The Corcoran Archives document the life and vitality of one of Washington D.C.’s oldest cultural heritage institutions, widely considered among the nation’s most significant repositories of American art, and provides almost 150 years of insight into the history of American art museums and art education. In 2014, as the Corcoran Gallery ceased operations, the art collection was relocated to the National Gallery of Art and the Corcoran School of Art and Design became part of GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. In 2016, the Corcoran Trustees invited GW Libraries’ Special Collections to serve as the permanent home for the archives.
Corcoran Collections Inventories
The following collections inventories provide details about the contents of the Corcoran Archives so that researchers can identify materials that may answer their questions. For help using these collection inventories or help requesting materials to view on site please contact us at speccoll@gwu.edu.
The Corcoran Archives have been organized in collections by department or unit. Each collection has a unique Record Group number.
COR RG 1.0 Board of Trustees records, 1869-2012
Board minutes and reports
COR RG 2.0 Directors' records, 1869-2012
Correspondence, memoranda, and other materials generated by the Director’s office
COR RG 3 Development and Membership, Special Events, Public Programs, Graphics
Inactive donor records, financial reports, program and program files, design records
COR RG 3.1 Art rental records, 1961-1973
COR RG 3.2 Development and membership records, circa 1869-2010
COR RG 3.3 Public relations and graphics records, circa 1942-2009
COR RG 3.4 Special events records, 1891-2010
COR RG 3.5 Public programs records, 1994-2011
COR RG 4.0 Financial records, 1872-1989
Financial activities and concerns
COR RG 5 Curatorial, (museum) Registrar’s office, Conservation, Archives
Exhibition files and catalogues, administrative records for the departments, records on incoming and outgoing loans
COR RG 5.0 Curatorial office records, circa 1874-2013
COR RG 5.1 Gallery registrar's office records, 1869-2013
COR RG 5.2 Conservation department records, circa 1882-2019
COR RG 5.3 Archives department records, circa 1890-2014
COR RG 6.0 Education department records, circa 1961-2010
Program and exhibition files, docent program records
COR RG 7.0 Buildings and grounds records, 1870-2007
Architectural records including plans and project files for realized and unrealized architectural projects
COR RG 8 Women’s Committee and Friends of the Corcoran
Records relating to the activities of the two supporting groups including programs and acquisitions
COR RG 8.1 Women's Committee records, circa 1905-2001; bulk 1955-2001
COR RG 8.2 Friends records, circa 1961-1996
COR RG 9.0 Corcoran School of Art + Design records, circa 1908-2012
Early transcripts, school catalogs, administrative records
COR0010-MS Ruth Porter Ward papers, 1909-1965
Ruth Porter Ward (1900 September 16 - 1936 July 24) was an artist primarily known for her still lifes and portraits done with oil, pastel, and watercolor. Ward was a student at the Corcoran School of art from 1920 through 1928. This collection contains newspaper articles, correspondence, postcards, art work and photographs dating from 1909 through 1965.
