The Museum Archives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Opens for Research Additional Records of The Costume Institute

The Museum Archives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Opens for Research Additional Records of The Costume Institute

The Museum Archives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art announces the opening for research of additions to The Costume Institute records, which were previously processed with a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation and opened for research in 2015.

Materials in 134 boxes of varying sizes have added 60 linear feet of newly processed materials. These include additional records in series documenting:

• Costume Institute curators Stella Blum, Diana Vreeland, and Richard Martin
• Exhibition records  including “American Women of Style” (December 13, 1975-August 31, 1976) , “Vanity Fair: A Treasure Trove of The Costume Institute” (1977), and “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years - Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum” (May 1-July 29, 2000)
• Loans to other museum and organizations from the 1930s-1960s
• Activities of The Costume Institute’s precursor, the  Museum of Costume Art, in the late 1930s
• Party of the Year events in the 1940s and 1950s

A series of new materials documents the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection acquired by The Costume Institute in 2009, including:

• The Brooklyn Museum’s accession files for costume and textile items from 1903-2003
• Photographs of costumes and accessories in the 2009 accession
• Research materials supporting the Brooklyn Museum’s 1982 exhibition “The Genius of Charles James”
• Records on Charles James originating at The Brooklyn Museum that complement the Charles James papers in the Costume Institute Library. 

The collection finding aid is now available online. Physical materials are available by appointment only to qualified researchers in the Museum Archives Reading Room at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

To learn more about the Museum Archives and schedule an appointment, contact archives@metmuseum.org, or visit our website at https://www.metmuseum.org/art/libraries-and-research-centers/museum-archives