The collection contains letters, photographs, and artwork received by Mary Constance Kloss from Acee Blue Eagle, as well as newspaper clippings about Blue Eagle collected by Kloss.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into two series: (1) Papers; and (2) Artwork.
Biographical / Historical:
Born in 1911, Mary Constance "Connie" Kloss grew up in Oklahoma as an only child. She attended the University of Oklahoma and around 1931 met Acee Blue Eagle; the two dated for a time. When Kloss's father was killed in an accident, she left college to live with her mother. Kloss married Meyer Dorf around 1971. She died in 2004.
Born Alex McIntosh in 1907, Acee Blue Eagle was a celebrated Muskogee-Creek-Pawnee-Wichita artist, dancer, and teacher. Blue Eagle attended Haskell Indian Industrial Training Institute (Now Haskell Indian Nations University) as well as the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, graduating high school in 1928. He then entered Bacone Indian College and the University of Oklahoma, where his art took shape under Oscar B. Jacobson, director of UO's School of Art, and earned a BFA in 1932.
In 1934 Blue Eagle painted murals for the Works Progress Administration. In 1935 he lectured at Oxford, after which he helped to establish the art program at Bacone, teaching there for several years. In 1938, his work was shown at the Grand Central art galleries in New York City, which afforded him national recognition. Many exhibits followed over the years. During World War II Blue Eagle served in the Air Force. After the war, he joined the art faculty of the Oklahoma State University Technological School, a post he kept until his death. Blue Eagle died in 1959.
Related Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds NAA.1973-51, the Acee Blue Eagle papers and artwork.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Adrienne Dorf, stepdaughter of Mary Constance Kloss, in 2019.