Archival Resources

This collection contains the working files of the artist, Pacita Abad, created during her lifetime, as well as documents and publications from the Pacita Abad Art Estate's activities. This includes material relating to exhibitions (including articles, photographs, and flyers); project documentation (including for the Alkaff Bridge); painting images; financial records and painting sales and donations; workshops, talks, and other professional activities; art residencies; personal and professional correspondence; catalogs; and published material that used her art images; and artifacts.

The collection contains biographical files on more than 1000 artists active in California between 1850 and 1965, biographical files for 91 artists not active in California, and reference files. Biographical files contain exhibition records, catalogs, press coverage, and examples of art work (in the form of slides or photographs); in some cases there is also correspondence and/or interviews. Some materials may be photocopies. The reference files contain similar materials but are arranged by subject. Because of date range of the project and the nature of immigration before the 1970s, artists of Chinese and Japanese ancestry predominate in these files.

The Michael Donald Brown papers contains correspondence with various Asian American artists and their estates. The materials include photographs, exhibition flyers and catalogs, newspaper clippings, artists' biographical information, booklets, research notes, exhibition history, condition reports, acquisition statements, loan agreements, provenance information, and other materials. There is significant correspondence with Masatoyo Kishi, James Leong, Ruth Asawa (including an origami frog), Irene Poon, Hisako Hibi, Mine Okubo, Harry Wang, Tyrus Wong, Koho Yamamoto, Noriko Yamamoto and others.

The Bernice Bing papers document the life and work of the San Franciscan Abstract Expressionist Asian American artist. The materials include journals, sketchbooks, artwork (acrylic, watercolor and oil paintings on paper, board, metal, and canvas) Chinese calligraphy on paper, prints (etchings and lithographs), correspondence, diplomas and certificates, photographs, negatives, slides, exhibition posters, newspaper clippings, art supplies (paintbrushes and pencils), ephemera, and other materials.

The papers of Japanese American artist and educator Ruth Asawa document her art and commissions as well her involvement in arts education, civic art, and art administration. The collection contains correspondence, notes, memoranda, portfolios, exhibition notices and other publicity, articles and publications, design sketches and plans, photographs, and audiovisual media.

These images of Martin Wong's work form the core of the Martin Wong Catalogue Raisonné (MWCR), a collaborative project between Stanford Libraries (SUL) and the Martin Wong Foundation. The MWCR is an online, comprehensive compilation of finished artworks by Martin Wong. It is framed by scholarly essays and includes detailed information about each individual work such as provenance, exhibition histories, and more. The essays further contextualize Wong’s work with installation documentation, photographs of the artist with his family and friends, selected personal research photographs by the artist, and various ephemera.

This collection includes manuscript material pertaining to the life and career of American born painter James Leong, including material relating to his childhood and early life in San Francisco's Chinatown (including rich material relating to Chinese-American life and culture); material (correspondence and personal writing) relating to a subsequent career as an artist in Norway, Rome and Seattle. 

Photographs, prints, scrapbooks, negatives, posters, printed material, artwork and ephemera relating to May's Photography Studio and Chinese and Asian-American art, culture, and theater in San Francisco's Chinatown, circa early-mid 20th century.

The Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado archive consists of documents, correspondence, audiovisual, photographic and other materials. The photographic materials consist of prints, slides, and approximately 3000 negatives. The original documents are mostly official records from Ricardo Alvarado's army service. There is also a large amount of Janet Alvarado's (Ricardo Alvarado's daughter) working files, which consist of research, designs, grants, newspaper clippings, correspondence, publicity, flyers, display labels and other materials. These documents are from two exhibits she created using her father's photographs: Through My Father’s Eyes (1998-2002) and Alvarado Compositions (2014). 

A silkscreen poster advertising the last reading of Unbound Feet, a group of 6 Chinese American women writers, at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Berkeley. The members of Unbound Feet were Genny Lim, Nellie Wong, Kitty Tsui, Canyon Sam, Merle Woo, and Nancy Hom. The women performed their writings in the Bay Area and in LA. The image is of Hom's mother…

Screen print poster depicting an older woman working at a sewing machine, a much younger version of herself standing with her mother in the background. Artwork by Lowe to accompany a poem by Nancy Hom that was originally published in 1977. This poster was produced as part of a women's silkscreen project at the Japantown Art & Media Workshop organized…

Masuo Kitaji was a Japanese American Salvation Army captain. The collection contains English-language printed Bibles (digitized versions available) annotated by Kitaji with Japanese translations and other commentary as well as Japanese WWII internment newspapers and other materials.

Consists of archival and digital photo prints of members of the Filipino and other Southeast Asian communities in the South of Market area of San Francisco. Many are signed and dated by the photographer.

Elaborately colored and detailed traditional Chinese art lithographs. Also mentioned on the posters is The China Products Company, of 357 Lockhart Road, Hong Kong, China.