Scrapbook, 1938-1968

This collection consists of a scrapbook entitled "My Book: Gallery Activities and Associates" that was apparently kept by Jane Rosenthal, an educator at the Museum, between 1938 and 1968. The bulk of the materials are clippings and photographs about the activities of the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts (later the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) during World War II and the professional and personal experiences of its heavily female staff at that time, as well as letters and v-mail from Museum Director Paul Gardner during his military service in World War II. Lt. Colonel Paul Gardner served as director of the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section (“Monuments Men”) of the Allied Military Government in Italy. As such he was charged with preserving art treasures endangered by the war. His service as a monuments man began in Ischia, a small volcanic island in the Gulf of Naples, where he initially served as military governor. Also included are clippings about his wartime work with the commission and more generally about Nazi looting of art.