An interview of Francis Sumner Merritt conducted 1979 May 25-June 25, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Merritt speaks of his education at art schools in Boston and at Yale; his career as a painter during the Depression; teaching at the Cranbrook Academy of Art; his tenure at the Flint (Michigan) Institute of Arts, 1947-1951; and the development of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts at Liberty and then at Deer Isle, Me.
Biographical / Historical:
Francis Sumner Merritt (1913-2000) was a painter, designer, art administrator, and the founder of Haystack Mountan School of Craftsof Deer Isle, Me. He studied at the Vesper George School of Art, the San Diego Academy of Fine Arts, the Massachusetts School of Art, and the Yale Univ. School of Fine Arts. Merritt taught at Bradford Junior College and was head of art department. He died Dec. 27, 2000, at age 87.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 14 min.
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
The papers of painter and arts administrator Francis Sumner Merritt measure 5.7 linear feet and date from circa 1930 to 1980. The bulk of the papers document his career as the founding director of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Included are biographical materials, personal correspondence, writings and notes, professional files on Haystack and other institutions, printed material, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter and arts administrator Francis Sumner Merritt measure 5.7 linear feet and date from circa 1930 to 1980. The bulk of the papers document his career as the founding director of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Included are biographical materials, personal correspondence, writings and notes, professional files on Haystack and other institutions, printed material, and photographs.
Biographical materials contain scattered records relating to Merritt's personal life and career including a scrapbook and a print by Fiske Boyd. Professional files create the bulk of the papers and focus on Merritt's arts administration career at Haystack and other institutions including the Flint Institute of Art and Bradford Junior College. Among the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts material are planning materials, correspondence with many craft artists, financial records, student information, printed material, photographs for various sessions held at the school, and one sound recording concerning a trip to Nigeria.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 6 series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1936-1977 (Box 1; 0.1 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1930-1978 (Box 1; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1940s-1978 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 4: Professional Files, 1940s-1980 (Box 1-5, 8; 4.1 linear feet)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1939-1976 (Box 6-7; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Photographs, 1949-1970s (Box 7; 0.2 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Francis Sumner Merritt (1913-2000) was a painter, designer, and arts administrator. He was the first director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine.
Merritt was born in 1913 in Danvers, Massachusetts. He studied art at multiple schools, including Yale University School of Fine Arts and was a printmaker and painter. In addition to his art, Merritt taught painting at Colby Junior College, the Cranbrook Summer Institute, and Bradford Junior College. Merritt began his arts administrative career as director of the Flint Institute of Art in Detroit, Michigan. He was brought on to be the first director at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine. In this position, he encouraged the international study of craft.
Francis Merritt was married to Priscilla Merritt, with whom he had two sons. He died in Belfast, Maine in 2000.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts records, 1950-1969, and an oral history interview of Francis Sumner Merritt conducted 1979 May 25-June 25, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Provenance:
Francis Sumner Merritt donated his papers in two accessions in 1980 and 1994.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copies requires advance notice.
Occupation:
Arts administrators -- Maine -- Deer Isle Search this
