Search Results

Creator:

Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated  Search this

Lockwood-Greene Company  Search this

Whitman, David  Search this

Greene, Stephen  Search this

Lockwood, Amos  Search this

Former owner:

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

National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering  Search this

Extent:

270 Cubic feet (233 boxes, 850 oversize folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Linen tracings

Paper flimsies

Business records

Design drawings

Blueprints

Patents

Specifications

Reports

Photograph albums

Photographs

Trade literature

Date:

1784-2004, undated

bulk 1915-1930

Summary:

The engineering firm that became Lockwood Greene was founded by David Whitman, a mill engineer, in 1832. Amos D. Lockwood, a consultant, succeeded Whitman and entered a partnership with Stephen Greene in 1882. The firm specialized in industrial engineering and construction; they designed and built a wide variety of structures and work environments worldwide over the next century. Lockwood Greene was acquired by CH2M HILL in December, 2003. Before its acquisition by CH2MHILL it was reportedly the oldest industrial engineering, construction, and professional services firm in the United States.

Scope and Contents:

The Lockwood Greene records are a comprehensive range of documents related to the appraisal, building, construction, design, evaluation, and engineering of facilities for a variety of clients. The material covers the entire period of industrialization of the United States, and, provides a thorough record of the textile industry, both in New England and the South. Some of the textile mills are documented with unusual completeness, showing water and steam power layouts, factory village plans, and landscaping schedules. A broad range of other building typologies is also covered, including projects with public or retail functions, such as early automobile showrooms, hospitals, apartments and private dwellings, churches, and schools.

In-depth study of the company's earliest history is hampered by a scarcity of records, many of which were lost in the great fire that destroyed Boston's city center in 1872. Nevertheless, graphic and textual evidence does exist within the collection that illuminates these early projects, in addition to the fabric of surviving buildings. The Lockwood Greene records document several commissions that the firm would return to again and again over the course of many decades as clients requested plant additions, upgrades to mechanical and operating systems, and other substantive changes. Researchers are encouraged to examine the blueprints, elevations, and plans for these later additions in order to find illustrations of the firm's earlier interventions at the site. In addition to drawings, other visual evidence for nineteenth-century projects can be found in the company's extensive photo files, which often document structures for which drawings do not exist.

The Lockwood Greene records contain an abundance of graphic and textual evidence for structures designed after 1910 until the 1930s. After this period, visual documentation becomes much more limited. This is partially due to the evolution of drafting tools and information management technologies within the architecture and engineering profession. Lockwood Greene was an early adopter of technological innovations in rendering and data capture, beginning with the introduction of aperture cards and microfilm and extending to the adoption of computer-aided design (CAD) programs. These more modern formats were not part of the acquisition, and, at the time of writing, still reside with the company.

The Lockwood-Greene collection will be of interest to historians of architecture and engineering, as well as those that study the history of business and labor relations. It provides extensive textual and documentary evidence on the evolution and growth of American engineering and the increasing professionalization of the discipline through specialization during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Rich holdings of architectural drawings, photographs, and specifications provide unparalleled resources that trace the evolution of industrial buildings and their typologies; experimentation with building materials and systems, particularly with regards to fireproofing; and the history of textile manufacture in the United States. In addition, there is also rich visual and documentary evidence of the changing relationships between corporations and their employees through photographs, plans, and designs for company towns and mill villages, as well as through corporate records that illustrate the work culture of Lockwood Greene itself. The Lockwood-Greene collection will be of special interest to historic preservationists as the awareness of the significance of industrial and vernacular buildings continues to grow, and detailed design drawings and other visual material will be of especial value for restoration, rehabilitation, and adaptive-reuse projects.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into six series.

Series 1, Project Drawings, Renderings, and Plans, 1784-1969, undated

Series 2, Photographs and Slides, 1881-2001, undated

Subseries 2.1: Photo Albums, 1906-1934

Subseries 2.2: Photographic Files, 1881-1956

Subseries 2.3: Spartanburg Office Photographic File, 1948-1974

Subseries 2.4: Spartanburg Office Photographic File, 1919-1999

Subseries 2.5: Project Negatives and Transparencies, 1956-1970

Subseries 2.6: Project Slides and Transparencies, 1985-2001

Subseries 2.7: Project Slides and Transparencies, Culls, 1974-2001

Subseries 2.8: Project Slides and Transparencies, Corporate Photography, 1976-1998

Subseries 2.9: Photograph Album Covers, 1920, undated

Series 3: Job Files, 1872-1957, undated

Subseries 3.1, Specifications, 1913-1942, undated

Subseries 3.2: List of Drawings, 1872-1951, undated

Subseries 3.3: Project Files, 1919-1969, undated

Subseries 3.4: Reports, 1913-1969

Subseries 3.5: Job Cost Records, 1913-1957, undated

Series 4, Corporate Records and History, 1881-2004, undated

Subseries 4.1: Meeting Minutes, 1913-1995

Subseries 4.2: Corporate Files, 1891-2004, undated

Subseries 4.3: Historical Research and Reference Files and Photographs, 1881-1983, undated

Subseries 4.4: Corporate Publications, 1917-2001, undated

Series 5, Non-Lockwood Greene Publications, 1910-1984, undated

Series 6, Audio-Visual, 1964

Biographical / Historical:

Lockwood Greene, one of the nation's oldest engineering firms, traces it roots to 1832, when Rhode Island native David Whitman began a machinery repair service. Riding the wave of the early industrial revolution in textile manufacturing, Whitman added mill design services to his repertoire, which formed the backbone of a flourishing consulting business for the rest of the century. Whitman was one of the first itinerant mill engineers or "doctors" that traveled throughout New England advising various industrialists on the placement, design, and construction of their factories and the layout of the complicated system of machinery and shafting that they contained. His largest commission was the design of the Bates Manufacturing Company complex in Lewiston, Maine, which was incorporated in 1850 and soon became one of the largest textile producers in New England.

Upon Whitman's death in 1858, his unfinished work was assumed by Amos D. Lockwood, a prominent mill agent and astute businessman who had built a name for himself in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The successful completion of the projects at Lewiston brought enough additional demand for Lockwood's services to prompt him to relocate to Boston, where he formally opened an independent consulting office with partner John W. Danielson in 1871. For the next ten years, A.D. Lockwood & Company was involved in a least eight major mill design projects, half of which were for new construction. One of these projects, the design and construction of the Piedmont Manufacturing Company in Greenville (now Piedmont), South Carolina was especially significant and is considered to be a prototype for the Southern textile industry.

In 1882, Lockwood established a new business, Lockwood, Greene and Company, with Stephen Greene, a professionally-trained civil engineer who had joined the firm in 1879. As the firm grew, it expanded its scope as consultants supplying all of the necessary architectural and engineering services a prospective owner needed to initiate, equip, and run a complete plant. Acting as the owners' representative, the company supervised construction and installation but did not directly act as builders or contractors. Lockwood

Greene's objective expertise was legendary and made it a leader in this emergent field. As Samuel B. Lincoln explains in his history of the company:

"The new firm's knowledge and experience in the textile industry enabled it to analyze samples of cloth and, from such samples, to provide everything necessary for a completed plant to make such goods in any desired quantity. It did not at any time act as selling agents for machinery or equipment, neither did it accept commissions or rebates from suppliers: by this policy it maintained a position as impartial and independent engineer." (pages 105-107)

Greene became president of the company upon Lockwood's death in 1884. Under his leadership, the company expanded into additional industries and designed an array of other industrial building types that would prefigure the diversity of later work. In 1893, the company revolutionized American industry by designing and constructing the first factory whose operating power was provided entirely over electric wires from a remote power plant, rather than relying upon a water source or a stockpiled fuel supply. The Columbia Mills project created a great deal of publicity for the firm and was a signal to other manufacturers that there were viable alternatives to the use of steam power.

As changing economic conditions led Lockwood Greene to move away from its traditional reliance upon the textile manufacturing industry, it was very successful at soliciting projects for a wide variety of structures, from newspaper plants and automotive factories to convention halls and schools. After 1900, Lockwood Greene expanded its operations and opened branch offices in other cities, including Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Atlanta, and Charlotte. In 1915, Edwin F. Greene, president and son of Stephen Greene, reorganized the firm as Lockwood, Greene & Company, Incorporated This new entity served as the parent company and controlled three subsidiaries: one to own and operate cotton mills that Greene had acquired; one to manage other companies' textile mills; and one to provide engineering services.

Lockwood Greene expanded its operations tremendously as the textile industry boomed under wartime demand and in the years following. The severe textile depression from 1923 to 1928 caused the collapse of this structure, however, as Lockwood Greene continued to suffer deep losses in the textile mills that it owned. The parent company was dissolved in 1928 and the engineering subsidiary, which had remained profitable, was salvaged as Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated.

After a rocky start with the onset of the Depression, the company began to prosper during the Second World War and its growth continued steadily throughout the next several decades. In the late 1960s, as a result of declining business, the company's headquarters was transferred from Boston to Spartanburg, South Carolina. In 1981, Phillipp Holtzman USA, a subsidiary of Phillipp Holtzman AG of Frankfurt, Germany, acquired a majority interest in Lockwood Greene. In 2003, CH2M Hill, a global provider of engineering, construction, and operations services based in Denver, Colorado, acquired the company.

From its beginnings under David Whitman, Lockwood Greene has become one of the most diversified engineering firms in the United States. The firm is best known as a designer of industrial and institutional buildings, but the company has become a leader in many additional areas in recent years. Lockwood Greene dominates the market in the design and production of the germ- and dust-free "clean room" facilities required by the pharmaceutical industry and micro-electronics manufacturers. The company has also developed expertise in designing integrated security and networking systems for industrial plants, international port facilities, and military installations worldwide.

Banham, Raynor. A Concrete Atlantis: U.S. Industrial Building and European Modern Architecture, 1900-1925. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986.

Biggs, Lindy. The Rational Factory: Architecture, Technology, and Work in America's Age of Mass Production. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

Bradley, Betsy Hunter. The Works: The Industrial Architecture of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Greene, Benjamin Allen. Stephen Greene: Memories of His Life, with Addresses, Resolutions and Other Tributes of Affection. Chicago, R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, 1903.

Heiser, William J. Lockwood Greene, 1958-1968, Another Period in the History of an Engineering Business. Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated, 1970.

Lincoln, Samuel B. Lockwood Greene: The History of an Engineering Business, 1832-1958. Brattleboro, Vermont: The Stephen Greene Press, 1960.

Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated The Lockwood Greene Story: One-Hundred-Fifty Years of Engineering Progress. Spartanburg, South Carolina: Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated; undated.

Related Materials:

Materials at the Smithsonian Instituion Libraries

"[Trade catalogs from Lockwood, Greene & Co.]", Trade Literature at the American History Museum Books, Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Provenance:

This collection was donated by Lockwood Greene, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 1997 (original drawings). An addendum to the collection was donated by CH2M HILL in 2007.

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:

Architects  Search this

Architecture, Commercial  Search this

Architecture, Domestic  Search this

Building materials  Search this

Buildings  Search this

Construction industry  Search this

Company towns  Search this

Textile mills  Search this

Mills  Search this

Manufacturing industries  Search this

Industrial engineering  Search this

Industrial buildings -- Design and construction  Search this

Industrial buildings  Search this

Engineering  Search this

Factories -- Power supply  Search this

Factories -- Design and construction  Search this

Factories  Search this

Cotton textile industry  Search this

Commercial buildings  Search this

Electric power production  Search this

Genre/Form:

Linen tracings

Paper flimsies

Business records

Design drawings

Blueprints

Patents

Specifications

Reports

Photograph albums

Photographs -- 21st century

Photographs -- 20th century

Trade literature

Photographs -- 1890-1900

Citation:

Lockwood Greene Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Preservation of this collection was made possible in part by a generous gift from CH2M HILL.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1113

See more items in:

Lockwood-Greene Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep85090342a-0c7e-4667-8b37-fa0e8309b5ac

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1113

Collection Creator:

Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated  Search this

Lockwood-Greene Company  Search this

Whitman, David  Search this

Greene, Stephen  Search this

Lockwood, Amos  Search this

Container:

Map-folder 6, Drawer 1

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1928

Collection 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.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Lockwood Greene Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Preservation of this collection was made possible in part by a generous gift from CH2M HILL.

See more items in:

Lockwood-Greene Records

Lockwood-Greene Records / Series 1: Project Drawings, Renderings, and Plans

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8cbd59bde-725f-4829-bb7c-af6cd3a4695e

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1113-ref5195

Collection Creator:

Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated  Search this

Lockwood-Greene Company  Search this

Whitman, David  Search this

Greene, Stephen  Search this

Lockwood, Amos  Search this

Container:

Map-folder 6, Drawer 1

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1928

Collection 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.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Lockwood Greene Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Preservation of this collection was made possible in part by a generous gift from CH2M HILL.

See more items in:

Lockwood-Greene Records

Lockwood-Greene Records / Series 1: Project Drawings, Renderings, and Plans

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep88b25c5d6-70eb-4ab2-9238-7cc029a9e5e5

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1113-ref5201

Collection Creator:

Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated  Search this

Lockwood-Greene Company  Search this

Whitman, David  Search this

Greene, Stephen  Search this

Lockwood, Amos  Search this

Container:

Map-folder 6, Drawer 8

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1947

Collection 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.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Lockwood Greene Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Preservation of this collection was made possible in part by a generous gift from CH2M HILL.

See more items in:

Lockwood-Greene Records

Lockwood-Greene Records / Series 1: Project Drawings, Renderings, and Plans

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8ecbd48ed-adb0-4d22-b28b-94248f4f1a6d

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1113-ref5251

Collection Creator:

Lockwood Greene Engineers, Incorporated  Search this

Lockwood-Greene Company  Search this

Whitman, David  Search this

Greene, Stephen  Search this

Lockwood, Amos  Search this

Container:

Map-folder 6, Drawer 15

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1926

Collection 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.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Lockwood Greene Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sponsor:

Preservation of this collection was made possible in part by a generous gift from CH2M HILL.

See more items in:

Lockwood-Greene Records

Lockwood-Greene Records / Series 1: Project Drawings, Renderings, and Plans

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8d22d3456-6926-4dc6-8670-862c3af30efb

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1113-ref5296

Collection Creator:

Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this

Underwood and Underwood  Search this

Container:

Box 8, Item 43

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1758-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection / Series 1: Engineering / 1.2: Bridges, Cantilever / 1.2.6: New Quebec Cantilever [Quebec Bridge (French: pont de Québec)]

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep813731e4b-9a89-4b41-8c4e-2703f490e61a

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1013-ref1177

Creator:

Favretti, Rudy J., 1932-1923  Search this

Extent:

31.5 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Invoices

Research

Contracts

Reports

Pamphlets

Slides (photographs)

Date:

circa 1950-2010

Summary:

The collection contains the project design records of Rudy J. Favretti. , a landscape architect and professor noted for his extensive work in historical restoration of gardens, parks, and landscapes. He donated his collection of garden design files, plans, and images to the Smithsonian's Archives of American Gardens in March 2011.

Scope and Content Note:

The collection contains the records of landscape architect Rudy J. Favretti and includes correspondence, research notes, reports, drawings, plans (some from other engineering or design firms), photographic images, contracts, invoices, newspaper clippings, copies of historic records and other items relating to Professor Favretti's professional design work. His projects range from small private gardens to extensive garden restorations of eighteenth and nineteenth century gardens, parks, and historic sites. Professor Favretti also worked on a number of civic improvement and land use projects like parks and roadways. The majority of projects are located in New England (particularly Connecticut), the mid-Atlantic states and the southeastern United States. The collection also includes Professor Favretti's research files for his biography on landscape architect Jacob Weidenmann as well as numerous brochures and pamphlets he gathered during trips he took to gardens across the United States, and 35mm slides he took of some of these sites.

Arrangement note:

The collection is arranged into 4 series: Series 1: Project Files; Series 2: Administrative Files; Series 3: Jacob Weidenmann Research and Biography Filesand Biography Files; Series 4: Visited Gardens

Biographical Note:

Rudy J. Favretti was born in Mystic, Connecticut in 1932. He obtained degrees from the University of Connecticut, Cornell University, and the University of Massachusetts. Favretti holds Bachelor's degrees in horticulture, landscape design, and landscape architecture, as well as Master's degrees in ornamental horticulture, landscape architecture, and regional planning. Professor Favretti taught landscape architecture at the University of Connecticut from 1955 to 1988. Since 1988 he has been Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut specializing in landscape history and preservation. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Virginia, Columbia University, and a Visiting Faculty Fellow at Yale University. In his professional career, Rudy Favretti worked on over 700 commissioned individual and collaborative design, master planning, and preservation projects. These works include notable sites such as Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia, Monticello and Mount Vernon in Virginia, the Emily Dickinson House in Massachusetts, and the Vanderbilt Estate in New York. Favretti has authored more than 20 books and monographs and over 60 journal and magazine articles on a vast range of topics though most notably on historic landscape restoration and colonial gardens He co-authored For Every House a Garden (1977) and Landscapes and Garden for Historic Buildings (1978) with his wife Joy P. Favretti. His most recent work, Jacob Wiedenmann: Pioneer Landscape Architect (2007), is a biography of the nineteenth century landscape architect.

Professor Favretti is a member of several professional and academic societies including the American Society of Landscape Architects, the National Association for Olmsted Parks, and Phi Kappa Phi. He has been awarded honors in landscape preservation by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Garden Club of America. He is currently a member of the National Register Review Board for Connecticut and the Director of the Connecticut Olmsted Alliance. He served as the consulting landscape architect for the Garden Club of Virginia from 1978 to 1998. The Garden Club of Virginia established the Rudy J. Favretti Fellowship in his honor to support the research and documentation of historic Virginia gardens.

Related Materials:

The Rudy Favretti Papers are available at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center of the University of Connecticut. These include landscape plans dated 1962-1979 for numerous public spaces throughout Connecticut.

Provenance:

The records and files were generated and/or compiled by Rudy J. Favretti in the course of his landscape design, landscape restoration, and academic work.

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.

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:

Monuments  Search this

Museums  Search this

Agriculture  Search this

Historic sites  Search this

Horticulture  Search this

Memorials  Search this

Landscape architecture  Search this

Gardens -- United States  Search this

Genre/Form:

Invoices

Research

Contracts

Reports

Pamphlets

Slides (photographs)

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Rudy J. Favretti CollectionPapers.

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.FAV

See more items in:

Rudy J. Favretti collection

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6709fc29d-b7b4-425d-83ee-5cf8e4c46c35

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aag-fav

Creator:

Beal, Gifford, 1879-1956  Search this

Andrews, Ambrose, 1805-1859  Search this

Bates, Edward, 1793-1869  Search this

Bohrod, Aaron  Search this

Cloar, Carroll  Search this

Colman, Samuel, 1832-1920  Search this

Bacon, Josephine Daskam, 1876-1961  Search this

Rogers, Daniel Denison, 1751-1825  Search this

Elliot, William Parker  Search this

Brush, George de Forest, 1855-1941  Search this

Harding, Chester, 1792-1866  Search this

Names:

Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Beach, Ella  Search this

Thayer, Abbott Handerson, 1849-1921  Search this

Town, Ithiel, 1784-1844  Search this

Watson, Forbes, 1880-1960  Search this

Collection Creator:

Brumbaugh, Thomas B. (Thomas Brendle), 1921-  Search this

Extent:

14 Items (Letters, written in ink, ball point, graphite, typewritter)

Type:

Archival materials

Lithographs

Correspondence

Place:

New York (N.Y.)

Date:

1779-1981

Scope and Contents:

This folder is an amalgamation of letters written and recieved by prominent figures in 19th and 20th century American art. Included in the folder are letters by Ambrose Andrews, Edward Bates, Gifford Beal, Aaron Bohrod, Carroll Clear, Samuel Colman, Josephine Daskam, Daniel Denison Rogers, William Elliot, George de Forest Brush, and Chester Harding. The letters' subjects cover a wide range of topics, including the buying and selling of art, invitations to dinner, and general correspondence.

Arrangement:

Organized alphabetically by author.

Biographical / Historical:

Ambrose Andrews was a portrait, miniature, and landscape portrait who worked throughout New England and the United States. He was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1801 and studied at the National Academy of Design. He exhibited paintings at many different institutions, including his portraits of Henry Clay and Sam Houston. Andrews's work is now in the New York Historical Society.

Edward Bates was a representative for Missouri in the mid-1800s. He served in the War of 1812 as a sergeant in a volunteer brigade, studied and practiced law, attended the state constitutional convention, was district attorney from 1821 to 1826, and was a member of the state senate. He declined to serve as Secretary of War for President Fillmore, but was appointed Attorney General of the United States by President Lincoln, and served from March 5, 1861 to September 1864. Bates died on March 25, 1869.

Admiral Charles Henry Davis was born on January 16, 1807, and served as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation between 1862 and 1865. He then served as Superintendent of the Naval Observatory. He had three ships named after him.

Forbes Watson was an art critic, lecturer, and administrator in New York City in the early 20th century. He served as art critic for the New York Evening Post. In 1933 he was appointed Technical Director of the first New Deal art program, the Public Works of Art Project, which provided work for artists in the decoration of non-federal buildings. He later worked at the Treasury Department of Painting and Sculpture, which administered funding for decorating federal buildings. Watson finally served in the Treasury Department's War Finance Division, where he organized exhibitions and posters by combat artists to promote the sale of war bonds. Forbes Watson's papers are held in the Archives of American Art.

Gifford Beal was an American artist who worked with many organizations for the advancements of the arts, finding inspiration from a wide variety of sources, including holiday scenes, every-day life, and landscapes. Beal loved spontaneity and was influenced by French Impressionists. He was commissioned by the government to paint two murals: one on the post office in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and one in the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C. Beal's papers are held in the Archives of American Art.

Aaron Bohrod was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 21, 1907, where he studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago. He worked for a while in the advertising art department at the Fair Department Store in Chicago, but eventually moved to New York City, where he joined the Art Students League. He died on April 3, 1992. During World War II, Bohrod worked as an artist for the United States Army Corps of Engineer and Life magazine in Europe.

Carroll Cloar was an American realist and surrealist who lived from 1913 to 1993. He grew up in Arkansas, but later moved to Tennessee, travelled Europe, and joined the Art Students League in New York City. During World War II, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, and although he did complete some artwork during this period, none of it survives. Cloar then settled in Memphis. One of his paintings was chosen to commemorate President Clinton's inauguration in 1993. Cloar died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 10, 1993, after a long battle with cancer.

Samuel Colman was an American painter who belonged to the Hudson River School, and is most well-remembered for his landscapes. He was born in Portland, Maine, in 1832, and began exhibiting at the young age of 18. At 27 he was elected an associate of the National Academy, and later studied abroad in Paris and Spain. He was made a full Academician upon his return to the United States, and both founded and served as the first president of the American Water-color Society. He continued to both study in Europe and exhibit artwork, moving from New York to Rhode Island. Colman is represented in the metropolitan Museum, Chicago Art Institute, and many other collections. He died in New York City in 1920.

Josephine Daskam Bacon was an American writer known for writing about "women's issues" and using female protagonists. She wrote a series of juvenile mysteries and helped pioneer the Girl Scouts movement, writing a guidebook for the organization.

Daniel Denison Rogers is perhaps most widely remembered for the painting that John Singleton Copley completed of his wife, Abigail Bromfield.

Ithiel Town was an American architect and civil engineer who lived from October 3, 1784 to June 13, 1844. He worked in the Federal and revivalist Greek and Gothic styles, and was widely copied. He was born in Connecticut, and built both Center Church and Trinity Church in New Haven. Town patented a wooden lattice truss bridge, which made him quite wealthy. He formed a professional architecture firm with Alexander Jackson Davis. One of Town's most amazing feats was the construction of the Potomac Aqueduct in Washington, D.C., which allowed fully loaded canal boats to cross the Potomac River.

William Parker Elliot designed the old U.S. Patent Office, a very important Greek Revival building, with Ithiel Town.

George de Forest Brush was an American painter who grew up in Connecticut and is typified by his paintings and drawings of Native Americans. Even after moving from Wyoming, where he met the Native Americans, back to the East, Brush still occasionally enjoyed living in a teepee. Brush's artistic style later developed into Renaissance-inspired portraits. He was friends with Abbott H. Thayer, and along with Brush's wife, Mary, and son, Gerome, they all contributed to early camouflage designs. Brush died in New Hampshire in 1941.

Chester Harding was an American portrait painter born in Massachusetts in 1792. He worked in many different professions, finally becoming a self-taught itinerant portrait painter. Harding settled in Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts, in a building that now houses the Boston Bar Association (the Chester Harding House, a Historic National Landmark). He studied at the Philadelphia School of Design, later setting up a studio in London, where he befriended and painted for royalty and nobility. Harding finally returned to Boston, where he died in 1866.

Local Numbers:

FSA A2009.06 4

Other Archival Materials:

Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994); Also located at Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Collection Rights:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Real property  Search this

Drawing  Search this

Genre/Form:

Lithographs -- 1950-2000

Correspondence -- 19th century

Correspondence -- 20th century

Collection Citation:

The Brumbaugh Collection of Artist Letters. FSA.A2009.06. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Identifier:

FSA.A2009.06, Series FSA A2009.06 4

See more items in:

The Brumbaugh Collection of Artist Letters

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc3fe083cf2-c3ca-489b-b0ee-4f49e62444b0

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-fsa-a2009-06-ref2

Creator:

McEvoy, Ambrose, 1878-1927  Search this

Healy, G. P. A. (George Peter Alexander), 1813-1894  Search this

Johnson, Eastman, 1824-1906  Search this

Maynard, George W. (George Willoughby), 1843-1923  Search this

Moser, James Henry, 1854-1913  Search this

Names:

Mercer, Edward  Search this

Washington, George Corbin, 1789-1854  Search this

Collection Creator:

Brumbaugh, Thomas B. (Thomas Brendle), 1921-  Search this

Extent:

9 Items (Letters, written in ink, ball point, graphite)

Type:

Archival materials

Correspondence

Date:

1848-1924

Scope and Contents:

This folder is an amalgamation of letters written and recieved by prominent figures in 19th and 20th century American art. Included in the folder are letters from George P. Healy, Eastman Johnson, George W. Maynard, Ambrose McEvoy, and James Henry Moser.

Arrangement:

Organized alphabetically by author.

Biographical / Historical:

Healy was an American academic painter during the 19th century who painted mostly portraits, including a rather well-known one of Abraham Lincoln seated, which hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. He studied in Paris, and worked in Paris, Rome, and Boston. Healy was prolific, painting as many as 50 portraits in a single year, including a series of American presidents, and group pictures depicting congressmen and other famous political figures. The picture depicts Senator Daniel Webster's (MA) reply in Senate to Senator Robert Hayne (SC) in 1830. They debated the issue of states' rights and nullification, and Webster defended a strong national government, famously declaring, "The motto should not be 'Liberty first, and Union afterwards,' but 'Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!'"

Hon. George C. Washington was born in Virginia in 1789 and died in Georgetown, D.C. in 1854. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, served in the Maryland legislature, and served several terms representing Montgomery County in Congress.

Eastman Johnson was an American painter who co-founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Johnson painted many influential Americans of his day, and his style was influenced by the Dutch masters, earning him the title of "The American Rembrandt."He was born in Maine in 1824, but moved to Washington, D.C., where he completed many of his portraits. Johnson lived among Native American tribes and opened a studio in New York.

George Willoughby Maynard was an American painter who started his career by completing murals in Boston's Trinity Church. He later did many murals in the Library of Congress.

Ambrose McEvoy painted figures, landscapes, and portraits in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a founder-member of the National Portrait Society in England, and painted a number of portraits of soldiers and sailors, which are now in the Imperial War Museum.

Edward StanleyMercer was an English artist who studied at the Slade School of Art, along with time in Holland, Spain, and Italy. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, and was a member of both the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.

In the letter, Ambrose McEvoy mentions that he has "written to Harold Speed," who was an English painter of oil and watercolor landscapes and portraits. Speed (1872-1957) studied art at the Royal Academy Schools and was elected a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Speed exhibited at the Royal Academy.

James Henry Moser was born in Ontario, Canada, who worked as an illustrator and landscape painter in oil and watercolor. In Washington, D.C., he was awarded the first Corcoran Prize by the Washington Watercolor Club. He was an art critic for the Washington Times, Post, and Herald, and did freelance illustrations for Harper's, among other publications. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, the First Lady, purchased one of Moser's pieces, "A Sunny Morning at Salisbury Beach," to hang in the White House living room. He died in 1913 after having suffered a stroke earlier that year.

Local Numbers:

FSA A2009.06 5

Other Archival Materials:

Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994); Also located at Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Collection Rights:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century

Correspondence -- 20th century

Collection Citation:

The Brumbaugh Collection of Artist Letters. FSA.A2009.06. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Identifier:

FSA.A2009.06, Series FSA A2009.06 5

See more items in:

The Brumbaugh Collection of Artist Letters

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc393601999-7d3d-4e2d-8e2b-51f22faeead0

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-fsa-a2009-06-ref3

Creator:

Speicher, Eugene Edward, 1883-1962  Search this

Palmer, Erastus Dow, 1817-1904  Search this

Reid, Robert, 1862-1929  Search this

Robus, Hugo, 1885-1964  Search this

Rossiter, Thomas Prichard, 1818-1871  Search this

Weber, Max, 1881-1961  Search this

Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892  Search this

Widener, P. A. B. (Peter Arrell Brown), 1834-1915  Search this

Names:

Houghton, Mifflin and Company  Search this

United States. National Park Service  Search this

Hayne, Paul Hamilton, 1830-1886  Search this

Kensett, John Frederick, 1816-1872  Search this

Collection Creator:

Brumbaugh, Thomas B. (Thomas Brendle), 1921-  Search this

Extent:

11 Items (Letters, written in ink, ball point, graphite)

1 Photograph

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Correspondence

Date:

1818-1847

Scope and Contents:

This folder is an amalgamation of letters written and recieved by prominent figures in 19th and 20th century American art. Included in the folder are letters by Robert Reid, Hugo Robus, Thomas Prichard Rossiter, Eugene Speicher, John Greenleaf Whittier and Peter A.B. Widener.

Arrangement:

Organized alphabetically by author.

Biographical / Historical:

Erastus D. Palmer was an American sculptor. He sculpted portrait busts and religious bas-reliefs in a style that combined neoclassical idealism and realism. His most famous sculpture is "The White Captive," which depicts a young girl who has been captured by Native Americans.

Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes was an American architect born into the wealthy Phelps Stokes family. He designed St-Paul's Chapel at Columbia University and some residential buildings in New York. Phelps Stokes also published The Iconography of Manhattan Island, a six volume work about New York City. He commissioned John Singer Sargent to paint a portrait with himself and his wife, Edith née Minturn.

Robert Reid was an American artist who studied in New England and Paris. He began by painting French peasants, but became known for his murals and stained glass designs. Some of his work can be found in the Congressional Library in Washington, D.C.

Hugo Robus was an American painter and sculpture from Ohio. He studied in the United States and Paris, and then taught at the Modern Art School in New York. He worked in a very lyrical cubist style, usually with people as his subject.

Thomas Prichard Rossiter was an American painter born in New Haven, Connecticut. He traveled throughout Europe, painting portraits along the way, and he kept a studio in Paris. He painted mostly portraits, but also completed a series of paintings depicting the life of Christ.

John Frederick Kensett was an American artist and engraver who worked in New Haven, Connecticut, and New York City.

Henry Rox was a German artist who studied in Berlin and Paris before settling in the United States in 1938, where he taught at many universities, including Mount Holyoke College. He is known for fruit and vegetable photo-sculptures.

Eugene Speicher was an American realist painter from Buffalo, New York. He attended the Art Students League, and then studied in Europe for a few years. He was considered a leading portrait artist in America at the time, favoring female subjects. Speicher won numerous awards for his work, and was appointed Director of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1945.

Max Weber was a Russian-born Jewish-American cubist. He studied with Matisse, Rousseau, and Picasso in Paris. Weber helped introduce cubism to America.

John Greenleaf Whittier was an American Quaker poet. Whittier was an ardent abolitionist who was extremely influenced by the doctrines of humanitarianism, compassion, and social responsibility found in Quakerism. He was a founding member of the American Anti-Slavery Society, and worked as a lobbyist. He is remembered today for his patriotic poetry, and his poems that were later turned into hymns.

Paul Hayne was an American poet who Whittier references in his letter to the publishers Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Hayne had just died, and his son, W.H. Hayne, wanted to edit his later poems for publication.

Widener (1834-1915) was an American businessman from Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, he supplied meat to the Union Army. By investing in trolley cars and public transit services, Widener became quite successful and wealthy. He was an avid art collector whose collection included works by Rembrandt, Edouard Manet, and Auguste Renoir. He is considered one of the top 100 wealthiest Americans of all time.

Local Numbers:

FSA A2009.06 6

Other Archival Materials:

Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994); Also located at Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Collection Rights:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Topic:

Art, American  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century

Correspondence -- 20th century

Collection Citation:

The Brumbaugh Collection of Artist Letters. FSA.A2009.06. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Identifier:

FSA.A2009.06, Series FSA A2009.06 6

See more items in:

The Brumbaugh Collection of Artist Letters

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc3ab5429cd-d428-4427-b439-71f5316aec84

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-fsa-a2009-06-ref4

Creator:

Meigs, Montgomery C., 1816-1892  Search this

Vanderlyn, John, 1775-1852  Search this

Jarvis, Leonard, 1781-1854  Search this

Chapman, John  Search this

Collection Creator:

Brumbaugh, Thomas B. (Thomas Brendle), 1921-  Search this

Extent:

3 Items (Letters, written in ink)

Type:

Archival materials

Correspondence

Place:

U. S. Capitol

Date:

1837-1853

Scope and Contents:

This folder houses a series of letters referencing the building and renovation of the United States Capitol Building, most of which are from architects who worked on the project. One of the contracts orders iron beams for use in extending the Capitol building in 1857, during the second remodeling.

Arrangement:

Organized chronologically.

Biographical / Historical:

General Montgomery Cunningham Meigs was Quartermaster General of the United States Army during and after the American Civil War. He was responsible for the purchase and distribution of supplies to the Union troops. Meigs was also an engineer and architect, and before and after the war, he supervised numerous projects throughout Washington, D.C. as part of the Army Corps of Engineers. He supervised the construction of wings and the dome of the Capitol building and the expansion of the General Post Office building. Meigs designed the Old Pension Office Building. His most amazing contribution to the city, however, was the Washington Aqueduct. Interestingly, it was Meigs who suggested to Abraham Lincoln that Arlington would be a good place for a cemetery. Meigs is buried there.

Leonard Jarvis was an American politician who served in Congress from 1829 to 1837. He was chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs for some time. This contract is signed by him.

John Vanderlyn was an American neoclassicist painter who painted portraits of politicians in the early 19th century. He was commissioned by Congress in 1842 to paint the landing of Columbus. This painting was later reproduced on a stamp. This painting was commissioned for the renovation of the rotunda in the Capitol Building.

John Chapman was an American congressman who represented Pennsylvania. He worked as a judge before being elected to the House of Representatives.

Local Numbers:

FSA A2009.06 7

Other Archival Materials:

Thomas B. Brumbaugh research material on Abbott Handerson Thayer and other artists, 1876-1994 (bulk 1960s-1994); Also located at Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Collection Rights:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Genre/Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century

Collection Citation:

The Brumbaugh Collection of Artist Letters. FSA.A2009.06. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Identifier:

FSA.A2009.06, Series FSA A2009.06 7

See more items in:

The Brumbaugh Collection of Artist Letters

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc3136a0efb-cf6a-4728-aa98-04f1bc16238a

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-fsa-a2009-06-ref7

Creator:

Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919  Search this

Extent:

131 Linear feet (29 architectural drawings)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Diaries

Financial records

Correspondence

Photographs

Place:

China

Syria

Egypt

India

London (England)

Japan

Boston (Mass.)

Detroit (Mich.)

Washington (D.C.)

Kandy (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka

Anuradhapura (Sri Lanka)

Date:

1876-1931

Summary:

The personal papers of Charles Lang Freer, the industrialist and art collector who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. The papers include correspondence, diaries, art inventories, scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeil Whistler and other press clippings, and photographs.

Scope Content:

The personal papers of Charles Lang Freer, the industrialist and art collector who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. The papers include correspondence, diaries, art inventories, scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeil Whistler and other press clippings, financial material, architectural drawings, and photographs.

Correspondence, circa 1860-1921, includes Freer's correspondence, 1876-1920, with artists, dealers, collectors, museums, and public figures; letterpress books contain copies of Freer's outgoing letters, 1892-1910; correspondence collected by Freer of James McNeill Whistler, and his wife Beatrix, 186?-1909, with Lady Colin Campbell, Thomas R. Way, Alexander Reid, Whistler's mother, Mrs. George W. Whistler, and others; correspondence of Whistler collector Richard A. Canfield, 1904-1913, regarding works in Canfield's collection; and correspondence of Freer's assistant, Katharine Nash Rhoades, 1920-1921, soliciting Freer's letters from his associates, and regarding the settlement of his estate.

Also included are twenty-nine pocket diaries, 1889-1890, 1892-1898, 1900-1919, recording daily activities, people and places visited, observations, and comments; a diary kept by Freer's caretaker, Joseph Stephens Warring, recording daily activities at Freer's Detroit home, 1907-1910. Inventories, n.d. and 1901-1921, of American, European, and Asian art in Freer's collection, often including provenance information; vouchers, 1884-1919, documenting his purchases; five volumes of scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeill Whistler, 1888-1931, labeled "Various," "Peacock Room," "Death, etc.," "Paris, etc.," and "Boston...London" ; three volumes of newsclippings, 1900-1930, concerning Freer and the opening of the Freer Gallery of Art.

Correspondence regarding Freer's gift and bequest to the Smithsonian Institution, 1902-1916; and photographs, ca. 1880-1930, of Freer, including portraits by Alvin Langdon Coburn and Edward Steichen, Freer with others, Freer in Cairo, China and Japan, Freer's death mask, and his memorial service, Kyoto, 1930; photographs of artists and others, including Thomas Dewing, Ernest Fenollosa, Katharine Rhoades taken by Alfred Stieglitz, Rosalind B. Philip, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Abbott H. Thayer, Dwight Tryon, and Whistler; and photographs relating to Whistler, including art works depicting him, grave and memorial monuments, works of art, the Peacock Room, and Whistler's memorial exhibition at the Copley Society.

Organization of the Papers:

This collection is organized into twelve series.

Series 1: Genealogical and Biographical Data

Series 2: Correspondence

Series 3: Diaries

Series 4: Freer Colleague Materials

Series 5: Art Inventories

Series 6: Financial Materials

Series 7: Exhibition Loan Files

Series 8: Biblical Manuscripts and Gold Treasure Files

Series 9: American School of Archaeology in China

Series 10: Printed Material

Series 11: Outsize Material

Series 12: Photographs

Biographical Note:

1854 February 25 -- Born in Kingston, New York

1873 -- Appointed accountant and paymaster of New York, Kingston and Syracuse Railroad by Frank J. Hecker (1846-1927)

1876 -- Moves to Indiana to work, with Hecker, for the Detroit and Eel River and Illinois Railroad

1880 -- Moves to Detroit, participates in organization of the Peninsular Car Works with Hecker

1883 -- Becomes vice president and secretary of Peninsular Car Company when it succeeds Peninsular Car Works

1883 -- Begins collecting European prints

1884 -- Peninsular Car Company constructs plant on Ferry Avenue

1887 -- Meets Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)

1887 -- Acquires proofs of 26 etchings, Venice, Second Series(1886), by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

1887 -- Purchases a small Japanese fan attributed to Ogata Korin(1658-1715)

1887 -- Buys land on Ferry Avenue

1889 -- Meets Frederick Stuart Church (1826-1900) and Dwight William Tryon (1849-1925) in New York

1890 -- Commissions Wilson Eyre (1858-1944) to design house on Ferry Avenue, Detroit, Michigan

1890 -- On first trip to London, meets James McNeill Whistler(1834-1903)

1892 -- Moves to Ferry Avenue house

1892 -- Tryon and Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938) undertake decoration of reception rooms

1893 -- Lends American paintings to World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago

1893 -- Purchases first piece of Chinese art, a small painting of white herons by an anonymous Ming dynasty (1368-1644) artist

1894 -- Begins yearlong trip around the world, which includes visit to the Whistlers in Paris and first trip to Asia, stopping in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), India, China, and Japan

1896 -- Meets Matsuki Bunkyo (1867-1940) in Boston

1899 -- Takes part in consolidation of railroad-car building companies then retires from active business

1900 -- Attends Exposition International Universelle in Paris

1900 -- Buys villa in Capri with Thomas S. Jerome

1901 -- Meets Siegfried Bing (1838-1905) in Paris and Ernest Fenollosa(1853-1908), who visits Freer in Detroit

1902 -- Meets Dikran Kelekian (1868-1951)

1902 -- Spends summer in Britain building Whistler collection

1902 -- Views Whistler's, Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room

1904 -- Purchases Whistler's Peacock Room

1904 -- Offers his art collections and funds to build a museum in which to house them to the Smithsonian Institution

1905 -- Smithsonian committee visits Freer in Detroit

1906 -- United States government formally accepts Freer's gift on January 24

1906 -- Freer signs Deed of Gift to Smithsonian Institution on May 5

1907 -- On second tour of Asia, meets Hara Tomitaro 1868-1939) in Yokohama, Japan

1908 -- Takes third trip to Asia, specifically to West Asia to study Rakka ware

1909 -- Tours Europe to study art museums

1909 -- On fourth trip to Asia, attends memorial ceremony for Fenollosa (d.1908 September) at Miidera, Japan, and meets Duanfang (1861-1911) in China

1910 -- On last trip to Asia, visits Longmen Buddhist caves in China

1911 -- Suffers stroke

1912 -- Lends selection of objects for exhibition at Smithsonian Institution

1913 -- Meets Eugene (1875-1957) and Agnes E. (1887-1970) Meyer

1913 -- Commissions Charles Adams Platt (1861-1933) to design museum building in Washington

1914 -- Meets Katharine Nash Rhoades (1885-1965) in Detroit

1915 -- Settles in New York City

1915 -- Site of future Freer Gallery of Art is determined

1916 -- Platt's plans for Freer Gallery are approved by Smithsonian Regents and Commission of Fine Arts and ground is broken in September

1918 -- After falling ill in Detroit, Freer travels to New York for treatment

1918 -- Work on the museum building is delayed by the war

1919 -- Freer appends codicil to will permitting acquisitions of Asian, Egyptian, and Near Eastern (West Asian) art

1919 -- Dies in New York City on 25 September and is buried in Kingston, New York

1919 -- Construction of Freer Gallery completed

1920 -- John Ellerton Lodge (1876-1942) is appointed director of the Freer Gallery

1923 -- Freer Gallery opens to the public on May 9

1930 -- Memorial ceremony for Freer is held at Koetsuji, Kyoto

Charles Lang Freer was an American industrialist who founded the Freer Gallery of Art. He was a well-known collector of Asian art, and strongly supported the synthesis of Eastern art and Western art. One of his most famous acquisitions was James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room.

Index:

Index to cross-referenced correspondents in the series Charles Lang Freer correspondence

Beal, Junius E. -- See: -- Warring, Joseph Stephens

Black, George M. -- See: -- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Board of Education (Kingston, New York) See: Michael, M. J.

Bonner, Campbell See: University of Michigan

Boughton, George H. See: Yardley, F. C.

British Museum See: Binyon, Laurence; Hobson, R. L.

Brown, Harold H. See: Art Association of Indianapolis

Buchner, Evelyn B. See: Knoedler, M., and Company

Buckholder, C. H. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Butler, S. B. See: Unidentified correspondents

Carnegie Institute See: Balken, Edward Duff; Harshe, Robert B.

Carpenter, Newton H. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Caulkins, Horace James See: Pewabic Pottery

Chao, Shih-chin See: Gunn, Chu Su

Chicago & North Western Railway Co. See: Hughett, Marvin

Clark, Charles Upson See: Clark, Arthur B.

Cleveland Museum of Art See: Whiting, Frederic Allen

Columbia University See: Braun, W. A.; Gottheil, Richard; Hirth, Friederich

Commission of Fine Arts See: Moore, Charles

Corcoran Gallery of Art See: Minnigerode, C. Powell

Crocker, Anna B. See: Portland Art Association

Dannenberg, D. E. See: Karlbeck, Orvar

De Menoncal, Beatrice See: Lien, Hui Ch'ing Collection

De Ricci, Seymour See: Ricci, Seymour de

Defnet, William A., Mrs., See: Franke, Ida M.

DeMotte See: Vigouroux, J.

Detroit Institute of Arts See: Detroit Museum of Art

Detroit Publishing Company See: Livingstone, W. A.

Detroit School of Design See: George Hamilton; Stevens, Henry

DeVinne Press See: Peters, Samuel T.; Witherspoon, A. S.

Dyrenforth, P. C. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Eddy, Arthur J. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Eggers, George Williams See: Art Institute of Chicago

Farr, Daniel H. See: Robinson and Farr

Farrand School (Detroit) See: Yendall, Edith

Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago) See: Laufer, Berthold

Flagg, Frederick J. See: Allen, Horace N.

Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University See: Forbes, Edward; Pope, Arthur Upham; Sachs, Paul J.

French, M. R. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Fu, Lan-ya See: Pang, Lai-ch'en

Fujii, Yoshio See: Yoshio, Fujii

Gerrity, Thomas See: Knoedler, M., and Company

Goupil Gallery See: Marchant, William

Gray, William J. See: Barr, Eva

Great Lakes Engineering Works See: Hoyt, H. W.

Grolier Club See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Heinemann, W. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Holden, Edward S. See: West Point, U. S. Military Academy

Hudson, J. L. See: Weber, William C.

Hutchins, Harry B. See: University of Michigan

Hutchins, Charles L. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Kelekian, H. G. See: Kelekian, Dikran G.

Kent, H. W. See: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lee, Kee Son See: Li, Chi-ch'un

Levy, John See: Schneider, A. K.

Library of Congress See: Rice, Richard A.; Wright, Helen

Louvre (Paris, France) See: Midgeon, Gaston

Matsuki, Z. See: Matsuki, Kihachiro

McKim, Mead and White See: White, Stanford

Mills, A. L., Colonel See: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Miner, Luella See: Lien, Hui Ch'ing Collection

Minneapolis Institute of Arts See: Breck, Joseph; Van Derlip, John R.

Monif, R. Khan See: Rathbun, Richard

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston See: Lodge, John Ellerton

Naser, Katen & Nahass See: Katen, K.

Nordlinger, Marie, Miss See: Meyer-Riefstahl, Marie

Panama Pacific International Exposition See: Moore, Charles C.; Trask, John E. D.

Peabody Museum See: Morse, Edward Sylvester

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts See: Trask, John E. D.

Perry, Mary Chase, Miss., See: Pewabic Pottery

Philip, Ronald M. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Pope, G. D. See: Barr, Eva

Reinhart, A. G. See: Gottschalk, E.

Reitz, Sigisbert Chrétien Bosch See: Bosch-Reitz, Sigisbert Chrétien

Rutgers College See: Van Dyke, John C.

Saint-Gaudens, Augusta H. See: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Saint-Gaudens, Homer See: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus

Samurai Shokai See: Nomura, Yozo

San Francisco Art Association See: Laurvik, J. Nilsen

Scribner's, Charles, Sons See: Van Dyke, John C.

Shaw, Wilfred B. See: University of Michigan

Shirae, S. Z. See: Yamanaka and Company

Smith College See: Clark, Arthur B.

Smithsonian Institution See: Holmes, William Henry; Rathbun, Richard; Ravenel, Walcott, Charles D.

Society of Arts and Crafts (Detroit) See: Plumb, Helen

Societe des Beaux-Arts See: Reid, Alexander

Stevens, George W. See: Toledo Museum of Art

Stratton, Mary Chase Perry See: Pewabic Pottery

Tanaka, Kichijiro See: Yamanaka and Company

Tuttle, William F. See: Art Institute of Chicago

Union Trust Company (Detroit) See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

United States Military Academy See: West Point, U. S. Military Academy

University of Chicago See: Zug, George Breed

University of Pennsylvania, Univ. Mus. See: Gordon, George Bryon

Ushikubo, D. J. R. See: Yamanaka and Company

Wallis & Son See: Barr, Eva; Thompson, C. Croal Ward, Clarence See: Oberlin College

Warren, Edward K. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Warring, Stephen See: Warring, Joseph Stephens

Watkin, Williams R. T. See: Philip, Rosalind Birnie

Watson, Margaret, Miss See: Parker, Margaret Watson

Whistler, Anna See: Stanton, Anna Whistler

Whiting, Almon C. See: Toledo Museum of Art

Williams College See: Rice, Richard A

Wright, F. G. See: Orbach and Company

Yatsuhashi, H. See: Yamanaka and Company

Index to cross-referenced correspondence in the series Whistler correspondence

Bell, William See: Unidentified correspondents

Brown, Ernest See: Painter Etchers' Society, Committee

Cowen, John T. See subseries: Charles Lang Freer Correspondence

Ford, Sheridan See: Reid, Alexander

Haden, Francis Seymour See: Painter Etchers' Society, Committee

Haden, Francis Seymour, Lady See: Haden, Deborah Whistler

Leighton, Frederick, Baron See: Campbell, Lady Colin

Moore, Albert See: Reid, Alexander

Morley, Charles See: Pall Mall Gazette

Morris, Harrison S. See: Reid, Alexander

Pennell, Joseph See: Miscellaneous typescripts

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts See: Reid, Alexander

Prange, F. G. See: Reid, Alexander

Societe des Beaux-Arts See: Reid, Alexander

Society of Portrait Painters See: Reid, Alexander

Stevens Fine Art See: Reid, Alexander

Studd, Arthur See: Miscellaneous typescripts

[Vanderbilt?], George, Mrs. See: George, Mrs.

Whistler, William McNeill, Mrs. See: Whistler, Nellie

Whistler Memorial Committee See: Miscellaneous typescripts

Related Material:

The Archives of American Art microfilmed portions of the Freer papers in 1992. The microfilm is available at the Archives of American Art's Washington D.C. office, the Freer Gallery of Art Library, and through interlibrary loan.

Provenance:

Gift of the Estate of Charles Lang Freer.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Topic:

Art, American -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Architecture -- Asia  Search this

Genre/Form:

Diaries

Financial records

Correspondence

Photographs

Citation:

Charles Lang Freer Papers. FSA A.01. National Museum of Asian Art Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.

Identifier:

FSA.A.01

See more items in:

Charles Lang Freer Papers

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dc3f1a0e3e0-630c-48d4-ba28-485946b1d615

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-fsa-a-01

Collection Creator:

Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this

Underwood and Underwood  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Item 48

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1758-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection / Series 1: Engineering / 1.2: Bridges, Cantilever / 1.2.2: Bridges, Cantilever

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep86a44d434-de29-45d0-96b1-a7c82253ca60

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1013-ref999

Collection Creator:

Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this

Underwood and Underwood  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Item 39

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1758-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection / Series 1: Engineering / 1.1: Architecture and Structures / 1.1.13: Tall Steel Frame Buildings

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep870d7b610-298f-4345-89b7-b1b18b9d16c3

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1013-ref987

Collection Creator:

Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this

Underwood and Underwood  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Item 30

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1758-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection / Series 1: Engineering / 1.1: Architecture and Structures / 1.1.13: Tall Steel Frame Buildings

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8dc09523d-8206-43e7-aae3-6dca816748f4

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1013-ref978

Collection Creator:

Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this

Underwood and Underwood  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Item 34

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1758-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection / Series 1: Engineering / 1.1: Architecture and Structures / 1.1.13: Tall Steel Frame Buildings

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep82592a66d-e361-4cdc-b7a6-4d0f27660057

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1013-ref982

Collection Creator:

Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this

Underwood and Underwood  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Item 36

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1758-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection / Series 1: Engineering / 1.1: Architecture and Structures / 1.1.13: Tall Steel Frame Buildings

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8bad8c764-a743-470a-b564-03353e8c3a1d

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1013-ref984

Collection Creator:

Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this

Underwood and Underwood  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Item 8

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

1900-02

Collection Restrictions:

Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1758-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection / Series 1: Engineering / 1.1: Architecture and Structures / 1.1.13: Tall Steel Frame Buildings

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8ec273542-6d42-4b00-ab54-941e55d4641b

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1013-ref956

Collection Creator:

Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this

Underwood and Underwood  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Item 9

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

1903

Collection Restrictions:

Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1758-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection / Series 1: Engineering / 1.1: Architecture and Structures / 1.1.13: Tall Steel Frame Buildings

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep877d4ec73-57a4-4974-8242-07fcd0d39058

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1013-ref957

Collection Creator:

Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence.  Search this

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Civil Engineering Department  Search this

Underwood and Underwood  Search this

Container:

Box 5, Item 11

Type:

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

undated

Collection Restrictions:

Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Collection 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.

Collection Citation:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection, 1758-1945, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

See more items in:

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection

Division of Work and Industry Lantern Slide Collection / Series 1: Engineering / 1.1: Architecture and Structures / 1.1.13: Tall Steel Frame Buildings

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8874376a5-02a9-4c4f-a3d6-9af78e1051b6

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1013-ref959