Genevieve Oswald

Genevieve Mary Oswald (August 24, 1921 – March 19, 2019) was an American dance scholar and archivist, founder and curator of the New York Public Library's dance archive.

Genevieve Oswald
Born
Genevieve Mary Oswald

August 24, 1921
Buffalo, New York
DiedMarch 19, 2019
Santa Clarita, California
NationalityAmerican
Occupationlibrarian, dance historian
Years active1944-1987
Known forfounder, first curator of the New York Public Library's dance collection, from 1947 to 1987

Early life

Oswald was born in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Charles Oswald and Jeannette Glenn Oswald. Her father worked at a shipping company. She earned a bachelor's degree in music at the North Carolina College for Women in 1943.[1]

Career

Oswald moved to New York to pursue a career as a singer.[2] She began working at the New York Public Library in 1944, in the Music Division. In 1947, she founded and became curator of the library's new Dance Collection.[3] In 1954, she wrote, "It is important that the public be able to get dance information, because the dance art can be considerably strengthened and more firmly established if its public is well-informed." She expanded the specialized holdings to include films and materials related to Asian dance traditions,[4] and built the collection of dance films. She also collected oral histories.[5] In 1965, she oversaw the collection's move to a new location at Lincoln Center. In 1978 she traveled to China to meet with Chinese dance scholars and give lectures on American modern dance.[6] She retired in 1987,[7] taking the title "Curator Emerita of the Dance Collection".[1]

Oswald won the Capezio Award in 1956, for her contributions to dance scholarship; the award was presented to her at a luncheon, with remarks by Carl Van Vechten.[8][9] In 1965 Oswald was one of the twelve founding members of the Congress on Research in Dance (CoRD).[10] From 1970 to 1974, she taught courses in the history of dance, at New York University.[1] She was also coordinator of the Americas Center of the World Dance Alliance.[11] In 1978, she was presented with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from her alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.[12]

Personal life

Genevieve Oswald married musician and music educator Dean Leslie Johnson in 1949. They had a son and a daughter. She was widowed when Johnson died in 1981. She died in 2019, aged 97 years, in Santa Clarita, California.[1] The Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library remains "one of the world's most renowned centers for dance research".[5]

References
  1. Harss, Marina (2019-03-29). "Genevieve Oswald, the Soul of a Dance Archive, Is Dead at 97". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  2. Alumni News. Greensboro, N.C. : The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Winter 1984. p. 2.
  3. Murray, Linda (March 20, 2019). "Statement Regarding Genevieve Oswald" New York Public Library.
  4. Dunning, Jennifer (April 4, 1978). "An Asian Archive Of Dance Opened: Benefit Is Planned". The New York Times. p. 24 – via ProQuest.
  5. Brooks, Lynn Matluck (2011-09-01). "A Bold Step Forward: Genevieve Oswald and the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library". Dance Chronicle. 34 (3): 447–486. doi:10.1080/01472526.2011.615239. ISSN 0147-2526.
  6. Brooks, Lynn Matluck; Meglin, Joellen A. (2016-05-06). Preserving Dance Across Time and Space. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-90645-1.
  7. Dunning, Jennifer (September 8, 1987). "Her Legacy Speaks Volumes". The New York Times. p. C15 – via ProQuest.
  8. "Genevieve Oswald Wins Capezio Award; Library Curator Cited for Dance Work". The New York Times. February 27, 1956. p. 19 – via ProQuest.
  9. Martin, John (March 11, 1956). "The Dance: Fifth Capezio Award; Genevieve Oswald Wins Citation for Curatorship Of Library Collection". The New York Times. p. 135 – via ProQuest.
  10. "A Brief History of CORD". Dance Studies Association. 2020-01-05. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  11. Au, Susan (2010). "Oswald, Genevieve". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2085474. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  12. Alumni News. Greensboro, N.C. : The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Summer 1978. p. 15.
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