Overview
Personal and professional papers of American portrait photographer, Elsa Dorfman.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1937-2017
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Conditions Governing Use
Includes audiovisual media: audiocassettes and videocassettes.
Extent
21.25 linear feet (27 boxes)Collection includes poetry, prose, correspondence, biographical and critical files, family documents and photographs, business and teaching files, and ephemera. Contains address books and mailing lists; appointment books, notes and notebooks, audio-visual and born-digital material; articles, biographies, and publications about Dorfman; calendars; correspondence, much of which relates to publication and exhibition; ephemera; family photographs; manuscripts; photography equipment; promotional materials; realia; teaching materials; website materials; posters; and publications.
Biographical / Historical
Elsa Dorfman (1937-2020) was introduced to photography in 1965 and became a renowned portrait photographer, now known for her use of a large-format instant Polaroid camera. She was married to criminal defense and civil liberties litigator, Harvey Silverglate, with whom she had a son, Isaac. Dorfman retired in 2015.
Arrangement
Collection is minimally processed. Materials are loosely arranged into series.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2019M-3. Purchased with funds from the Gore Vidal Endowment Fund for Arts and Letters, 2019 July.
2022M-22. Gift, Estate of Elsa Dorfman, 2021 October.
Processing Information
Processed by Melanie Wisner, 2018, Magdaline Lawhorn, 2019, and Betts Coup, 2021.
- Title
- Dorfman, Elsa. Elsa Dorfman papers, circa 1937-2017 (MS Am 3188): Guide.
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University.
- Date
- 2018 July 13
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hou02975
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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