Moore, Benson Bond, b. 1882 d. 1974

Benson Bond Moore papers, 1895-1995 (bulk 1902-1974)

5.7 linear ft.

Biographical documents, letters, art work, scrapbooks, writings, photographs, financial records, printed material, and other papers document the career of printmaker and draftsman Benson Bond Moore.

Biographical documents include Moore's baptismal record, marriage certificate, driver's license, membership cards and awards, and death certificate. Letters, 1912-1993, are from friends and colleagues including Paul Bransom, Lou Henry Hoover, Rowland Lyon, and Francis Bowes Sayre.

Art work by Moore, 1904-1970, includes 1,040 drawings, 526 etchings, 187 lithographs, 43 watercolors, 8 paintings, and 5 relief sculptures. Subject matter is primarily wildlife, cloud studies, seascapes, and landscapes including many views of Washington, D.C. and vicinity, Florida, and other Eastern seaboard states. Included in this series is art work by others, 1910-1991, including works on paper by Arthur Beaumont, Edwin G. Cassedy, and Eliot O'Hara.

Writings, 1902-1917, consist of 9 poems by Moore and typescript of the 1917 "Log Book of the Ramblers," describing activities of the "Ramblers," a Washington, D.C. area group of artists who gathered at picturesque Washington, D.C. spots to paint and sketch.

Scattered financial and business records, 1924-1993, include patent papers for Moore's artist's kit design, 1932, eight account books, receipts, and price lists and lists of works sold.

Twelve scrapbooks, 1919-1973, contain prints by Moore, letters, printed material, and photographs of Moore and of his work.

Photographs, 1924-1979, are of Moore, family members, friends and others, his residence, art work, and travel views from the south and southeastern United States. There are also 2 photographs autographed by Herbert Hoover, 1931, and one autographed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933.

Printed material, 1895-1995, includes clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, a book, Animals of American History illustrated by Paul Bransom, booklets, art supply catalogs, reproductions of art work, and miscellaneous printed material including 2 antique maps of Asia and the Society Islands.

Other papers found include an address book, a list of collectors, a notebook, 1993-1994, by curator Fran Trombley, and a funeral guest registry.

Donated 1996 by Barbara Nikla and John J. Lyons, Personal Representatives of the Estate of Mary Jane Moore, Benson Bond Moore's sister-in-law. Additional material was donated 1997 from the estate, by other relatives, Martha Sigmon and her sister Georgia King. Printmaking tools, lithographic plates, and a 24 x 30 inch display board exhibiting specimen prints and plates and a pocket barometer were transferred to the National Museum of American History, Department of Information Technology and Society.

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