Series I: Correspondence and Other Materials

The most valuable portion of Series I are those items documenting Popular Front arts organizations and Hugo Gellert's role therein (1934-44). These files contain correspondence, memos, press releases, minutes, etc., from the Artists Committee for Action for the Municipal Art Gallery and Center, the Artists Coordination Committee (ACC), Artists for Victory, the National Society of Mural Painters, the New York Society of Women Artists, and other organizations. In addition to the World's Fair campaign (including Gellert's exhibit proposal), there is documentation of conflict over the content of the various arts programs sponsored by the U.S. government, and conflict about the working conditions and artistic freedom of artists participating in these programs. In addition to Gellert, the principal correspondent is Frederic Knight (ACC). There are also letters from John Taylor Arms, Alfred Barr, Earl Browder, Stuart Davis, Philip Evergood,Tom Mooney, Robert Moses, and a postcard from Art Young. Other correspondents include officials of the Federal Art Project (U.S. Works Progress Administration) and of the World's Fair. The papers also contain similar, but sparser files documenting Gellert's activities from the 1950s through the 1970s. There is a short story, possibly autobiographical; a long handwritten letter to "Theodore," probably a business partner, about the quarrel that led to their estrangement; a file of Hungarian language correspondence and notes; clippings and press releases documenting Gellert's artistic career, and a proletarian play, "The Wall Between," by Leonard B. Wallis. There is also one folder of notes and doodles for art project proposals.