those tribes were strong enough to make such foreign contributions entirely their own by adapting them to the pattern of their own traditions. Why should it be wrong for the Indian people of today to do what they have done with great success in the past? Invention or adaptation of new forms does not necessarily mean repudiation of tradition but is often a source of its enrichment."[14][15]

Douglas was contracted to reorganize the exhibitions and collections at the Peabody Museum, Harvard University c. 1950.[6] He also regularly lectured at Harvard University, the University of Colorado, and the University of Denver.[6]

"With tremendous courage Eric continued his work despite the amputation of his left arm, intolerable pain, and the knowledge of imminent death from cancer.[6] "Only two months before his death he went to Berkeley [California] to serve as a consultant in the planning of the building and the exhibitions for the University of California Anthropological Museum."[6]

"In 1956, he was named honorary Curator of the American Indian section" of Nelson Rockefeller's Museum of Primitive Art (now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York).[6]

A book of ledger art drawings by a Cheyenne artist collected about 1865 known as the Frederic Douglas Ledger was once owned by Douglas.[16][17] Pages from this book are now in the collection of the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire[17] and the University of Iowa Museum of Art.[18]

Military service edit

Douglas spent a brief time during 1918 as a private in the Infantry.[6] He served in the Army Medical Corps from 1942 to 1944 in the Pacific Islands where he "expanded his interested to include the collecting of Oceanic Arts".[1] He served as a captain and later a major in the New Hebrides and the Philippines, Luzon during World War II.[2] At the time of his discharge Douglas was the rank of lieutenant colonel. "As registrar of the 31st General Hospital Unit he was the commanding officer of 130 nurses."[6]

Publications edit

Douglas's publications include: Indian Art of the United States (1941),[19] the Denver Art Museum's "Leaflet Series",[20] its "Material Culture Notes" (1939-1969).[21] and Salome: a poem[22]

Legacy edit

Douglas left much of his collections to the Denver Art Museum, including many of his rare books and books on American Indian and anthropological topics.[6] Douglas also had an extensive collection of books on sex and those were donated to the Institute For Sex Research at Indiana University. Select dictionaries and philology books were donated to the Denver Public Library.[6]

"Following his death in 1956, he was then succeeded as curator of the department of native art by Royal Hassrick, Norman Feder, Richard (Dick) Conn, Nancy Blomberg and, at present, John P. Lukavic, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Curator of Native Arts."[2]

"In 1974 the Douglas Society, now Friends of Native Arts: The Douglas Society, was founded to honor and ensure the continuance of the work of Frederic Douglas."[2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Kent, Kate Peck (August 1958). "Frederic Huntington Douglas 1897-1956". American Anthropologist. 60 (4): 737. doi:10.1525/aa.1958.60.4.02a00110.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Friends of Native Arts: The Douglas Society". Denver Art Museum. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  3. ^ Groves, Karen. "Canon Douglas". Just Around Here. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  4. ^ Parker, Dorothy Mills. "Musician, Linguist, Priest and Poet". Episcopal Archives. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  5. ^ Maher, Jack. "Hiwan Homestead Museum brings the past alive for students". Denver Post. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Wormington, H. Marie. "Frederic Huntington Douglas" (PDF). Cambridge.
  7. ^ "Honorary Degrees, University Medals and Distinguished Service Awards". University of Colorado Board of Regents. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  8. ^ a b "American Indian Art - Past Staff". Denver Art Museum. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  9. ^ "Kate Peck Kent Bio". Adobe Gallery. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  10. ^ "A Federal Art Project: Posters for Indian Court". Traditional Fine Arts Organization. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  11. ^ "Indian court, Federal Building, Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco, 1939 Antelope hunt from a Navaho drawing, New Mexico / / Siegriest". Library of Congress. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  12. ^ curator, catalogue by Beverly Gordon with Melanie Herzog; exhibition organized by the Elvehjem Museum of Art; guest; Potter, Beverly Gordon with Frances; Herzog, Melanie (1988). American Indian art : the collecting experience : Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, May 7-July 3, 1988. [Madison]: Elvehjem Museum of Art. p. 10. ISBN 9780932900180.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "The Museum of Modern Art Press Release - January 20, 1941" (PDF). Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  14. ^ Douglas, Frederic (1941). Indian Art of the United States. New York: The Museum of Modern Art. p. 10.
  15. ^ Croteau, Susan Ann (2008). But it Doesn't Look Indian: Objects, Archetypes and Objectified Others in Native American Art, Culture and Identity. p. 1. ISBN 978-1109058161.
  16. ^ "Picturing Change: The Impact of Ledger Drawings on Native American Art". Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  17. ^ a b "Unknown artist ("Douglas" Ledger), American (Tsistsistas (Cheyenne)), active mid - late 19th century Tsistsistas (Cheyenne) Central Plains Plains". Hood Museum, Dartmouth. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  18. ^ "Page 111 from the Frederic H. Douglas Ledger". University of Iowa Museum of Art. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  19. ^ Douglas, Frederic Huntington (1941). Indian Art of the United States. New York: Museum of Modern Art. p. 219.
  20. ^ Leaflet. OCLC 1334054.
  21. ^ Walker, Patricia Chambers; Graham, Thomas (2000). Material culture notes. ISBN 9780742503441. OCLC 2732268.
  22. ^ Salome : a poem. OCLC 18964501.

Further reading edit

  • Jack Maher and Devan Crean (April 11, 2016). "Hiwan Homestead Museum brings the past alive for students". The Denver Post. Story about Williams-Douglas family life at the lodge
  • Patricia Chambers Walker; Thomas Graham (2000). "Evergreen: Hiwan Homestead Museum". Directory of Historic House Museums in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-7425-0344-1.

April 12, 2024
frederic, huntington, douglas, frederic, douglas, redirects, here, confused, with, frederick, douglass, october, 1897, evergreen, colorado, april, 1956, also, known, eric, douglas, first, scholars, recognize, artistic, achievements, american, indians, well, ar. Frederic Douglas redirects here Not to be confused with Frederick Douglass Frederic Huntington Douglas October 29 1897 in Evergreen Colorado April 23 1956 also known as Eric Douglas 1 was one of the first scholars to recognize the artistic achievements of American Indians as well as the arts of Africa and Oceania 2 Contents 1 Early life 2 Education 3 Career 4 Military service 5 Publications 6 Legacy 7 References 8 Further readingEarly life editDouglas was the son of Charles Winfred Douglas 1867 1944 a canon in the Episcopal Church 3 4 and Josepha Williams Douglas 1860 1938 one of the first female doctors in the state of Colorado Douglas spent his early years at his family s home in Evergreen CO which later became the Hiwan Homestead Museum 5 He had two children with wife Freda Ann Pauline Maher 1928 1988 David Douglas 1932 1999 and Eve Mrs Wallace Jolivette 6 Education editHe received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1921 from the University of Colorado and from 1921 to 1926 studied Fine Arts at the University of Michigan and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts 6 1 Douglas married Freda Bendix Gillespie 1902 1979 in 1926 1 From 1926 to 1929 Douglas was primarily a painter and wood carver He and his wife Freda went on a trip around the world in 1928 This trip helped to develop a lifelong love of world arts especially Japanese prints Balinese wood carvings and Asian textiles Douglas collected broadly in this areas as well as American textiles and American Indian arts 6 Douglas received an honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Colorado in June 1948 and the University of Colorado Recognition Metal in 1956 1 gt 7 Career editDouglas was hired as curator of American Indian Art at the Denver Art Museum in 1929 6 2 1 and was preceded by Edgar C McMechan who was the first curator of Indian Art at DAM beginning in 1925 8 He served as director of the Denver Art Museum from 1940 to 1942 1 From 1942 to 1947 he held the title of Curator of Indian Arts at DAM 6 He served as curator of Native Arts at the Denver Art Museum from 1947 until April 23 1956 1 During this time he was joined by assistant curator Kate Peck Kent 8 who went on to become professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Denver a research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe New Mexico and a resident scholar at the School of American Research 9 Douglas created the Indian Leaflet series in 1930 which provided summary accounts of culture areas and specific tribes alternated with comparative discussions of artifact types 2 He also established Indian Fashion Shows or Indian Style Shows that used clothing from the Denver Art Museum s American Indian collection that were modeled by society ladies and Native Americans 2 He presented this fashion show over 100 times across the country 6 He served as a Commissioner of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board Federal Arts and Crafts Board and as a trustee of a number of museums 6 Frederic Douglas along with Rene d Harnoncourt and Henry Clumb was involved in the Indian Court 10 11 Federal Building at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition during the World s Fair in San Francisco He served as a commissioner of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board Federal Arts and Crafts Board and as a trustee of various museums 6 2 Douglas was enlisted by Rene d Harnoncourt to design the Indian Art of the United States exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York which opened in 1941 and included a major catalog written by Douglas and d Harnoncourt 12 13 2 A joint statement by Douglas and d Harnoncourt clearly articulates their position on invention innovation and adaptation of arts They wrote There are people who have created for themselves a romantic picture of a glorious past that is often far from accurate They wish to see the living Indian return to an age that has long since passed and they resent any change to his art But these people forget that any culture that is satisfied to copy the life of former generations has given up hope as well as life itself The fact that we think of Navajo silversmithing as a typical Indian art and of the horsemanship of the Plains tribes as a typical Indian characteristic proves sufficiently that those tribes were strong enough to make such foreign contributions entirely their own by adapting them to the pattern of their own traditions Why should it be wrong for the Indian people of today to do what they have done with great success in the past Invention or adaptation of new forms does not necessarily mean repudiation of tradition but is often a source of its enrichment 14 15 Douglas was contracted to reorganize the exhibitions and collections at the Peabody Museum Harvard University c 1950 6 He also regularly lectured at Harvard University the University of Colorado and the University of Denver 6 With tremendous courage Eric continued his work despite the amputation of his left arm intolerable pain and the knowledge of imminent death from cancer 6 Only two months before his death he went to Berkeley California to serve as a consultant in the planning of the building and the exhibitions for the University of California Anthropological Museum 6 In 1956 he was named honorary Curator of the American Indian section of Nelson Rockefeller s Museum of Primitive Art now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York 6 A book of ledger art drawings by a Cheyenne artist collected about 1865 known as the Frederic Douglas Ledger was once owned by Douglas 16 17 Pages from this book are now in the collection of the Hood Museum of Art Dartmouth College Hanover New Hampshire 17 and the University of Iowa Museum of Art 18 Military service editDouglas spent a brief time during 1918 as a private in the Infantry 6 He served in the Army Medical Corps from 1942 to 1944 in the Pacific Islands where he expanded his interested to include the collecting of Oceanic Arts 1 He served as a captain and later a major in the New Hebrides and the Philippines Luzon during World War II 2 At the time of his discharge Douglas was the rank of lieutenant colonel As registrar of the 31st General Hospital Unit he was the commanding officer of 130 nurses 6 Publications editDouglas s publications include Indian Art of the United States 1941 19 the Denver Art Museum s Leaflet Series 20 its Material Culture Notes 1939 1969 21 and Salome a poem 22 Legacy editDouglas left much of his collections to the Denver Art Museum including many of his rare books and books on American Indian and anthropological topics 6 Douglas also had an extensive collection of books on sex and those were donated to the Institute For Sex Research at Indiana University Select dictionaries and philology books were donated to the Denver Public Library 6 Following his death in 1956 he was then succeeded as curator of the department of native art by Royal Hassrick Norman Feder Richard Dick Conn Nancy Blomberg and at present John P Lukavic the Andrew W Mellon Foundation Curator of Native Arts 2 In 1974 the Douglas Society now Friends of Native Arts The Douglas Society was founded to honor and ensure the continuance of the work of Frederic Douglas 2 References edit a b c d e f g h Kent Kate Peck August 1958 Frederic Huntington Douglas 1897 1956 American Anthropologist 60 4 737 doi 10 1525 aa 1958 60 4 02a00110 a b c d e f g h i Friends of Native Arts The Douglas Society Denver Art Museum Retrieved March 2 2017 Groves Karen Canon Douglas Just Around Here Retrieved March 6 2017 Parker Dorothy Mills Musician Linguist Priest and Poet Episcopal Archives Retrieved March 6 2017 Maher Jack Hiwan Homestead Museum brings the past alive for students Denver Post Retrieved March 7 2017 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Wormington H Marie Frederic Huntington Douglas PDF Cambridge Honorary Degrees University Medals and Distinguished Service Awards University of Colorado Board of Regents Retrieved March 8 2017 a b American Indian Art Past Staff Denver Art Museum Retrieved March 8 2017 Kate Peck Kent Bio Adobe Gallery Retrieved March 8 2017 A Federal Art Project Posters for Indian Court Traditional Fine Arts Organization Retrieved March 6 2017 Indian court Federal Building Golden Gate International Exposition San Francisco 1939 Antelope hunt from a Navaho drawing New Mexico Siegriest Library of Congress Retrieved March 7 2017 curator catalogue by Beverly Gordon with Melanie Herzog exhibition organized by the Elvehjem Museum of Art guest Potter Beverly Gordon with Frances Herzog Melanie 1988 American Indian art the collecting experience Elvehjem Museum of Art University of Wisconsin Madison May 7 July 3 1988 Madison Elvehjem Museum of Art p 10 ISBN 9780932900180 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link The Museum of Modern Art Press Release January 20 1941 PDF Museum of Modern Art Retrieved March 6 2017 Douglas Frederic 1941 Indian Art of the United States New York The Museum of Modern Art p 10 Croteau Susan Ann 2008 But it Doesn t Look Indian Objects Archetypes and Objectified Others in Native American Art Culture and Identity p 1 ISBN 978 1109058161 Picturing Change The Impact of Ledger Drawings on Native American Art Retrieved March 6 2017 a b Unknown artist Douglas Ledger American Tsistsistas Cheyenne active mid late 19th century Tsistsistas Cheyenne Central Plains Plains Hood Museum Dartmouth Retrieved March 7 2017 Page 111 from the Frederic H Douglas Ledger University of Iowa Museum of Art Retrieved March 7 2017 Douglas Frederic Huntington 1941 Indian Art of the United States New York Museum of Modern Art p 219 Leaflet OCLC 1334054 Walker Patricia Chambers Graham Thomas 2000 Material culture notes ISBN 9780742503441 OCLC 2732268 Salome a poem OCLC 18964501 Further reading editJack Maher and Devan Crean April 11 2016 Hiwan Homestead Museum brings the past alive for students The Denver Post Story about Williams Douglas family life at the lodge Patricia Chambers Walker Thomas Graham 2000 Evergreen Hiwan Homestead Museum Directory of Historic House Museums in the United States Rowman amp Littlefield p 39 ISBN 978 0 7425 0344 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Frederic Huntington Douglas amp oldid 1211547269, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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