Christopher Fleming Collection of Jon Nielsen Visual Materials

Descriptive Summary
Title: Christopher Fleming Collection of Jon Nielsen Visual Materials
Creator: Nielsen, Jon, 1912-1986.
Inclusive Dates: 1960s
Language(s): English
Extent: 2 box(es) (3 linear feet), including 70 photographs and 6 drawings
Collection Number: RBRL269CFJN
Repository: Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
Abstract: Jon Nielsen (1912-1986) was a Danish-American artist and illustrator. He has illustrated over 200 children's books and textbooks, taught college art, and co-authored the children's book "The Wishing Pearl and Other Tales of Vietnam" with his wife, Kay. His works have been featured in galleries in New York and Florida. In the 1960s during the Vietnam War, he was asked by the US State Department to travel to Vietnam and sketch portraits to entertain the soldiers. This collection contains 70 photographs taken by Nielsen as studies for his ink drawings. Some of the six drawings in the collection were later used in his book "Artist in South Vietnam," published in 1969.

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Collection Description

Biographical Note

Jon Nielsen was an artist, illustrator and portraitist whose career spanned over 35 years. Born in 1912 to Danish parents, Nielsen graduated from Brooklyn's Pratt Institute and went on to become a children's illustrator in New York, eventually illustrating over 200 children's books and textbooks and teaching college art for a time. An avid traveler, Nielsen also accepted commissions to sketch portraits in Vietnam during the war for the US State Department, and to go on safari in Zambia to make woodcuts of the native animals for the Zambian government. His work has been featured in galleries in New York and Florida. He created the children's book "The Wishing Pearl and Other Tales of Vietnam" with his wife, Kay.

Nielsen moved with his family in 1979 from Westchester County, New York to Bradenton, Manatee County, Florida. He died in 1986.

Scope and Content

The collection includes 28 folders containing 70 photographs and six ink drawings by Jon Nielsen. Subjects include U.S. military personnel, vehicles, buildings and medical facilities, as well as Vietnamese citizens, vehicles, buildings, street and market scenes, and school scenes. Also includes one clipping dated June 6, 1983, about Nielsen and his career.

Organization and Arrangement

The collection is organized into two series: photographs and drawings.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Christopher Fleming Collection of Jon Nielsen Visual Materials, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641.

User Restrictions

Library acts as "fair use" reproduction agent.

Copyright Information

Before material from collections at the Richard B. Russell Library may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permissions. Persons wishing to quote from materials in the Russell Library collection should consult the Director. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.

Finding Aid Publication

Finding aid prepared on: 2010.

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Related Materials and Subjects

Subject Terms

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Series Descriptions and Folder Listing

 

I. Photographs

70 photograph(s)

Photographs taken by Jon Nielsen during the Vietnam War. The photographs depict scenes and people in Saigon and other areas in Vietnam. Includes portraits of military personnel, street and market scenes, Vietnamese citizens and daily life, US military scenes, and military and civilian vehicles.

box

folder

Request box

I.1

1

Man carrying ducks past a lot with bicycles, South Vietnam, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

2

Various vehicles, including bicycles, boats, motorcycles, and a horse cart, South Vietnam, 1960s. (5 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

3

Family gathered in a marketplace, South Vietnam, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

4

Two female refugees wearing head scarves, South Vietnam, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

5

Various scenes depicting men around South Vietnam, working, resting, and at the barber, and a one-armed man begging, 1960s. (6 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

6

Women engaged in daily activities, working near a military camp, carrying parcels, and conversing, South Vietnam, 1960s. (3 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

7

Various scenes of US military personnel, buildings, vehicles, ships and aircraft, 1960s. (11 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

8

Various scenes at food marketplaces in South Vietnam, 1960s. (5 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

9

Children at school and on the street in unidentified villages in South Vietnam, 1960s. (13 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

10

U.S. and Vietnamese military guards, South Vietnam, 1960s. (3 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

11

Scenes depicting medical treatment of US military personnel and Vietnamese children, South Vietnam, 1960s. (5 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

12

Saigon street scenes, including various scenes of traffic and a van with campaign banners, 1960s. (7 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

13

Women gathered near market, South Vietnam, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

14

Young men repairing automobile, South Vietnam, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

15

Building with elaborate roof design and signs in Chinese, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

16

Man and woman walking past barriers in front of building with sign "Sport Favori de l'Homme", South Vietnam, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

17

Man loading construction materials into wheelbarrow, South Vietnam, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

18

Man standing behind barbed wire gate with sign: "CAM NHAT", 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

19

Stopped traffic on a street in South Vietnam, with bicycles, motorcycles, rickshaw, and cars, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

20

Women and children seated near market in unidentified village in South Vietnam, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

I.1

21

Rear view of armed guard with cigarette by US Marine Corps trucks. Used for ink drawing in folder II.1.1, 1960s. (1 (8x10) b/w)

 

II. Drawings

6 drawings

Ink drawings by Nielsen. The drawings depict U.S. military personnel and scenes, as well as Vietnamese scenery. Also contains one clipping dated June 6, 1983, about Nielsen and his career.

box

folder

Request box

II.1

1

U.S. soldier with Vietnamese woman and child in background, 1960s. (1 ink drawing (14x17))

II.1

2

Combat soldiers about to board C-130 Hercules cargo plane, Nha Trang – Viet Nam, 1960s. (1 ink drawing (13.35x21.75))

II.1

3

Marines waiting for transportation, Danang, Viet Nam, 1960s. (1 ink drawing with watercolor (12.25x17))

II.1

4

Chopper about to pick up wounded man near Bien Hoa, Viet Nam, 1960s. (1 ink drawing (19x23.35))

II.1

5

Marines waiting for transportation, Danang, Viet Nam, 1960s. (1 ink drawing with watercolor (13.75x17))

II.1

6

Vietnam waterfront with boats, bamboo, and man riding a water buffalo, 1960s. (1 ink drawing (22x28.75))

II.1

7

Clipping, "Artist draws on worldwide travels", 1983 June 6

II.1

8

Watercolor, includes excerpt from Jan Berry's "Memorial to a man in Black Pajamas" ((15x15) color)

II.1

9

Danish circus, block print ((16x23) b/w)

II.1

10

Man She Blows, block print ((18x24) b/w)

II.1

11

Three cartoons by Giovanni: "Peace on Earth Good Will Towards Men" Vietnam with a cloud of smoke shaped liked skulls; "Don't Forget to Vote" Homo Sapiens Americanus now extinct sat on hands, didn't vote, took no interest in thier government; Hubert Humphrey scuba diving with a Johnson weight around his neck

II.1

11

Two injured children, print