Donating Papers

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff of the Archives of American Art is teleworking.  We are available to answer questions about donating papers. The best way to reach us is by email (see addresses below). How to donate your papers and other primary records to the Archives of American Art.

The Archives of American Art collects primary sources —original letters, diaries, journals and other unpublished writings, preliminary sketches, scrapbooks, photographs, financial records and the like—that have significant research value for the study of art in America.

We seek the personal papers of individuals and the records of organizations that include letters from, or references to, prominent figures in American cultural history; a significant body of unpublished manuscript material; and documentation on major American artists or major events in the American art world.

Washington, D.C. Headquarters Contacts

New York Research Center Contacts

  • Jacob Proctor, Gilbert and Ann Kinney New York Collector, at ProctorJ@si.edu.

California Collecting Project Contact

  • Matthew SimmsGerald and Bente Buck West Coast Collector, at SimmsM@si.edu

Please Note: The Archives of American Art does not accept unsolicited donations either by mail or delivered in person. Unsolicited donations may be disposed of, returned, or retained at the sole discretion of the Archives of American Art.