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  • About the Roi Partridge papers

    A Finding Aid to the Roi Partridge Papers, 1915-1995, in the Archives of American Art, by Rosa M. Fernandez (Download PDF Version, 71 KB [Download PDF Version])


    Biographical Information | Description of the Collection | How to Use the Collection | Series Descriptions


    Biographical Information [+]

    Etcher and illustrator Roi Partridge was born October 14, 1888 in Centralia, in what was then known as Territory of Washington. In 1892 the family moved to Seattle and, at the age of 10, Partridge was removed from public school by his mother and enrolled in a drawing and painting course. By 1907, the family had moved to Kansas where Partridge enrolled in studio courses at the newly established Fine Arts Institute of Kansas City. READ MORE

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    Description of the Collection

    Overview - Scope and Contents [+]

    The Roi Partridge papers measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1915 through 1995, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1960 to 1977. The papers provide researchers with information regarding the private and professional life of California etcher and illustrator Roi Partridge (1888-1984) and to a lesser extent his first wife, photographer Imogen Cunningham (1883-1976). Found are letters, Christmas cards designed by Partridge, a travel log, an essay by Partridge, photographs, and printed materials. READ MORE

    Arrangement and Series Description

    The Roi Partridge papers are arranged into two parts, each representing separate and unmerged accessions.

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    Subjects

    This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Archives of American Art under the following terms.

    Provenance

    The papers were acquired as gifts in two accessions in 1992 and 1995 from Gryffyd Partridge, Roi Partridge's son. The 1992 accession was microfilmed upon receipt.

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    How the Collection was Processed

    The first accession was by processed by Kym Wheeler in 1995 and microfilmed that same year. The 1995 accession was processed by Rosa Fernández in October 2002.

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    How to Use the Collection

    Restrictions on Use

    The Roi Partridge papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

    The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy for portions on microfilm.

    Available Formats

    A portion of the collection is also available on microfilm reel 5028. The microfilm is available for interlibrary loan.

    How to Cite this Collection

    Roi Partridge papers, 1915-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

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    Series Descriptions

    Part 1: 1992 Accession, 1924-1990, undated (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet; Reel 5028, frames 229-423)

    Part 1 contains two folders of scattered family postcards and letters between Roi Partridge and May Ellen Partridge to Gryffyd and Janet Partridge; some include attachments such as exhibition announcements, newspaper clippings, and other documents. Also found are ten Christmas cards and one letter from Partridge to a former student at Mills College; Partridge's and Cunningham's travel log for family trips to the West that detail impressions of their trip, towns and cities visited, and other travel related events, as well as one sketching trip Partridge made with Eugen Neuhaus in 1926 ; a short typewritten essay written by Partridge about a sketching trip he and his second wife, May Ellen took to Maui in 1966; three photographs of Roi and second wife May Ellen and a drawing; and printed materials that include A Seattle Heritage: The Fine Arts Society, 1942 by Anne C. Calhoun, one of the founding members of the organization and a close friend of Roi Partridge. Other printed material includes images of etchings by Partridge, a newsletter from The Print Makers Society of California, and several announcements for Roi Partridge exhibitions, including one with Ansel Adams at the Mills College Art Gallery in 1977.

    Box Reel
    1 (pam) 5028 Family Letters, 1934, 1955-1984, undated (2 folders)
    1 (pam) 5028 Christmas Cards and Letter, 1981, 1985, undated
    1 (pam) 5028 Roi Partridge and Imogen Cunningham Travel Log, 1924-1926
    1 (pam) 5028 Essay (Poem), "To Our Friends Who Art Not In Heaven", undated
    1 (pam) 5028 Photographs, 1940, undated
    1 (pam) 5028 A Seattle Heritage: The Fine Arts Society, 1942
    1 (pam) 5028 Other Printed Material, 1959-1960, 1977, 1990, undated

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    Part 2: 1995 Accession, 1915-1995, undated (Box 2-3; 0.6 linear feet; unmicrofilmed)

    Part 2 includes general correspondence with the National Academy of Design and others concerning the modernist movement in California and other art related matters. Correspondents include Ansel Adams, writer Sherwood Anderson, writer and printer Porter Garnett, Mrs. Charles Webster Hawthorne, Hamilton Wolf and others. Also found is family correspondence between Roi Partridge and his children, Gryffyd, Padraic, and Rondall Partridge. Imogen Cunningham correspondence includes letters from her parents, Isaac and Susan, and letters Cunningham wrote to her son and daughter-in-law, Gryffyd and Janet Partridge. A 1970 letter from the De Young Museum concerns Cunningham's exhibition that same year. The collection also includes printed materials, such as announcements for Roi Partridge exhibitions, newsletters, a pamphlet for the show Group f. 64 at the Oakland Museum in 1993, and other material; photographs and negatives of Partridge drawings; and one folder of miscellaneous lists and notes.

    Box Reel
    2 (hol) unfilmed General Correspondence, 1915-1995, undated (2 folders)
    2 (hol) unfilmed Family Correspondence, 1947-1983, undated (2 folders)
    2 (hol) unfilmed Correspondence, National Academy of Design, 1947-1965, 1977
    2 (hol) unfilmed Imogen Cunningham Correspondence, 1931-1932, 1961-1976, 1995, undated
    2 (hol) unfilmed Exhibition Announcements and Newsletters, 1976-1993, undated
    2 (hol) unfilmed Photographs of Drawings of California and Other Subjects (with Appraisal Information), 1987, undated

    Box Reel
    3 (pam) unfilmed Photographs of Drawings of California and Other Subjects (with Appraisal Information), undated
    3 (pam) unfilmed Photographs of Drawings of Hawaiian Landscapes, undated
    3 (pam) unfilmed Photographs of Drawings of Japanese Landscapes and Photographs, undated
    3 (pam) unfilmed Photo Negatives (California, Hawaii, and Japan Photographs), undated
    3 (pam) unfilmed Lists and Notes, undated

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