Perry Miller Adato papers and films, ca. 1968-1982 | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Title: Perry Miller Adato papers and films, ca. 1968-1982

ID: 01/01/MSS00001

Primary Creator: Adato, Perry Miller (1920-2018)

Extent: 457.5 Cubic Feet

Subjects: Brassai, 1899-1984, Cassatt, Mary, 1844-1926, Eames, Charles, Eames, Ray, Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011, Neel, Alice, 1900-1984, Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988, O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986, O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953, Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973, Saar, Betye, Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967, Stein, Gertrude, 1874-1946, Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953, Work of Charles and Ray Eames (Library of Congress)

Languages: English, Spanish;Castilian, French

Perry Miller Adato (1920-2018, b. Yonkers, New York) was a prolific documentarian, whose work as a film researcher, distributor, producer, and director spanned roughly seven decades, beginning in the 1940s through the 2010s. Best known for her WNET/Thirteen documentaries exploring the interior lives of influential artists, poets, and writers of the 20th century, Adato's accomplishments have earned her numerous accolades. Notable achievements include an Emmy award for her directorial debut, Dylan Thomas - The World I Breathe in 1968 and a Most Outstanding Achievement in Documentary award in 1978 from the Director's Guild of America for Georgia O'Keeffe (1977). Adato was also the first woman in the history of the Director's Guild to win this prestigious designation. She has also been cited as a major influence on the stylistic development of American documentary cinema. Her unique style choices to use narration and reenactment to propel the film narrative would go on to define contemporary documentary filmmaking practices that are canonized today by documentarians such as Kens Burns, who cites Adato as one of the major influences of his work.

Adato's tireless career as a producer and director continued into her 90s, leaving behind dynamic artifacts that give us an intimate look at 20th-century legends such as Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Carl Sandburg, Georgia O'Keeffe, and the Eames among many others. The Perry Miller Adato collection at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was acquired in 1985 by the Illinois History and Lincolns Collection curator, John Hoffman, at a time when the repository was merged with the Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The IHLC had collaborated with Adato extensively on her documentary, Carl Sandburg: Echoes and Silences (1982), assisting her with locating source material and research advisors. In the early 1980s, Hoffman and Adato agreed to transfer her documentary production assets to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library from New York City. The collection (457.5 cubic feet) covers her work as a director and producer from 1970 to 1982. The collection contains original film production elements such as 16mm and 35mm film, production-related documents such as story boards, 35mm slides, stills, extensive research material, NEH grant proposals, scripts, broadcast master tapes, and correspondence with documentary subjects such as Georgia O'Keeffe and Paloma Picasso.

Brassai, 1899-1984
Cassatt, Mary, 1844-1926
Eames, Charles
Eames, Ray
Frankenthaler, Helen, 1928-2011
Neel, Alice, 1900-1984
Nevelson, Louise, 1899-1988
O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986
O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953
Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973
Saar, Betye
Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967
Stein, Gertrude, 1874-1946
Thomas, Dylan, 1914-1953
Work of Charles and Ray Eames (Library of Congress)

Repository: Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Access Restrictions: Open to researchers. Select folders are restricted. These folders are marked as "Restricted" in the folder title.

Use Restrictions:

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This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would damage materials or involve violation of copyright law.

Related Materials: Audiovisual Inventory List - Current as of 5/26/2022. For more information please see https://uofi.box.com/s/5ui7e1vh6paqeg358k9tcx2l7spsmk7u.

Processing Information: https://wiki.cites.uiuc.edu/wiki/display/librare/Home

Finding Aid Revision History:

In April 2022, the original finding aid was retired after a 2 year reprocessing effort by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library and Media Preservation Unit. The legacy finding aid has been left online for reference purposes only.

After an item-level media preserveration assessement of all film elements was completed during the 2020-2022 school year, the finding aid in its existing form was published. Work was completed by Ari Negovsch (Media Preservation Graduate Assistant), Siobhan McKissic (Archival and Literary Manuscript Specialist, RBML), Josh Harris (Media Preservation Coordinator), and Cristina Kuhn (Media Preservation & Digital Reformatting Project Manager).

Box and Folder Listing

Series 2: Audiovisual Materials

Each subseries below is organized by documentary name, with an overview the formats and quantities held in the collection.  For a full inventory of all audiovisual materials at the item level, please see the "Related Materials" section for the downloadable spreadsheet titled, "Audiovisual Inventory List - Current as of 5/26/2022".

Sub-series 1: Picasso: A Painter's Diary, 1980

1,239 Total Items

1 1" Videotape

131 1/4" Reel to Reel Tapes

1,052 16mm

11 35mm

26 Quadruplex Videotape

18 Umatic

Sub-series 2: Carl Sandburg: Echoes and Silences, 1982

832 Total Items

75 1/4" Reel to Reel Tapes

723 16mm

5 35mm

29 Audio Cassettes

Sub-series 3: Gertrude Stein: When This You See, Remember Me, 1970

1,000 Total Items

66 1/4" Reel to Reel Tapes

928 16mm

6 35mm

Sub-series 4: Georgia O'Keeffe, 1977

390 Total Items

1 1/4" Reel to Reel Tape

388 16mm

1 35mm

Sub-series 5: An Eames Celebration - Several Worlds of Charles and Ray Eames, 1973

165 Total Items

84 1/4" Reel to Reel Tapes

81 16mm

Sub-series 6: Eugene O'Neill: A Glory of Ghosts, 1986

4 Total Items

1 1/4" Reel to Reel Tape

1 16mm

2 Flexi Disc

Sub-series 7: Mary Cassatt - Impressionist From Philadelphia, 1978

305 Total Items

42 1/4" Reel to Reel Tapes

263 16mm

Sub-series 8: Frankenthaler - Toward a New Climate, 1978

309 Total Items

4 1/4" Reel to Reel Tapes

303 16mm

2 35mm

Sub-series 9: The Originals: Women in Art, 1979

83 Total Items

81 16mm

2 35mm

Sub-series 10: The Great Radio Comedians, 1972

60 Total Items

60 1/4" Reel to Reel Tapes

Sub-series 11: Other WNET/Thirteen Projects

Includes items for:

Business Records: 1 1/4" Reel to Reel Tape

Dateline 13: 1 1/4" Reel to Reel Tape

Other WNET/Thirteen Projects: 6 1/4" Reel to Reel Tapes, 231 16mm, 2 35mm Film, 1 Audio Cassette, 42 Umatic

World In Action: 2 16mm