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Creator:

Kuh, Katharine  Search this

Names:

Albright-Knox Art Gallery  Search this

Art Institute of Chicago -- Faculty  Search this

Biennale di Venezia  Search this

Katharine Kuh Gallery (Chicago, Ill.)  Search this

Adams, Ansel, 1902-1984  Search this

Albers, Josef  Search this

Albright, Ivan, 1897-1983  Search this

Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964  Search this

Arensberg, Louise S. (Louise Stevenson), 1879-1953  Search this

Arensberg, Walter, 1878-1954  Search this

Arp, Jean, 1887-1966  Search this

Barnet, Will, 1911-  Search this

Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981  Search this

Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this

Breuer, Marcel, 1902-  Search this

Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976  Search this

Campoli, Cosmo  Search this

Chagall, Marc, 1887-1985  Search this

Chavez Morado, José, 1909-2002  Search this

Chermayeff, Serge, 1900-  Search this

Cornell, Joseph  Search this

Cox, Richard  Search this

Davis, Stuart, 1892-1964  Search this

Day, Worden, 1916-1986  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this

Dickinson, Edwin Walter, 1891-1978  Search this

Dubuffet, Jean, 1901-  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968  Search this

Elizabeth, Queen of Great Britain, II, 1926-  Search this

Ernst, Jimmy, 1920-1984  Search this

Falkenstein, Claire, 1908-1997  Search this

Feitelson, Lorser, 1898-1978  Search this

Friendly, Fred W.  Search this

Giacometti, Alberto, 1901-1966  Search this

Golub, Leon, 1922-2004  Search this

Goto, Joseph, 1920-  Search this

Grabe, Klaus  Search this

Graves, Robert, 1895-1985  Search this

Guggenheim, Peggy, 1898-1979  Search this

Guston, Philip, 1913-1980  Search this

Hare, David, 1917-  Search this

Hare, Denise Browne  Search this

Hayter, Stanley William, 1901-1988  Search this

Hirshhorn, Joseph  Search this

Hofmann, Hans, 1880-1966  Search this

Hélion, Jean, 1904-1987  Search this

Inverarity, Robert Bruce, 1909-1999  Search this

Johns, Jasper, 1930-  Search this

Johnson, Philip, 1906-2005  Search this

Johnson, Ray, 1927-  Search this

Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944  Search this

Kepes, Gyorgy, 1906-2001  Search this

Kepes, Juliet  Search this

Klee, Paul, 1879-1940  Search this

Kline, Franz, 1910-1962  Search this

Knox, Seymour H., 1898-1990  Search this

Le Corbusier, 1887-1965  Search this

Lundeberg, Helen, 1908-1999  Search this

Lye, Len, 1901-1980  Search this

Léger, Fernand, 1881-1955  Search this

Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969  Search this

Millier, Arthur, 1893-  Search this

Moholy-Nagy, László, 1895-1946  Search this

Motherwell, Robert  Search this

Mérida, Carlos, 1891-1984  Search this

Nutting, Muriel Leone Tyler, b. 1892  Search this

Nutting, Myron Chester, 1890-1972  Search this

O'Higgins, Pablo, 1904-  Search this

Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949  Search this

Ozbekhan, Hasan, 1921-2007  Search this

Perkins, Frances  Search this

Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this

Putnam, Wallace, 1899-1989  Search this

Ray, Man, 1890-1976  Search this

Rich, Daniel Catton, 1904-1976  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Sandberg, Carl  Search this

Seligmann, Kurt, 1900-1962  Search this

Shackelford, Shelby  Search this

Shahn, Ben, 1898-1969  Search this

Spaeth, Otto, d. 1966  Search this

Sterne, Hedda, 1916-  Search this

Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965  Search this

Still, Clyfford, 1904-  Search this

Tanning, Dorothea, 1910-2012  Search this

Tobey, Mark  Search this

Winston, Harry Lewis  Search this

Woolf, Olga  Search this

Young, Victor  Search this

Photographer:

Pollack, Peter, 1909-1978  Search this

Extent:

12 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Illustrated letters

Resumes

Travel diaries

Minutes

Calendars

Visitors' books

Photographs

Paintings

Awards

Drawings

Sound recordings

Collages

Scrapbooks

Lithographs

Prints

Wills

Watercolors

Poetry

Lecture notes

Lectures

Sales records

Date:

1875-1994

bulk 1930-1994

Summary:

The papers of art historian, dealer, critic, and curator Katharine Kuh measure 12 linear feet and date from 1875-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930-1994. The collection documents Kuh's career as a pioneer modernist art historian and as the first woman curator of European Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues; personal business records; artwork by various artists; a travel journal; writings by Kuh and others; scrapbooks; printed material; photographs of Kuh and others; and audio recordings of Kuh's lectures and of Daniel Catton Rich reading poetry.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of art historian, dealer, critic, and curator Katharine Kuh measure 12 linear feet and date from 1875-1994, with the bulk of the material dating from 1930-1994. Found within the papers are biographical material; correspondence with family, friends and colleagues; personal business records; artwork by various artists; a travel journal; writings by Kuh and others; scrapbooks; printed material; photographs of Kuh and others; and audio recordings of Kuh's lectures and of Daniel Catton Rich reading poetry.

Biographical material consists of copies of Kuh's birth certificate, resumés, passports, award certificates, honorary diplomas, and address books listing information about several prominent artists and colleagues.

Four linear feet of correspondence offers excellent documentation of Kuh's interest in art history, her travels, her career at the Art Institute of Chicago, her work as a corporate art advisor, and as an author. There are letters from her mother Olga Woolf, friends, and colleagues. There is extensive correspondence with various staff members of the Art Institute of Chicago, the First National Bank of Chicago, and The Saturday Review. Also of interest are letters from artists and collectors, several of whom became life-long friends including Walter and Louise Arensberg, Cosmo Campoli, Serge Chermayeff, Richard Cox, Worden Day, Claire Falkenstein, Fred Friendly, Leon Golub, Joseph Goto, David Hare, Denise Brown Hare, Jean Hélion, Ray Johnson, Gyorgy and Juliet Kepes, Len Lye, Wallace Putnam, Kurt Seligmann, Shelby Shackelford, Hedda Sterne, and Clyfford Still. Many letters are illustrated with original artwork in various media.

There are also scattered letters from various artists and other prominent individuals including Josef Albers, George Biddle, Marcel Breuer, Joseph Cornell, Stuart Davis, Edwin Dickinson, Joseph Hirshhorn, Daniel Catton Rich, and Dorothea Tanning.

Personal business records include a list of artwork, Olga Woolf's will, inventories of Kuh's personal art collection, miscellaneous contracts and deeds of gift, receipts for the sale of artwork, files concerning business-related travel, and miscellaneous receipts.

Artwork in the collection represents a wide range of artist friends and media, such as drawings, watercolors, paintings, collages, and prints. Included are works by various artists including lithographs by David Hare and a watercolor set, Technics and Creativity, designed and autographed by Jasper Johns for the Museum of Modern Art, 1970.

Notes and writings include annotated engagement calendars, travel journals for Germany, a guest book for the Kuh Memorial gathering, and many writings and notes by Kuh for lectures and articles concerning art history topics. Of interest are minutes/notes from meetings for art festivals, conferences, and the "Conversations with Artists Program (1961). Also found are writings by others about Kuh and other art history topics.

Six scrapbooks contain clippings that document the height of Kuh's career as a gallery director and museum curator. Scrapbook 6 contains clippings about Fernand Léger, the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953.

Additional printed material includes clippings about Kuh and her interests, a comprehensive collection of clippings of Kuh's articles for The Saturday Review, exhibition announcements and catalogs, calendars of events, programs, brochures, books including Poems by Kuh as a child, and reproductions of artwork. Of particular interest are the early and exhibition catalogs from the Katharine Kuh Gallery, and rare catalogs for artists including Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Jean Dubuffet, Marcel Duchamp, Stanley William Hayter, Hans Hofmann, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Franz Kline, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Pablo Picasso.

Photographs provide important documentation of the life and career of Katharine Kuh and are of Kuh, family members, friends, colleagues, events, residences, and artwork. Several of the photographs of Kuh were taken by Will Barnet and Marcel Breuer and there is a notable pair of photo booth portraits of Kuh and a young Ansel Adams. There are also group photographs showing Angelica Archipenko with Kuh; designer Klaus Grabe; painters José Chavez Morado and Pablo O'Higgins in San Miguel, Mexico; Kuh at the Venice Biennale with friends and colleagues including Peggy Guggenheim, Frances Perkins, Daniel Catton Rich, and Harry Winston; and "The Pre-Depressionists" including Lorser Feitelson, Robert Inverarity, Helen Lundeberg, Arthur Millier, Myron Chester Nutting, and Muriel Tyler Nutting.

Photographs of exhibition installations and openings include views of the Katharine Kuh Gallery; Fernand Léger, Man Ray, and László Moholy-Nagy at the Art Institute of Chicago; and Philip Guston, Jimmy Ernst, Seymour H. Knox, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and Mark Rothko at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. There are also photographs depicting three men posing as Léger's "Three Musicians" and the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to the Art Institute of Chicago. There is a photograph by Peter Pollack of an elk skull used as a model by Georgia O'Keeffe.

Additional photographs of friends and colleagues include Ivan Albright, Alfred Barr, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Willem De Kooning, Edwin Dickinson, Marcel Duchamp, Claire Falkenstein, Alberto Giacometti, poet Robert Graves with Len Lye, Philip Johnson, Gyorgy and Juliet Kepes, Carlos Mérida, José Orozco, Hasan Ozbekhan, Pablo Picasso, Carl Sandberg, Ben Shahn, Otto Spaeth, Hedda Sterne, Adlai Stevenson, Clyfford Still, Mark Tobey, and composer Victor Young.

Photographs of artwork include totem poles in Alaska; work by various artists including Claire Falkenstein, Paul Klee, and Hedda Sterne; and work donated to the Guggenheim Museum.

Four audio recordings on cassette are of Katharine Kuh's lectures, including one about assembling corporate collections, and of Daniel Catton Rich reading his own poetry. There is also a recording of the Second Annual Dialogue between Broadcasters and Museum Educators.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 9 series. Undated correspondence, artwork, and photographs of individual artists are arranged alphabetically. Otherwise, each series is arranged chronologically.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1945-1992 (Box 1; 16 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1908-1994 (Boxes 1-5, 13-14, OV 15; 4.0 linear feet)

Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1941-1989 (Box 5; 19 folders)

Series 4: Artwork, 1931-1986 (Boxes 5, 13-14, OVs 15-23; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 5: Notes and Writings, 1914-1994 (Boxes 5-7; 1.7 linear feet)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, 1935-1953 (Box 7; 8 folders)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1916-1992 (Boxes 7-10, 13, OV 22; 3.0 linear feet)

Series 8: Photographs, 1875-1993 (Boxes 10-13; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 9: Audio Recordings, 1977 (Box 12; 1 folder)

Biographical Note:

Katharine Kuh (1904-1994) worked primarily in the Chicago area as an modern art historian, dealer, critic, curator, writer, and consultant. She operated the Katharine Kuh Gallery from 1935-1943 and was the first woman curator of European and Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Katharine Kuh (née Woolf) was born on July 15, 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of the three daughters of Olga Weiner and Morris Woolf, a silk importer. In 1909, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois. While traveling with her family in Europe in 1914, Katharine contracted polio, causing her to spend the next decade in a body brace. During this time of restricted movement, she developed an interest in art history through the collecting of old master prints.

After her recovery, Katharine Woolf attended Vassar College where one of her professors, Alfred Barr, encouraged her to study modern art. She graduated from Vassar in 1925 and received a master's degree in art history from the University of Chicago in 1929. Later that year, she moved to New York to pursue a Ph.D. in Renaissance and medieval art at New York University.

In 1930, Katharine Woolf returned to Chicago and married businessman George Kuh and began to teach art history courses in the suburbs of Chicago. After divorcing George Kuh in 1935, she opened the Katharine Kuh Gallery, the first gallery devoted to avant-garde art in Chicago. It was also the first gallery to exhibit photography and typographical design as art forms, and featured the work of Ansel Adams, Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Wassily Kandinsky, Fernand Léger, and Man Ray, among others. From 1938 to1940, Kuh was the Visiting Professor of Art at the University School of Fine Arts, San Miguel, Mexico.

After the Katharine Kuh Gallery closed in 1943, Kuh was hired by museum director Daniel Catton Rich to fill a position in public relations at the Art Institute of Chicago. During the following years, Kuh edited the museum's Quarterly publication, took charge of the museum's Gallery of Interpretive Art, and began a long term relationship with Rich. In 1946, Kuh was sent on a special mission for the U. S. Office of Indian Affairs to make a detailed study of Native American totemic carvings in Alaska.

In 1949, Kuh persuaded Mr. and Mrs. Walter Arensberg of Los Angeles to exhibit their collection of modern art, creating the first post-war exhibition of modern art in Chicago. She published her first book Art Has Many Faces in 1951, and in the following year, she began writing art criticism for The Saturday Review. In 1954, Kuh was appointed the first woman curator of European Art and Sculpture at the Art Institute. She assembled the American contribution for the Venice Biennale in 1956 and during these years, Kuh helped acquire many of the works of modern art currently in the museum's collection.

A year following Daniel Catton Rich's 1958 resignation from the Art Institute of Chicago, Kuh also resigned and pursued a career in New York as an art collection advisor, most notably for the First National Bank of Chicago. In 1959, Kuh was made art critic for The Saturday Review, and she continued to publish books, including The Artist's Voice in 1962, Break-Up: The Core of Modern Art in 1965, and The Open Eye: In Pursuit of Art in 1971.

Katharine Kuh died on January 10, 1994 in New York City.

Provenance:

The Katharine Kuh papers were donated in several installments from 1971 to 1989 by Katharine Kuh and in 1994 by her estate. Artwork was donated in 1995 by Kuh's former employer, the Art Institute of Chicago.

Restrictions:

Authorization to quote, publish or reproduce requires written permission until 2019. Contact the Archives of American Art Reference Services department for additional information.

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 such 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.

Occupation:

Authors -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Art historians -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Art dealers -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Art critics -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Curators -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Art consultants -- Illinois -- Chicago  Search this

Topic:

Art, Abstract -- United States  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Women art dealers  Search this

Women art historians  Search this

Women museum curators  Search this

Women authors  Search this

Women art critics  Search this

Function:

Art festivals

Genre/Form:

Illustrated letters

Resumes

Travel diaries

Minutes

Calendars

Visitors' books

Photographs

Paintings

Awards

Drawings

Sound recordings

Collages

Scrapbooks

Lithographs

Prints

Wills

Watercolors

Poetry

Lecture notes

Lectures

Sales records

Citation:

Katharine Kuh papers, 1875-1994, bulk 1930-1994. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Identifier:

AAA.kuhkath

See more items in:

Katharine Kuh papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw987a0763e-de6c-4f9e-b143-4875b3a2244a

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-kuhkath

Creator:

Knight, Gwendolyn  Search this

Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000  Search this

Names:

Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988  Search this

Bocour, Leonard, 1910-1993  Search this

Dintenfass, Terry, 1920-  Search this

Eichenberg, Fritz, 1901-1990  Search this

Evergood, Philip, 1901-1973  Search this

Halpert, Edith Gregor, 1900-1970  Search this

Extent:

25.35 Linear feet

0.001 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Photographs

Date:

1816

1914-2008

bulk 1973-2001

Summary:

The papers of African American painter and educator Jacob Lawrence and his wife, artist Gwendolyn Knight measure 25.35 linear feet and 0.001 GB date from 1914 to 2008, with one item from 1816 and the bulk of the material dating from 1973 to 2001. The collection includes biographical material; correspondence including condolence letters to Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death; writings by Jacob Lawrence and others; printed and digital material; photographs; personal business records; artwork; records from the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project; materials related to the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation; professional files; and material related to awards and honors received by Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of African American painter and educator Jacob Lawrence and his wife, artist Gwendolyn Knight measure 25.35 linear feet and 0.001 GB and date from 1914 to 2008, with one item from 1816 and the bulk of the material dating from 1973 to 2001. The collection includes biographical material; correspondence including condolence letters to Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death; writings by Jacob Lawrence and others; printed and digital material; photographs; personal business records; artwork; records from the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project; materials related to the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation; professional files; and material related to awards and honors received by Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.

Biographical material includes appointment and address books; education and personal identification certificates and documents; awards, certificates, curriculum vitae, and chronologies; biographical material related to other individuals, including identification documents and memorial programs; and transcripts of interviews with Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.

The correspondence series includes extensive personal and professional correspondence with family, friends, artists, admirers (including students in a number of elementary and middle schools), university students, government agencies, art schools, galleries, museums, publishing houses, and others. Included in this series are condolence letters received by Gwendolyn Knight after Jacob Lawrence's death in 2000.

Writings include published and unpublished writings by and about Jacob Lawrence, as well as writings by others. These writings include speeches, notes, essays, articles, lists, and short stories. Also included is a visitor comment book from the Los Angeles County Museum exhibition of Jacob Lawrence's Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass series.

Printed material includes books; brochures; business cards; clippings; exhibition and event announcements, invitations, catalogs, and programs; magazines; newsletters; posters; post cards; and press releases. Books in this collection may include illustrations by Jacob Lawrence or have personal inscriptions from the author to Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight.

Photographs include photographs of Jacob Lawrence artwork, photographs and reproductions of Gwendolyn Knight artwork, and photographs of Jacob Lawrence, Gwendolyn Knight, and other individuals. Also included in this series are photographs and reproductions of work by others.

Personal business records include a ledger; consignment, financial, and shipping records related to the Terry Dintenfass Gallery; contracts and agreements; and estate documents.

Artwork includes sketches by Jacob Lawrence, a blank sketchbook inscribed by Jacob Lawrence to Gwendolyn Knight, and artwork by other artists.

Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project Records include materials generated by the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné Project, a non-profit created with the goal of producing a catalogue raisonné (and later, a digital archive) of Jacob Lawrence's work. These records include address books and phone logs; copies of Jacob Lawrence's CV; founding documents, bylaws, and meeting minutes; correspondence; writings, including draft pages of the catalogue raisonné; business records, including employment files, contracts, invoices, insurance, and tax information; printed and digital material; and photographs and artwork.

The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation and Related Material series includes founding documents and foundation bylaws, correspondence, financial documents, reports, and proposals. Found within this series are materials related to the Lawrence Center for the Visual Arts, a subsidiary foundation of the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation.

Professional files include material related to projects and exhibitions, teaching files and inclusion in curricula, files regarding possible fake Jacob Lawrence works, and gallery files.

The honors series is divided into two subseries: awards and certificates, and government honors. Awards and certificates includes honorary degrees, arts prizes, and any other honors awarded to Jacob Lawrence or Gwendolyn Knight. Government honors include resolutions, proclamations, and keys to cities. Also included in this series are correspondence related to awards and honorary degrees, commencement programs, plaques, and medals.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in 11 series.

Missing Title

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1914-2005 (Boxes 1, 11, 26, OV 10; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1943, 1952-2005 (Boxes 1-5, 12-14, 26; 7.7 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1954-1959, 1973-2005, undated (Boxes 5-6, 14-15; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1816, 1926, 1937, 1945-2008 (Boxes 6-9, 15-17, 26, OV 30, OV 31; 6.8 linear feet)

Series 5: Photographs, circa 1970-1997, undated (Boxes 9, 17, OV 10; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 6: Personal Business Records, 1962-2005 (Boxes 9, 17; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 7: Artwork, 1984, 1990-1994, undated (Boxes 9, 18, 26; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 8: Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonne Project Records, 1982-2002 (Boxes 18-23, Box 26; 5.1 linear feet, ER01; 0.001 GB)

Series 9: Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation and Related Material, 1997-2005 (Box 23; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 10: Professional Files, 1964-2004 (Boxes 23-24; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 11: Honors, 1948, 1966-2005 (Boxes 24-25, 27-29, OV 30; 2.3 linear feet)

Biographical Note:

Modernist painter and educator Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was born in 1917 as Jacob Armstead Lawrence in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He began his art studies at the Utopia Children's Center in New York City's Harlem district where he studied under the painter Charles Alston. Lawrence dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen to continue his art instruction with Alston, this time at the Harlem Art Workshop, where he met several artists associated with the Harlem Renaissance including the sculptor Augusta Savage.

Gwendolyn Knight (1913-2005) was born in Barbados and moved to New York City with her adoptive parents when she was seven. She attended New York's Wadleigh High School and later Howard University in Washington, D.C. where she studied fine arts with Lois Mailou Jones and James Porter. Forced to leave her studies at Howard because of the Depression, Knight returned to Harlem and continued her artistic pursuits in Augusta Savage's workshop. In 1935, Knight joined the Harlem Mural Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) working under Selma Day and Charles Alston. Lawrence and Knight met in Savage's workshop and married in the summer of 1941.

During the Depression, Lawrence also joined the WPA Federal Arts Project in Harlem. Finding WPA murals overwhelming, Lawrence concentrated on traditional painting instead. He produced his first major works in the late 1930s, most notably the Toussaint L'Ouverture series, images that document the life of the revolutionary hero and Haiti's struggle for independence. Other significant works include visual narratives of the lives of abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. In 1940, Lawrence received the prestigious Julius Rosenwald Fellowship, which made it possible for him to purchase his first art studio on 125th Street in the heart of Harlem. He soon portrayed Harlem street life in paintings that became commentaries on the role of African Americans in United States society with highly developed themes of resistance and social opposition. That same year, Lawrence began his most celebrated series, The Migration of the American Negro, multiple tempera panels depicting the exodus of African American sharecroppers in the south to northern industrial cities in search of better employment and social opportunities. Edith Halpert exhibited the works in their entirety at her Downtown Gallery in 1941, establishing Lawrence as the first African American artist to exhibit in a top New York gallery. The following year, New York's Museum of Modern Art and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC each bought half of the sixty panels in the series, helping to further Lawrence's career within the larger world of American art.

In the summer of 1946, the artist Joseph Albers invited Lawrence to teach at North Carolina's Black Mountain College. It was the first in a series of teaching positions in prestigious art schools including Pratt Institute (1956-1971), Brandeis University (1965), The New School (1966), the Art Students League (1967), and others. During the 1950s and 1960s, Lawrence's work continued to focus on racism and political activism but in the late 1960s shifted to themes of racial harmony.

Both Lawrence and Knight continued independent careers in art. Knight pursued her art studies at the New School in New York and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. In the mid-1960s, she collaborated with other female artists to form the Studio Gallery in New York City. Knight's main body of work consists of portraits and still-lifes that incorporate expressions of African sculpture, Impressionism, dance, and theater. Focusing on gesture, her art is described as light and airy with a minimum of lines allowing empty space to define the work. In 1970, Lawrence traveled to Seattle to teach as a visiting artist at the University of Washington. He was hired on a permanent basis the following year and remained on staff until his retirement in 1986.

Jacob Lawrence died June 9, 2000, in Seattle, Washington at the age of 83. Gwendolyn Knight continued to paint and exhibit her work around the country until her death on February 18, 2005 in Seattle, Washington at the age of 92.

Related Material:

Also found at the Archives of American Art are an oral history interview with Jacob Lawrence conducted by Carroll Greene (1968 October 26), interviews conducted by Avis Berman (1982 July 20-August 4), and an oral history interview with Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight conducted by Paul Karlstrom (1998 November 18). The Archives of American Art also holds a collection of Jacob Lawrence papers, available on microfilm only, reels D286 and 4571-4573. Originals reside at Syracuse University Library, Special Collections.

Provenance:

The Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in five accretions between 1979 and 1997. Additional papers were donated in 2012 by the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation via Barbara Earl Thomas, representative.

Restrictions:

Use of 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 such 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.

Occupation:

Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Educators -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

African American artists  Search this

Women artists  Search this

African American art -- African influences  Search this

African American educators  Search this

African American painters  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers, 1816, 1914-2008, bulk 1973-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the 2007 processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Funding for the 2018 processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.lawrjaco

See more items in:

Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw97b5bfd17-13f8-4cb6-ab12-22124f7d1fee

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lawrjaco

Creator:

Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000  Search this

Extent:

4 Microfilm reels

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Microfilm reels

Date:

1937-1992

Scope and Contents:

This microfilm collection documents the artistic and teaching career of African American painter Jacob Lawrence.

Included are biographical materials and awards; correspondence; writings and speeches by Lawrence, 1947-1962, and writings about Lawrence; photographs; scattered financial material, 1941-1957; and printed materials.

Correspondence dates from 1937-1971. Among the correspondents are: Ralph Abernathy, Charles Alston, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Claude Clark, Hy Cohen, Mildred Cummings, Terry Dintenfass, Inc., David Driskell, Fritz Eichenberg, Philip Evergood, Creighton Gilbert, Edith Gregor Halpert (Downtown Gallery), Langston Hughes, Raymond Patterson, Pratt Institute, Margaret Rigg, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Moses and Raphael Soyer, and the United States Committee for the First World Festival of Negro Arts, Inc. Photographs include personal photographs, 1939-1966, and photographs of art work, 1941-1949. Printed material consists of reproductions of work, brochures and course catalogs, programs and calendars, exhibition announcements and catalogs, posters, articles, and clippings.

Biographical / Historical:

Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) was an African American painter and educator in New York, New York and Seattle, Washington. Lawrence worked for the WPA's Federal Art Project and taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, Pratt Institute (1956-1971), Brandeis University (1965), The New School (1966), the Art Students League (1967), the University of Washington, and others. One of his most well-known works of art is the The Migration of the Negro (now known as The Migration Series), a 60-panel epic Lawrence created when he received a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1940.

Provenance:

Lent for microfilming by Syracuse University Library, Special Collections, 1992. Among the three reels are papers that Lawrence lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1966 which he subsequently donated to Syracuse.

Restrictions:

The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.

Rights:

Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Curator, Syracuse University Library, Special Collections. Contact Reference Services for more information.

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 such 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.

Occupation:

Painters -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Educators -- Washington (State) -- Seattle  Search this

Topic:

Painting, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

African American artists  Search this

African American educators  Search this

African American painters  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.lawrjaco2

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw990a2887b-999f-4460-b515-217f7377ae2c

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-lawrjaco2

Creator:

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this

Names:

Duke Ellington Orchestra  Search this

Washingtonians, The.  Search this

Ellington, Mercer Kennedy, 1919-1996 (musician)  Search this

Strayhorn, Billy (William Thomas), 1915-1967  Search this

Collector:

National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Musical History  Search this

Extent:

400 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Phonograph records

Papers

Photographic prints

Posters

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks

Music

Clippings

Awards

Audiotapes

Place:

New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century

Harlem (New York, N.Y.) -- 20th century

Washington (D.C.) -- 20th century

Date:

1903 - 1989

Summary:

The collection documents Duke Ellington's career primarily through orchestrations (scores and parts), music manuscripts, lead sheets, transcriptions, and sheet music. It also includes concert posters, concert programs, television, radio, motion picture and musical theater scripts, business records, correspondence, awards, as well as audiotapes, audiodiscs, photographs, tour itineraries, newspaper clippings, magazines, caricatures, paintings, and scrapbooks.

Scope and Contents:

Dating approximately from the time Duke Ellington permanently moved to New York City in 1923 to the time the material was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1988, the bulk of the material in the Duke Ellington Collection is dated from 1934-1974 and comprises sound recordings, original music manuscripts and published sheet music, hand-written notes, correspondence, business records, photographs, scrapbooks, news clippings, concert programs, posters, pamphlets, books and other ephemera. These materials document Ellington's contributions as composer, musician, orchestra leader, and an ambassador of American music and culture abroad. In addition, the materials paint a picture of the life of a big band maintained for fifty years and open a unique window through which to view an evolving American society.

The approximate four hundred cubic feet of archival materials have been processed and organized into sixteen series arranged by type of material. Several of the series have been divided into subseries allowing additional organization to describe the content of the material. For example, Series 6, Sound Recordings, is divided into four subseries: Radio and Television Interviews, Concert Performances, Studio Dates and Non-Ellington Recordings. Each series has its own scope and content note describing the material and arrangement (for example; Series 10, Magazines and Newspaper Articles, is organized into two groups, foreign and domestic, and arranged chronologically within each group). A container list provides folder titles and box numbers.

The bulk of the material is located in Series 1, Music Manuscripts, and consists of compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and other composers. Series 6, Sound Recordings also provides a record of the performance of many of these compositions. The materials in Series 2, Performances and Programs, Series 3, Business Records, Series 8, Scrapbooks, Series 9, Newspaper Clippings, Series 11, Publicity and Series 12, Posters provide documentation of specific performances by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Ellington was a spontaneous and prolific composer as evidenced by music, lyrical thoughts, and themes for extended works and plays captured on letterhead stationery in Series 3, Business Records, in the margin notes of individual books and pamphlets in Series 14, Religious Materials and Series 15, Books, and in the hand-written notes in Series 5, Personal Correspondence and Notes.

During its fifty-year lifespan, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra were billed under various names including The Washingtonians, The Harlem Footwarmers and The Jungle Band. The soloists were informally called "the band", and Series 3 includes salary statements, IOU's, receipts and ephemera relating to individual band members. Series 1, Music Manuscripts contains the soloists' parts and includes "band books" of several soloists (for example; Harry Carney and Johnny Hodges) and numerous music manuscripts of Billy Strayhorn. The changing role of Strayhorn from arranger hired in 1938 to Ellington's main collaborator and composer of many well-known titles for Duke Ellington and His Orchestra including "Take The A' Train" and "Satin Doll" can be traced in these music manuscripts. Series 7, Photographs and Series 2, Performances and Programs contain many images of the band members and Strayhorn. This Collection also documents the business history of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Series 3, Business Records contains correspondence on letterhead stationery and Series 11, Publicity contains promotional material from the various booking agencies, professional companies, and public relations firms that managed the Orchestra.

The materials in the Duke Ellington Collection provide insight into public and institutional attitudes towards African Americans in mid-twentieth-century America. The business records in Series 3 beginning in 1938 and published sheet music in Series 1 depict Duke Ellington's progression from an African-American musician who needed "legitimization" by a white publisher, Irving Mills, to a businessmen who established his own companies including Tempo Music and Duke Ellington, Incorporated to control his copyright and financial affairs. Programs from the segregated Cotton Club in Series 2, Performances And Programs and contracts with no-segregation clauses in Series 3: Business Records further illustrate racial policies and practices in this time period. The public shift in perception of Duke Ellington from a leader of an exotic "Jungle Band" in the 1930s to a recipient of the Congressional Medal Of Freedom in 1970 is evidenced in Series 2, Performances And Programs, Series 12, Posters, Series 7, Photographs and Series 13, Awards. Reviews and articles reflecting Ellington's evolving status are also documented in Series 8, Newspaper Clippings, Series 9, Scrapbooks, Series 10, Newspaper and Magazine Articles.

The materials in the Duke Ellington Collection reflect rapid technological changes in American society from 1923-1982. Sound recordings in Series 6 range from 78 phonograph records of three minutes duration manufactured for play on Victrolas in monaural sound to long-playing (LP) phonograph records produced for stereo record players. Television scripts in Series 4, programs in Series 2 and music manuscripts (for example, Drum Is A Woman) in Series 1 demonstrate how the development of television as a means of mass communication spread the Orchestra's sound to a wider audience. The availability of commercial air travel enabled the Ellington Orchestra to extend their international performances from Europe to other continents including tours to Asia, Africa, South America and Australia and archival material from these tours is included in every series.

Series 4, Scripts and Transcripts and Series 6, Audio Recordings contain scripts and radio performances promoting the sale of United States War bonds during World War II, and Series 7, Photographs includes many images of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra's performances for military personnel revealing the impact of historic events on Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Series 2: Programs and Performances, Series 9, Newspaper clippings and Series 8, Scrapbooks document the 1963 Far East tour aborted as a result of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

The Duke Ellington Collection contains works by numerous twentieth-century music, literature, and art luminaries. Series 1, Music Manuscripts contains original music manuscripts of William Grant Still, Eubie Blake, Mary Lou Williams, and others. Series 4, Scripts and Transcripts contains a play by Langston Hughes, and Series 12, Posters contains many original artworks.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Music Manuscripts, circa 1930-1981, undated

Series 2: Performances and Programs, 1933-1973, undated

Series 3: Business Records, 1938-1988

Series 4: Scripts and Transcripts, 1937-1970

Series 5: Personal Correspondence and Notes, 1941-1974, undated

Series 6: Sound Recordings, 1927-1974

Series 7: Photographs, 1924-1972, undated

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1931-1973

Series 9: Newspaper Clippings, 1939-1973, undated

Series 10: Magazine Articles and Newspaper Clippings, 1940-1974

Series 11: Publicity, 1935-1988

Series 12: Posters and Oversize Graphics, 1933-1989, undated

Series 13: Awards, 1939-1982

Series 14: Religious Material, 1928-1974

Series 15: Books, 1903-1980

Series 16: Miscellaneous, 1940-1974

Biographical / Historical:

A native of Washington, DC, Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899. Edward was raised in a middle-class home in the Northwest section of Washington described by his sister Ruth--younger by sixteen years--as a "house full of love." Ellington himself wrote that his father J.E. (James Edward) raised his family "as though he were a millionaire" but Edward was especially devoted to his mother, Daisy Kennedy Ellington. In 1969, thirty-four years after his mother's death, Ellington accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom with these words, "There is nowhere else I would rather be tonight but in my mother's arms." Both his parents played the piano and Ellington began piano lessons at the age of seven, but like many boys he was easily distracted by baseball.

In his early teens, Ellington sneaked into Washington clubs and performance halls where he was exposed to ragtime musicians, including James P. Johnson, and where he met people from all walks of life. He returned in earnest to his piano studies, and at age fourteen wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" also known as "Poodle Dog Rag." Ellington was earning income from playing music at seventeen years of age, and around this time he earned the sobriquet "Duke" for his sartorial splendor and regal air. On July 2, 1918, he married a high school sweetheart, Edna Thompson; their only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, was born on March 11, 1919. Duke Ellington spent the first twenty-four years of his life in Washington's culturally thriving Negro community. In this vibrant atmosphere he was inspired to be a composer and learned to take pride in his African-American heritage.

Ellington moved to New York City in 1923 to join and eventually lead a small group of transplanted Washington musicians called "The Washingtonians," which included future Ellington band members, Sonny Greer, Otto Hardwicke and "Bubber" Miley. Between 1923 and 1927, the group played at the Club Kentucky on Broadway and the ensemble increased from a quintet to a ten-piece orchestra. With stride pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith as his unofficial guide, Ellington soon became part of New York's music scene; Smith proved to be a long-lasting influence on Duke's composing and arranging direction. At the Club Kentucky, Ellington came under the tutelage of another legendary stride pianist, "Fats" Waller. Waller, a protege of Johnson and Smith, played solos during the band's breaks and also tutored Ellington who began to show progress in his compositions. In November 1924, Duke made his publishing and recording debut with "Choo Choo (I Got To Hurry Home)" released on the Blu-Disc label. In 1925, he contributed two songs to Chocolate Kiddies, an all-black revue which introduced European audiences to black American styles and performers. By this time Ellington's family, Edna and Mercer, had joined him in New York City. The couple separated in the late 1920's, but they never divorced or reconciled.

Ellington's achievements as a composer and bandleader began to attract national attention while he worked at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, from 1927 to 1932. The orchestra developed a distinctive sound that displayed the non-traditional voicings of Ellington's arrangements and featured the unique talents of the individual soloists. Ellington integrated his soloists' exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, their high-squealed trumpets, their sultry saxophone blues licks and Harlem's street rhythms into his arrangements. In the promotional material of the Cotton Club, the band was often billed as "Duke Ellington and His Jungle Band." With the success of compositions like "Mood Indigo," and an increasing number of recordings and national radio broadcasts from the Cotton Club, the band's reputation soared.

The ten years from 1932 to 1942 are considered by some major critics to represent the "golden age" for the Ellington Orchestra, but it represents just one of their creative peaks. These years did bring an influx of extraordinary new talent to the band including Jimmy Blanton on double bass, Ben Webster on tenor saxophone, and Ray Nance on trumpet, violin and vocals. During this ten year span Ellington composed several of his best known short works, including "Concerto For Cootie," "Ko-Ko," "Cotton Tail," "In A Sentimental Mood," and Jump For Joy, his first full-length musical stage revue.

Most notably, 1938 marked the arrival of Billy Strayhorn. While a teenager in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Strayhorn had already written "Lush Life," "Something To Live For" and a musical, Fantastic Rhythm. Ellington was initially impressed with Strayhorn's lyrics but realized long before Billy's composition "Take the A' Train" became the band's theme song in 1942 that Strayhorn's talents were not limited to penning clever lyrics. By 1942, "Swee' Pea" had become arranger, composer, second pianist, collaborator, and as Duke described him, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine." Many Ellington/Strayhorn songs have entered the jazz canon, and their extended works are still being discovered and studied today. Strayhorn remained with the Ellington Organization until his death on May 30, 1967.

Ellington had often hinted of a work in progress depicting the struggle of blacks in America. The original script, Boola, debuted in Carnegie Hall in November of 1943, retitled Black, Brown and Beige. The performance met with mixed reviews, and although Ellington often returned to Carnegie Hall the piece was never recorded in a studio, and after 1944 was never performed in entirety again by the Ellington Orchestra. Nonetheless, it is now considered a milestone in jazz composition.

After World War II the mood and musical tastes of the country shifted and hard times befell big bands, but Ellington kept his band together. The band was not always financially self-sufficient and during the lean times Ellington used his songwriting royalties to meet the soloists' salaries. One could assign to Ellington the altruistic motive of loyalty to his sidemen, but another motivation may have been his compositional style which was rooted in hearing his music in the formative stage come alive in rehearsal. "The band was his instrument," Billy Strayhorn said, and no Ellington composition was complete until he heard the orchestra play it. Then he could fine tune his compositions, omit and augment passages, or weave a soloist's contribution into the structure of the tune.

In 1956, the American public rediscovered Duke and the band at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. The searing performances of tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves on "Diminuendo and Crescendo In Blue," his premiere soloist, alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges on "Jeep's Blues", and the crowd's ecstatic reaction have become jazz legend. Later that year Duke landed on the cover of Time magazine. Although Ellington had previously written music for film and television (including the short film, Black and Tan Fantasy in 1929) it wasn't until 1959 that Otto Preminger asked him to score music for his mainstream film, Anatomy of a Murder, starring Jimmy Stewart. Paris Blues in 1961, featuring box-office stars Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier in roles as American jazz musicians in Paris, followed.

Ellington's first performance overseas was in England in 1933, but the 1960s brought extensive overseas tours including diplomatic tours sponsored by the State Department. Ellington and Strayhorn composed exquisite extended works reflecting the sights and sounds of their travels, including the Far East Suite, 1966. They wrote homages to their classical influences; in 1963, they adapted Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and celebrated Shakespeare's works with the suite Such Sweet Thunder in 1957. With Ella Fitzgerald, they continued the Norman Granz Songbook Series. Ellington also began to flex his considerable pianist skills and recorded albums with John Coltrane (1963), Coleman Hawkins (1963), Frank Sinatra, and Money Jungle (1963) with Charles Mingus and Max Roach. The First Sacred Concert debuted in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral in 1965. In his final years, Ellington's thoughts turned to spiritual themes and he added a Second (1968) and Third (1973) Concert of Sacred Music to his compositions.

In his lifetime, Duke received numerous awards and honors including the highest honor bestowed on an American civilian, the Congressional Medal Of Freedom. In 1965, Ellington was recommended for a Pulitzer Prize to honor his forty years of contribution to music but the recommendation was rejected by the board. Most likely he was disappointed, but his response at the age of sixty-six was, "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young."

Ellington never rested on his laurels or stopped composing. Whenever he was asked to name his favorite compositions his characteristic reply was "the next five coming up," but to please his loyal fans Ellington always featured some of his standards in every performance. Even on his deathbed, he was composing the opera buffo called Queenie Pie.

Duke Ellington died on May 24, 1974 at seventy-five years of age. His funeral was held in New York's Cathedral of St. John The Divine; he was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. His long-time companion Beatrice "Evie" Ellis was buried beside him after her death in 1976. He was survived by his only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, who not only took up the baton to lead the Duke Ellington Orchestra but assumed the task of caring for his father's papers and his legacy to the nation. Mercer Ellington died in Copenhagan, Denmark on February 8, 1996, at the age of seventy-six. Ruth Ellington Boatwright died in New York on March 6, 2004, at the age of eighty-eight. Both Mercer and Ruth were responsible for shepherding the documents and artifacts that celebrate Duke Ellington's genius and creative life to their current home in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

William H. Quealy Collection of Duke Ellington Recordings (AC0296)

Rutgers University Collection of Radio Interviews about Duke Ellington (AC0328)

Duke Ellington Oral History Project (AC0368)

Duke Ellington Collection of Ephemera and realated Audiovisual Materials (AC0386)

Annual International Conference of the Duke Ellington Study Group Proceedings (AC0385)

Robert Udkoff Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0388)

Frank Driggs Collection of Duke Ellington Photographic Prints (AC0389)

New York Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society Collection (AC390)

Earl Okin Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0391)

William Russo Transcription and Arrangement of Duke Ellington's First Concert of Sacred Music (AC0406)

Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0415)

Music manuscripts in the Ruth Ellington Collection complement the music manuscripts found in the Duke Ellington Collection.

Carter Harman Collection of Interviews with Duke Ellington (AC0422)

Betty McGettigan Collection of Duke Ellington Memorabilia (AC0494)

Dr. Theodore Shell Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0502)

Edward and Gaye Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0704)

Andrew Homzy Collection of Duke Ellington Stock Music Arrangements (AC0740)

John Gensel Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0763)

Al Celley Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC1240)

Materials at Other Organizations

Institute of Jazz Studies

Separated Materials:

Artifacts related to this collection are in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) and include trophies, plaques, and medals. See accessions: 1989.0369; 1991.0808; 1993.0032; and 1999.0148.

"

Provenance:

The collection was purchased through an appropriation of Congress in 1988.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but the original and master audiovisual materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Copyright restrictions. Consult the Archives Center at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Paul Ellington, executor, is represented by:

Richard J.J. Scarola, Scarola Ellis LLP, 888 Seventh Avenue, 45th Floor, New York, New York 10106. Telephone (212) 757-0007 x 235; Fax (212) 757-0469; email: rjjs@selaw.com; www.selaw.com; www.ourlawfirm.com.

Occupation:

Composers -- 20th century  Search this

Topic:

Big bands  Search this

Pianists  Search this

Bandsmen -- 20th century  Search this

Jazz -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Musicians -- 20th century  Search this

Music -- Performance  Search this

African American entertainers -- 20th century  Search this

African Americans -- History  Search this

Popular music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

African American musicians  Search this

Genre/Form:

Phonograph records

Papers

Photographic prints

Posters

Sound recordings

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Music -- Manuscripts

Clippings

Awards

Audiotapes

Citation:

Duke Ellington Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Processing and encoding partially funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0301

See more items in:

Duke Ellington Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep850a376a1-6b6d-48bc-9076-cffef76fea2c

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0301

Creator:

Gray, Cleve, 1918-2004  Search this

Subject:

Richter, Hans  Search this

Marin, John  Search this

Lipchitz, Jacques  Search this

Pollock, Jackson  Search this

Grace, Louise N.  Search this

Gray, Francine du Plessix  Search this

Duchamp, Marcel  Search this

Dillenberger, Jane  Search this

Gabo, Naum  Search this

Ernst, Jimmy  Search this

Davis, Jim  Search this

Calder, Alexander  Search this

Barzun, Jacques  Search this

Weber, Nicholas Fox  Search this

Smith, David  Search this

Villon, Jacques  Search this

Pratt Institute  Search this

Rhode Island School of Design  Search this

Neuberger Museum of Art  Search this

Jacques Seligmann & Co  Search this

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Connecticut. Commission on Arts, Tourism, Culture, History and Film  Search this

Princeton University  Search this

Berry-Hill Galleries  Search this

Type:

Poems

Articles

Photographs

Reviews (documents)

Notes

Illustrations

Notebooks

Sketches

Drafts (documents)

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Interviews

Manuscripts

Paintings

Prints

Watercolors

Drawings

Lectures

Citation:

Cleve Gray papers, 1933-2005. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Protest movements -- United States  Search this

Designers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Women painters  Search this

Women sculptors  Search this

Theme:

Lives of artists  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9567

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211768

AAA_collcode_grayclev

Theme:

Lives of artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211768

Creator:

Forgie, James  Search this

Names:

Pennsylvania Railroad.  Search this

Extent:

38.8 Cubic feet (85 boxes; 33 map-folders; 18 volumes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Patents

Clippings

Business records

Correspondence

Contracts

Reports

Blueprints

Drawings

Legal documents

Place:

Hudson River

New York (N.Y.) -- Transportation

Date:

1856-1952

bulk 1900-1935

Scope and Contents:

The papers contain correspondence, reports, drawings, blueprints, cost estimates, contracts, specifications, regulations, legal documents, photographs, profiles, diagrams, clippings, and publications concerning projects which Forgie worked on, especially the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, the Midtown Hudson Tunnels in New York City. Also included are publications and patents on subaqueous tunneling, subway stations, and bridges, and material on the Forgie submarine.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into four series.

Series 1: Professional Papers, 1892-1945

Series 2: Projects, 1914-1957

Series 3: Publications, 1856-1952

Series 4: Drawings, 1888-1951

Biographical / Historical:

James Forgie (1868-1958) was born in Longside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Forgie graduated from Gordon's Technical College, Aberdeen, Scotland (1881-1885) and apprenticed in the office of civil engineer George Gordon Jenkins from 1885-1889. Forgie came to the United States in 1902 to work as a chief assistant engineer to the Pennsylvania Railroad on tunnels in New York City. He joined the private engineering practice with partners Charles M. Jacobs and J.Vipond Davies of Jacobs and Davies, Inc. from 1909-1923. Forgie was awarded the Tedlford Gold Medal from the Institute of Civil Engineering (British) in 1915 in recognition of his paper "The Laxaxalpam Aqueduct Tunnels in Mexico." He authored numerous articles about tunneling and consulted as a an expert witness and arbitrator in many legal cases involving tunneling. Forgie was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Institute of Civil Engineers of Canada, and New York Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Forgie married Martha Maitland Thom (1868-1936) in 1895. They had four children: Martha (b. 1900), Wilhelmina (b. 1902), James (b. 1904), and Christina (b. 1906). Forgie later married Anne McDougall (b. 1872) in 1937.

Related Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History:

Materials at the Archives Center

The Foundation Company Records (AC0974)

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Tunnels (AC0060)

Herbert S. Grassman Papers (AC0955)

Penn Station, New York Photographs (AC1048)

Lawrence Talma Smith Papers (AC0988)

Silas H. Woodward Papers (AC1038)

Alfred Maevis Collection (AC0954)

William R. Hutton Papers (AC0987)

Montgomery C. Meigs Papers (AC0984)

Henry Grattan Tyrrell and Mary Maude Knox Tyrrell Papers (AC0948)

Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas Records Collection (AC0969)

Chicago Surface Lines Drawings (AC0212)

Grand Central Terminal Collection (AC1071)

Modjeski and Masters Company Records (AC0976)

Thomas Norrell Railroad Photographs Collection (AC1174)

Separated Materials:

The Division of Work and Industry holds a model of a Ram for driving tunnel shields (1933). It was used in driving the Union Tunnel for the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1933-1934 by James Forgie. See accession #MC.329243.

Provenance:

Collection donated by Mrs. James Forgie, 1967.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Tunnels  Search this

Subways -- New York (N.Y.)  Search this

Bridges -- 1890-1940  Search this

Civil engineering -- 1890-1940 -- U.S.  Search this

Civil engineers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs -- 1900-1950

Patents

Clippings -- 1890-1960

Business records

Correspondence

Contracts -- 1890-1940

Reports

Blueprints -- 20th century

Photographs -- 1890-1900

Drawings

Legal documents

Citation:

Archives Center, James Forgie Papers, 1890-1949, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0986

See more items in:

James Forgie Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep80d529021-1c69-44d2-b02b-42b00b4d0ea0

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0986

Creator:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2010-04-07T15:55:44.000Z

YouTube Category:

Music  Search this

Topic:

Cultural property  Search this

See more by:

smithsonianfolkways

Data Source:

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianfolkways

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_GcrmA0_h4Fw

Creator:

Davies, R. E. G. (Ronald Edward George)  Search this

Extent:

61.38 Cubic feet (143 document boxes; 4 cassette boxes; 10 shoeboxes; 1 oversize box)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographic prints

Timetables

Annual reports

Memorabilia

Notebooks

Date:

bulk 1910s to 2010

1847 to 2011

Summary:

R. E. G. (Ron) Davies (1921 -2011) was an English airline historian, who worked in airline marketing research before joining the National Air and Space Museum in 1981. He served as a curator until his retirement in 2011. This reference collection was compiled by Davies during his career and consists of historical data and materials—including photographs, timetables, and memorabilia—from the airlines of the world.

Scope and Contents:

This reference collection was compiled by Ron Davies throughout his career both as a market researcher and an academic and curator. Materials consist of 63 loose-leaf binders (called dossiers), each containing historical data on the airlines of a country or region, hand-drawn maps, chronologies, articles and marketing materials; over 5000 aviation prints; over 3500 airline timetables; and miscellaneous airline memorabilia. The collection also contains oral history materials, both transcripts and audio cassettes, and four catalogued videotapes.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in six series:

Series 1: Dossiers

Series 2: Photographs

Series 3: Timetables

Series 4: Oral History

Series 5: Personal Materials

Series 6: Motion Picture Materials

Additional title information has been added by the processing archivist in brackets.

Biographical / Historical:

R. E. G. (Ron) Davies (1921-2011) was born in England and educated in Shaftesbury, Dorset. After spending six and a half years in the British Army, Davies joined the newly formed Ministry of Civil Aviation. Davies then spent six years in economic research with British European Airways, before joining British Aeroplane Company in 1957, where he set up a market research department. Davies worked in various manufacturing companies, specializing in market research and traffic analysis.

In 1968, Davies went to work in the United States for Douglas Aircraft, where he remained for 13 years as head of market research. In 1981, Davies was appointed as the Charles Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC. After his appointment as Lindbergh Chair ended, Davies became a curator in the Aeronautics Division of the Museum. He retired in 2011.

Davies wrote 26 books about airlines, airline personalities and aspects of air transport, including the reference standards: A History of the World Airlines, Airlines of the United States since 1914, Airlines of Latin America since 1919, Airlines of Asia, and Airlines of the Jet Age: A History. He also founded Paladwr Press in 1987, publishing a series of books on various airlines and their aircraft.

Davies was a Fellow of three Royal Societies: Aeronautics, Arts, and Geographical and was an Associate of the Academe National de L'Air et de l'Espace. He was a Fellow National of the Explorers Club and a member of the New York's Wings Club and Washington's Cosmos Club. He received Brazil's Santos Dumont Medal and the Aeronautics Order of Merit.

Provenance:

R. E. G. (Ron) Davies, Gift, 1981, NASM.XXXX.0604.

Restrictions:

No restrictions on access.

Rights:

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Topic:

Aeronautics, Commercial  Search this

Airlines  Search this

Air travel  Search this

Airplanes  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographic prints

Timetables

Annual reports

Memorabilia -- 20th century

Notebooks

Citation:

R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0604, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NASM.XXXX.0604

See more items in:

R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg29424ca5a-d1c8-4305-a392-1808a01b1255

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nasm-xxxx-0604

Artist:

Mauldin, Bill, 1921-2003  Search this

Collector:

Archives of American Art  Search this

Names:

Chicago Sun-Times  Search this

St. Louis Post-Dispatch  Search this

Extent:

8 Cubic feet (20 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Clippings

Sketchbooks

Correspondence

Genealogies

Personal papers

Political cartoons

Cartoons (humorous images)

Place:

Arizona

Vietnam

Date:

1946-1987

Summary:

Collection is believed to contain all of Mauldin's published cartoons from 1946 to 1987; also periodical and newspaper articles about and by Mauldin, personal items, including his genealogy, and an original sketchbook used by Mauldin while he was in Vietnam, February 1965.

Scope and Contents:

The collection contains newspaper clippings or photocopies of Mauldin's published cartoons from 1946 to 1987. Some of his most famous cartoons from World War II were reprised during this time. Newspaper and magazine articles written and/or illustrated by Mauldin are also included as are magazine covers and a Vietnam sketchbook containing pen and ink renderings of battle scenes observed by Mauldin during a visit. Other documents include correspondence, a number of articles written about Mauldin, his genealogy and photographs of his family. Some correspondence and drawings by Mauldin's friend, artist Mailton Caniff are also included.

Series 1, Artwork and Articles, 1946-1987, include published material written or drawn by Mauldin and is arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 1, Cartoons, 1946-1987, consists of clippings and draft submissions of published cartoons and are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 2, Articles Written by Mauldin, 1947-1982, consists of clippings and drafts of newspaper and magazine articles and is arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 3, Articles Illustrated by Mauldin, 1948-1970, consists of illustrations arranged chronologically.

Subseries 4, Related Materials, 1961-1968, consists of magazine covers, sketches and a map to his wedding and is arranged in alphabetical order.

Series 2, Biographical Information, 1947-1968; undated, includes articles written about Mauldin, biography, some correspondence and reviews of and advertisements for his books. The materials are arranged in alphabetical order.

Series 3, Other Artwork, 1948-1960, include clippings of drawings by Milton Caniff and some miscellaneous material. Materials are arranged in alphabetical order.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in three series:

Series 1, Artwork and Articles, 1946–1987

Subseries 1.1, Cartoons, 1946-1987

Subseries 1.2, Articles Written by Mauldin, 1947-1982

Subseries 1.3, Articles Illustrated by Mauldin, 1948-1970

Subseries 1.4, Related Materials, 1961-1968

Series 2, Biographical Information, 1947-1968; undated

Series 3, Other Artwork, 1948-1960

Biographical / Historical:

William Henry (Bill) Mauldin, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning military and political cartoonist, was born in Mountain Park, New Mexico in 1921. He studied for a year at the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago and did some freelance cartooning before World War II. He joined the Arizona National Guard and when the war broke out he was activated and became a cartoonist for the 45th Infantry Division newspaper, and later for Stars and Stripes, a newspaper written for and distributed to GI's. It was for the Stars and Stripes that he created his two most famous characters. Willie and Joe were two dog faced infantrymen whose exploits reflected Mauldin's first hand observations of combat (he was awarded the purple heart) and the anxieties and frustrations that confronted Americans in a combat zone. His cartoons were the most popular pinups in tents and barracks along with photos of movie stars. Many of the Army's leaders, including General Patton, didn't like the disrespectful tone of some of the cartoons, but General Eisenhower did, so they continued to be published.

After the war he drew political cartoons, first for United Feature Syndicates then for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and then for the Chicago Sun Times. They ranged in subject from local matters to international politics. He was a master satirist who could find the cracks in any idol be it democratic (Kennedy), republican (Eisenhower) or demagogue (De Gaulle).

Mauldin wrote newspaper and magazine articles, some on contemporary life and politics, and some based on his visits to war zones in Korea, the Mid-East and Vietnam. He wrote a number of books including Up Front which was made into a movie.

Provenance:

The collection was donated by Alice R. Colquitt, on March 10, 1988.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Occupation:

Cartoonists  Search this

Topic:

World War, 1939-1945  Search this

Vietnam War, 1961-1975  Search this

Korean War, 1950-1953  Search this

Genre/Form:

Clippings -- 20th century

Sketchbooks -- 1940-1990

Correspondence -- 1940-1990

Genealogies

Personal papers -- 20th century

Political cartoons -- 1940-1950

Cartoons (humorous images) -- 1930-1960

Citation:

Mauldin Cartoon Collection, 1946-1987, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0307

See more items in:

Mauldin Cartoon Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep85979177c-48b1-4ce3-b88a-5a8f5f487748

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0307

Former owner:

Brenton, William  Search this

Auchincloss, John Winthrop  Search this

Auchincloss, Hugh D.  Search this

Auchincloss, Janet  Search this

Landscape designer:

Barrett, Nathan Franklin  Search this

Kellaway, Herbert J.  Search this

Timchenko, Boris V., 1898-1975  Search this

Landscape architect:

Olmsted Brothers  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Hammersmith Farm (Newport, Rhode Island)

United States of America -- Rhode Island -- Newport County -- Newport

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes worksheets, a brochure, and photocopies of photographs of and articles about the garden.

General:

Lying at the meeting of Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic, Hammersmith Farm was originally settled in the 17th century by surveyor William Brenton and named for his English residence. Eventually passing into the Auchincloss family, the property was landscaped by the Olmsted Brothers firm (records show that the firm was involved with the site from 1909 to 1946). Other designs for the property were developed by Nathan Franklin Barrett, Herbert Kellaway, and Boris V. Timchenko. An elaborate Italianate sunken garden was centered on a pool flanked by low mounds of flowers. Geometrically shaped flowers beds lay to either side, while the space was decorated by urns and columns. A pergola enclosed three sides. The property was the site of the wedding reception of Mrs. Hugh D. Auchincloss, Jr.'s daughter, Jacqueline Bouvier, and John F. Kennedy.

Persons and firms associated with the garden include: William Brenton (former owner, after 1638); John W. Auchincloss (former owner, c. 1887); Mr. and Mrs. Hugh D. Auchincloss (former owners, early 20th century); Mr. and Mrs. Hugh D. Auchincloss (former owners, mid-20th century); Olmsted Brothers Landscape Architects (landscape architects, 1909-1946); Nathan Franklin Barrett (landscape designer, 1912); Herbert J. Kellaway (landscape designer); and Boris V. Timchenko (landscape designer, 1959).

Related Materials:

Hammersmith Farm related holdings consist of 1 folder (12 glass lantern slides; 9 35 mm. slides)

Records related to this site can be found at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Olmsted Job Number 03794, H. D. Auchincloss.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- Rhode Island -- Newport  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File RI025

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Rhode Island

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb69cf023d3-f1be-41a9-9a2e-70113cf774df

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref10559

Architect:

van der Gracht, Ides  Search this

Landscape architect:

Shipman, Ellen, 1869-1950  Search this

Creator:

Little Garden Club of Rye--provenance.  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Medway Plantation,(Goose Creek, South Carolina)

United States of America -- South Carolina -- Berkeley County -- Goose Creek

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes worksheets, site plans, plant lists, and photocopies of articles.

General:

Medway Plantation comprises 6700 acres of longleaf and loblolly pine, live oaks, tupelo, swampland and lakes as well as the oldest masonry house in South Carolina. An ornamental garden with irregularly-shaped beds and serpentine paths, known as Miss Lou's garden, was redesigned in the 1930s by Ellen Biddle Shipman. The earlier garden was described as a bird sanctuary and nursery growing anise and Chinese bay trees, azaleas, fringe trees, roses, flowering almond, lilacs, spireas, myrtle, and yellow Jessamine, with wisteria growing up into deciduous trees. The surplus from Miss Lou's garden was planted in long borders alongside three shallow brick terraces, and along paths that led to a schoolhouse on the property. The current drive to the house has double borders of live oak trees hung with Spanish moss that were first planted after the Civil War. In the 1930s architect Ides van der Gracht designed a greenhouse with stepped gables, echoing that feature from the house, and added serpentine brick walls surrounding a garden of flowers and vegetables, on the site of the historic kitchen garden. Prior to the Civil War rice was cultivated at Medway Plantation, followed by cotton and the current crop, timber.

Medway Plantation was first organized as a land grant to Johan (or Jan) van Aerssen in the last quarter of the 17th century. He started the original house which during its long history was burned and rebuilt, nearly abandoned and used only as a hunting lodge, and finally renovated. The house has unusual stepped gables in the Dutch style, reflecting the van Aerssen heritage. After van Aerssen's death circa 1867 and the remarriage of his widow, Sabina de Vignon to Thomas Smith in 1689, the property came into the prominent South Carolina Smith family.

In the early days land parcels routinely were acquired and sold and the dimensions of Medway Plantation changed frequently, finally ending up at 6700 acres under the ownership of Sidney J. and Gertrude S. Legendre in the 20th century, who had purchased and annexed neighboring plantations. Before her death in 2000 Gertrude Legendre put the property in a non-profit foundation with a conservation easement to preserve the pine forests, wetlands, and wildlife. It is recognized as a breeding site for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, bald eagles, wood ducks and wintering ring-necked ducks, and provides habitat for deer, turkey and quail.

Persons associated with the garden include Johan van Aerssen (former owner and builder of original house, 1686-circa 1688); Sabina de Vignon, (former owner, 1688-1689); Thomas Smith and members of the Smith family (former owners, 1689-1701); Edward Hyrne (former owner, 1701-1711); Peter Gaillard Stoney and family (former owners, 1833-1930); Sidney J. and Gertrude Sanford Legendre (former owners, 1930-1993; Ides van Waterschoot van der Gracht (architect, 1930s); Ellen Biddle Shipman (landscape architect, 1930s).

Related Materials:

Medway Plantation related holdings consist of 2 folders (2 35mm slides (photographs), 34 digital images)

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- South Carolina -- Goose Creek  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File SC082

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / South Carolina

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6eef92d46-4ed6-41e2-8ee9-f17ee6b00d50

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref12480

Landscape architect:

Briggs, Loutrel W.  Search this

Owner:

Chapman, Clarence  Search this

Provenance:

Little Garden Club of Rye  Search this

Creator:

Broughton, Thomas Col  Search this

Collection, John, Sir  Search this

Barker, Theodore G., Major  Search this

Chapman, Clarence  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Mulberry Plantation (Moncks Corner, South Carolina)

United States of America -- South Carolina -- Berkeley County -- Moncks Corner

Mulberry Plantation (Moncks Corner, South Carolina)

United States of America -- South Carolina -- Berkeley County -- Moncks Corner

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes worksheets, site plans, and photocopies of book excerpts and articles.

General:

The brick house at Mulberry Plantation was built on a bluff by the first owner, Thomas Broughton in 1714, the date inscribed in iron on the four weathervanes atop the four pavilions at the corners of the house. Situated along the Cooper River the current property comprises 805 acres and includes gardens on three levels: a formal boxwood parterre garden next to the house, a descending camellia walk, and a formal circle garden, all designed by Loutrel W. Briggs (b.1893-d.1977) circa 1930. Other features include a parterre kitchen garden, a Live oak allée, lagoon, rolling lawns and the oldest mulberry tree in the country. The plantation grew rice at various times in its history, as well as indigo and forest products. Another 19th century commercial project that did not succeed was breeding silk worms to produce domestic silk, with mulberry trees planted to house the worms. By the early 20th century the property was in decline and was sold out of the Broughton family to Mr. and Mrs. Clarence E. Chapman as a winter retreat. The Chapmans restored the house and brought in Briggs, known for developing the Charleston style for the many small gardens he designed in the city and at other Cooper River plantations.

Mulberry Plantation was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The style of the house has been described as Jacobean and French, with a mansard roof, rather than a typical low-country wooden structure. The brick house may have been used as a fortress against attacks during the Yamesse War in 1715, between settlers and Native Americans. At one time there were many slave cabins on the property but now only one remains that has been used as a hunting lodge.

Persons associated with the garden include Thomas Broughton and descendents (former owners, 1714-1914); Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Chapman (former owners, 1915-1981); Historic Charleston Foundation (former owners, 1981-1987); Loutrel Winslow Briggs (December 12, 1893-May, 1977) (landscape designer, circa 1930)

Related Materials:

Mulberry Plantation related holdings consist of 2 folders (2 35mm slides (photographs) + 27 digital images)

Mulberry Plantation related holdings consist of 1 slide (photograph) (col., 35mm.)

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- South Carolina -- Moncks Corner  Search this

Plantations  Search this

Spring  Search this

Box  Search this

Formal gardens  Search this

Sundials  Search this

Gardens -- South Carolina -- Moncks Corner  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File SC061

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / South Carolina

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb60ba6e02c-2caf-4c96-88a7-9520448a1b9b

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref12489

Former owner:

Roosevelt, Nicholas Guy, Mr./Mrs., circa 1883-1965  Search this

Architect:

Eyre, Wilson, 1858-1944  Search this

Landscape architect:

Eyre, Wilson, 1858-1944  Search this

Creator:

Highlands Historical Society  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

The Highlands (Fort Washington, Pennsylvania)

United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Montgomery County -- Fort Washington

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes a worksheet, narrative history, copies of articles, Garden Club of America correspondence, and copy of "The Highlands Preservation Master Plan" by George E. Patton (December 1977).

General:

The Highlands lies on the old Skippack Pike in the White Marsh Valley. The English-style stone house was built by Anthony Morris in 1796. The Sheaff's developed the garden with two stone walls--one being crenelated. During Caroline S. Sinkler's ownership after 1915, the garden was renovated closely following the original existing features. Along both walls, there used to be lean-to greenhouses. These were removed by Sinkler and used to create a new wall. The plan of the garden had two axes that formed four separate gardens, one of them a parterre with a large sundial. Small pools, Italian sculptures, and garden ornaments were placed in the garden during Sinkler's time. Decay of the garden began after the death of Mrs. Roosevelt, when the property was bequeathed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Persons and organizations associated with the garden include: Anthony Morris (former owner, 1796); George Sheaff (former owner); John Sheaff (former owner, ?-1915); Caroline Sinkler (former owner, 1915-); Nicholas G. and Emily Roosevelt (former owners, ?-1970); Archie Coutts (gardener); Wilson A. Eyre (landscape architect, 1917); George Saylor (gardener); Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (owners, 1970); and Highlands Historical Society.

Related Materials:

The Highlands related holdings consist of 1 folder (5 glass lantern slides and 7 35 mm. slides)

See others in:

The Highlands, ca. 1930.

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- Pennsylvania -- Fort Washington  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File PA008

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Pennsylvania

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb691f7754a-ff9c-4dd3-aeb8-58101872598f

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref16467

Former owner:

Loring, Charles Greely, 1828-1902  Search this

Shaw, Quincy A., 1869-1960  Search this

Shaw, Sarah Pemberton  Search this

Shaw, Lydia Codman  Search this

Codman, Samuel Eliot  Search this

Architect:

Emerson, William Ralph, 1833-1917  Search this

Little, Arthur  Search this

Browne, Herbert W. C.  Search this

Sculptor:

Crenier, Henri  Search this

Landscape architect:

Gibson, Laura  Search this

Provenance:

North Shore Garden Club of Massachusetts  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Pompey's Garden (Prides Crossing, Beverly, Massachusetts)

United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Essex -- Beverly

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of articles, and historic information.

General:

Named after a slave who planted a flower garden on this rock ledge long before the town formerly known as Prides Crossing became popular for vacation homes for Bostonians, this property with its shingle style house was built in the 1880's with large windows facing the ocean view. However, the first owner did not install a garden. The second owner built a 3,400 square foot formal garden away from the house, walled with native stone and hidden from view on the four acre property. Comprised of a rectangle and a circle, the geometrically organized space was on two levels connected by stairs. In the 20th century the lower circular garden was shaded by a hemlock grove and featured a central pond with Henri Crenier's boy and turtle fountain sculpture. A flower border with anemones, foxgloves, lupines, gas plants, bugbane, iris and heliotrope was planted between the rough stone walls and patterned path of Majorcan pebbles that was installed, circa 1920. The rectangular upper garden had a wall fountain and tea house at one end with boxwood edged beds of roses, phlox, peonies and foxgloves with a heliotrope standard in the center. English ivy and climbing hydrangeas grew over the walls.

By 2012 when the most recent restoration of the garden was begun the rose and perennial beds were long gone, having been shaded out and replaced by lawn by an intervening owner. Shade loving perennials including astilbe, foxglove, lupine, and heliotrope were planted around the perimeter of that lawn. The lawn in the lower circular garden, now in full sun, was edged with pink dianthus and catmint. Korean dogwood and boxwood were planted on the rise between the two gardens, climbing roses were planted to climb the walls, and clematis was planted to climb the new arches over the gates. This restoration kept the hardscape walls, wall fountain, built-in bench and belvedere (tea house) and was completed in 2014.

Persons associated with the garden are General Charles Greeley Loring, Jr. (1828-1902) (former owner 1881-1902); Quincy Adams Shaw (former owner, 1902-1960); Sarah Pemberton Shaw (former owner, 1902-1945); Lydia Eliot Codman Shaw (former owner, 1947-1966); Samuel Eliot Codman (former owner, 1966-2008); William Ralph Emerson (1833-1917) (architect, 1881-1883); Arthur Little (1852-1925) & Herbert W.C. Browne (1860-1949) (architects of additions, 1903-1905); Henri Crenier (1873-1948) (sculptor, 1910); Laura Gibson (landscape architect, 2012- ).

Related Materials:

Pompey's Garden related holdings consist of 2 folders (1 glass lantern slide, 8 digital images, 1 print)

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- Massachusetts -- Beverly  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File MA017

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Massachusetts

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb63345d9d4-fc8c-40b8-8475-dcd9b7816e40

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref17553

Former owner:

Choate, Mabel, 1870-1958  Search this

Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917  Search this

Architect:

White, Stanford, 1853-1906  Search this

Landscape architect:

Steele, Fletcher, 1885-1971  Search this

Barrett, Nathan Franklin  Search this

Gallagher, Percival  Search this

Coffin, Marian Cruger, 1876-1957  Search this

Provenance:

Lenox Garden Club  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Naumkeag (Stockbridge, Massachusetts)

United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Berkshire County -- Stockbridge

Scope and Contents:

The folders include worksheets, garden plans, brochures, and photocopies of articles about the garden.

General:

Naumkeag was built in 1885 for Joseph Hodges Choate by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White fame. The initial landscape plan was carried out by Nathaniel Barrett in the 1880s. Barrett fitted the house and gardens to the steep site by creating two broad lawn terraces. Beginning in 1926, Mabel Choate, daughter of Joseph Choate, engaged landscape architect Fletcher Steele to update the gardens. The Afternoon Garden and Chinese-style garden were created. They completed the work in 1956. The resulting landscape is widely viewed to have some of the most interesting residential design elements of the 20th Century, epitomized by Steele's well-known "Blue Steps" from 1938, a series of cascading Renaissance stairs with distinctive railings and water features set against a birch-planted hillside. The gardens are continually under restoration. The Evergreen Garden from 1948 was restored beginning in 2002 (its marble steps were rebuilt and the pea gravel allee planted with new arborvitae). Restoration of the Afternoon Garden occured in 2007. The property was given to the Trustees of Reservations in 1959, was made a National Historic Landmark in 2007, and is open to the public.

Persons associated with the garden include: Joseph Hodges Choate (former owner, 1885); Mabel Choate (former owner); the Trustees of Reservations (owners, 1959-present); Stanford White (architect, 1885); Nathan Franklin Barrett (landscape architect, 1880s); Fletcher Steele (landscape architect, 1926-1956); Marian Cruger Coffin (landscape architect); and Percival Gallagher (landscape architect).

Related Materials:

Naumkeag related holdings consist of 3 folders (96 35 mm. slides; 6 glass lantern slides)

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- Massachusetts -- Stockbridge  Search this

Formal gardens  Search this

Chinese gardens  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File MA015

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Massachusetts

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb65362d573-1093-43b0-b8d6-efc870b206b2

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref17667

Preservation architect:

Chandler, Joseph Everett  Search this

Gardener:

Tennis, Lawrence  Search this

Sculptor:

Seamans, Beverly Benson  Search this

Former owner:

Kent, John H. B.  Search this

Peach, Benjamin F.  Search this

Peach, Adelaine L.  Search this

Daniels, Alanson L.  Search this

Daniels, Frances Pomeroy  Search this

Amory, John S.  Search this

Amory, Mary B.  Search this

Landscape architect:

Shipman, Ellen, 1869-1950  Search this

Provenance:

North Shore Garden Club of Massachusetts  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Old Farm (Wenham, Massachusetts)

United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Essex -- Wenham

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of articles, historical images, and biographical and other information.

General:

Old Farm has a sunken and enclosed garden designed in 1912-1913 by Ellen Biddle Shipman in the Colonial Revival style to complement the 17th century farm house, described as a cloistered space within the more than one hundred acres of fields and woodlands that comprise this property. The garden was one of Shipman's earliest documented professional commissions, a rectangular plot sub-divided by stone and gravel walks into smaller rectangular beds surrounded by a low dry stone wall. At the far end there is a stone apse or excedrae with room for outdoor seating and a lily pond, now dry. Shipman's original stone terrace directly behind the house, stone walkway down the middle of the garden, and stone steps that lead up to the excedrae have grown over with grass and the American elm trees that shaded the enclosed garden have been replaced by other mature trees. The flower beds have been retained in their original shapes and siting, and have three distinct seasons of blooms: first daffodils, followed by irises, phlox and peonies, then fall asters.

The original 17th century house had rooms on either side of the chimney in front with a lean-to rear section. In the late 19th century the rear section was raised to two stories, and in the early 20th century the house was restored by preservation specialist Joseph Everett Chandler. Ellen Biddle Shipman added trellises for vines and a garden in front of the house planted with boxwood, roses and oleander.

Persons associated with the garden include: John H. B. Kent (former owner, 1836-1910); Benjamin F. and Adelaine L. Peach (former owners, 1899-1910); Alanson L. and Frances Pomeroy Daniels (former owners, 1910-1933); John S. and Mary B. Amory (former owners, 1933-1961); Ellen Biddle Shipman (landscape architect, 1912-1913); Joseph Everett Chandler (preservation architect, 1915); Lawrence Tennis (gardener, 2004- ); Beverly Benson Seamans (1928-2012) (sculptor).

Related Materials:

Old Farm related holdings consist of 1 folder (3 35mm slides (photographs); 15 digital images)

Additional materials also located in the Benjamin Howe Conant Collection of Photographs, Wenham Museum, Wenham, Massachusetts; Ellen McGowan Biddle Shipman archive #1259, Carl A. Kroch Library Division of Rare and Manuscripts Collection, Cornell University , Ithaca, New York

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- Massachusetts -- Wenham  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File MA611

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Massachusetts

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6c40427c7-9295-4e38-9c08-e7a7467c0021

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref17687

Former owner:

Washington, George, 1732-1799  Search this

Clifton, William  Search this

Resident:

Lear, Tobias, 1762-1816  Search this

Owner:

American Horticultural Society  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

River Farm (Alexandria, Virginia)

United States of America -- Virginia -- City of Alexandria -- Alexandria

Scope and Contents:

There are three 35 mm. slides depicting horticultural details which were not catalogued.

The folder includes a work sheet, site analysis map-1985, article copy and brochure.

Former Title:

Wellington

Walnut Tree Farm

Cliftons Neck

General:

River Farm was first called Piscataway Neck by Margaret and Captain Giles Brent in 1653. During William Clifton's ownership, the property was known as Cliftons Neck. George Washington bought the property in 1760 to lease. The largest track at this time was called "River Farm." Tobias Lear, a renter, had called the property Walnut Farm. In 1859, a century after Washington purchased the property from Clifton, Charles Augustine Washington sold 652 acres of River Farm to three Quaker brothers, Stacey, Isaac, and William Snowden of New Jersey in order to acquire lumber for the ship building. The Snowdens divided the acreage, then known as Wellington, into three sections. In 1866, 280 acres including the present-day River Farm were sold to three men known as "The Syndicate." A writer from The Washington Sunday Star visited the estate in 1904 and referred to it as "this broken and pathetic house." The Wellington property was subsequently purchased in 1912 by Miss Theresa Thompson, a member of a prominent local family. Miss Thompson made changes and improvements at Wellington, but is was for Malcolm Matheson, who bought the property in 1919, to transform it into the early-20th century country estate we know today. The American Horticultural Society purchased River Farm in 1973 and made it their headquarters. The Society maintains display and test gardens on the 27 acre site. The 1757 main house is furnished in period; and the gardens offer identified plants.

Persons associated with the property include: Captain Giles Brent (former owner, 1653); Giles Brent (former owner); George Brent (former owner); Cliftons of Chotank (former owners 1739); George Washington (former owner, 1760); Charles Augustine Washington (former owner); Stacey, Isaac, and William Snowden (former owners, 1859); "The Syndicate" (former owners, 1866); Miss Theresa Thompson (former owner, 1912); Malcolm Matheson (former owner, 1919); and the American Horticultural Society (owners, 1973-present).

Related Materials:

River Farm related holdings consist of 2 folders (3 glass lantern slides and 10 35 mm. slides)

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- Virginia -- Alexandria  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File VA110

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Virginia

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6de036a2b-ea32-4acd-9a21-8c288309c490

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref18786

Creator:

Ely, Helena Rutherfurd, -1920  Search this

Provenance:

Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Meadowburn (Warwick, New York)

Meadowburn (Vernon, New Jersey)

United States of America -- New York -- Orange County -- Warwick

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes worksheets; landscape plans; copies of photographs; copy of biography of Helena Rutherfurd Ely(October 1951); compilation of notes from oral history by Albert Furman, Jr. (1998-2000); and copies of articles and programs.

Former Title:

Ely Gardens [Middletown Daily Times-Press, 7 November 1925]

General:

Meadowburn was the summer home of Helena Rutherfurd Ely, a prominent gardening author who wrote three books at the beginning of the 20th century. Her first book, A Woman's Hardy Garden, is reflected throughout the five acres of gardens she designed at Meadowburn. She has been called the American Gertrude Jekyll, as they both advocated a casually abundant, hardy, no-fuss gardening style. Towards the end of her career as a designer/gardner, Mrs. Ely was more and more drawn to the use of evergreens.

Vernon, New Jersey, Warwick, New York's "sister town" across the state line, is also shown as Meadowburn's location. Meadowburn straddles the border between the two states. According to Helena Ely Rutherfurd Meade's biography of her mother written in 1951, "Meadowburn Farm is mainly in New Jersey, but there is still a good bit of it in the State of New York." Though it is listed in a registration form (1992) for the National Register of Historic Places as being located in Vernon Township, New Jersey, this designation only covered the "significant features of the house and gardens at Meadowburn Farm; five acres, more or less."

Persons and organizations associated with this garden include: Louisa and Mary Rutherfurd (former owners, 1853-1860); John and Charlotte Rutherfurd (former owners, 1860-1881); Helena Rutherfurd Ely (former owner, 1881-1920); Alfred Ely, Jr. (former owner); Charles H. Coster (former owner, 1930-1977); Albert Furman, Sr. (gardener, 1893-1948); Albert Furman, Jr. (gardener (1948-2004); and Kurt Seligman (frog sculpture and fountain pool).

Related Materials:

Meadowburn related holdings consist of 3 folders (26 35 mm. slides)

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- New York -- Warwick  Search this

Gardens -- New Jersey -- Vernon  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File NY286

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / New York

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb64ebec3d4-4da0-4ca9-b047-593e01fcd9e1

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref27161

Provenance:

Garden Club of Rye  Search this

Owner:

City of Rye  Search this

Former owner:

Bird, Henry  Search this

Erikson, Alice Bird  Search this

Landscape architect:

Erikson, Alice Bird  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Bird Homestead (Rye, New York)

United States of America -- New York -- Westchester -- Rye

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes worksheets and photocopies of articles.

General:

Located on the banks of the tidal Blind Brook estuary, lined with salt marshes, Bird Homestead was the home of Henry Bird (1869-1959), a prominent entomologist and president of the New York Entomological Society who specialized in the study of moths. The landscape and garden was of a modest size and represents a unique combination of a small self-sufficient farm with ornamental perennial beds, shrubs, and roses plus fruit trees that combined both beauty and utility, along with specific plants grown for entomological research. The Greek revival style house, outbuildings, picket fence and stonewall all date to the 19th century, a rarity on Westchester County's Long Island Sound Shore.

The garden features date primarily from the 1920s and 1940s, with additions in 2012 for educational purposes. The Bouton-Bird Erikson family owned the property for five generations from 1852-2009. The non-profit Bird Homestead Preservatio trust now operates the property as a historic, environmental, and educational site.

The Greek revival style house built in the 19th century, white oak trees shading the house, the remains of earlier gardens, and outbuildings including a barn, a workshop and chicken coop. The small family farm was self-sufficient until well into the 20th century, raising chickens and growing fruits and vegetables. The property is being restored by the Bird Homestead Preservation Trust and is used to teach children about the natural environment including organic gardening in four raised beds on the site of an earlier large cold frame. A cedar arbor for grape vines was recently hoisted back to stand vertically in the garden after many years of leaning at a severe angle. Surviving shrubs near the house include lilac, wisteria, roses, azalea, mock orange and beautybushes, and a bed of ferns is undisturbed by neglect for many years.

Henry Bird encouraged the use of beneficial insects in the garden rather than spraying pesticides and maintained a small garden area with plants that would attract the insects he wanted to study. Bird also was a proponent of native plants and established a large natives garden at 'Bye-Wood' on the Mr. and Mrs. William J. Knapp estate, which led him to write "A Proposed Type of American Garden" with Louise Allen Knapp, published in 1929 in ASLA's "Landscape Architecture" journal. Daughter Alice Bird Erikson (1903-1993) was an artist and trained as a landscape architect at the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture. In 1942 she illustrated Trees of the Countryside (Alfred A. Knopf) by Margaret McKenny, who had been a classmate.

Persons associated with the garden include Henry Bird (former owner, 1959), Alice Bird Erikson (former owner and landscape architect, 1903-1994); City of Rye, New York (2009- ).

Related Materials:

Bird Homestead related holdings consist of 1 folder (24 digital images)

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- New York -- Rye  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File NY873

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / New York

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6d79386ff-6e30-4e1b-8aaf-99adb384c45e

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref30065

Former owner:

Gurley, George A.  Search this

Crist, Robert  Search this

Architect:

Shepard & Farrar  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Belleview Garden (Kansas City, Missouri)

United States of America -- Missouri -- Kansas City

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes a worksheet, two versions of a site plan, a plant list, photocopies of articles about the house and garden, and related correspondence.

General:

Established in 1908, this .75-acre garden has recently been restored to reflect and enhance the site. The house was designed by architects Shepard & Farrar, a prominent early 20th-century Kansas City firm. A carriage path runs along the north side of the house to the detached carriage house. Minimal landscaping was included in the original plan, although there was a rose arbor gracing the front terrace. The recent restoration has resulted in a lush garden that is a continuing work in progress. This garden is unique to the lower Midwest because of its extensive use of southern plant material set in an urban microclimate. Found in an historic neighborhood with large, century-old oaks, the garden offers many themes and collections. Included are a formal front terrace organized by a boxwood hedge, with a large variety of azaleas and rhododendron. The New Orleans-style courtyard is accented by a magnolia collection. The owner has extended the dogwood and azalea plantings well beyond the garden gates towards the large parkways in the turn-of-the-century neighborhood. Throughout the property, the owner continues trial experiments with new plant materials. The back and side portions of the property feature a water garden, along with a bamboo and palm collection, ferns, a grotto, and a dry river bed. Varieties of large pines are accented by a dwarf conifer collection. The backyard woodland garden has a lived-in feel, despite its newness.

Persons and firms associated with the garden include: George A. Gurley (former owner, 1908-?); Robert Crist (former owner, 1982-1992); and Shepard & Farrar (architects, 1908).

Related Materials:

Belleview Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (14 35 mm. slides)

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Collection Rights:

Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.

Topic:

Gardens -- Missouri -- Kansas City  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Sponsor:

A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File MO073

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Missouri

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6ac72f797-f4ce-4883-b87c-4f5d6adbc1e3

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref8884