Society of Arts and Crafts records, 1897-1960

Society of Arts and Crafts (Boston, Mass.),

Collection size: Loan: 27 microfilm reels.
Gift: 0.8 linear ft.

Collection Summary: General correspondence, exhibition papers, lectures and manuscripts, administrative records, scrapbooks, library material and issues of the Society's journal, HANDICRAFT.

REELS 300-322: Charter and statements of criteria; files of general correspondence; lectures and manuscripts, many written by Frederic Allen Whiting; administrative records, including, minutes, reports and correspondence of the American Craftsman's Council, financial correspondence and statements, annual reports, staff reports, and job inquiries; files on exhibitions, 1897-1960; eight scrapbooks of clippings, advertising, and exhibition notices; and library lists of books in the Society's library.

REELS 3468-3469: Annual reports, undated, 1938-1939; trust fund files, 1909-1951; exhibition files from the 1897, 1907, 1927 and 1947 exhibitions including biographical data on craftsmen, clippings and photographs of exhibitions; files on craftsmen containing correspondence, writings, printed materials, and photographs on Elizabeth Copeland, William Grueby, I. Kirchmayer, F. Krasser, F. Koralewsky, Laurin Hovey Martin, H.C. Mercer (Moravian Pottery and Tile Works), John Endicott Peabody, Margaret Redmond, Hugh C. Robertson (Dedham Pottery), J.L. Smith, Arthur J. Stone, and James T. Wooley;

a record book, 1913-1978 (177 pp.) titled "List of articles commended by the Jury of the S.A.C."; sales records, 1938; scrapbooks of clippings, of photographs of crafts and two compiled by Humphery Emery "Comments on Juried Craftsmen," 1936-1939; and photographs of exterior and interior views of the Society's offices and of craftsmen at work.

REEL 429: Official correspondence, 1903-1912, of F. Allen Whiting, editor of HANDICRAFT, including several drafts for articles.

REEL 142: Frederic Allen Whiting material, including biographical data, correspondence with A. Cooper Ballentine, Cleveland Museum of Art, Lockwood de Forest, Caro Heyl, League of Arts and Crafts in Concord, N.H.; financial and business records of the Ogunquit Handicraft Shop, directed by Whiting; writings; and printed material

UNMICROFILMED: an incomplete series of 22 v. of the Society's journal HANDICRAFT, 1902-1912.

Biographical/Historical Note: Incorporated 1897, Boston, Masssachusetts. First American arts and crafts organization. Frederic Allen Whiting was director and treasurer until 1912. Humphery J. Emery served as director of the Society in the 1930's.

All material except Handicraft (magazine) lent for microfilming 1971-1985 by the Society of Arts and Crafts. The Society's records, including an incomplete set of HANDICRAFT, have since been deposited in the Fine Arts Department, Boston Public Library.

How to Use this Collection

• Microfilm reels 142, 300-322, 429 and 3468-3469 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
• Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information. issues of HANDICRAFT magazine: unmicrofilmed; use requires an appointment and is limited to Washington, D.C. storage facility.
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