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Gerda Peterich Papers

An inventory of her papers at the Syracuse University Archives


Finding aid created by: Amy S. Doherty
Date: unknown

Biography

Gerda Peterich

Gerda Peterich (1906-1974) was a lecturer in art history and director of the Photographic Archives at Syracuse University from 1964 to 1968. During her career she was a photographer of dances and dancers and a staff photographer for Dance Magazine. She was an associate in research at the George Eastman House and was well known as a photographer of architecture, especially cobblestone structures.

Gerda Anna Margarete Peterich was born in Munich, Germany, on March 9, 1906. Her mother was a pianist, and her father was a sculptor and professor of fine arts. She had three brothers and a sister, all gifted artistically. The family moved to Italy soon after Peterich was born, seeking a more liberal atmosphere for the children. Peterich's schooling took place in Germany where she studied at the Odenwaldschule from 1919 to 1922. She studied piano with Lili Kroeber-Asche at the State Conservatory of Music in Stuttgart from 1930 to 1933. Despite her early interest in music, an injury to her shoulder prevented her from pursuing a musical career.

In 1936, Peterich went to the island of Hiddensee to think through her interests in gardening, architecture, and photography and to decide on her life's work. She returned from her week of contemplation and announced that photography was where she would place her major efforts. From the summer of 1937 through the winter of 1939 she studied photography at the Photographische Lehranstalt des Lette-Vereins in Berlin and passed the state examination cum laude. While in Berlin Peterich met and married Dr. Kurt Robert Mattusch, Economic Counsellor for the U.S. State Department at the American Consulate General.

In August 1939, Peterich and her lifelong friend Elisabeth (Lilly) Hoffmann sailed for America on the next to last ship to leave Germany before World War II. Shortly thereafter, Peterich and her husband separated.

Faced with the task of earning a living in an unfamiliar environment, Peterich established a photographic studio at 332 West 50th Street in New York, where she specialized in portraiture and dance. She also taught for two and a half years at The School of Modern Photography. During the period from 1940 through 1946 Peterich made a name for herself as a photographer of dance and dancers and became a staff photographer for Dance Magazine. Among her subjects were Jose Limon, Martha Graham, Pearl Primas, Jane Dudley, Ruth St. Denis, Jerome Robbins, Bambi Lynn, Pearl Lang, and Hanya Holm. Peterich's aim was "the interpretation of the dancer's personality, the dancer's personal style, or a special dance." In 1950, she resumed photographing dancers, but primarily with ballet, while her earlier work was with modern dancers. While on the staff of Dance Magazine she also worked freelance, doing magazine, commercial and portrait photography.

In 1946, Peterich accepted a position as visiting lecturer at Ohio University where she also attended school. On August 7, 1948, she was awarded a BFA from Ohio. During this period she became head of the department of photography.

In 1950, Peterich moved to Rochester, New York, and began working towards her master's degree in fine arts at the University of Rochester, concentrating on the history of architecture and the history of photography. The MA degree she received on June 7, 1957, was the first in the history of photography as an art form to be granted in the United States. Her thesis, "The Calotype in France and its Use in Architectural Documentation," combined her lifelong interests in architecture and photography.

While pursuing her master's degree Peterich worked a variety of jobs. She again freelanced as a photographer and documented the architecture of the Utica area for Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. In the summer of 1958, she co-chaired a four-day tour of the Geneva/Rochester/Finger Lakes area and the Corning Glass Works with Harley McKee, an architectural historian and professor at Syracuse University. Peterich also became an Associate in Research at the George Eastman House, where she designed at least two traveling exhibitions, one on the history of photography and the other on nineteenth-century architectural photographs. Peterich was also a staff writer for Image, the Eastman House journal, and wrote a lead article about the architectural exhibition in 1958.

While studying for her master's degree, Peterich began researching and photographing cobblestone architecture. In 1955 she created a circulating photograph exhibit, "Cobblestone Architecture of Upstate New York," and presented a paper to the Central New York chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, which was subsequently published in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (vol. 15, no. 2). She continued to photograph cobblestone architecture for the rest of her life. In 1978, Syracuse University Press posthumously published her book, Cobblestone Landmarks of New York State. It notes, "Gerda Peterich's photographs are the soul of this book...Brought up in an artistic environment, she learned the special qualities of stone while watching her father at work in his studio and on long walks with him through the countryside."

In 1957, the George Eastman House gave Peterich a retrospective show, entitled, "Twenty Years of Photography." The show, which included portraits and images of dance, clouds, water, wildflowers, cobblestone architecture and churches of Utica, New York, also appeared at the Siembah Gallery in Boston in 1961.

During her New York City days Peterich shared an apartment with her childhood friend, Lilly Hoffmann, who became a weaver of great distinction. In 1950, Hoffman purchased a house in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and in 1959, Peterich moved there to once again share a home with her friend. In a 1959 Christmas letter she wrote, "...everything was planning for New Hampshire. Through many years I spent my vacations there with my good friend Lilly Hoffmann. I was beginning to grow roots here - it was what I had waited for. And now I am here, loving it, happy, leading the creative life which is happiness. As I write to you I sit in my studio which last year still was Lilly's barn, looking out of my big window over our grounds which terminate in a granite stone wall, pine trees beyond. There are tufts of snow on the ground and the sky is brilliantly blue."

After moving to New Hampshire Peterich lectured on fine arts at the New England College in Henniker. She began work towards a Ph.D. in Fine Arts at Boston University in the summer of 1961 and attended a seminar in American Architecture at Harvard University in the summer of 1962. She was on leave in 1963-64 with a stipend to work on her Ph.D.

In a March 14, 1964, memorandum to Frank Piskor, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Syracuse University, Laurence Schmeckebier, Dean of the School of Art, wrote, "While in Baltimore I also met Gerda Peterich, a distinguished artist and photographer,...she is German born and educated with a good historical and scholarly background." On May 11th, Peterich received a telegram offering her the position of lecturer in art history at Syracuse University. Scheduled to teach one course on the history of art and one on the history of photography, she was also to be director of the Photographic Archives at the University. She accepted the position and was in Syracuse by September.

Shortly after her arrival an exhibit of Peterich's work went on display at the Lowe Art Gallery at the University. The exhibit grew out of a project commissioned by the Currier Gallery of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire, to document the Victorian architecture of the city and to awaken public awareness of the significance of its buildings.

Peterich also worked on a project documenting the architecture of Merrimack and Hillsborough counties in New Hampshire. The project was completed in 1965, and the negatives were deposited at the Library of Congress as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey.

Gerda Peterich taught at Syracuse University until June 1968. She then returned to the New Hampshire she loved and remained there until her death in July 1974.

Scope and Content Note

The Gerda Peterich Papers are primarily visual in nature and comprised mostly of photographic prints, negatives, and transparencies. Of particular interest are the photographs and negatives of dancers in New York City from 1940-1946 and 1950. This was an active period in modern dance, and Peterich photographed most of the notable dancers of the time. The collection also includes printed material, writings, notes, correspondence, and memorabilia. The collection is arranged into four series:

Personal papers consist of biographical materials about Peterich, her personal photographs and transparencies, notes, memorabilia, and other papers. The photographs and transparencies in this series showcase Peterich's interest in historic architecture and nature.

Prints and negatives contains photographic prints and negatives taken by Peterich. This series includes Peterich's photographs and portraits of dancers and dance troupes who were active at that time.

Subject files consist of clippings, correspondence, notes, writings, and other materials related to Peterich's work, as both a photographer and professor. This series also contains materials related to exhibitions of Peterich's photographs.

Writings includes items by Peterich as well as by others.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

The University Archives holds clippings and portrait files on Gerda Peterich.

Selected Search Terms

Names

Peterich, Gerda.
Syracuse University.

Subjects

Architectural photography.
Dance photography.
Dance.
Nature photography.
Syracuse (N.Y.) -- History.
Higher education.
Photographers.

Types of Material

Black-and-white negatives.
Black-and-white photographs.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Glass plate negatives.
Masters theses.
Photographic transparencies.
Programs (documents)

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Gerda Peterich Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Lilly Hoffmann in 1979, the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, in 1992, Dick Case in 2008, and Richard LeRoy in 2021.

Processing Information

Materials were placed in acid-free folders and boxes.

Arrangement

The bulk of the Peterich Papers is primarily arranged by the two largest donations that comprise the collection. Lilly Hoffman’s gift makes up most of the Personal papers series, and the George Eastman House’s gift comprise much of the Prints and negatives as well as the Subject files series.

Table of Contents

Personal papers

Prints and negatives

Subject files

Writings

Writings by others

Inventory