Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron. Copyright is held by the Estate of Helen Marcus; please email rbml@columbia.edu for contact information.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Helen Marcus Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Helen Marcus (1925-2023) was a working photographer, primarily of news media in New York City. Marcus founded the New York chapter of the American Society of Magazine Photographers (later the American Society of Media Photographers) in 1982 and was its national president between 1985 and 1990, where she was instrumental in championing issues of copyright and credit for photographers. She was president of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund from 1988-2007. Marcus documented the media industry, from publishing parties to taking the Nobel portrait for Toni Morrison (which later became a stamp). Marcus also traveled in China in the 1970s, taking photographs in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. Her photographs are in the permanent collection of the National Gallery and the International Center of Photography. (More biographical detail can be found in this NYTimes article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/arts/helen-marcus-dead.html
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
| Subject | ||
|---|---|---|
| Photography | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |
| Portrait photography -- United States | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |