Dan Weiner archive
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Not requestable
Scope and Contents
The Dan Weiner archive is organized into seven series: Correspondence, 1950-1992; Activity files, n.d., 1941-1984; Financial records, 1958-1959; Biographical and personal papers, n.d., early 1950s-circa 1989; Publications, n.d., 1936-1993; Photographic materials, n.d., 1941-1971; and Artifacts, n.d.
Series 1, Correspondence, contains general correspondence, correspondence with Walter Rosenblum, Alan Paton, Sandra Weiner, and Peter Alexander.
Series 2, Activity files, is broken down into five subseries. Subseries 1, Photographic projects, contains notes and other materials related to Weiner’s projects. Subseries 2, The Photo League, contains correspondence, flyers, exhibition announcements, and materials related to the Photo League. Subseries 3 contains writings and interviews by Dan Weiner, while Subseries 4 is made up of writings about Dan Weiner. Subseries 5, Exhibition files, contains documents and photographic materials related to exhibitions by Weiner.
Series 3, Financial records, includes invoices and receipts between January of 1958 and January of 1959.
Series 4, Biographical and personal papers, contains documents and posthumous materials regarding Weiner’s life and death, as well as his notebooks from the 1950s.
Series 5, Publications, consists of tearsheets, monographs, and publications including photographs by Weiner; this series also contains two boxes of publications not related to Weiner.
Series 6, Photographic materials, is made up of five subseries. Subseries 1 contains photographic materials arranged chronologically and by project/publication. Subseries 2, Oversized photographic materials, consists of oversize photographic materials. Subseries 3, Slides, is made up of color and black and white 35mm slides of Weiner’s projects. Subseries 4, Negatives, contains black and white 35mm negatives in their original canisters. Subseries 5, Photographs, consists of two boxes of Dan Weiner photographs.
Series 7, Artifacts, consists of envelopes previously containing the collection materials.
There are also two appendices: Appendix A, Dan Weiner Bibliography; and Appendix B, List of projects, by year. Appendix A was compiled and annotated by Janae Huber in 1998 and contains information on books, magazine articles, newspaper articles, advertisements, interviews, and pamphlets either containing Weiner’s photographs or about Weiner himself. Appendix B is a list of Weiner’s photographic projects, organized by year, subject/project, and client.
Dates
- 1936, 1941, 1946-1959, 1966-1969, 1971, 1973, 1977-1981, 1984-1993
Creator
- Weiner, Dan (Person)
Language of Materials
Material in English German
Conditions Governing Access
To access materials from this collection, please contact CCP-RefDesk@email.arizona.edu
Conditions Governing Use
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission from the copyright owner (which could be the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates or literary executors) prior to any copyright-protected uses of the collection.
The user agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents, the University of Arizona, Center of Creative Photography, including its officers, employees, and agents, from and against all claims made relating to copyright or other intellectual property infringement
Biographical Note
Dan Weiner (1919–1959) was an American photojournalist born in New York City in 1919. He received his first camera, a Voigtländer, in 1934. After attending New York City public schools, he studied painting at the Art Students League from 1937-1938. To further his career in painting he attended the Pratt Institute from 1939-1940, joined the Photo League, and came under the influence of Paul Strand, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and many others.
From 1940-1942, Weiner turned entirely to photography and went to work as an assistant to a commercial photographer. He served in the Air Force as a photographer and instructor from 1942-1946. After returning from the Second World War, Weiner opened his own commercial studio in New York where he photographed women’s hats for catalogues. In 1949 he gave up his studio and devoted himself full time to photojournalism, his work appearing in various magazines. He had his first one-man show in 1953 at the Camera Club of New York, which subsequently traveled around the United States, including the Eastman House, Rochester, New York.
In 1954 he traveled in Europe to photograph and in 1955 he traveled through South Africa with Alan Paton. “South Africa in Transition” (1956) became the result of his collaboration with Alan Paton, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons. In 1956 Weiner covered the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott for Collier’s, one of the first major stories published on the rising militancy of the civil rights movement. From the years 1956 to 1957 he traveled extensively through Russia and Eastern Europe, much of his work being published by Fortune.
On January 26, 1959 Dan Weiner was killed in a plane crash while on assignment near Versailles, Kentucky when the pilot, the subject of one of his stories, collided with the side of a mountain during a freak snowstorm.
In 1994, Sandra Weiner gave the Center of Creative Photography this collection of papers and photographic material.
Chronology
- 1919
- Born on October 12, in New York City.
- 1934
- Received his first camera, a Voigtländer.
- 1937-1938
- After attending New York City public schools, studied painting at the Art Students League.
- 1939-1940
- Attended Pratt Institute. Joined the Photo League and came under the influence of Paul Strand, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and many others.
- 1940-1942
- Turned entirely to photography and went to work as an assistant to a commercial photographer.
- 1942-1946
- Served in the Air Force as a photographer and instructor.
- 1946
- Opened his own commercial studio in New York; photographed women’s hats for catalogues.
- 1949
- Gave up his studio and devoted himself full time to photojournalism.
- 1953
- Had his first one-man show at the Camera Club of New York.
- 1954
- Traveled and photographed in Europe.
- 1955
- Traveled through South Africa with Alan Paton.
- 1956
- South Africa in Transition, the result of his collaboration with Alan Paton, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons.
- 1956
- Covered the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott for Colliers, one of the first major stories published on the rising militancy of the civil rights movement.
- 1956-1957
- Traveled extensively through Russia and Eastern Europe, much of his work being published by Fortune.
- 1959
- Killed in a plane crash while on assignment near Versailles, Kentucky, January 26.
Extent
25.5 Linear Feet
Metadata Rights Declarations
- License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.
Abstract
Papers and photographic materials (1936-1993) of Dan Weiner (1919-1959), American photographer and writer. Includes correspondence, pocket calendars, project files, publications, negatives, color transparencies, and contact sheets. Of special note are the materials related to the Photo League and to Weiner's book projects. A broad selection of American popular magazines of the fifties such as McCall’s, Collier’s, Sports Illustrated, and LIFE is included.
Arrangement
The Collection is arranged into the following series:
- Series 1: Correspondence, 1950-1959, 1984, 1992
Series 2: Activity files, n.d., 1941, 1946-1950, 1952-1958, 1967-1969, 1980, 1984
- Subseries 1: Photographic projects, n.d., 1950-1961
- Subseries 2: The Photo League, n.d., 1941, 1946-1950, 1956
- Subseries 3: Writings and interviews by Dan Weiner, n.d., 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1955-1958
- Subseries 4: Writings about Dan Weiner, n.d., 1950
- Subseries 5: Exhibition files, 1953-1955, 1967-1969, 1980, 1984
- Series 3: Financial records, 1958-1959
- Series 4: Biographical and personal papers, n.d., 1950s, 1968, 1973, 1977-1981, circa 1989
- Series 5: Publications, n.d., 1936, 1948, 1950-1959, 1966-1967, 1979, 1980, 1984-1993
Series 6: Photographic materials, n.d., 1941, 1949-1959, 1971
- Subseries 1: Contact prints, n.d., 1949-1959
- Subseries 2: Oversized photographic materials, n.d., 1951-1954, 1956-1957
- Subseries 3: Slides, n.d., 1949-1959, 1971
- Subseries 4: Negatives, n.d., 1941, 1949-1950, 1952, 1954
- Subseries 5: Photographs, n.d.
- Series 7: Artifacts, n.d.
- Appendix A: Dan Weiner Bibliography
- Appendix B: List of projects, by year
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was a gift of Sandra Weiner in 1994.
General
- Paton, Alan, 1903-1988
- Weiner, Sandra, 1921-2014
Processing Information
The finding aid was updated by Tai Huesgen in 2020.
- Weiner, Sandra
- photojournalism Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- Dan Weiner archive 1936, 1941, 1946-1959, 1966-1969, 1971, 1973, 1977-1981, 1984-1993
- Author
- Finding aid created by CCP Archives Staff
- Date
- © 2020
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Based On Dacs (Describing Archives: A Content Standard)
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid encoded in English
Repository Details
Part of the Center for Creative Photography Archives Repository
