Underground filmmaker Shirley Clarke was one of Harry Smith’s neighbors in Chelsea Hotel. From Dee Dee Halleck’s eulogy to Shirley Clarke: In the early seventies I somehow found my way up to her workshop space in the penthouse of the Chelsea Hotel. Shirley lived and worked there making live and taped video performance, installation and documentation … Continue reading
Category Archives: Harry Smith
Harry Smith: Cross Culturality and Regional Identity in a Salmon Nation Beatnik/Nov. 5, Knight Library, Eugene@ 5:00 PM
OPB’s Dave Blanchard Earns Honorary OCI Membership
Think Out Loud’s Dave Blanchard has compiled a terrific “compare and contrast” list of musicians who claim Harry Smith’s Anthology as a formative influence. Find his extensive and surprising list, which includes videos, on the OPB website. Included is a link to Blanchard’s interview with Eric Isaacson about Mississippi Records’ re-release of Harry Smith’s Anthology of … Continue reading
The Parental Enigma, Part Two: Mary Louise Hammond Smith
According to Harry, his mother was Anastasia of Russia, and he was the product of her love affair with Aleister Crowley. Harry Smith was gloriously unreliable when it came to facts about his own life. Here’s what we know about Mary Louise Hammond Smith. Chronologically: Born in 1889, in Sioux City, Iowa. Teaches at Sitka … Continue reading
The Parental Enigma, Part One: Robert James Smith
Harry’s Chicago grandfather, Robert A. Smith, married the daughter of a Chicago industrialist-turned-salmon packer. I don’t know if he did this before or after he moved to Bellingham to assist in the administration of the Deming family’s powerful, vertically integrated, salmon canning empire. The record shows their son, Robert James Smith, bailed on this mission, … Continue reading
Handy Guide to Harry Smith’s Bellingham
Thanks to Kaveh Askari and Matthew Holtmeier, Oregon Cartoon Institute got to explore Bellingham, Harry Smith’s childhood home. For people who wish to retrace our steps, here’s the sights we recommend. 1. Harry’s homes. Robert Smith, Mary Smith and two year old Harry Smith arrived in Bellingham in 1925. They moved into 1515 J Street, … Continue reading
Handy Guide To Harry Smith
Harry Smith, outside Chelsea Hotel, 1975 Who was Harry Smith? … Continue reading
Genius In The Village: Tennessee Williams On Harry Smith
“The world is far more fulsome if you imagine it to be full of churches that can fill your mind and your heart. One goes to mass; one says the rosary. One goes to help those who most need it. One consumes those things–liquid or smoke or powder–that allow one to walk among the world … Continue reading
Notes For Rich: On Cross Culturality & Harry Smith
Harry Smith, age 15 . On May 16, at 3:00 PM at the Hollywood Theatre, Oregon Cartoon Institute convenes a panel of three regional historians to discuss Harry Smith In The Pacific Northwest. . The more accurate title would have been “The Pacific Northwest In Harry Smith”. . Here’s a section of my correspondence with … Continue reading
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