Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation Information Office Photographic Fonds

 
Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation Information Office photographic fonds. -- [ca. 1955 - ca. 1987; predominant ca. 1975 - ca. 1985]. -- ca. 19,500 photographic records . -- 10 folders of textual records. -- 1 microfilm roll.

Administrative History

Date of Founding
The Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation Information office was established by resolution of the Nalanda Foundation Board of Directors at a meeting on August 15, 1975.

Mandate/Sphere of Functional Responsibility

The mandate of the Information Office encompassed advertising, publicity, and public relations. In the area of advertising, the Office produced and reviewed the content of all advertisements, flyers, posters, mailings, and brochures of all divisions of Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation. Assistance in the preparation of these materials was routinely provided to the various divisions of those organizations. Information as to the effects of advertising was collected and analyzed and made available to these divisions. The Information Office engaged in publicity through direct contacts with media and other public relations agencies. The Office was also responsible for writing, and providing editorial assistance in writing, publicity brochures and other material intended for public dissemination, to all divisions of Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation. The Office engaged in public relations work by overseeing communications with members of the public in order to further an understanding of the activities of Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation. In support of all of these activities, the Office maintained photographic files of all major activities of Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation. In 1978 Vajradhatu founded the Vajradhatu Sun, a bi-monthly publication of buddhist news, and placed its management under the Information Office. In the course of its production, the Sun made extensive use of these photographic files.

Administrative Relationships

From its creation in 1975 until 1977, the Information Office was under the direction of an Information Officer, Joshua K. Zim. Beginning in 1977, the activities of the Office were brought under the supervision of Karl G. Springer, a member of the Boards of Directors of Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation in charge of the external affairs of both organizations. That same year, two assistant information officers were named: Eric Weiss for Vajradhatu and Miriam Garrett for Nalanda Foundation. In 1980, Mrs. Garrett succeeded to the post of chief information officer, and continued in that position until the closure of the office in 1988. Administrative Structure Vajradhatu, an international organization of Buddhist meditation and study centers, and Nalanda Foundation, an educational foundation, were founded in 1973 and 1975, respectively, by the Ven. Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche. At the time of creation of the Vajradhatu and Nalanda Information Office, the Boards of Directors of Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation were composed of the same individuals, and the organizations regularly held its board meetings concurrently and, when appropriate, created joint administrative structures, as in the case of the Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation Information Office.

Current Address of Shambhala International ( Formerly the Vajradhatu Buddhist Church)

1084 Tower Road
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3H 2Y5 Canada

Custodial History

During 1985 and 1986, the international headquarters of Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation were relocated from Boulder, Colorado to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The photographic files of the Information Office, however, remained in Boulder but were transferred to the custody of the Vajradhatu Sun, where they remained until early in 1988. At that time, the Information Office was closed and the photographic files were transferred to the custody of the Archives.

Scope and Content

The fonds consists of extensive photographic documentation of various activities of the founder of Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation, Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, and members of his family; of the Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin, who acted as the spiritual successor of Trungpa Rinpoche from 1976 to 1990, and members of his family; of numerous events sponsored by and participated in by Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation; of visits to North America by His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism; of activities of a number of important Tibetan Buddhist teachers, as well as teachers of Zen and other traditions; of the major residential practice and educational centers established by Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation; of exhibitions and demonstrations sponsored by Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation on the visual arts; and of the work of a specific photographers.

A small series of administrative records provides some information on the original order of the photographs and their care and preservation during the existence of the office. Additionally, there is a description, probably created in the 1980's, of the entire body of records of the Information Office.

The fonds contains approximately 19,500 photographic images, as well as a small amount of textual and other graphic materials. The photographic images include black and white prints and negatives; color prints, negatives and contact sheets; transparencies; and one reel of microfilm.

The fonds is arranged into fifteen series, listed below.
1/A. Photographs of Vidyadhara the Venerable ChogyamTrungpa, Rinpoche
1/B. Photographs of the Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin
1/C. Photographs of His Holiness Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa
1/D. Photographs of His Holiness Dingo Khyentse Rinpoche
1/E. Photographs of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
1/F. Photographs of other Tibetan teachers
1/G. Photographs of other Buddhist teachers
1/H. Photographs of events, celebrations and people
1/J. Photographs of properties, places
1/K. Photographs of art
1/L. Photographs of Dharma Art seminars and related events
1/M. Photographs by specific photographers
1/N. Oversized materials
1/O. Administrative records
1/P. Microfilm of Tibetan painted scrolls

Notes

Title based on contents of the fonds. Restoration of original order in the fonds was carried out with the assistance of three former staff members of the Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation Information Office: Jane Hester, Miriam Garrett, and Liza Matthews.

Access to portions of the fonds is by permission as noted in the relevant series descriptions.

Permission to reproduce and publish photographs in the fonds may be subject to copyright restrictions.

A full inventory of the fonds is included in the finding aid, as well as a guide to the numbering system and abbreviations used in the fonds.

Associated material having the same provenance:

See also
Vajradhatu and Nalanda Information Office administrative records fonds

No further accruals are expected.

Related groups of records in different fonds: See also Andrea Craig Roth photographic fonds; Karme-Choling photographic fonds; Vajradhatu Recordings audiotape fonds; Vajradhatu Editorial Department transcript fonds.

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