Archives of American Art Blog

Channeling Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and her sculpture Despair, 191-?. Jean de Strelecki, photographer. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Docked at Georgetown. From left to right: Curatorial Intern Jennifer Strotz, Development Intern Anne Gorman, Captain Michael Strotz, Curatorial Intern Marion Carr, Archives Specialist Mary Savig. Photo: Marv Hoffmeier.

As you can imagine, there are many perks that go along with working as an intern at the Archives of American Art: ice cream socials, free IMAX viewings, behind–the–scenes tours of the top museums in the country. But the best part about the job isn’t the fringe benefits. It’s the people you get to meet. Our office is home to the most influential, confident, and driven women I have ever met. True role models. And still, the woman who inspires me the most isn’t on staff, but is rather tucked away in the collections. Looking through her papers, I decided that when I grow up, I want to be just like American Grande Dame Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.

A true glamazon, Gertrude was the epitome of grace and altruism, and a sculptor to boot. She was a woman who wore many hats: supporter of the arts, sponsor of hospitals, and a free–spirited artist in her own right. Lucky for us, her legacy and contributions to American art still stand—literally—in the form of her public art. One such sculpture, the Titanic Memorial, appropriately calls the Potomac River’s Waterfront Park home.

So in the name of research, our team set out to see the creation for ourselves. We had to roll Gertrude–style, of course, which meant visiting by boat. I’m not sure she would have set foot on the pontoon with us, but she certainly would have approved of our nautical striped shirts and chic shades.

Arriving at the Titanic Memorial, it was immediately apparent that the sculptor’s renowned poise and humility also translated into her design.

With arms outstretched and head held high, the modest thirteen–foot granite statue reverently honors those who sacrificed their lives to save their fellow passengers aboard the sinking RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912. With his draped robe billowing in the wind, the figure stands guard over the inscription:

“TO THE BRAVE MEN
WHO PERISHED
IN THE WRECK
OF THE TITANIC
APRIL 15 1912
THEY GAVE THEIR
LIVES THAT WOMEN
AND CHILDREN
MIGHT BE SAVED

ERECTED BY THE
WOMEN OF AMERICA”

Cruising Past the Titanic Memorial on the Potomac River. Photo: Marv Hoffmeier.

In reading the dedication, I realized that Gertrude’s poignant memorial doesn’t just pay tribute to the courageous men who gave up their lives to save strangers. In giving the women of America credit for the assembly of the statue, Gertrude also acknowledged and celebrated the influence possessed by our countrywomen.

Conceived by women, designed by a woman, and revealed in 1931 by President Taft’s widow, Helen Herron Taft, the monument is the product of the collaborative ability, gratitude, and creativity possessed by American women. And even though the Titanic Memorial was established decades ago, the strong can–do attitude of the women behind its making is still held by today’s American woman. I like to think we’d make Gertrude proud.

Arms outstretched over the water. Photo: Marv Hoffmeier.

Approaching the Titanic Memorial on foot. Photo: Marv Hoffmeier.

Jennifer Strotz is a student of Art History at James Madison University and a 2011 summer intern with the curatorial department at the Archives of American Art.

A Summer Well Spent

Archives of American Art interns with Secretary G. Wayne Clough at the 10th annual Smithsonian staff picnic. Left to right: Q Miceli (NJ), Jessica Byler (MI), Caitlin Lampman (MA), Jen Strotz (DC), Secretary Clough, Anne Gorman (ID), Paul Havern (MI), Corrie Shellnutt (VA), and Marion Carr (FL).

On July 6, the Smithsonian staff and interns were invited to attend the 10th annual Smithsonian staff picnic hosted by the Folklife Festival on the National Mall. We braved the glaring heat and eighty percent humidity with food vouchers in hand, possibly the only thing preventing us from collapsing into shade cast by the nearest national monument. Despite the heat, things were looking up for us once we made our food selection from Southeast Asian, West African, and Colombian cuisines, and we claimed a row of chairs in front of a live string and bagpipe band. Onstage performances featured fellow Smithsonian staff, with a particularly spirited three-person rendition of a scene from the Victorian lyric opera La Belle Hélène. Reenergized by Thai iced tea and operatic inspiration, we snaked through the Congress of Scholars Tent where Smithsonian staff readily shared their newest brainstorms in research, including the preservation of NASA space suits, the National Zoo’s methods for chimpanzee training, and the conservation of the translucent pages composing Jefferson’s Bible.

Diego Rivera with a spider monkey, 1941. Emmy Lou Packard, photographer. Emmy Lou Packard papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

We also had the pleasure of introducing ourselves to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, Dr. G. Wayne Clough. Throughout his tenure, Secretary Clough has prioritized interdisciplinary collaboration between Smithsonian units, encouraging the sharing of resources, ideas, and talent. Events like the staff picnic inspire fellowship among the diverse minds and disciplines that populate the ranks of the Smithsonian, and provide a glimpse into the range of what the Institution can accomplish. Upon returning to work that afternoon, we were grateful for both the cool air flowing through the vents, but in particular the scope of our learning experience we have gained this summer, from day to day operations at the Archives of American Art to the wider happenings in the Smithsonian community.

Like the National zoo trainers we encountered at the staff picnic, Diego Rivera (pictured here) and Frida Kahlo trained their pet primate—a mischievous spider monkey named Fulang-Chang—to perform tricks on the dinner table as entertainment for their house guests. Unlike Fulang-Chang, we don’t monkey around while at the Archives. As interns, we have been working this summer with the staff to make the Archives’ vast collections more accessible to the public. Our duties range from assisting in the coordination of events and organizing exhibits based on material from the collections, to digitizing archival material such as images, documents, and oral history interviews.

A recent graduate of the University of Mary Washington, Corrie Shellnutt was an intern working on the ongoing digitization of the Oral History collection at the Archives of American Art during the spring and summer of 2011.

Marion Carr graduated from the University of Mary Washington in May 2011 and spent the following summer as a curatorial intern for the Archives of American Art.