Charles Walter Stetson papers, 1879-1974

Collection Information

Size: 1.8 Linear feet, (on 4 microfilm reels)

Summary: Letters; sketchbooks; photographs and cyanotypes; scrapbook; writings, novelettes, and poetry by Stetson; biographical information; and printed material.

REELS 3211-3213: 9 letters, 1912, written by Stetson's widow to Edward B. Knight containing transcribed entries from Stetson's journal; a notebook, 1881-1908, "Opera," containing Stetson's notes on his paintings; novelettes and poetry by Stetson and his first wife, Charlotte Perkins Gilman; an autobiography by his daughter, Katharine Stetson Chamberlin; an unpublished manuscript by David Goodale on Stetson; 15 sketchbooks; a scrapbook containing etchings; three sketches by Frank Tolles Chamberlin and a brief biography of him; photographs of Stetson, his daughter, Katharine, and his paintings.

Also included are 734 photographs, including some cyanotypes, of Stetson, his family and friends, works of art, models, animals, buildings, children, landscapes, ships, and many other subjects; and clippings.

REEL 3646: 5 photographs, ca. 1880-1899, of Stetson, his second wife, Grace, his daughter, and interior and exterior views of his studio. [Also filmed on reels 3590 and 3612.]

Biographical/Historical Note

Painter; California and Rome, Italy. Born in Rhode Island. His daughter, Katharine Beecher Stetson, a painter and sculptor also, married Frank Tolles Chamberlin.

Provenance

Material on reels 3211 and portions of 3212 originally lent for microfilming 1983 by David Goodale, an art historian who studied Stetson. These papers were subsequently donated 1986 by Goodale's daughter, Shelley Luckenbach upon her father's death. Remaining material on reel 3212 and all material on reel 3213 donated 1983 by Doroth Stetson Chamberlin and Walter Chamberlin, grandchildren of Stetson. Photographs on reel 3646 transfered to AAA by National Museum of American Art via director, Charles Eldredge, 1985.

Language Note

English .