Ruth Matilda Anderson (1893-1983)
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
8-3-2025 5:20 AM
Description
Dr. Noemi Espinosa Fernandez, Associate Curator, Hispanic Society Museum & Library, New York City, U.S.A.
Ruth Matilda Anderson (1893-1983)
Ruth Matilda Anderson (1893-1983) was hired as a photographer in 1921 by Archer M. Huntington, the founder of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library (HSM&L), an institution devoted to the study of the Hispanic culture in the United States. Anderson was appointed curator of photography the following year, a position she held until 1924. From that year until 1954 she traveled on multiple expeditions. At the end of 1928 she was appointed Curator of Iconography, but her work focused on research and collection material of ethnographic value. For decades she documented a world in transition, where century-old traditions and beliefs were disappearing or being modified with the developing times. Her most challenging assignment from Huntington was to be the specialist in ethnographic related subjects. It was through her tenacity and hard work that she was able to gather an extraordinary and unique photo archive, that together with her field notes is today the only living testament of a way of life that is forever lost.
Through her photographic work, she produced studies of academic value on topics such as historical and regional clothing and its symbolism, dance, religious and popular celebrations, local industries, etc. Everything she learned came from her experiences lived in the first person; she shared space and time with her informants and the people portrayed in her photographs. She was also very keen on depicting the life of women, and emphasizing their crucial contributions as custodians of a knowledge passed on through many generations.
Dr. Noemi Espinosa Fernandez is an Associate Curator in charge of the Decorative Arts at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, New York City. She joined the museum in 2007 to study and catalog the photography collection, a unique legacy of anthropological value. She wrote a thesis on photographer Ruth Matilda Anderson.
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Fernandez, Noemi Espinosa, "Ruth Matilda Anderson (1893-1983)" (2025). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day 2025. 17.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2025/schedule/17
Ruth Matilda Anderson (1893-1983)
Dr. Noemi Espinosa Fernandez, Associate Curator, Hispanic Society Museum & Library, New York City, U.S.A.
Ruth Matilda Anderson (1893-1983)
Ruth Matilda Anderson (1893-1983) was hired as a photographer in 1921 by Archer M. Huntington, the founder of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library (HSM&L), an institution devoted to the study of the Hispanic culture in the United States. Anderson was appointed curator of photography the following year, a position she held until 1924. From that year until 1954 she traveled on multiple expeditions. At the end of 1928 she was appointed Curator of Iconography, but her work focused on research and collection material of ethnographic value. For decades she documented a world in transition, where century-old traditions and beliefs were disappearing or being modified with the developing times. Her most challenging assignment from Huntington was to be the specialist in ethnographic related subjects. It was through her tenacity and hard work that she was able to gather an extraordinary and unique photo archive, that together with her field notes is today the only living testament of a way of life that is forever lost.
Through her photographic work, she produced studies of academic value on topics such as historical and regional clothing and its symbolism, dance, religious and popular celebrations, local industries, etc. Everything she learned came from her experiences lived in the first person; she shared space and time with her informants and the people portrayed in her photographs. She was also very keen on depicting the life of women, and emphasizing their crucial contributions as custodians of a knowledge passed on through many generations.
Dr. Noemi Espinosa Fernandez is an Associate Curator in charge of the Decorative Arts at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, New York City. She joined the museum in 2007 to study and catalog the photography collection, a unique legacy of anthropological value. She wrote a thesis on photographer Ruth Matilda Anderson.
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