Thiessen, Leonard, 1902-1989
Arts administrator
Size: Transcript: 36 pages.
Format: Originally recorded on 1 sound tape reel. Reformated in 2010 as 4 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 18 min. An unrelated interview of Sylvester Jerry conducted by H. Phillips is also on this tape.
Summary: An interview of Leonard Thiessen conducted 1965 June 10, by Harlan Phillips, for the Archives of American Art.
Leonard Thiessen (1902-1989) was an art administrator from Des Moines, Iowa.
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Leonard Thiessen, 1965 June 10. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Through collecting, preserving, and providing access to our collections, the Archives inspires new ways of interpreting the visual arts in America and allows current and future generations to piece together the nation’s rich artistic and cultural heritage.
