Arthur J. Bell papers

The collection is divided into five series: Correspondence, 1950-1998; Biographical Materials, 1850s-2000s; Activity Files, 1962-2010; Photographers Baseball Cards, 1975; and Photographic Materials, 1961-1996. The bulk of the collection consists of photographic materials including negatives, transparencies, contact sheets, and prints. There is little information about Bell’s personal life. Documentation of his career as a photographer is mainly through photographic materials but there are a number of calendars kept by Bell covering the time period 1973-2007.

The first series, Correspondence, 1950-1998, is divided into Selected and General correspondence. The Selected correspondence consists of letters from photographers Edna Bullock and Barbara Crane as well as correspondence with artist Henry Moore. The General correspondence consists of one folder of letters, arranged chronologically, covering a variety of subjects including letters about Bell’s work, exhibition submissions, and letters from friends.

The second series, Biographical Materials, 1850s-2000s, includes material about Arthur Bell, his wife Janice, and family photographs. What little information there is in the collection about Bell’s personal life is in this series and includes his birth certificate, passports, diplomas, and medical records. The bulk of this series consists of Bell’s school notebooks. Materials about Janice Bell include a copy of her passport, information related to the exhibition Illinois Photographers ‘80, which included photographs by Janice, and a portion of her resume. Also included are several of her pay stubs. The photographs in this series date 1850s – 2000s and include images of Arthur Bell, Janice Bell, Arthur and Janice’s wedding, and various family members some of which may have been made by Bell himself. There are a number of unidentified photographs including daguerreotypes, tintypes, and cartes-de-visite.

The Activity Files, 1962-2010, series documents aspects of Bell's career in photography. This series includes Bell’s calendars/day planners from 1973 to 2007. Information in these varies from year to year and most often consists of appointment entries, addresses, and notes. Scattered throughout the calendars are various business cards. These cards were left in place but it is unclear how these relate to information or appointments listed in the calendars. Also in this series is information on Bell’s employment history including resumes, employment inquiries, and materials related to teaching at Columbia College 1979-1983. Of note is an NEA grant application done in 1984.

Of particular interest in the Activity Files series is information on solo and group exhibitions which included Bell’s photographs. The bulk of the exhibitions documented in the collection were at locations in and around Chicago, Illinois, but there is also information about exhibitions of his work in New Jersey, Michigan, North Carolina, and Mexico City.

The financial records in the Activity Files series are minimal and do not begin to provide an overview of Bell's finances or earnings from his photography. Materials include some pay stubs, consignment receipts, automobile repairs receipts and utility bills. Also included in the financial records are receipts for photograph processing and photographic equipment.

The photo projects materials in the Activity Files series consist of prints, contact sheets and some negatives for several projects undertaken by Bell documenting homes and institutions for troubled children in the Chicago area including Randall House and Quaker House. The “Randall House” project was done with guidance from photographer Aaron Siskind.

Also included in the Activity Files series are published materials, organized chronologically, both about Bell and collected by Bell including periodicals, photocopied articles and exhibition catalogs; writings collected by Bell; and information from 1984 about the Society for Photographic Education. The last group of materials in this series are receipts, itineraries, and maps related to Bell’s travel abroad in France, Iceland and Amsterdam and a trip in 1985 to Tucson, Arizona. The travel materials are also organized chronologically.

The Photographers Baseball Cards series consists of seven sets of the Photographers Baseball Cards done by photographer Mike Mandel in 1975. The sets were rehoused into acid free sleeves and the original gum from each set was discarded at time of processing due to deterioration. The order of the cards listed in the finding aid represents the order the cards were in their original packets.

The Photographic Materials series is comprised of negatives, contact sheets, and transparencies made by Arthur Bell from circa 1962 until circa 2010. The series is organized by size of negative or transparency and includes both color and black and white materials. Much of this material was made in and around the Chicago area and document Bell’s exploration of the medium of photography including experimentation in exposure and depth of field. Included in the photographic materials are photographs made of Henry Moore sculptures (6X6 black and white) done in 1967. Additional subject matter includes images from his travels and portraits of friends and family members.

The final series, Moving Images, consists of four reels of 8mm film. These films are unidentified and undated.