The collection is arranged as 10 series. Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1909-1984 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 1, 15, OV 18, FC 26) Series 2: Correspondence, 1898-1989 (1.7 linear feet; Boxes 1-3) Series 3: Diaries, 1906-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 3-6) Series 4: Writings, 1933-1981 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 7, 15) Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1919-1981 (0.3 linear feet; Box 7) Series 6: Project Files, 1912-1979 (3.3 linear feet; Boxes 7-8, 15, OVs 18-21, RD 22-24, FC 25) Series 7: Printed Materials, 1911-1989 (1.3 linear feet; Boxes 8-9, 16, OV 21, FCs 22-24) Series 8: Sketches and Drawings, 1913-circa 1989 (0.9 linear feet; Boxes 9-10, 17, OV 21) Series 9: Photographic Materials, 1902-circa 1989 (2.6 linear feet; Boxes 10-12, 17, MGPs 5-6) Series 10: Katharine Ward Lane Papers, 1868-1893 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 13-14, MGP 1)
Access Note / Rights:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointments and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Summary:
The papers of sculptor Katharine Lane Weems, based in Boston, measure 15.6 linear feet and date from 1868-1989. The papers include biographical material, extensive diaries, correspondence, writings, personal business records, sketchbooks and drawings, project files, scrapbooks, printed materials, photographs and slides, motion picture film, and videotape relating to Weem's career as a sculptor. Also included are papers of Weems's aunt, watercolorist Katharine Ward Lane, which consists of letters, diaries, sketchbooks and photographs.
Citation:
Katharine Lane Weems papers, 1868-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Portions of the collection are available on 35mm microfilm reel 724 at Archives of American Art offices. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Funding:
Funding for the preservation and transfer of motion picture film provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Use Note:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reel 724. Reel 724 contains a biographical sketch, 1974; letters from Frederic Bartlett, George Demetrios, Walker Hancock, Leon Kroll, Lee Lawrie, Moissaye Marans, Adolph Alexander Weinman, and others; four sketchbooks, 1954-1965, containing pencil drawings of animals; a scrapbook of clippings, 1924-1941; and printed material. The four sketchbooks were donated to the archives but the location of the rest of the material on the reel has not been confirmed but presumably donated as part of the later installments and integrated with the rest of the collection material.
Biography Note:
Katharine Lane Weems (1899-1989) was a sculptor based in Boston, Massachusetts. She specialized in animal sculpture and studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, under Charles Grafly and George Demetrios, and also received instruction from Anna Hyatt Huntington and Brenda Putnam. She married F. Carrington Weems in 1947.
Weems won numerous awards and medals for her work. She undertook several major projects and commissions over the course of her career including but not limited to her work for The Biological Laboratories at Harvard University (a set of friezes, door designs, and two large bronze rhinoceros sculptures), the Dolphins of the Sea sculpture at the New England Aquarium, and the Lotta Fountain at the Boston Esplanade Plaza. Weems was a member of the Massachusetts Arts Commission and her work is a part of museum collections across the country. She died in 1989.
Weems was named after her aunt, watercolor painter Katharine Ward Lane (1862-1893).
Provenance:
The Katharine Lane Weems papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in multiple installments from 1975 through 1991. The bulk of the collection, consisting of unmicrofilmed papers, were donated in 1975 and 1982 by Weems, and in 1989 by her estate. Material on reel 724 was lent for microfilming by Weems in 1974 and the four sketchbooks on reel 724 were subsequently donated in 1989. Eighteen diaries (1961-1965, 1967-1976 [1969 not included], 1978, and 1981-1983) and an apppointment book for 1966 donated by the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, in 1991.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
