This series contains personal and professional correspondence. Howe wrote brief descriptions identifying the correspondent, such as the person's job or relationship, on many of the letters. Correspondence with individuals who wrote infrequently is arranged chronologically. Correspondence with friends and colleagues, as well as letters written by prominent figures in the art world, such as artists and historians, are separated and arranged alphabetically. Also found here is correspondence from his post-war work as the Cultural Affairs Advisor to the U.S. High Commissioner of Germany.
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.
Collection Citation:
Thomas Carr Howe papers, 1932-1984. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
Papers documenting Moore's work as an ivory trader employed by Arnold, Cheney and Co. Includes copies of his diary entries while working as an ivory trader, financial documents, price lists, his writings on the subject of ivory, articles, a map, and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists primarily of copies of records still in the possesssion of Moore's family. Foremost among these are copies of his diary entries for the time he was employed overseas by Arnold, Cheney & Co. These provide a daily, often humorous, description of the lifestyle of an American businessman trading in the outposts of the British Empire. Further documentation of this lifestyle is provided by Moore's personal account book, expense account statements, and receipts, as well as the materials on Club life in these spots. These include rule books for the Union Club at Aden, the Mombasa Club, the Mombasa Sport Club, and the Mnazi Moja and English clubs at Zanzibar, along with statements of Moore's accounts at each.
The collection contains a great deal of information on the ivory trade, primarily in Moore's correspondence, both business and private, and in documents relating to his contract and service abroad. Although most of these are xerographic copies, a number of originals are included; since these are fragile, it is recommended that the researcher use the copies. There are several items directly related to ivory, including three ivory pricelists from 1922, a small pamphlet about ivory published in 1921, and Moore's handwritten description of the characteristics and classification of ivory. Also contained in the collection are a number of articles written by Moore about ivory and the ivory trade, along with his book, Ivory: The Scourge of Africa, in both typescript and published form. An additional folder contains a photographic copy of the map of "Ivory Country" used to illustrate the book.
The collection also contains copies of many of Moore's photographs. Most of them were taken during his days in Aden, Mombasa, and Zanzibar. These document all aspects of the ivory trade, from the elephant in the wild to the loading of tusks onto ships bound for New York. They depict ivory poachers, transport of tusks, weighing and measuring tusks, storage facilities in the traders' compound or "ivory house," trade goods used to purchase the ivory, and local scenes. Of especial interest are a number of photographs which show the visit of ex President Theodore Roosevelt to Mombasa in 1909. There are also three photoprints showing activities in Pratt, Read & Company's factory at Deep River, Ct. The remaining photographs are family snapshots, mainly of Moore's children. NOTE: Permission to publish these photographs must be obtained directly from the donor, who retains the copyright on them. The collection also includes a history of Pratt, Read & Company which Moore wrote in 1930.
Biographical information in the collection includes a chapter from a biography of Moore which was written by his daughter as a school assignment, autobiographical recollections of Moore's days as an ivory buyer, and a copy of his obituary.
Of additional interest are copies of documents relating to Moore's uncle, Dwight Moore. These deal with his service as U.S. Consul at Aden and Zanzibar in the 1880s 1890s, and correspondence between Moore and his uncle during Moore's service overseas.
Biographical / Historical:
Ernst R. Domansky was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 1, 1884. He was an ivory trader employed by Arnold, Cheney & Co., ivory importers of New York city, serving as that firm's agent in Aden, Mombasa, and Zanzibar from 1907 to 1911. He negotiated for the purchase of tons of elephant tusks from the Arab traders who brought them from the interior of Africa, and made several trips into the interior himself. He also served briefly as U.S. Consul at Zanzibar in 1911.
Shortly after his return to the United States sometime between 1911 and 1913 Domansky changed his name to Ernst D. Moore. There were evidently several reasons for this: Moore had been his mother's maiden name and, while his own parents were dead by this time, his uncle, Dwight Moore, had always looked after his interests. Dwight Moore had, in fact, obtained Ernst's position with Arnold, Cheney & Co. for him. In addition,
both of his brothers had already switched from Domansky to Moore.
In 1913, Moore married Miss Elsie Warner of Chester, Connecticut, where he took up residence. He was then employed by the piano manufacturing firm of Pratt, Read & Co., of Deep River, Connecticut. Pratt, Read was the chief customer for the ivory which Moore had purchased in Africa; the company used it in making piano keyboards. Moore served as Secretary, and later as Vice President, of Pratt, Read's subsidiary, the Pratt Read Player Action Company, located in Deep River. Following that, he was head of the Moore & Fisher Manufacturing Company, also of Deep River. He retained his interest in ivory and, after retiring, wrote a book describing his days in Africa and the ivory trade his Ivory: Scourge of Africa was published in 1931. He died on June 5,1932.
Related Materials:
The Archives Center also contains Collection #320, the Pratt Read Corporation Records. It includes a few photographs of E. D. Moore, as well as information on the ivory trade and the American ivory industry. The records of Arnold, Cheney & Company for the period 1873 1902 are to be found at the Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts; they are in Collection #103, the Ropes Emmerton & Company Records. Additional records relating to both Arnold, Cheney & Company and Pratt, Read & Company can be found in the Cheney/Downing Collection at the Connecticut River Foundation at Steamboat Dock, Essex, Connecticut.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Edith Sibley, January 30, 1989.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to publish these photographs must be obtained directly from the donor, who retains copyright. See repository for details.
Letters written by Charles Lang Freer to his close friend, Detroit bussinessman Cameron Currie (1860-1942). Many letters are written from overseas while Freer was traveling in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Charles Lang Freer's correspondence with Cameron Currie
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Currie
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters written between Charles Lang Freer and Chicago businessman and art scholar Frederick William Gooking (1853-1936). Freer's first letter to Gookin is from the cave temples of Longmen during his central China expedition. Gookin subsequently drafted an extensive catalog of Freer's Japanese paintings.
Charles Lang Freer's correspondence with Frederick William Gookin
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Gookin
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letter written by Charles Lang Freer to his friend and business associate Frank Hecker (1846-1927) while Freer was traveling in Europe and Asia between September 1894 and August 1895. This was Freer's first travel in Asia, and while he was not purchasing works of fine art in large numbers, the cultural encounters he made during this trip deepened his interest in Asia's artistic heritage. Freer's stops included Sri Lanka, India, Singapore, China and Japan. Freer also stayed in Italy and France, spending time with James McNeill Whistler in Paris.
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Hecker.travel2
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters written by Charles Lang Freer to his friend and business associate Frank Hecker (1846-1927) while Freer during multiple trips to Europe between June of 1899 and July of 1903. Freer stayed for long periods of time in London, meeting with the painter James McNeill Whister. He also stayed for long periods in Paris, and at a villa that he co-owned on the Mediterranean island of Capri with his friend Thomas S. Jerome (1864-1914). The final letters describe Whistler's death on July 17th, 1903.
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Hecker.travel3
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters written by Charles Lang Freer to his friend and business associate Frank Hecker (1846-1927) during multiple trips to Europe and Asia between 1904 and July of 1908. After a decade absence, Freer travelled again to Asia, taking extended tours of Egypt, Syria, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and Japan. Also included are letters written from Detroit that describe the status of Freer's offer of his collection to the Smithsonian.
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Hecker.travel4
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters written by Charles Lang Freer to his friend and business associate Frank Hecker (1846-1927) during an extended trip to Europe and Asia from April to December1909. Freer's travel destitanations included Paris, London, Berlin, Cairo, Beijing, Shanghai, Kyoto and Tokyo.
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Hecker.travel5
Issuing Body Note:
横浜 東京 京都 北京 上海
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters written by Charles Lang Freer to his friend and business associate Frank Hecker (1846-1927) during his last trip to Asia from August 1910 to April 1911. Freer sailed directly from San Francisco to Yokohama, rather than passing through Europe as in his earlier visits to Asia. His visits included Shanghai, Beijing, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Shenyang, Dalian, Hangzhou, Kyoto and Nara. Freer also spent three weeks in the remote Buddhist cave complex of Longmen.
横浜 東京 京都 奈良 北京 上海 杭州 开封 洛阳 沈阳
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Hecker.travel6
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letter dated February 6th, 1904, in which Gustav Mayer updates Freer on the status of the Peacock Room and likelihood of its availability. Mayer also informs Freer of the availability of 3 additional Whistler etchings.
Freer collection numbers: F1904.61
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically under correspondent.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Obach08
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters from the Syrian art dealer Vincenzo Marcopoli mostly regarding the sale of Raqqa pottery and other Syrian antiquities. Freer had visited the Marcopoli shop while staying in Aleppo in June 1908.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
12 Items (letters including envelopes and business card)
Container:
Box 25, Folder 15
Type:
Archival materials
Letters (correspondence)
Date:
1912
1912-1919
Scope and Contents:
Letters dated between 1912 and 1919, discussing Chinese political conditions and the Chinese art market. Pang also introduces Freer to the dealer You Xiaoxi (Yue Seaouke) who frequently acted as intermediary.
庞元济 游篠溪 庞莱臣 弗利尔
Freer collection numbers: F1904.61
Letters between Charles Lang Freer and Pang Yuanji
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically under correspondent.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Lang Freer first visited the Shanghai collector and connoisseur Pang Yuanji in 1911. In subsequent years, Freer purchased some of his finest early Chinese paintings from Pang through intermediary dealers traveling in the US.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1PangYuanchi
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
12 Items (letters and telegrams; 23 pages and 1 envelop)
Container:
Box 28, Folder 19
Type:
Archival materials
Letters (correspondence)
Date:
1905-1913
Scope and Contents:
Letters between Charles Lang Freer and American President Theodore Roosevelt. Topics include Freer's offer of his collection to the Smithsonian; the 1908 portrait of Roosevelt by Gari Melchers; and an invitation to Roosevelt to a position on a committee to address American archaeological studies in China.
Freer accession number F1908.17a
Letters between Charles Lang Freer and Theodore Roosevelt
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically under correspondent.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1RooseveltT
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Genre/Form:
Letters (correspondence)
Collection Citation:
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters between Charles Lang Freer and Secretary of the Smithsonian Charles Doolittle Walcott between April 13, 1908 and September 19, 1919. Topics include Freer's evolving bequest to the Smithsonian, his thoughts on the nature and goals of his museum, and the construction of the building in Washington, DC.
Freer accession number F1908.1908.17a
Letters between Charles Lang Freer and Charles D. Walcott
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically under correspondent.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Walcott
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Genre/Form:
Letters (correspondence)
Collection Citation:
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters written by Charles Lang Freer to his Detroit house caretaker and curator, Joseph Stephens Warring, who Freer often addressed as Stephen J. Warring. Many letters are written from overseas while Freer was traveling in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Includes numerous postcards.
Charles Lang Freer's correspondence with Joseph Stephens Warring
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1WarringS
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
See also: Cowan, John J.; Philip, Rosalind Birnie; Reid, Alexander; Society of American Artists; Whistler, Beatrix Godwin; Unidentified correspondents
Scope and Contents:
Letters and telegrams addressed to Charles Lang Freer from the American painter James McNeill Whistler. Also includes 6 of Whistler's calling cards.
Charles Lang Freer's correspondence with James McNeill Whistler
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1WhistlerJ
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Genre/Form:
Letters (correspondence)
Telegrams
Cartes-de-visite
Collection Citation:
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters dated between 1917 and 1919, mostly discussing the offer of Chinese art objects by the Shanghai based dealer Seaouke Yue (You Xiaoxi)
游篠溪
Freer collection numbers: F1904.61
Letters between Charles Lang Freer and Seaouke Yue (You Xiaoxi)
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically under correspondent.
Biographical / Historical:
Charels Lang Freer first met Yue in 1917. Yue had travelled to New York with items from the collection of Pang Yuanji, an important Shanghai collector who met Freer in 1911. Over the next two years, Freer purchased a number of important works of Chinese painting, jades, pottery and bronzes from Yue.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Yue
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters dated 1907, Between Freer and American Missionary, diplomat, and collector Horace Newton Allen. Also includes correspondence with Allen's representative and Frank Hecker. Includes a typed catalog of the collection, with a document of certification by Edwin Morgan.
Horace Newton Allen first traveled to Korea as a medical missionary in 1884. Gradually he grew close to the royal court and served in various capacities both as assistant to the court, and as a U.S. diplomatic representative. Allen was recalled to the US in 1905, after protesting America's inactivity in the face of Japan's looming domination on the peninsula. Freer purchased Allen's collection in 1907 while he was traveling overseas through his business partner Frank Hecker.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1AllenH
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Murray, Daniel Alexander Payne, 1852-1925 Search this
Tibbs, Thurlow Evans, Jr., (1952-1997) Search this
Extent:
25.54 Linear feet (46 boxes; 3 cabinet drawers)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photograph albums
Sheet music
Letters (correspondence)
Place:
Washington (D.C.)
Oberlin (Ohio)
Date:
circa 1850-1997
Biographical/Historical note:
The Evans-Tibbs collection form part of the family papers acquired from the Evans-Tibbs Collection museum, which closed in 1996, and centers around the life of Lillian Evans Tibbs. The museum was formerly the home of Evans, the first African American woman to sing opera with an organized European company. She was born in Washington, DC to a cultured, well-educated, middle-class family. Her mother was Annie Lillian Evans, a music teacher in the DC public school system, and her father was Wilson Bruce Evans, organizer and first principal of Armstrong Technical High School in Washington, DC. Hiram Revels, the first black U.S. senator, was her great-uncle and two other family members are credited with taking part in John Borwn's raid on Harper's Ferry. She married Howard University music professor, Roy W. Tibbs in 1918. Her stage name, Madame Evanti, is a combination of her last name and her husband's. Evans had one child, Thurlow Tibbs Sr., and two grandchildren, Diane Elizabeth and Thurlow Evans Tibbs. Thurlow Jr., operated the Evans-Tibbs Collection museum until 1996, a year before his death.
Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at acmarchives@si.edu.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
