Margret Craver Withers papers, 1926-1992
Withers, Margret Craver,
b. 1907
d. 2010
Arts administrator, Metalworker
New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.; West Newbury, Mass.
Collection size:
8.3 linear ft. (partially microfilmed on 1 reel)
Addition: 1.8 linear ft.
Collection Summary: Biographical material, correspondence, business records, sketches and sketchbooks, writings, subject files, scrapbooks, printed material, photographs, motion picture film, videos, and interviews on phonograph records.
REEL 136: Twenty letters of appreciation, 1944-1946, primarily from military personnel, thanking Handy & Harman and commending Withers for her occupational therapy instruction in jewelry-making and metalwork.
UNMICROFILMED: Biographical accounts; certificates of merit, 1940 and 1949; correspondence with Handy & Harman, customers, and colleagues including Baron Erik Fleming and Emily Nathan, 1935-1975; patent records for a silver skewer, 1953-1954; invoices and receipts, 1941-1974; 18 drawings, 1953; a sketchbook; essays about gems, 1939, "Introduction to Karat Golds for Hand Craftsmen", 1953, and "Silversmithing" by Withers; a manuscript on silver collecting by Kathryn Buhler and Withers, 1959-1960; 2 reports to Handy & Harman on publicity for their Craft Service Department, 1950-1951; a poem by Kenneth W. Porter; 8 phonograph records of Withers interviews with Nancy Craig, Irene Corbally Kuhn, and others, 1945-1948;
files on silversmiths: Rudolf Brom, Baron Erik Fleming, George Gebelein, Sven-Arne Gillgren, Reginald Hill, Arthur Neville Kirk, John Paul Miller, Bruce Moore, Gustav H. Niemeyer, John Marshall Phillips, Julius Randahl, Hudson Roysher, J. L. Sharrock, and Arthur J. Stone, 1926-1959; files on various topics: American Association of Museums, American Craftsmen's Council, American Federation of Arts, American Indian silver, Etruscan silver and gold, the first religious society of Newburyport, the Girl Scouts, Wichita Art Association, women silversmiths, Towle Silversmiths, 3 commission files for gold bowls and presentation boxes, and 3 exhibition files, 1951-1969; two scrapbooks on British silversmith Reginald Hill, 1935-1960; 4 scrapbooks of clippings, interview transcripts, and photographs concerning the annual National Silversmithing Workshop and Withers' work for Handy & Harman, 1948-1951; clippings, 1926-1966; exhibition catalogs, 1948-1973; and brochures.
Also included are photographs of Withers, 1940-1970 (2 taken by Laura Gilpin), her studio, Ed Davison's studio, her colleagues Baron Erik Fleming and Sunshine Chen, 1946, art-related events, 1940-1964, occupational therapy classes, 1945, works of art, and exhibition installations, 1947-1950; slides of Withers' portrait by Karl Mattern; and 3 slides of works by the students of Glen Lukens.
Three reels of 16mm motion picture film transferred to VHS: "Living Silver", "Contemporary Silversmithing," and "Handwrought Silver," feature Withers and were produced by Handy & Harman.
ADDITION: Biographical information; correspondence; notebook, 1929-1937; notes for talks; writings; transcribed interview done for the American Craftspeople Oral History Project, 1987; photographs of Withers, colleagues, work by Withers, Reginald Hill and others, and tools; photographs of the exhibition "Form in Handwrought Silver," 1949; sketchbooks and sketches, some by silversmith William E. Bennett; files on Bernard Childs, Richard Lippold, and Withers' Mt. Vernon St. apartment in Boston; file on goldsmithing containing printed material and correspondence with Mark Agerholm and others; financial records; printed material; and 2 reels 16mm motion picture film, one concerning Baron Erik Fleming's shop and the other unidentified; lists of books from Withers' library given to the American Decorative Arts and Sculpture Dept. of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; a copy of "Jewelry: The American Society of Jewelry History", v.1, 1996-1997 containing an article on Withers; and a video.
Biographical/Historical Note: Margaret Craver Withers (1907-2010) was a silversmith in Boston, Mass. After graduating from the University of Kansas in 1929, Withers received technical training from Arthur Nevill Kirk and in 1938 from Baron Erik Fleming, silversmith to the King of Sweden. She worked for the firm of Handy & Harman in New York City, as head of its Craft Service Department, which produced and distributed films, booklets, and technical expertise on handwrought silver to craftsmen and teachers, and sponsored the Silversmithing Workshop Conferences to promote experimentation in design. From 1944-1946, Withers headed Handy & Harman's Hospital Service Department, which used silversmithing military hospital physical therapy programs. In 1950, she married Charles C. Withers, president of Towle Silversmiths. Professionally, she was known as Margret Craver.
Donated by Margret Craver Withers, 1971-1998, except for 3 reels of motion picture film which were donated 1975 by Handy and Harman. One of the films, "Handwrought Silver," was transferred to videotape, 1992. "Contemporary Silversmithing: The Stretching Method" and "Living Silver" were transferred to video, 2003.
Funding for the preservation and transfer of motion picture film provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
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- Microfilm reel 136 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
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