The Art Collection documents women's participation in, and contributions to, the broad field of art from 1857 to 1988. The material consists of articles, autographs, bibliographies, brochures, catalogs, correspondence, interviews, newsletters, newspaper clippings, notes, pamphlets, photographs, postcards, posters, publicity, resumés, a reel-to-reel tape, speeches, and typescripts. There are only a few items dating from the nineteenth century, all of which are magazine articles or newspaper clippings that focus on the lives and work of individual women artists, including Angelica Kaufman and Rosa Bonheur. The bulk of the collection dates from the twentieth century, with most items originating between 1920 and 1980. The earlier twentieth century material documents women's contributions to the fields of visual art, architecture, landscape architecture, and graphic design. This includes biographical materials on designers Florence Morton and Helen Dryden; landscape architects Adelaide Derringer, Louise Klein-Miller, and Beatrix Farrand; and artists Mary Cassatt, Katharine S. Dreier, Caroline Durieux, Sarah Eddy Jackson, Beth Creevey, Hildreth Meiere, and Georgia O'Keeffe.

There is also a large amount of material in the collection dating from the late 1960s and 1970s documenting the impact of feminism on the art world, showing both the reassessment of women's historical contributions to the field, and the explosion of feminist art that occurred in the 1970s. Included here are studies and reports on the status of women in the arts, catalogs for exhibits of feminist art, newsletters from organizations of feminist artists, and material on contemporary women artists such as Judy Chicago, Alice Neel, Louise Grassie, Frieda Savitz, Myrna Shiras, Lilly Martin Spencer, and many others.

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Art Collection, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

Materials in this subject collection were either purchased or given to the Sophia Smith Collection by various donors.

Periodic additions to collection are expected.

Finding aid revised in 2002 by Kerstin Larson, intern. Introductory text by Kate Weigand. Recent additions may not be reflected in the finding aid.