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Project Update: Where in the world is John Rhoden?

January 29, 2020May 6, 2021Kelin Baldrige

Contributed by Jahna Auerbach, Assistant Archivist for the John Rhoden papers

When the processing team began organizing the John Rhoden papers we were challenged with identifying over 2,300 slides from John Rhoden’s travels. A majority of the slides were unlabeled and unorganized. At best, some slides included labels inscribed on the physical slides with the name of the country or city name, usually misspelled. To create useful and meaningful descriptive catalog records, we have been researching the places John visited for the past few months.

Labeled slides being organized by country. Taken by the author on October 29, 2019.

Every detail is a clue

To physically arrange the slides, we first took a broad approach–identifying and organizing the slides by continent and then by country. This step required multiple passes between Kelin and I. The process included a significant amount of research, including looking up obscure architecture, street signs, traditional dress, flora and fauna, types of alcohol, types of transportation, and lots and lots of translation. Anything could be a clue. One day I spent hours looking at Soviet Era street lights in hopes of identifying a small town.

Other days were spent identifying countries by different languages that were found on street signs, store fronts, and license plates. In order to translate these clues, we not only used Google translate, but we sent images to family and friends who were from the countries that John had visited in hopes that they could help translate, identify languages, or identify alphabets.

Once we were able to identify the countries represented in a slide, we began identifying specific locations, typically historical sites and buildings. This meant spending lots of time in Google street view walking from, for example, one Russian cathedral to the next, trying to see if we could identify where John was from the smallest clues. Luckily, many of the sites John visited still exist!

Our job is to identify who she is! (taken between October 1958 and December 1959)

Part Archivist // Part Detective

John Rhoden’s travel slides are color positive, 35mm film, and mounted between two pieces of cardstock. To identify certain places we had to utilize light boxes, magnifying glasses, digital scans and even Photoshop to create more sharpness and contrast between letters.

This image, taken between December 1958 and March 1959, is an example of a slide we needed to identify.

Here is an example of how we would identify a location on an unlabeled slide (above):

The slide is unlabeled, but the characters on the stone sign/marker reveals it is more likely East Asia, based on Rhoden’s travel history.
The characters resemble Japanese characters, so at this point we compared these images to other images we have that Rhoden labeled Japan.
The subject of the image is a group of people (family) having their photograph taken in front of a stone relief sign. We deduced that it is likely a tourist area.
After failing to find a tourist site in Japan with a matching sign we asked a family friend to translate the writing on the sign . We eventually learned that it says “National Treasure Great Buddha of Kamakura”
Then we revisited Google maps to make sure we have the correct place. On google street view there is an identical sign, but it is in a different location and has a different base. (Image: below left, the stone marker in its current location.[1])
Next we had to try to find images of the Great Buddha of Kamakura from the 1950s-1960s. Only through finding those images were we able to find confirmation of the stone sign, with the same base, near the Great Buddha of Kamakura. (Image: below right, In this photograph from 1968, the stone marker matches that of the slide.[2])

This is just an example of the identification process for one slide. But finding the identification for one slide can help identify many others. By identifying this one slide we now know that John traveled to Kamakura, Japan. There is a strong possibility that other slides from the area are also found in the collection, or at the very least, we can definitively label the slides “Japan”.

For other slides the subject may be somewhat generic. When a slide only shows, for example, a close-up of a roof or a cycle rickshaw, our Google searches tend to look like the following: “blue roof Russian cathedral Moscow” or “Indonesian cyclo”. We make educated guesses as to the location and continue to do so until we make an identification. Throughout the process, we gain new knowledge and awareness of specific regions, cultures, architecture, and geography. In fact, as we continue to learn more and more about certain countries, we become “subject specialists”: Kelin specializes in Europe; Hoang specializes in India and Italy; and I specialize in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Above is an example of a close-up image of architecture with little-to-no context given. We were able to identify this image as the roof and south tower of Saint Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. This identification led to a precise date, 1952, when Rhoden was in Austria.

Cataloging these slides have made me feel as if I have walked the streets of so many countries. I have also learned that many countries have developed so much over the last 70 years. For example, Seoul, South Korea in 1958 is unrecognizable compared to Seoul 2020, while other places have barely changed.

We would also like to use this blog post to thank everyone who has taken the time to help us translate and identify John travel photos. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without you!

R and L: Slides on a light table, in the process of being organized by country (November 12, 2019)

For reference, the following is a list of countries John traveled to between 1951 and 1963: (in alphabetical order) Armenia, Cambodia, Croatia, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Jerusalem, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Monaco, Morocco, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sardinia, Scotland, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Tibet, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zanzibar.

Image Credits:

The Great Buddha of Kamakura from Google Maps. Captured by Google in 2010.
Sparrow, L. (1968) “Great Buddha of Kamakura,” [digital image]. Retrieved from: https://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/977126/great-buddha-of-kamakura/?search_hash=744c19a5b3a19e0562dfc5cee5e8007a&search_offset=0&search_limit=100&search_sort_by=relevance_desc

This project, Rediscovering John W. Rhoden: Processing, Cataloging, Rehousing, and Digitizing the John W. Rhoden papers, is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.

Project Update: Digitizing the John Rhoden papers (follow-up)

January 10, 2020May 6, 2021Kelin Baldrige

Contributed by Kelin Baldridge, Project Archivist for the John Rhoden papers

As a follow up to the previous post, the following is a more visually-focused update on our progress to date!

The largest deliverable of the John Rhoden papers project is 5,000 publicly-available digitized items from the collection. With that said, our recent work has been focused on digitizing and cataloging. At the time of posting, we have digitized 2,610 physical records, totaling 3,275 individual scans.

We have worked our way through the manuscripts and black and white photographs and are currently scanning Rhoden’s color slides. Scanning the slides has proven to be an interesting challenge and our resident digitization expert, Jahna, has a post in the works explaining those challenges and solutions. Overall, however, digitization and cataloging is fairly straightforward work. So, in order to keep things interesting, we have included some gems discovered during the process below!

First, we have John and Richenda’s trip to Egypt touring some of the most iconic pyramids in the world to (precariously) riding camels and donkeys. The Rhodens clearly had the time of their lives!

Richenda, pyramids at Giza, 1958
John, pyramids at Giza, 1958
John, Colossi of Memnon, 1955-1959
United Nations Peacekeeper, 1958

The slides also introduce countless new artists to the collection, both known and unknown. One of the most interesting is Hasan Kaptan, the Turkish prodigy who is largely unknown in the modern era. Born in Ankara, Turkey in 1942, Kaptan exhibited throughout Turkey, had a one-man (boy) show in Paris, and exhibited in the Galerie St. Etienne in New York (Paintings of a Ten-Year-Old Turkish Painter on October 29, 1952) by age ten. Throughout his adolescence, he continued to exhibit around Europe and in the United States. His story and work was featured in Time and Harper’s Bazaar. As an adult, Kaptan seemingly stepped away from exhibiting and selling his art and has largely been obscured from history.

Hasan Kaptan (aged 13-17), with his art, circa 1955-1959
Serbian sculptor, circa 1955-1959

In 1954, John enjoyed the beaches of Sardinia, taking a break from his hard work at the American Academy in Rome.

John Rhoden with friends in Santa Teresa, Sardinia, 1954
Richenda Rhoden posing on a dock in Maddalena, Sardinia, 1954

Rhoden also visited the Waterford Crystal factory in Waterford, Ireland and photographed the workers during the crystal making process.

Worker at the Waterford Crystal factory, circa 1955-1959.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Project Update: Digitizing the John Rhoden papers

January 9, 2020May 6, 2021admin

Contributed by Hoang Tran, Project Director and Director of Archives

The team reached a project milestone this past week! We have digitized 2500 items! That means we’re 50% done with the digitization portion of the project.

Photographic prints and color slides make up the bulk of the records that have been digitized so far. Since Rhoden traveled extensively through Europe, Africa, and Asia, it has been an amazing experience viewing the exotic locations. The team also began cataloging portions of the digitized records which has been a great team building activity! For instance, since many of the slides were only identified by the country, we spent some time searching for the exact locations John visited. This required us to examine the smallest details within the images–signs, monuments, clothing, bus colors, trolley cars, license plates, etc. We also used Google Street View and Google Translate to help us figure out the specific sites/cities Rhoden visited.

Jahna (Assistant Archivist) was in charge of digitizing the slides documenting Russia. She was enamored with the country’s architecture. We all learned that “Onion Dome” was typically associated with Russian Orthodox churches.

As we continue digitizing Rhoden’s travel slides, we’re excited to get a chance to explore and learn more about the countries he visited (over 35!). Although the countries have changed so much since the 1950s-1960s, many of the buildings, landmarks, and monuments still remain.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Introducing Lawrence Kay

December 20, 2019May 6, 2021Kelin Baldrige

Contributed by Jahna Auerbach, Assistant Archivist for the John Rhoden papers

Lawrence Lew Kay found his way into our archives through his wife Richenda’s (wife of John Rhoden) papers. Lawrence was Richenda’s first husband, and through letters and newspaper clippings, we were able to understand his life.

Lawrence was born in 1914 and lived in Seattle, Washington with his family. It is unclear through records if he was born in America or in Tangshan, China, where his family originated. Lawrence was a highly educated man; he received his B.A from Lingan University, China in 1937 and graduated from Harvard University in 1941 with a degree in Business Administration. Lawrence and Richenda Phillips met at the University of Washington in Seattle. They married each other soon afterward, just mere weeks before Lawrence was enlisted in the Air Force and sent to China as an American representative. Kay’s journey to China included a ship to Northern Africa, where he spent roughly a month. Unfortunately, Lawrence would never arrive in China.

While processing the papers, I was deeply enthralled by the many letters that Richenda received from Shan Yan Leung, nicknamed ‘Bird,’ who was a friend of Lawrence’s. Through these letters, we can understand Richenda and Lawrence a little better. It seems that Richenda and Lawrence married only a few days before he was deployed. It appears that Richenda did not know Lawrence’s family very well. It was Shan Yan Leung who gave her their address, and he asked Richenda to inform them of Lawrence’s status as missing in action.

Lawrence writes to Richenda in detail in several letters while he is away. In these letters, he tells her about his travels to Northern Africa. What is most notable is the lack of food on the ship–Lawrence discusses in great detail how there was always a shortage of meals.

Even on land, Lawrence writes about hunting for food and locals offering him food. Lawrence tells Richenda about teaching fellow officers Mandarin and giving lectures about China. In his last letter to Richenda, Lawrence describes meeting locals and a young girl who is an artist. He asks Richenda to send him supplies for her. His last words to Richenda, “As for my future letters, it might be sometime before you hear from me again. In the meantime, remember that I love you so very much, and I think of you whenever I see anything I like or do anything. Take good care of yourself and keep well, my dearest. With all my love to my Dearest, My lovely sweetheart. – Lawrence” (MS_2019_01_1006i)

Kay’s last letter to Richenda Rhoden from November of 1943.

Lawrence died on November 27, 1943, at the age of 29 on the Rohna, a British troopship, which was attacked and sunk by a fleet of German planes in a coordinated surprise attack. The Rohna was scheduled to arrive in China where Lawrence would begin his service. Lawrence Kay was one of 1,015 America and British soldiers who died in this surprise attack. The attack on the Rohna marks the highest amount of America casualties in a naval attack in WWII, taking months for the American government to receive accurate information about the attack.

With the lack of constant contact, Richenda was left to wonder what happened to Lawrence. She began to hunt for answers, setting out to contact survivors of the Rohna. Through letters, Richenda learned that Lawrence escaped the initial barrage of missile fire with only minor injuries, but he was ultimately reported missing. For months she hoped he survived and was in an Allied hospital, unable to contact her due to his convalescence. As the months went on, it became clear that Lawrence had not survived the attack, and it is assumed that he tragically drowned after escaping the brunt of the German attack. Lawrence Lew Kay’s name was inscribed in a memorial for fallen Chinese American soldiers of World War II, located north of Hing Hay Park in Seattle, Washington.

Correspondence from Kay to Richenda Rhoden from October of 1943.

Lawrence Lew Kay had a fascinating life, regardless of how short it was. It is clear from his accolades and accomplishments that he would have made a significant impact on both the domestic and international stage. While there are still many unanswered questions about his life and death, we hope to continue uncovering more about his life in the Rhoden papers.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Rhoden papers highlight: Beings Anthropomorphic

December 9, 2019May 6, 2021Kelin Baldrige

Contributed by Kelin Baldridge, Project Archivist for the John Rhoden papers

Over here in the archives, we recently stumbled upon this enormous planning sketch for one of John Rhoden’s sculptures. The figures depicted in the sketch looked familiar, so we decided to do some digging within the papers to see if we could contextualize it.

Archives staff with the planning sketch for John Rhoden’s Beings Anthropomorphic.

Photographs in the collection revealed that this sketch was for a sculpture titled Beings Anthropomorphic. Captions on the photographs indicate that this sculpture was created specifically for the African American Museum in Philadelphia in 1975. There are no documents or correspondence directly related to this artwork and, as such, we have been unable to confirm the information on the photograph captions.

A label on the photograph suggests the sculpture was installed at the African American Museum in Philadelphia in the mid to late 1970s.

From the photographs, we do know that the artwork was completed and installed somewhere, but we cannot be sure that it was actually installed in the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Furthermore, the sculpture’s current whereabouts are unknown. However, what we do have relating to the sketch could potentially reveal something about John’s artistic planning process.

Small-scale model for Beings Anthropomorphic.

Above is a photograph of a small-scale model of Beings Anthropomorphic. It is evident that this was an earlier model given the slight differences in the figures. Below is a photograph of John with his planning sketch. It is interesting to note the grid imposed on the sketch as well as the inclusion of the weight and cost of the figures.

John Rhoden with a planning sketch for Beings Anthropomorphic on January 7, 1975.
Close-up of the planning sketch including the weights and costs of figures (left: 60 lbs, $300; right: 30 lbs, $150).

Having evidence of multiple objects produced in the process of creating an artwork gives an interesting view into both the evolution of Rhoden’s ideas and his creative and logistical artistic planning. John’s papers are full of items that contextualize each other, and give a more complete picture of John’s life and work.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Meet Richenda Rhoden!

November 14, 2019May 6, 2021Kelin Baldrige

Contributed by Jahna Auerbach, Assistant Archivist for the John Rhoden papers

Richenda Rhoden (1917-2016), born Richenda Phillips, was a Native American woman from the Cherokee and Menominee tribes. She was given the Menominee name Paytoemahtamo at birth, which means “Great Woman”. Throughout her life, Richenda would come to exemplify this apt title.

Richenda studied anthropology at the University of Washington in Seattle. While she was a student, she met her first husband, Laurence Kay, who she married in the early 1940s. Their correspondence during World War II clearly shows their deep bond and love for each other. However, Laurence did not come home from WWII; he was killed while on a ship in Northern Africa on November 27, 1943. In Richenda’s papers, there are many letters to her regarding to her husband’s whereabouts.

After the Laurence’s death, Richenda moved to New York City to start anew, where she became a hat model. During this time, Richenda enrolled in Columbia University to study Asian Art. At Columbia, Richenda met John Rhoden. They were married in Rome 1954, while John was studying at the American Academy.

In 1960 the Rhodens bought their house on 23 Cranberry Street, Brooklyn, New York. It was originally a livery stable, and the Rhodens poured all of their energy into renovating it. The house was complete with an elevator, and indoor and outdoor garden, and studio space. Inside their house was filled with their art. To get to know her neighbors, Richenda set up a little table selling crafts. This eventually turned into the Cranberry Street festival and prompted Richenda to found the Cranberry Street Association. Richenda loved Cranberry Street and saw the neighborhood as her extended family.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Richenda traveled all over the world with John. Because she was also a gifted artist, she was featured in many international news articles and was particularly well-covered by the German press. One article in particular wrote about her background and her artistic inspiration. The article talks about her connection to animals as a Native American. She is quoted saying that “I have always been a dreamer”.

Richenda was an artist like John, but instead of sculpting she spent her days painting. She was inspired by folklore and mythology. Many of her works picture Native Americans as well as animals, nature and sacred geometry. While abroad with John, Richenda would take photographs of the people she met and collect their stories. She was also influenced by Marc Chagall, evidenced by one of her own paintings titled “Tribute to Chagall”. Over the years Richenda’s work fluctuated from being figure-based to being more abstract. That said, Richenda’s beautiful and powerful use of color remained present in her work throughout her life.

Richenda lived to be 99 years old. She painted almost everyday and due to limited mobility at the end of her life, she converted the freight elevator in her house into her studio. After she passed, Richenda had a retrospective at Soloway in Brooklyn New York, curated by Emily Weiner.

Richenda on vacation, undated.
Christmas with the Rhoden’s, 1984.

Richenda’s papers are only a small part of the John Rhoden Papers, but her presence is strong. From photos, it is easy to glean her personality. She loved her rooftop garden, traveling, and being surrounded by people and animals. Richenda was a radical woman of her time and an amazing artist in her own right. We hope through John’s papers we are also able to share Richenda’s story with the world.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Thank You Veterans!

November 11, 2019May 6, 2021Kelin Baldrige

Contributed by Kelin Baldridge, Project Archivist for the John Rhoden papers

We wanted to take the opportunity this Veteran’s Day to thank those who have served in the United States Military.

John Rhoden with his completed portrait of Major General H.R. Harmon in 1943.

John Rhoden served in the Enlisted Reserve Corps of the U.S. Army from 1942 until he was honorably discharged in March of 1946. His military career was dedicated to providing entertainment for servicemen headed to active combat. According to copies of his military records (housed in his archives), John’s military occupational specialty was entertainment director.

In this role, John was in charge of arranging art classes, entertainment, and social functions for soldiers departing overseas. He also did interior design work in service clubs and created portraits of Major General Hubert R. Harmon, Assistant Chief of Air Force Personnel, Major General Ralph Royce, Commanding General of Personnel Distribution Command, Brigadier General Michael F. Davis, Commanding General, San Antonio Cadet Center, and other high ranking officers.

John Rhoden sculpting a portrait of Brigadier General Michael F. Davis in 1944.

If you are interested in supporting veterans today, one of the many options for giving is the Disabled American Veterans Charity. Their giving page is found at the following link: https://www.dav.org/ways-to-give/

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.

John Rhoden papers: Weekly Roundup

November 8, 2019May 6, 2021Kelin Baldrige

Contributed by Kelin Baldridge and Jahna Auerbach, the John Rhoden papers processing team

Kelin and Jahna sorting photographs of John Rhoden’s art.

What we accomplished:

Sorted the archive’s manuscripts at item-level
Created an inventory to help fine-tune the intellectual arrangement
Ordered materials in order to complete the physical arrangement
Published our first blog posts
Started brainstorming for our digitization plan

Next up:

Complete sorting the archive’s photographs and artworks
Re-write the intellectual arrangement according to what we have learned while sorting
Finalize digitization plan
Start digitizing

Lessons:

One thing I learned this week is how helpful an item-level organization can be to understanding the story of the archive as a whole. We decided to physically organize the individual items in each folder by date. In doing so, we were able to make connections between the items and, in turn, better understand the stories present in the papers. The size of this archive is manageable enough to arrange the individual items by date, but it is large enough that having the items organized to such a degree is crucial to making them accessible and comprehensible.

Discoveries:

The most interesting discovery this week is not an item or theme in the archives, but rather how the archive’s team has become attached to the people represented. Kelin is absolutely enamored with John and Jahna has fully fallen for Richenda.

John’s photos, correspondence, and documents paint a picture of an ambitious, professional, kind, and joyous man. Lacking the aloofness characteristic of sculptors, John was a sharp businessman. From what I have been exposed to, it seems his professionalism served as the perfect compliment to his talent in cultivating a successful career as an artist.

Furthermore, everyone who met John adored him. Reference letters for his various grants and fellowships share absolutely glowing reviews of a man who is equal parts passionate, professional, talented, and enjoyable. He received heartfelt thank you notes from children he taught and was always greeted with great warmth in both personal and professional correspondence.

Richenda’s primary presence in the collection comes in the form of photographs with her cats and Christmas trees. These photographs initially bonded me to Richenda and served as inspiration to explore her story further. As I dove deeper into her papers I learned that she is much more than just John’s partner. The content of her correspondence and photographs are full of personal information that illustrate a radical woman.

Aside from her letters, Richenda’s records consist of undergraduate papers, photographs, and some newspaper clippings. She did not keep many of her own things but what little we have is powerful. They tell a story of a woman who was creative, playful, intelligent and loved by all. Richenda was a self-proclaimed dreamer. She was an artist like John and her paintings were inspired by her Native American heritage, her travels with John, and her studies in anthropology and Asian art history. What we have in the collection only allows us to see small parts of who Richenda was, but I am now completely enthralled with her life and want to learn more about who she was as a person and as an artist.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES

John Rhoden papers: Weekly Roundup

November 1, 2019May 6, 2021Kelin Baldrige

Contributed by Kelin Baldridge and Jahna Auerbach, the John Rhoden papers processing team

Each Friday, we intend to publish a summary of what we accomplished, learned, and discovered in our work during the week leading up to it in the Weekly Roundup series. Here’s the first of many!

Rhoden project assistant archivist, Jahna Auerbach, hard at work organizing travel photos.

Accomplished so far:

Completed preliminary survey
Completed Processing plan
Completed preliminary Intellectual arrangement
Begun physically sorting objects

Next up:

Complete sorting
Finalize physical arrangement
Inventory of photographic items
Select items to be digitized

Week 1(ish) Lessons:

One thing we learned in creating the preliminary intellectual arrangement is how dynamic an intellectual arrangement can be. One of PAFA archivist Hoang Tran’s catchphrases is “things they don’t teach you in archives school” and the level of depth and complexity that can be included in an arrangement is certainly not something I was prepared for.

I had initially created an intellectual arrangement that was separated into series based on John Rhoden’s life: Professional, Personal, and Artist Series. The professional series was then separated by major milestones in his career. Straight away, I liked this series because I felt it rendered the items more accessible as they were grouped with what would likely be most relevant to researchers. However, I quickly became afraid of the arrangement. Lessons from archives school about avoiding charging items with meaning, limiting their understanding, and ensuring that an arrangement is fully neutral started to come back to me. As a result, I created a second (very safe, very textbook) intellectual arrangement that separated the materials by document type – correspondence, contracts, personal documents, etc.

When presenting these two arrangements to Hoang and Rhoden Curator Brittany Webb, I was reassured that the more dynamic arrangement was more suitable. Brittany reassured me that organizing the papers according to career milestones rather than document type would be far more useful to a researcher. Furthermore, Hoang taught me that the way archivists handle collections will vary depending on the context. For our purposes, the PAFA archives are used for art research, primarily by high-level students and weathered scholars. This environmental context can then inform how an archivist approaches the intellectual arrangement.

With the help of Hoang, I ultimately created a preliminary intellectual arrangement that included the following series: exhibitions, commissions, fellowships/grants/awards, press, teaching, gallery sales, artwork, and personal. We did away with the restrictive professional, personal, and artwork series while keeping the emphasis on his career milestones. It is much longer than my “safe” (document type focused) intellectual arrangement was, but it also better contextualizes the material and makes it more accessible.

Going forward, we expect the intellectual arrangement to evolve as we continue to become familiar with the collection. Furthermore, since the creation of the preliminary intellectual arrangement assistant archivist Jahna Auerbach joined the team and her perspective and input will no doubt help the arrangement evolve.

John in Egypt
John in Pakistan

Week 1(ish) Discoveries:

Having the privilege to process a collection of a person as well-traveled as John Rhoden has proven to be both fun and challenging. Rhoden traveled to over twenty countries with the U.S. State Department between 1955 and 1959 and has piles of photographs documenting his numerous journeys. The majority of his photographs are unlabeled, which means that we have to rely on landscapes, architecture, and various other vague context clues to identify where the photographs were taken. A large portion of our research has consisted of targeted searches about visual topics such as South Asian sculpture, architecture terms for temples, and whether or not sail boats are common in Egypt. Some questions we have are dry, but some spark conversation between PAFA employees across disciplines. This has turned sorting photographs into a complex puzzle that we are constantly trying to put the pieces together. It also has taught us that some things are unknowable, if only temporarily, and that working with a large archival collection requires a focus on the big picture.

Richenda in Indonesia
Sailboats in Egypt

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Meet John Rhoden!

October 30, 2019May 6, 2021Kelin Baldrige

Contributed by Kelin Baldridge, Project Archivist for the John Rhoden papers

Work on the John Rhoden papers is well underway, so it seems appropriate to give the man himself a proper introduction.

John Walter Rhoden was born on March 13, 1916 in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Industrial High School where he was mentored by sculptor William Grant. At age 16, John completed a portrait bust of the school’s principal, Arthur Parker, who the school is currently named after.

John Rhoden with portrait bust of Major General H.R. Harmon, 1943.

After high school, John attended Talladega College from 1934 to 1936. There he met Hale Woodruff, who was already an established muralist and painter at that time. Woodruff encouraged Rhoden to visit New York where he met fellow sculptors Augusta Savage and Richmond Barthé. By 1942, Rhoden was a private enlisted in the Reserve Corps of the U.S. Army. During this time, Rhoden completed portrait busts of several high ranking members of the military, including Major General H.R. Harmon. After his service, Rhoden attended the New School for Social Research and then Columbia University from 1947 to 1950 where he won the 1^st Prize for Sculpture three times. Also, at Columbia, John met classmate and painter, Richenda Phillips (also spelled Richanda in the archives).

John and Richenda at their 1954 wedding in Rome.

Richenda was a Washington native of Cherokee and Menominee descent. She first married her University of Washington in Seattle classmate, Lawrence L. Kay, who was killed in World War II. After the war, Richenda moved to New York City where she modeled and attended Columbia University in pursuit of a master’s degree in Asian art. After meeting, she and John moved in together in Greenwich Village, at which time Richenda taught painting at Stuyvesant High School’s evening program. In 1954, John and Richenda were married in Rome.

After his time at Columbia, Rhoden spent a year at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine before attending the American Academy in Rome from 1951 to 1954 on both a Fulbright Fellowship and the Prix de Rome.

John Rhoden working on woodcarving in Indonesia, 1963.

John was then selected by the United States Department of State to serve as an artist ambassador from 1955 through 1959 as a part of the International Cultural Exchange and Fair Participation Act of 1956 (ambassadors were sent as early as 1954), best known for its jazz ambassadors. During this service, he visited over 20 countries in an official capacity. After his time traveling with the State Department, John and Richenda returned to New York City and purchased their forever-home at 23 Cranberry Street in Brooklyn in 1960. Shortly thereafter, John left for Indonesia on a Rockefeller Foundation Grant to set up a bronze foundry at a university in Bandung.

John Rhoden at the installation of Nesaika, 1976.

With their professional traveling largely behind them, John and Richenda settled into New York City life where they both taught and exhibited extensively. During his later career, John notably exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the African American Museum in Philadelphia. He also completed several major commissions including Monumental Bronze for the Harlem Hospital in New York, Monumental Abstraction for the Metropolitan Hospital in New York, Nesaika for the African American Museum in Philadelphia, Mitochondria for the Bellevue Hospital Center in New York, and Frederick Douglass for Lincoln University.

Though there is so much more to his story, we will end the introduction here. From breaching the Iron Curtain to living the high life with the likes of Richmond Barthé, Cab Calloway and Bill Robinson, John’s life was rich and exciting and we hope you will follow along with us as we discover what his archive has to tell!