Audrey McMahon papers, 1935-1980

Collection Information

Size: 0.4 Linear feet

Summary: The scattered papers of Audrey McMahon measure 0.4 linear feet and date from 1935 through 1980. Found are correspondence, writings, notes and research files, and printed material assembled mainly during the late 1960s while assisting Francis V. O'Connor complete Federal Support for the Visual Arts: The New Deal and Now (1969) and The New Deal Art Projects: An Anthology of Memoirs (1970) and, to a lesser degree, miscellaneous files relating to McMahon's activities as Regional Director of the WPA Federal Art Project for New York and New Jersey . Included are photocopies of original correspondence (1935-41) between McMahon and Holger Cahill and Brehon Somervell, held by the National Archives.

Biographical/Historical Note

Audrey McMahon served under Holger Cahill as Regional Director for the WPA Federal Art Project for New York and New Jersey from 1935 to 1939. She died at age 87 in 1981.

Provenance

The Audrey McMahon papers were donated to the Archives in 1997 by Geraldine Rhoads, executor of McMahon's estate. The collection includes photocopies of papers most likely held by the National Archives.

Related Materials

The bulk of Audrey McMahon's papers reside in the National Archives, together with the records of the WPA Federal Artist Project files. The Archives of American Art holds a 1964 interview with McMahon done by Harlan Phillips as part of the Archives New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project.