Portraits, American

After purchasing an Ammi Phillips painting in 1958, the Holdridges began their extensive research into the artist’s life and work. Their research identified more than three hundred portraits done by Phillips and proved the theory that A. Phillips, the Border Limner, and the Kent Limner were all one artist, Ammi Phillips. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, and research notes related to the Holdridges' Ammi Phillips research.

Wax portrait of Reverend Naphtali Daggett (1727-1780), Professor of Yale University in 1780. Done in 1797 at New Haven Connecticut by Reuben Moulthrop of East Haven, Connecticut. The artist is known to have worked in wax and painted portraits of several Yale University presidents of the period. This silhouette portraits descended in the Daggett family through the years before being donated to the American Folk Art Museum.

The record group contains exhibition files related to the American Folk Art Museum's earliest exhibitions (1962-1966), when the museum was called the Museum of Early American Folk Arts (MEAFA). The files include a range of materials, such as correspondence, checklists, installation and object photography, publicity and press releases, and more.