Records of A.M. Rousseau's Shopping Bag Ladies: Homeless Women Speak About Their Lives and related projects
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
This collection consists primarily of records, reports, and photographs documenting photographer, artist, and writer Ann Marie (A.M.) Rousseau's work with women experiencing homelessness in New York City during the 1970s and early 1980s. Some records from other projects are included, but photographs from Rousseau's 1981 book, Shopping Bag Ladies: Homeless Women Speak About Their Lives, make up the bulk of the collection.
Biographical / Historical
Ann Marie (A.M.) Rousseau (1946- ) is a painter, photographer and writer. Born in Massachusetts, she received a B.A. degree from the Massachusetts College of Art and an M.F.A. from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY.
In the early 1970s, Rousseau began working at the Shelter Care Center for Women in New York City, which provided services for women experiencing homelessness. Through The Metropolitan Museum of Art's "First Fruits Program," she received a grant to teach art workshops at the Shelter Care Center. The First Fruits Program was part of the larger CETA Artists Project in New York City. Funded under the federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) of 1973, it employed artists who were placed with community organizations for whom they taught classes, led workshops, and created public artworks. At the Shelter Care Center, Rousseau developed a photography workshop in which the women documented life in the shelter and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Under the terms of the grant, the photographs from Rousseau's workshop were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The photos were accompanied by text from Rousseau's interviews with the women exploring the circumstances that led to homelessness, and about their experiences in the shelter and in the workshop.
Rousseau then published a book based on her work with the women at the Shelter Care Center: Shopping Bag Ladies: Homeless Women Speak About Their Lives (Pilgrim Press, 1981). Her book was then was adapted into a 1985 television movie for CBS called ''Stone Pillow,'' starring Lucille Ball.
Rousseau continued her work with CETA-funded programs through the mid 1980s. She now lives and works in California.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into 5 series.
Series I: Shelter Care Center for Women Workshops, 1970-1987.
Series II: Shopping Bag Ladies: Homeless Women Speak About Their Lives, 1977-1985.
Series III: Exhibits, 1978-1996.
Series IV: Other Projects, 1970-1986.
Series V: Audiovisual Material [Restricted], 1977-1984.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists primarily of material related to photographer, writer, and artist Ann Marie (A.M.) Rousseau's work with women experiencing homelessness. It includes records, reports, and photographs documenting the art workshops Rousseau developed while working at the Shelter Care Center for Women in New York City from 1970-1980. Rousseua's workshops were part of the CETA Program, which was designed to provide jobs for artists. It was funded under the federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) and administered by the Cultural Council Foundation Artists Project in New York. These records include photographs taken by workshop participants, as well as poetry they composed and letters they wrote to Rousseau. Transcripts of some interviews Rousseau conducted with the women are also included, as are the model releases Rousseau had the participants sign. Some of the photographs are signed and/or captioned by Rousseau on the reverse.
Rousseau's interviews with and photographs of the women at the Shelter Care Center became the basis of her 1981 book Shopping Bag Ladies: Homeless Women Speak About Their Lives. The bulk of this collection consists of copies of photographs from the book, identified with the same titles and arranged in the same order in which they appear in the publication. There are often many copies of the same image in various sizes. Some of the photographs are signed and/or captioned by Rousseau on the reverse. There are also 3 copies of the book Shopping Bag Ladies: Homeless Women Speak About Their Lives, 2 softcover and 1 hardcover. In addition, there are copies of the book contract, book reviews, and letters from readers. In addition, there are records related to "Stone Pillow," the 1985 TV movie inspired by the Shopping Bag Ladies book, for which Rousseau served as a technical advisor.
Brochures, posters, text boards, photographs, and reviews related to four exhibits based on Rousseau's work with women experiencing homelessness are also part of the collection. These exhibits include:
"...Because of an Emergency" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, 1978.
"Images from the Shelter" at the Sirovich Senior Center, NYC, 1981.
"Out of Place Out of Mind" at Orange Coast College, CA, 1995.
"Photographs - Homeless Women" at Lehigh University, PA, 1996.
The collection also contains records and photographs documenting Rousseau's involvement with various other projects in New York City during the 1970s and 1980s. Some of these projects were part of the CETA Program. Project titles are taken from the creator's records.
Subjects
Genres
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org.
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: Records of A.M. Rousseau's Shopping Bag Ladies: Homeless Women Speak About Their Lives and related projects, PR 482, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Ann Marie Rousseau, 2024.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Archivist Marybeth Kavanagh arranged and described this collection in April 2026.