Letter. Paul B. Moses to Violette de Mazia
Item
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Title
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Letter. Paul B. Moses to Violette de Mazia
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Description
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This correspondence from Paul Moses to Violette de Mazia on January 21, 1951 details an acceptance from Moses to begin teaching art appreciation for Lincoln University students at the Barnes Foundation.
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Moses shares that he would like to discuss the class with Violette de Mazia (1896-1988) and Dr. Albert C. Barnes (1872-1951), as well as other items such as self-preparation. He suggests the meeting take place that week, except for Saturday morning.
Paul B. Moses (1929-April 13, 1966) was born to working class parents in Ardmore, PA (Moses, Strother, and Scharff 2023). He graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1947, and was the second African American student to attend Haverford College (Lower Merion & Harriton Alma Mater, n.d.; Moses, Strother, and Scharff 2023). In his time at Haverford, he was an incredibly accomplished student, and through his connections with the Barnes Foundation he received the opportunity to study abroad in France (Moses, Strother, and Scharff 2023).
Upon his graduation from Haverford, and as reflected in this correspondence, Moses was “hired jointly by the Barnes Foundation and Lincoln University to teach a one year introductory art course at the Barnes for first year Lincoln University students” (Moses, Strother, and Scharff 2023). This opportunity allowed him to defer his draft for a year (Moses, Strother, and Scharff 2023).
He proceeded to earn a Master’s degree in Art History from Harvard University, and teach that subject at the University of Chicago as faculty of the Art Department beginning in 1962 (Moses, Strother, and Scharff 2023). In 1966, Moses was “murdered by two young white men” attempting to steal his card (Moses, Strother, and Scharff 2023; UChicago Library 2022). He was widely admired by his family, students, and colleagues for his character, “his groundbreaking scholarship, exemplary teaching, and essential humanity” (UChicago Library 2022).
de Mazia was Dr. Barnes’ “right-hand woman… especially when it came to the administration of the Barnes Foundation’s art education program” of which Moses briefly taught at (Caust-Ellenbogen 2014). de Mazia began her journey with the Barnes as a student, then a teacher, and finally their Director of Education in 1950 (Caust-Ellenbogen 2014).
Dr. Barnes is “as famous for being an eccentric, innovative curmudgeon as he is for amassing a world-class art collection” in Philadelphia (Caust-Ellenbogen 2014). He “believed that art had the power to improve minds and transform lives,” and was “a strong support of progressive education and social justice” (Barnes Foundation, n.d.). He “worked closely with Black communities in the belief that people–like art– should not be segregated” (Barnes Foundation, n.d.). The art education program that Moses was to teach for was established in the late 1940s by Dr. Barnes and Horace Mann Bond, the then-president of Lincoln University (an HBCU) (Barnes Foundation, n.d.). Beginning in 1922 until 2012 when the Barnes moved to Philadelphia, all educational programming took place on the grounds of a 12-acre arboretum in Merion, Pennsylvania (Barnes Foundation, n.d.). Dr. Barnes “nurtured [Moses’] interest in nineteenth-century French art” of which “fueled Moses’ determination to pursue a career as an art historian” (UChicago Library 2022).
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Discover more about the incredible life, career, and impact of Paul B. Moses
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Read about the Barnes and Lincoln University partnership
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Contributor
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The Barnes Foundation
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Date Created
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1951/01/21
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Creator
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Moses, Paul B.
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Rights
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This work is not in copyright, but commercial uses of this digital representation are limited. For more information, contact reference@barnesfoundation.org and see http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/
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Identifier
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AR-ABC-1951-257
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Language
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eng
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Format
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Text
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Extent
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1 page
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Spatial Coverage
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Haverford, PA
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Publisher
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The Barnes Foundation
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Is Part Of
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Albert C. Barnes Correspondence, Barnes Foundation Archives
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Subject
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Philadelphia
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Art historians
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African American teachers
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Art education
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Correspondence
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Lower Merion High School
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Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pa.
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Barnes, A. C. (Albert Coombs), 1872-1951
