Debboudt, Alba. Independent museum study, 1985

These files pertain either to topics of research or to matters of office operation. Notes, photocopies of published references and correspondence comprise most of the documentation of the research files pertaining to artists and contemporaries of John G. Johnson, as well as to Johnson himself. Photographs are included in many of the files documenting works of art. Images of all three of Johnson's homes along Broad Street comprise the “Johnson residence” files. A number of prints and negatives show the exterior of 510 South Broad and surrounding cityscape. There are also several snapshots of cemetery headstones marking the gravesites of Johnson and other family members.

In regard to operational activities, a substantial set of files related to conservation and to the guards especially hired to watch over the Johnson Collection are included here. Earlier documentation of the same topics produced during the tenure of Marceau and Sweeny can be found in the “Conservation” series and the “Guards” subseries within “Operation and Facilities.” The set of “Exhibitions” files included here pertain more to historical analysis than to the planning of a specific show. Proposed exhibition files, for the most part, document general suggestions for exhibitions. For documentation of exhibitions planned and staged during the time span of this subseries, see the “Exhibitions, loans and events” series.

The set of files "Installation. Objects by gallery" were identified as such during processing. Several factors suggest a date of circa 1975 for the compilation of this material; namely, a memo dated December 1975 as well as notes and folder titles in the handwritings of Rishel and Konefal. That the galleries were rearranged in 1976 also supports this date. “Lease agreements” outline the obligations of the parties involved in the administration and custodianship of the Johnson Collection; namely, the museum, the City and the Trustee. For additional and more extensive legal documentation, see the “Legal proceedings” sub-subseries within of “Facilities and Operations.”