Barbara Rosenthal Papers are Open for Research

By: Annie Tummino, Head of Special Collections & Archives, and Olivia Zisman, Project Archivist

Queens College Special Collections and Archives (SCA) is thrilled to announce that the Barbara Rosenthal Papers are now open for research. Rosenthal, who transferred her papers to Queens College in phases between 2021-2025, is an avant-garde interdisciplinary artist, writer, and performer. She explores existential themes through her multimedia artworks, which often take the form of photography, video, text, and performance. Rosenthal attended graduate school at Queens College in the 1970s, receiving her MFA in painting in 1975.

The collection documents Rosenthal’s personal and professional life, spanning from the early 1940s through 2025. It consists of materials related to her career as an artist, and professional activities related to her studio practice and business endeavors, as well as her career as an educator (largely in higher education in New York). It also contains Rosenthal’s journals, family heirlooms, student papers, correspondence, and ephemera.

Thanks to Rosenthal’s multi-hyphenate career encompassing many forms of art and literary production, and her penchant for accumulating and saving object of special meaning, it is one of the most in-depth and eclectic collections stewarded by SCA. Comprised of 137 linear feet of boxed material, plus additional textiles and oversized items, the collection provides insight into the art making process from inspiration through exhibition, review, and revision, and documents the relationship between art and artist. It is SCA’s premier collection of papers from an alumni visual artist.

The collection is rich in possibility for scholarship, teaching, and creativity. Just to name a few examples, one can peruse 90 numbered volumes of Rosenthal’s journals starting at the age of 11; explore multiple drafts and editions of her artists’ books; review exhibition posters and business records; or examine “sacred objects” derived from Rosenthal’s life. Depending on the box, one might find a sabretooth tiger tusk, a silk baby pillowcase, or a handmade beaded G-string, a bundle of letters, or doodles on scrap paper. The archive is a delight for the mind and the senses, unspooling the layers of the artist’s life and work.

Portions of the Rosenthal collection were first preserved, arranged, and described by students in the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies class LBSCI 790.3: Advanced Archival Practicum during the Summer 2022 semester, instructed by Caitlin Waldron. In September 2025, thanks to generous funding from the Mellon Foundation, SCA hired Project Archivist Olivia Zisman to complete the project. Zisman processed accruals and created a holistic arrangement that encompassed all collection elements (see the finding aid for details).

To make an appointment to view the Rosenthal collection or arrange a class visit, please email qc.archives@qc.cuny.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!