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Legal Actions. Smith, Charles K. Estate and Woodmere Art Museum. Brief for consideration by...Master in support of Proposal...of PMA. Orphans' Court Phila. Co, December 14, 1938

 File — Box: 138, Folder: 15

Scope and Contents

From the Sub-Series:

This sub-subseries documents a variety of issues Kimball administered to while serving as the museum's director. Included, for example, are attendance records for the museum and its related facilities from 1927 to 1942, calculated in a variety of ways, including not only age group and sex, but time of day, building entrance, and even weather condition. Attendance information of other Philadelphia institutions and other museums throughout the country are also documented, including the survey Kimball conducted in 1942 to assess the impact of the wartime tightening of tire restrictions. Other administrative concerns stemming from the war are documented in the files entitled Civil defense.

Employment applications folders consist primarily of correspondence from individuals seeking various positions, both administrative and curatorial. Paid by the City, much of the museum's personnel belonged to the Municipal Workers' Union, Local 222 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (A.F.S.C.M.E.). Those files are comprised primarily of Kimball's correspondence with the union president and document negotiations regarding hours of work and compensation for overtime, vacation and sick days. There are also a few copies of related City ordinances and proposed contracts.

The only documentation of pay for the professional museum staff is a 1931 clipping reporting their salaries and a 1932 letter from the bursar to Kimball regarding a Trustee resolution regarding salaried employees.

Dates

  • December 14, 1938

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research. Because of its fragile condition, the following item may only be consulted with permission of the Archivist: floor plan with annotations of PMA Gothic installations (in "Objects and related topics" series, "European decorative arts and arms and armor" subseries, "Rooms and architectural elements" sub-subseries, "England. Gothic installations at PMA, incl. Abergavenny, Wales" file).

Extent

From the Series: 4.5 linear feet

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English