Benjamin, Beverly interview by Shen, Yuqing, Spring 2017
Scope and Contents
The CGU History 304/Introduction to Oral History Methodology course trains graduate students in both the theoretical and practical aspects of conducting oral histories. For Spring 2017, the theme for the course was “Women of Claremont.” Students interviewed a wide range of women with various connections to the town of Claremont, California, including artists, academics, and activists.
All abstracts were written by the interviewer.
Dates
- Creation: Spring 2017
Language of Materials
Languages represented in the collection: English.
Access
Collection open for research.
Extent
From the Collection: 0.8 Linear Feet (2 document boxes)
Abstract
Beverly Benjamin is artist Karl Benjamin’s wife. The interview took place in the dining room of her house in Claremont, California. The length of the interview is one hour and ten minutes. The interviewee Beverly Benjamin was born in Blue Earth, Minnesota in 1929. She moved to Iowa with her family and grown up in a famer house. She enrolled at the University of Redlands in 1945, majoring in Education, and soon met with her husband Karl Benjamin (was an American painter of vibrant geometric abstractions, who rose to fame in 1959 as one of four Los Angeles-based Abstract Classicists and subsequently produced a critically acclaimed body of work that explores a vast array of color relationships. Working quietly at his home in Claremont, CA, he developed a rich vocabulary of colors and hard-edge shapes in masterful compositions of tightly balanced repose or high-spirited energy. At once intuitive and systematic, the artist is, in the words of critic Christopher Knight, "a colorist of great wit and inventiveness."1). Mr. and Ms. Benjamin get married in 1949, at the day of Beverly’s final exam. After graduation, they began teaching in an elementary school in Bloomington, California. Beverly and Karl moved to Claremont in 1952. Beth Benjamin is Beverly’s daughter. Beverly sometimes has difficulty remembering names and events, so Beth was there to help Beverly.
Note
Materials relating to Shen's interview of Beverly Benjamin, which was conducted as part of the History 304 "Women of Claremont" oral history project. Included are a transcript of the interview, an outline of same, and associated permission forms.
Repository Details
Part of the 01 - Special Collections & Archives, The Claremont Colleges Library Repository
800 North Dartmouth Ave
Claremont CA 91711 United States
Email: specialcollections@claremont.edu