The Visual Resources Slide Collection holds over 175 000 slides covering every major area in Western art, architecture, decorative and graphic arts, as well as Asian, African, Pre-Historic European, Egyptian, Ancient Near East, Greek, Roman, Celtic, Etruscan, Medieval, Byzantine, and Islamic cultural production.
The late Dale Harris (1929-1996) was professor of Literature and Writing at Sarah Lawrence College from 1970-1991. Mr. Harris also taught History of Dance and Opera at the NY University School of Arts, Art History and Humanities at Cooper Union, and was a frequent lecturer the Metropolitan Museum on ballet and cultural history. Dale Harris’ personal slide collection, which encompasses a broad range of unique subject matter and totals in excess of 65,000 35mm slides, was bequeathed to Sarah Lawrence College Visual Resources in 1996. Dale Harris’ slide collection was founded with an intention to recreate lost relationships. Both scholarly and accessible, his collection possesses a unique archival value; its expansive scope is an unrivaled and remarkable didactic tool.
The Social History Section of the Visual Resources Slide Collection has been selected from the Dale Harris donation. This collection documents—through atypical or documentary style photography, popular advertisements, political cartoons, newspaper headlines, written texts, journals, etchings, and other media—the cultural and political climate of Europe and North America during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The Dale Harris Performing Arts Special Collection documents artistic production within the 18th, 19th, and 20th, centuries Europe and United States, with notable emphasis on Opera and Ballet. This resource includes images of photographs, correspondence, compositional scores, drawings, printed ephemera, and set and costume design.
Visual Resources Slide Collection is open to all members of the Sarah Lawrence College community. Visual Resources is open Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, and is closed on weekends.
Patrons must present a valid Sarah Lawrence ID card to browse and sign out slides. Staff will provide collection orientation, but please note that staff do not pull slides for patrons. For collection orientation, please email or contact curatorial staff at x2300.
Slides may only be used for Sarah Lawrence classroom instruction. Slides may not be used in any performative nature or reproduced in any electronic or broadcast media. Please see our Copyright and Acquisition information.