Joanne L. Ratner, Interviewer, UCLA Oral History Program. B. A., American Studies/Art History, Scripps College; M. A., Art History/Museum Studies, University of Southern California.
Burton's home in Pasadena, California.
May 4, 1988 (105 minutes); May 17, 1988 (78); May 23, 1988 (63).
4
Burton and Ratner.
This interview is one in a series related to the history of the Pasadena Art Museum.
Ratner reviewed a variety of materials directly related to the Pasadena Art Museum, including minutes of the board of trustees from 1965 to 1974, minutes of the executive committee from 1968 to 1974, calendars of events, exhibition catalogs and reviews, scrapbooks, newspaper and magazine articles, California Design files, and essays, brochures, and speeches pertaining to the museum's early history. In addition, Ratner read relevant interviews conducted by the UCLA Oral History Program for its Los Angeles Art Community: Group Portrait series.
The interview follows a thematic outline, but within each subject area the discussion generally proceeded chronologically. Individuals discussed include directors Walter Hopps, James T. Demetrion, and William C. Agee, curator John R. Coplans, trustees Robert A. Rowan, Eudorah Moore, and Alfred Eberg, and many volunteers and members of support groups of the museum. Burton also discussed the fund-raising activities of the Art Alliance of the Pasadena Art Museum, as well as the exhibition and acquisition programs, and the design of the new building constructed at Colorado and Orange Grove boulevards.
Virginia Carew, assistant editor, edited the interview. She checked the verbatim transcript of the interview against the original tape recordings, edited for punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling, and verified proper names. Words and phrases inserted by the editor have been bracketed.
The edited interview transcript was sent to Burton for review in October 1989. She made considerable corrections and additions, verified proper names, and returned the transcript in 1990.
Richard Candida Smith, principal editor, prepared the table of contents. Alex Cline, assistant editor, prepared the biographical summary and interview history. Lisa White, editorial assistant, compiled the index.
The original tape recordings of the interview are in the university archives and are available under the regulations governing the use of permanent noncurrent records of the university. Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Oral History Program.