Research Overview

Archaeological Exploration of Sardis

Archives

Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art

Straus Center for Conservation

Curatorial Departments/ Study Rooms

Research Fellowships/ Internships

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Collections Online (search for HUAM’s works of art)

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Harvard University Art Museums Archives

Click for important information about Harvard Art Museum closings.

News

The Archives submitted its first report about the success of the cataloging project; see the IMLS Interim Report, February 2008.

The HUAM Archives has received major grants from the Institute of Library and Museum Services and the Getty Foundation. These grants will enable the Archives to begin cataloging some of the most significant records in the collection.

Overview

Research Room at the Harvard University Art Museusms
Cataloguing Room, old Fogg Museum,
1926. HUAM Archives. ARCH.2003.2.
The HUAM Archives is the official repository for the administrative records of the institution from 1895 to the present. Holdings include the correspondence of past directors and curators; architectural drawings; scrapbooks; and many other primary source materials related to the history of the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Sackler Museums. The Archives also holds artists’ papers.


Sculpture gallery, old Fogg Museum.
HUAM Archives. ARCH.2003.3.
Because the collection includes files on Museum objects and almost a century of museum exhibitions, we not only can provide specific information about HUAM's works of art, we can also enhance your understanding of the circumstances surrounding their acquisition, as well as the environment in which they have been studied, used or exhibited over time.

The Archives provide insight into the formation of the Harvard University Art Museums’ collections, the institution's role as a training ground for museum professionals, and its mission as a teaching institution. The Fogg Art Museum began collecting works of art primarily as a teaching tool; the philosophy of the early administration was that one could not teach art history, conservation, or connoisseurship without seeing and handling original works of art. This philosophy of the primacy of using objects in teaching continues to the present day and is well documented throughout the collections.

The HUAM Archives also runs the Museums’ Record Management Program.

Using the Archives

The Archives is located in the Fogg Art Museum, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA. Researchers are welcome Monday through Friday, from 2 to 5 p.m., by advance appointment. Accommodations for appointments outside these hours are sometimes possible; please contact us with any requests. To schedule an appointment, please call the reference archivist at (617) 495-2384, or the curator of archives, Susan von Salis (617) 384-7983. You may also email us at huamref@fas.harvard.edu. We can be reached by mail at: Harvard University Art Museums Archives, 32 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.

Class notes taken by Agnes Mongan,
c. 1925. HUAM Archives. SC1 #8.

The HUAM Archives is currently being cataloged. Finding aids for several collections are available online through Harvard’s OASIS resource; brief catalog records for other collections can be found in HOLLIS, Harvard’s online catalog. Some additional folder lists are available on paper in the Archives. For further information about the collections, contact the Archives staff.

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