Adele Brandeis (1885–1975) was an American art administrator from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

Work

In 1911, Brandeis presented a paper on "The Development of Art in Cincinnati" to the Women's Club of Louisville, where she highlighted the crucial role women had played in promoting art in Cincinnati. She encouraged her listeners to work toward the establishment of an art museum and art school in Louisville, which would then lead to greater development of the arts in Louisville. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

of the 1930s, Brandeis worked for the WPA

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administratio ...

and the

Section of Painting and Sculpture Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section s ...

. Brandeis did art research for the

Index of American Design The Index of American Design program of the Federal Art Project produced a pictorial survey of the crafts and decorative arts of the United States from the early colonial period to 1900. Artists working for the Index produced a collection of 18, ...

, a comprehensive collection of American material culture, and managed the creation of visual artwork by local artists. Brandeis focused on ensuring that

Shaker Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cock ...

art in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

was recorded in the Index of American Design. She knew that the Shaker community near

Harrodsburg Harrodsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 9,064 at the 2020 census. Although Harrodsburg was formally established by the Virginia House of Burgesses after Boo ...

was closed, and that furniture and other items were being auctioned off. In order to keep a record of the Shaker's furniture, weaving, clothing, and other work, Brandeis arranged for four artists to lodge in Harrodsburg and document the surviving Shaker arts for the Index. The materials in the Index informed the later reconstruction of

Shakertown Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, United States of America, USA, is the site of a Shakers, Shaker Religion, religious community that was active from 1805 to 1910. Following a Historic preservation, preservationist effort that began in 1961, the site, no ...

. Brandeis lectured on art at the University of Louisville in the 1930s, for the Art Association in Louisville, and became a member of the first Arts Center Association Board in Louisville in 1942. She wrote for the ''

Louisville Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

'' starting in 1945. Among other jobs, she did research for the editorial page. She was the first woman to be nominated to the board of trustees of the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

in 1949 and served various Kentucky art organizations.

Life

Brandeis was the daughter of Alfred Brandeis, who was the brother of

United States Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on questions o ...

Louis D. Brandeis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...

, and Jennie Taussig. She died at Mount Holly Nursing Home on June 1, 1975, at 89 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandeis, Adele 1885 births 1975 deaths American art historians Writers from Louisville, Kentucky University of Louisville people Jewish American historians Section of Painting and Sculpture artists 20th-century American historians American women art historians Federal Art Project artists 20th-century American women writers Courier Journal people Writers from Kentucky Artists from Kentucky American women artists