Inventory of the Olive Pierce Photographs, 1960-2008
[top]Descriptive Summary
Repository
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke
University
Creator
Pierce, Olive
Title
Olive Pierce Photographs, 1960-2008
Language of Material
Material in English
Extent
24.5 Linear Feet
700 Items
Abstract
700 Items
Documentary photographer based in Rockland (Knox Co.), Maine.
The Olive Pierce Photographs span the years 1960-2008. The collection is arranged into three series: Photographs, Manuscripts and Printed Material, and Electronic Material. Documentary black and white photographs taken by Pierce feature Maine life and landscapes from 1960-1993; daily life, political turmoil, and social conditions in urban Massachussetts neighborhoods; and life in Iraq in 1999 and 2003, as well as protests in the U.S. against that war. Also includes manuscript, print, and electronic material related to Pierce's published works and her career as a documentary photographer and teacher of photography.
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Administrative Information
Access RestrictionsCollection is open for research.
However, collection may contain materials to which the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies. Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.
In addition, original audiovisual materials are closed to patron use. Use copies must be made for access to content.
All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Copyright Notice
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Olive Pierce Photographs, Rare Book,
Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The Olive Pierce Photographs were received by the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library as a
gift in 2006 and 2008.
Processing Information
Processed by Karen Glynn, Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, December 2008
Encoded by Paula Jeannet Mangiafico, Katy Terrell, February 2009
Accessions 2006-0036, 2006-0112, 2008-0052, and 2008-0093 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
Accession 2009-0152 added to collection and finding aid by Meghan Lyon, June 2009.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory: DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
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Biographical Note
Olive Pierce was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1925. Since her father had a secure job as a banker, her family's lifestyle was not much changed by the Depression. However, she was profoundly affected by driving through the Dustbowl in the early thirties and seeing families who had lost everything moving west in trucks. She was educated at Vassar College, graduating in an accelerated wartime program in 1945. In 1948 she went to Poland as a secretary to a post-World War II medical mission. She returned with snapshots of Auschwitz and Warsaw in ruins and with the desire to become a photographer.
Pierce had as her mentors and teachers photographers Berenice Abbott and Paul Caponigro. In 1976 she received a fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute which turned her toward documentary work. In 1986 she published No Easy Roses: A Look at the Lives of City Teenagers, based on her experience as a teacher of photography at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Ten years later, she published Up River: The Story of a Maine Fishing Community.
The 1990 Gulf War shocked Pierce into political awareness about American foreign policy in the Middle East. To oppose the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq, she went illegally to Baghdad and Basrah in 1999 under the auspices of Voices in the Wilderness to photograph children. In 2004, after fifty years of working as a photographer, she turned her attention to an audio documentary about the death of a Maine lobster fisherman. She is presently working on a novel with a related theme.
Pierce's photographs have been shown in Massachusetts, Maine, and Chicago, Illinois. She is represented in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Massachusetts; the Portland Museum of Art; and the Farnsworth Art Museum in Maine.
[top]Collection Overview
The Olive Pierce Photographs span the years 1960-2004 and are arranged in three series: Photographs, Manuscripts and Printed Material, and Electronic Material. Documentary black and white photographic prints taken by Olive Pierce focus on New England life and landscapes from 1960-1993, and life in Iraq in 1999 and 2003, as well as protests in the U.S. against that war. The earliest body of Pierce's work (1960-1968) features landscapes and individuals in Maine. A second group of images from Maine assembled by the photographer date from 1963 to 1993. Other prints document social and political controversy in Cambridge, Massachusetts during the early 1970s; social life in the Jefferson Park neighborhood in Cambridge during the 1970s; teenage life in a Cambridge high school in the early 1980s; everyday life of a fisherman's family in Maine from the late 1980s to the early 1990s; the daily lives of Iraqi children in 1999 during the period of UN sanctions; and protests in the U.S. against the war in Iraq. Collection also includes Pierce's
"On Teaching Photography"
guide (1987); as well as a poster for the exhibition on war protests,
"On the Bridge, A Community Speaks: Photographs by Olive Pierce"
; a copy of the Fall 2004 issue of Vassar's alumni magazine, which contains a photo-story by Pierce; and a copy of the magazine Maine Times, which contains six photos by Pierce accompanying an article on Iraq war protests in the U.S. (September 2003). Other items include postcards featuring her images of Iraqi children, and proofs for several collections of Pierce's images accompanied by text written by her. The Olive Pierce Photographs were acquired as part of the Duke University Archive of Documentary Arts.
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Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
- Pierce, Olive.
- Cambridge (Mass.)--History.
- Cambridge (Mass.)--Pictorial works.
- Cambridge (Mass.)--Social life and customs.
- Children --Iraq.
- Documentary photography--Iraq.
- Documentary photography--Maine.
- Documentary photography--Massachusetts.
- Fishing--Maine --Pictorial works.
- High school students--Massachusetts--Attitudes.
- Iraq War, 2003---Pictorial works.
- Iraq War, 2003---Protest movements--United States.
- Photography--Study and teaching.
- Maine--Pictorial works.
- Maine--Social life and customs.
- Massachusetts--Social life and customs.
- Massachusetts--Pictorial works.
- Iraq--Pictorial works.
- Iraq--Social life and customs.
- Contact sheets.
- Photographs.
- Poscards.
- Posters.
- Proofs.
- DVDs.
- Machine-readable files.
 | List of Series in Collection | |||||||
 |  | Photographs Series, 1960-2004 | ||||||
| | Manuscripts and Printed Material Series, 1987-2008 | ||||||
 | | Electronic Material Series, 2008 | ||||||
Detailed Description of Collection
Photographs Series, 1960-2004
(8 boxes)
Olive Pierce's earliest documentary photographs, taken in the 1960s, feature landscapes and individuals in Maine; a second group of images taken in Maine cover the years 1963-1993. Other prints in this series document social and political controversy in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1970-1972; the social life in the Jefferson Park neighborhood in Cambridge during the 1970s; teenage life in a Cambridge high school in the early eighties; everyday life of a fisherman's family in Maine from the late 1980s to the early 1990s; and the daily lives of Iraqi children in 1999 during the period of UN sanctions, as well as protests in the U.S. against the war in Iraq. Prints are arranged by project, roughly in chronological order, and further by size.
Vinalhaven, 1960-1968 [Maine]
(7x7)
To the shore, 1960
Catching crickets, 1960
(11x14)
Aunt Edie's house, 1963
Three children in doorway, 1964
Box 3
(10.5x10.5)
Girl in window, 1964
16x20
Winter harbor, 1963
John Hildings, 1967
Bluff Head, 1967
Overturned boat, Louds Island, Maine, 1968
Cambridge City Council, 1970-1972
8x10
The balcony, firing of the City Manager, 1970
Police barring the doors, rent control hearing, 1971
Police brutality hearing, 1971
Speaker, Larry Largey hearing, 1972
Larry Largey protest, 1972
Riot squad on Cambridge Street after Larry Largey's death, 1972
Box 2
8x10
Spectator, Cambridge City Council, 1970
Councilors Crane & Daneby, Cambridge City Council, 1970
Man with newspaper, Cambridge City Council, 1971
Pledge of Allegiance, Cambridge City Council, 1970
Jefferson Park Housing Project, 1973-1976
11x14
Crossing the tracks, 1974
Alex, 1974
Learning to smoke, 1974
Baby, 1975
Dance, 1975
Hanging out, 1976
Box 3
11x14
Boys in doorway, 1973
The Sawyer brothers, McCrehan Pool, 1973
Boys and cars, 1974
Joan & her siblings, 1974
Cambridge High School (No Easy Roses), 1982-1984
11x14
Senior Prom, 1982
Body builders, 1984
Welding class, 1983
Dance class, 1983
Track Meet, 1983
Box 3
11x14
Between classes, 1983
Football bus, 1984
Reginald & Mr. Meyer, 1983
Psychology class, 1983
Glynis & Natasha, 1983
Friends, English class, 1982
Pictures and Testimonies, 1984
Various sizes, photos with text
Ella Powe
Laura Madrigal
Fred Owens
Mark Agard
Kenny Berube
Nilda Rosado
Alejandro Levins Morales
Karen & Tynika Booth
Maine (Up River), 1963-1993
(18.5x24)
Becky, Madeline, & Jacko, 1988
Jessica in the snow, 1989
Burial, 1988
(20x24)
Amanda & Tanya, 1987
Early morning fog, 1990
Ricky & Daniel, 1990
Nissen bread, 1991
The Carter men, 1988
Winter clam digging, 1992
Winter harbor, 1963
Box 5
(20x24)
Beth & Christopher, 1987
Harvey family skiff, 1990
Minnie, 1987
Nate & the bluefish, 1988
Donny's first deer, 1987
Benny's seafood, 1991
Randy & John, 1988
Michael, 1991
Debbie's Wreath, 1987
Money Tree Party, 1992
Amanda, 1987
Saturday afternoon, 1991
Wayne's family, 1988
Baitshed, 1987
Raking Blueberries, 1993
Iraq, 1999
(16x20)
Outside Baghdad General Hospital, 1999
Girl selling seeds, Safaafir market, Baghdad, 1999
Five children, Basrah, 1999
Mother and daughter, Amarah Children's Hospital, Amarah, 1999
Boy and beggar, Jumhuriyah neighborhood, Basrah, 1999
Girls' classroom. Center for the Internally Displaced, Basrah, 1999
Box 4
(13.5x19.5)
Before School, Dijlah Elementary School, Baghdad, 1999
(16x17.5)
Little girl in hospital bed, 1999
(16x20)
Carrying water, 1999
Recess, 1999
Nurse, Basrah, 1999
Waiting for medicines, Baghdad General Hospital, 1999
Mothers & Children, Baghdad General Hospital, 1999
Porters, Safaafeer Market, 1999
Cigarette vendors, Baghdad, 1999
Families, Basrah Pediatric Hospital, Iraq, 1999
Recess, Dijlah upper school, Baghdad, 1999
Boy near The Garden of Eden, Qurhah, Iraq, 1999
On the Newcastle/Damariscotta Bridge, 2003
(11x14)
On the bridge, 2003
Promote dialogue, 2003
They gave there [sic] tomorrows, 2003
Manuscripts and Printed Material Series, 1987-2008
(1 box)
Proofs, notes, and publicity related to several of Pierce's published works, and her career as a documentary photographer.
Box 9
Iraq's Children: Our Children, photos, and text, 2002
From Boston to Baghdad, photos and text, 2001
Frank Hunter classroom materials, 2008
Student papers from Frank Hunter's Introduction to Photography class, Documentary Studies 115.01, responding to the exhibit
"Olive Pierce: Forty Years of Photographs, 1963-2003."
Olive Pierce reviewed and wrote comments on the papers.
"Iraqi Children,"
postcards of Pierce's images, 1999
Vassar publication and Maine Times magazine, 2003-2004
"On Teaching Photography,"
1987
Ovsz. Box 136
Poster for
"On the Bridge"
exhibit, 2003
Electronic Material Series, 2008
(2 items)
DVD created by Olive Pierce with images and audio titled "Fern's Last Days." Also, digital sound file of talk given by Pierce at Duke University, October 24, 2008 at the opening reception for the exhibit, "Olive Pierce: Forty Years of Photography." File has been mounted to library server. For access to both items, please contact Special Collections reference staff.
[Original DVD is closed to research; a use copy must be made before contents can be accessed. Please contact Research Services staff before coming to use this collection.]
Box 9
"Fern's Last Days,"
2008
(DVD, 24 minutes)
Online Exhibit: Olive Pierce: Forty Years of Photographs (1963-2003), featuring digital sound file of artist's talk, 2008 Oct. 24
(MP3, 39 minutes)
