Emma Eubank
Scope and Contents
The Haystack Mountain School of Craft-related materials of art historian Alana VanDerwerker date from circa 1950-2019 and measure 2.5 linear feet. The materials document her research on the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts' development from the 1950s-1970s, which culminated in her published book Haystack at Liberty, through correspondence, writings, interviews with founding Haystack artists, photographic material, and research on various topics related to Haystack.
The correspondence series contains letters between VanDerwerker and notable figures at Haystack, including Francis and Priscilla Merritt, Margaret Beasom Swart, and former Haystack Director Howard Evans. The writings series includes notecards on persons related to Haystack, notebooks of interview musings and archival work, several unpublished essays and appendices by VanDerwerker, and materials related to an unpublished volume edited by Ned Cooke. The interviews series is largely made up of Haystack artist interviews by VanDerwerker in pairs of cassette recordings and transcripts. The photographic material series contains snapshots and negatives of Haystack's development, classes and daily life, with photographs used in VanDerwerker's book grouped by chapter. The research files series contains printed material concerning Haystack, and notes and teaching files from Jack Lenor Larsen and Janet TenBroeck.
Language
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated in 2022 by Alana VanDerwerker.
Related Materials
Also found in the Archives of American Art is the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts records, circa 1950-1969; an oral history interview with Francis Sumner Merritt, 1979 May 25-June 25; an oral history interview with Jack Lenor Larsen, 2004 February 6-8; and oral history interviews with others researched and interviewed by VanDerwerker.
Processing Information
The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Emma Eubank in 2023.