Guide to the William R. Sargent Papers,
1965-2011.

Collection Number: 7748

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3530
Fax: (607) 255-9524
rareref@cornell.edu
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
Ezra Corral
Date completed:
February 14, 2008
EAD encoding:
Ezra Corral, February 2008
Sarah Keen, April 2008
Sarah Keen, October 2008
Sarah Keen, April 2010

© 2010 Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
William R. Sargent papers, 1965-2011.
Collection Number:
7748
Creator:
William R. Sargent
Quantity:
4.2 cubic feet
Forms of Material:
Diaries
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
Language:
Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

William R. Sargent (b. 1945, Haverhill, Massachusetts) received his BFA in Ceramic Design from Massachusetts College of Art in 1968 and his MA in Art History from Marshall University in 1978. After serving in the Navy for three years during the Vietnam War (from the fall of 1968 to January 1972) stationed in Santa Ana, CA, and on board an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, Sargent applied for and received conscientious objector status in December 1971. Living through the emergence of the AIDS crisis in the 1980's, he lost several friends to the disease.
He has been a museum curator since 1972, has traveled extensively lecturing, researching, and vacationing in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Egypt, South Africa, and Australia. He has published numerous articles and exhibition catalogs on American art, contemporary prints, and Asian export decorative arts.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Journals (each approximately 220 pages) begun in December 1965 as sketchbooks in art school, which then evolved into daily accounts of his interests, concerns, and activities, including his work and personal relationships, identity, military service (1968-1972), the impact of AIDS, his observations everywhere he traveled, and his career as a museum curator (1972 - continuing).
SUBJECTS

Names:
Sargent, William R. (William Robert), 1945-

Subjects:
AIDS (Disease)--United States--Social conditions.
Arts, Asian--Collectors and collecting.
Gay men--Social life and customs.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Conscientious objectors--United States.

Form and Genre Terms:
Diaries.
INFORMATION FOR USERS

Access Restrictions:
Journals are restricted for 60 years from date of creation.
Cite As:
William R. Sargent papers, #7748. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
RELATED MATERIALS

Collecting program: Human Sexuality Collection.
CONTAINER LIST

Date
Description
Container
December 1965 - June 1984
Volume 1-15
 Box 1
June 1984 - February 1994
Volume 16-27
 Box 2
February 1994 - January 2001
Volume 28-40
Box 3
January 2001 - November 2009
Volume 41-55
 Box 4
November 2009 - April 2011
Volume 56-58
 Box 5