Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Archives
Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman LibraryEmily Johnson, VMFA Assistant Archivist
The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Upon donation, Perry assigned to the VMFA Archives all of her available rights of copyright in the materials. Transmission or reproduction of other materials protected by copyright, beyond that allowed by fair use, requires the researcher to obtain permission of copyright holders.
The collection is open for research.
The collection was donated to the VMFA Archives by Regenia Perry in 2021.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
Publications were removed and added to the VMFA Library's holdings. Titles include "Tales of the conjure woman" , "Dear Robert, I'll see you at the crossroads: a project by Renée Stout" , "Harriet Powers's Bible quilts" , "Astonishment and power: Kongo minkisi: the art of Renée Stout" , "Free within ourselves: African-American artists in the collection of the National Museum of American Art" , "Hidden heritage: Afro-American art, 1800-1950" , "Something to keep you warm: the Roland Freeman Collection of Black American quilts from the Mississippi Heartland" , and "Between the lines: 70 drawings and 7 essays" .
Original newspaper clippings are photocopied, with photocopies being integrated into mixed material folders and originals being retained in their own folders.
Regenia Alfreda Perry, African American art historian, was born in 1941 in Virgilina, Virginia. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia State College (now Virginia State University) in 1961, and went to Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, Ohio, where she received a Ph.D. in Art History in 1966. Perry is the first African American woman to hold doctorates in art history and American art. She has published books on African American art, including James Van Der Zee, Photographer (1973), The Folk Tradition in Black American Art (1975), Black Folk Art in America (with John Beardsley, 1982), and Harriet Powers Bible Quilts (1994). She also has taught at numerous colleges and universities, including Howard University (Washington, D.C.), though the majority of her professorial career was spent at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, Virginia). Perry also founded Raven Arts, an art consulting firm that represents African American folk artists.
Source: Regenia Perry papers finding aid by the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University
The collection documents the life, work, and research interests of Dr. Regenia Perry. The collection's inclusive dates are 1907-2019, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1970s-1990s. This collection contains correspondence, ephemera, negatives, photographs, publications, and other manuscript material.
The collection is organized into 2 series, and items are generally arranged chronologically within each series. Items with no date are generally placed at the end of each series. Sub-series are arranged alphabetically by artists' surnames.
A large collection of her papers are located at Emory University .
This series contains articles, ephemera, negatives and transparencies, newspaper clippings, photographs, slides, and a U-Matic documenting the life and career of Dr. Regenia Perry.
This series contains articles, ephemera, and photographs that document the lives and careers of African American artists whose artwork Dr. Perry researched and collected.
This sub-series contains a photograph of artist Ralph Arnold.
This sub-series contains articles and photographs documenting the life and artwork of John Willard Banks.
This sub-series contains articles and a photograph documenting the life of artist John Biggers.
This sub-series contains articles and photographs documenting the life and artwork of Sam Gilliam.
This sub-series contains an article and photographs documenting the life and artwork of Bessie Harvey.
This sub-series contains photographs documenting the life and artwork of Clementine Hunter.
This sub-series contains articles and ephemera documenting the life and artwork of Bill Hutson.
This sub-series contains correspondence and photographs documenting artwork created by Ted Joans.
This sub-series contains photographs of artwork created by W. B. Jung.
This sub-series contains ephemera and a photograph documenting the life and artwork of Juan Logan.
This sub-series contains articles, ephemera, and photographs documenting the life and artwork of Ruth Mae McCrane.
This sub-series contains albums, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and slides documenting the life and artwork of Sister Gertrude Morgan.
This sub-series was processed at the item-level as part of a digitization project for the 2021 documentary, "Thank You, Sister" .
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
This is a copy of one page from the letter. The original is at Emory University.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Gift of Regenia A. Perry.
Regenia Perry Personal Papers (VA-07). Gift of Regenia Perry. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.
This sub-series contains print material documenting the life and artwork of Leslie J. Payne.
This sub-series contains ephemera documenting artwork created by Winfred Rembert.
This sub-series contains the funeral program of artist Royal Robertson.
This sub-series contains photographs documenting the life and artwork of Willie Stokes.
This sub-series contains articles, ephemera, and photographs documenting the life and artwork of Renée Stout.
This sub-series contains articles and ephemera about James VanDerZee in addition to photographic materials such as negatives, reprints, and photographs taken by VanDerZee. Subjects include the Virginia Period, Harlem, VanDerZee and his family, and Regenia Perry.
This sub-series contains photographs documenting artwork created by Luster Willis.
This sub-series contains photographs documenting artwork created by Kenneth Young.