The archives has resumed its operating hours as of November 17, 2021. The archives is now open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. Please note that the archives is still operating in a hybrid work schedule which specifically means staff are working remotely Monday to Wednesday and onsite Thursday to Friday. The best way to contact the archives is via email: archives@pafa.org.
If you wish to visit the archives for in-person research, please schedule your visits for Thursdays and Fridays. Don’t forget that PAFA’s Digital Archives has many digital resources online as well: https://pafaarchives.org/.
As the holidays quickly approach, we also want to take a moment to outline closures.
The archives will closed the follow days:
Thursday-Friday November 25 & 26, 2021
Thursday-Friday December 9 & 10, 2021 (private event)
Contributed by Kelin Baldridge and Jahna Auerbach, the John Rhoden papersteam
If the John Rhoden papers are any indication, the Rhodens really loved Christmas, so it seems only right to celebrate this holiday season with just a few of the dozens of Christmas portraits present in the collection.
Christmas 1964
Christmas 1969
Christmas 1974
Undated
Undated
Christmas 1978
Christmas 1984
Christmas 1985
undated
undated
undated
undated
Christmas 1994
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.
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/
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.
Contributed by Jahna Auerbach, Assistant Archivist for the John Rhoden papers
While sorting through John Rhoden’s personal photographs, we stumbled upon photos of several family pets. Though their names are unknown, they were dearly loved, particularly by Richenda. Peppered throughout the hundreds of photographs and negatives are three beautiful cats that Richenda would pose with–in their garden, in front of the Christmas tree, dressed up, and on leashes. How lucky these cats must have been!
National Cat Day is a day to raise awareness of homeless cats. To learn more about the holiday and what you can do to help homeless cats, head on over to the National Cat Day website: https://www.nationalcatday.com/
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.
On behalf of the Museum Team, we wish everyone a very happy holiday season! This past week, PAFA staff and faculty came together for our annual holiday party celebrating over food, music, and prizes!
Three members of the museum team (Mark Knobelsdorf, Barbara Katus, and myself) were among the raffle prize winners!
Barbara Katus and I designed and constructed a PAFA gingerbread house. It includes flying buttresses, mosaic tile entry, and custom icing roof.
We want to thank everyone for their continued support. Happy Holidays!
