The papers of sculptor and educator Merrell Gage measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1982. The papers document his career in Kansas and California through biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, artwork, and photographs, as well as a scrapbook and a photograph album.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of sculptor and educator Merrell Gage measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1911 to 1982. The papers document his career in Kansas and California through biographical material, correspondence, writings, printed material, artwork, and photographs, as well as a scrapbook and a photograph album.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
Sculptor Robert Merrell Gage (1892-1981), known as Merrell Gage, was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1892. He studied at the Art Students League in 1911 and at the Robert Henri School of Art and also served as an apprentice to Gutzon Borglum from 1914 to 1916 and again from 1921 to 1923. Borglum was a tremendous influence on Gage. His wife Marian was a painter.
Gage taught at Washburn College in Kansas, ca. 1915-1916; the Kansas City Art Institute, 1915-1916 and 1919-1921; and the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, ca. 1925-1958. In 1955, Gage's film, "The Face of Lincoln," won an Academy Award in the two-reel short subject category. Merrell Gage died in 1981.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with Merrell Gage conducted by Betty Hoag on May 27, 1964.
Provenance:
The Merrell Gage papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1995 by Jean Gage, daughter of Merrell Gage.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
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.
Collection includes over 200 replies (160 of which comprise the book) to Mrs. Moore's letter requesting a quotation or a bit of poetry important to the recipient; a copy of her book, "Famous Personalities and Their Philosophies," and materials relating to the speeches both Mrs. Moore and her daughter gave about this collection of letters, such as notes, clippings, etc.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents a book written by Mildred Moore entitled Famous Personalities and Their Philosophies, published in 1940 by the Bookwalter Ball Greathouse Printing Co., Indianapolis. The collection encompasses over 200 replies (160 of which are included in the book) to Mrs. Moore's letter requesting a quotation or a bit of poetry important to them. Also included are a copy of her book, Famous personalities and Their Philosophies, and materials relating to the speeches both Mrs. Moore and her daughter gave about this collection of letters.
2
Series 1 of the collection, the letters received in response to Mrs. Moore's inquiry, has been classified by occupation of the respondent and then arranged alphabetically by name within that classification. Apparently selected at random, the people she contacted were drawn from a wide variety of occupations and interests and include actors, athletes, community leaders, physicians, politicians, royalty, and many others. They are as diverse in background as Babe Ruth and the Prince of Wales, Huey Long and Winston Churchill. Most of the responses are signed by the individuals to whom Mrs. Moore's letter was addressed. Some of these have value as autographs, for example, Helen Keller, Marie of Roumania, and Adolph Hitler.
Series 2 is the book itself, arranged alphabetically with a page devoted to each personality. On each page are brief comments by Mrs. Moore about the person, and his or her favorite quotation and its source. When a second page has been devoted to an individual it is a reproduction of the handwritten response to Mrs. Moore's request (16 out of 160 entries). Sources of the quotations range through the centuries from Confucius to several people alive at the time of the book's publication (1940), but most frequently quoted are the Bible and the works of Shakespeare.
The material in series 3 is devoted largely to notes of Mary Lou White (Mrs. Moore's daughter) relating to the many speeches she made to women's clubs, fraternal organizations, and similar groups concerning her mother's collection, her publicity and that of her mother. There are also a few references to Elizabeth Wenger, who, according to Mary Lou White's notes, was repeating Mildred Moore's endeavor with respect to a later generation.
Series 4 contains replies to a letter requesting a favorite quotation sent to residents of Fort Wayne by Mrs. Moore. Most of these are dated 1932 1933. They have been arranged alphabetically by respondent.
The correspondents include Babe Ruth, the Prince of Wales, Winston Churchill, Huey Long, Helen Keller, Marie of Romania, and Adolf Hitler, and others, such as those listed below.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into four series.
Series 1: Responses to Mildred Moore's letter to famous personalities
Series 2: Publication developed from responses to letter to famous people (book)
Series 3: Development of speeches by Mary Lou White (notes)
Series 4: Responses to letters to prominent Fort Wayne area residents
Biographical / Historical:
Mildred Moore, the pen name for Mildred Galloway, later Mrs. Forest L. Moore, was born on a farm outside Cromwell, Indiana. She read constantly as a child and often wrote verse to express her feelings. Prior to November 13, 1930, when she began writing a column called "This, That And The Other" for the Cromwell Advance, a Fort Wayne newspaper, and one in Waterloo, Indiana, she had worked for several years as a secretary and bookkeeper for the Fort Wayne YMCA.
In 1931, having become interested in what motivated people and in their philosophies, Mildred Moore began to write to famous people seemingly selected at random requesting a quotation or a bit of verse that had been important to them and the development of their philosophy. The resultant book, Famous Personalities and Their Philosophies, includes 160 responses to over 200 letters to people with some claim to fame during the 1930s. Interestingly, the rate of response and acquiescence was very high with few refusals. A few indicated no favorite verse or quotation.
Mildred Moore made speeches about her collection of letters to several hundred groups in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois. Her daughter, Mary Lou White (Mrs. Charles F. White), also spoke to numerous groups about the letters after her mother's death.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Charles F. White, 1991, April 26.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Probable copyright restrictions on some material in this collection.
The papers of art writer and editor Mary Fanton Roberts measure 3.8 linear feet and are dated 1880 to 1956. The bulk of this collection is Roberts' correspondence with numerous important artists, dancers, actors, writers, and musicians of the day. Also found are scattered biographical materials, family correspondence, writings, printed material, photographs and artwork.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of art writer and editor Mary Fanton Roberts measure 3.8 linear feet and are dated 1880 to 1956. The collection is comprised mainly of correspondence with family members, artists, dancers, actors, writers, musicians, and visual and performing arts organizations. Also found are scattered biographical materials, writings, printed material, photographs and artwork.
The collection contains a small amount of biographical material about Mary Fanton Roberts and her husband, William Carman Roberts, including his journal of a vacation with Ernest Thompson Seton and his wife. Personal Correspondence is with her husband and sister Belle Fanton, and with friends. Business and political correspondence documents her career as a magazine editor and writer, her participation in political organizations and events, her participation in radio talks, and her correspondence regarding war issues.
Art correspondence/subject files include correspondence with and collected materials on artists, photographers, art patrons, critics, and wives of artists, as well as arts organizations, museums, and schools. Correspondence of note is with George Gray Barnard, Gutzon Borglum, Ben Ali Haggin, Leon Kroll, Frederic Remington, W. Goodridge Roberts, Nicholas Roerich, Pierre Troubetzkoy, illustrator Oliver Herford, John Butler Yeats, and Ashcan school artists Robert Henri, John Sloan, and William Glackens, as well as many others. Dance and theatre correspondence/subject files include correspondence with actors, dancers, playwrights, patrons, organizations and theatres. Correspondence of note in this series is with Charles "Orlando" Coburn, Eva Le Gallienne, Angna Enters, and the "Duncan Dancers." Literary and music orrespondence/subject files include correspondence with authors, poets, critics, singers, publishers, and musicians, such as Bliss Carman, Yvette Guilbert, and Lloyd Osbourne. Additional material found in these subject files, other than letters, includes invitations, photographs, calling cards, artwork, news clippings, and printed material.
Writings by Roberts include an autobiographical essay about her youth and early career, guest lists and notes concerning hosted events, and typescripts of poems by her niece Dorothy Gostwick Roberts. Printed material is comprised of art exhibition catalogs, published articles and trade bulletins written by Roberts, and newsclippings. Photographs are of Roberts, her family, friends, and places she lived, and include autographed portraits given to her, primarily from actors and actresses. Also found are photographs taken by Nickolas Muray of art models. Scattered artwork in this collection includes several small drawings by unidentified artists, as well as a pencil portrait of Roberts by John Butler Yeats.
Series 2: Personal Correspondence, 1902-1951, undated (Box 1; 7 folders)
Series 3: Business and Political Correspondence, 1903-1959, undated (Box 1; 6 folders)
Series 4: Art Correspondence/Subject Files, 1898-1956, undated (Box 1-2; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 5: Dance and Theatre Correspondence/Subject Files, 1902-1953, undated (Box 2-3; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 6: Literary and Music Correspondence/Subject Files, 1900-1952, undated (Box 3; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: General Correspondence, 1898-1946, undated (Box 3-4; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 8: Writings, 1915-1926, 1952, undated (Box 4; 3 folders)
Series 9: Printed Material, 1899, 1909-1947, undated (Box 4-5; 0.3 linear feet)
Series 10: Photographs, 1880-circa 1943, undated (Box 5; 0.2 linear feet)
Series 11: Artwork, 1906, undated (Box 5; 3 folders)
Biographical Note:
Mary Fanton Roberts was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1864. When she was a young girl her family moved to Deadwood, in the Montana territory, where her father had mining prospects. When she was old enough, she and her sister were sent back to New York to attend the Albany Female Academy. After finishing school, Roberts pursued journalism and became a staff writer for four years for the Herald Tribune, the Journal, and the Sun in New York. During her long career she was editor of Demorest Magazine, editor-in-chief of New Idea Woman's Magazine, managing editor of The Craftsman, and creator and editor of The Touchstone Magazine and Decorative Arts magazine. Her longest period at one publication was seventeen years as editor of Arts and Decoration. She often wrote articles on the topic of decorative arts and home decorating, and published two books, Inside 100 Homes, and 101 Ideas for Successful Interiors.
In 1906 she married William Carman Roberts, writer and editor of Literary Digest for thirty years. They lived in Manhattan and Waterford, Connecticut.
Roberts was very involved in the artistic, theatrical, and literary circles in New York City, and met and became friends with many young avant garde American artists, including Robert Henri and John Sloan. Through her husband she met many writers and poets, including Theodore Dreiser and Bliss Carman. Roberts was active in organizations such as the Women's City Club, Pen and Brush, and the MacDowell Society and also attended countless art openings, theater performances, and other social events. As an avid supporter of modern dance, she became friends with many performers, including Isadora Duncan and Angna Enters. After her husband's death in 1941, Roberts moved to the Chelsea Hotel, where she lived for the rest of her life. She maintained lifelong relationships with a wide circle of friends and continued to correspond with them and attend social events until her death in 1956 at the age of 92.
Provenance:
The collection was donated in 1957 by Phoebe DuBois and Violet Organ.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Mary Fanton Roberts papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
Occupation:
Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Editors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Topic:
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Millar, Addison T. (Addison Thomas), 1860-1913 Search this
Extent:
2 Items (sound cassettes)
39 Pages (Transcript)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Pages
Interviews
Sound recordings
Date:
1990 May 8-August 27
Scope and Contents:
An interview with Monica Borglum Davies conducted 1990 May 8-August 27, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Monica Borglum Davies (1903-1997) was the daughter of Solon Borglum (1868-1922), sculptor.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hr., 14 min.
Provenance:
This interview is 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 administrators.
Restrictions:
Davies discusses childhood memories in Silvermine, Connecticut; her father, sculptor Solon H. Borglum, and her mother Emma Vignal. She recalls their artist friends, including Daniel Putnam Brinley and Addison Millar; her father's candid personality; her mother's family, which took in young American artists in Paris as boarders, including her father and Alphaeus Cole; Paul Manship as her father's student; tensions between the Solon and Gutzon Borglum families; Borglum's service with the YMCA in France 1918-19; his establishment of schools for American sculptors in Paris and New York, 1920-22 (School for American Sculpture); purchase of large figurative works by St. Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie, NYC; sudden death of her father and support received by the family from friends.
Topic:
Sculpture, Modern -- 19th century -- United States Search this
Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century -- United States Search this
Sculptors -- United States -- Interviews Search this
Function:
Art Schools -- France -- Paris
Art Schools -- New York (State) -- New York
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
