Harriet Blackstone papers, 1870-1984

Most of the documents found here include personal information on Blackstone such as biographical writings for Who's Who and information about Blackstone's artwork, estate documents, and her passport. Biographical notes are written by Blackstone.

This series contains Blackstone's personal and professional correspondence. Letters from family and friends tend to be about praising Harriet Blackstone's work, encouraging visits, or experiences of daily life. Notable correspondence is with Maria Oakey Dewing, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Alice Tisdale Hobart, Joseph Cummings Chase, Stell Anderson, Mary Landis, Esther Morgan McCullough, Booker T. Washington, among others. Professional correspondence is primarily about her artwork: coordinating with curators and museums to buy or show her work, Blackstone receiving confirmation about her artwork in competitions, and legal information.

Folders are arranged alphabetically by surname of the correspondents. Four or more letters signed by the same correspondent are housed in their own folder; three or less letters signed by the same person are housed in the alphabetical folder according to their surname.

Writings include Harriet Blackstone's personal notes, hand written and typed, and two lectures on "Modern Art through the Ages" and "Modern Spanish Painters." This series also contains writings about Blackstone written by other authors. Esther Morgan McCullough wrote a biography about Blackstone and the first four drafts and complete typescript are included. McCullough's biography notes and chronology notes concerning Blackstone are also available in this series. A few years after Blackstone's death, Richard P. Wunder created a detailed catalog of Blackstone's work, a draft of which is also found here. Additionally, there are handwritten publicity extracts and "The Painter's Bruges" by traveling companion, Florence Holbrook, which describes a class taught by William Merrit Chase in Bruges, Belgium in 1912. The memoir is ilustrated with photographs taken by Blackstone of Chase, John Singer Sargent, and others.

Folders are arranged to represent the personal writings of Harriet Blackstone first and then writings about her. Unless otherwise noted, the writings are written by Harriet Blackstone.

Personal business records include financial information about Harriet Blackstone's artwork and professional activities. Also included are European copyright documents, gallery invitations, lists of Blackstone's paintings in permanent collections, and Blackstone's own inventory of her artwork.

Found here are various publication documenting Blackstone's career including exhibition announcements, catalogs, and visiting cards as well as two published books Blackstone compiled. Additionally there are journals, magazines, newspaper clippings, and a museum catalog (most are written in English and a couple in French) that depict the artwork of Blackstone.

Found here is a large scrapbook that contains clippings, cards, announcements, notes, and photos of Harriet Blackstone. One folder contains a page of the scrapbook that was separated from the main document.

Photographs of Blackstone, her family, and friends can be found here as well as photos of other artists whom had an influence on her including William Merrit Chase, Jean Paul Laurens, and John Singer Sargent. There are travel photos of Blackstone's experiences in Belgium, New Mexico, New York, and Illinois as well as photos of the studios Blackstone worked in, a subject she worked with, and photos and negatives of her own artwork: paintings, sketches, and drawings. A photo album with separate descriptions can be found here.

Glass plate negatives are housed in separate containers and are closed to researchers.

Glass plate negatives have been digitized.

This series contains original artwork by Harriet Blackstone including framed paper dolls she made when she was five years old, loose sketches, and four of her own sketchbooks that contain pencil sketches of people. There is also a silhouette of Blackstone created by another artist and a framed pastel self-portrait.

Found here are objects Harriet Blackstone used in her studio to create her artwork. Included are two palettes, a brush with fine hair, glasses, a calligraphy ink holding case, and various small art tools. Each item is placed in an envelope and foldered with similar objects. The original envelopes that contained the objects are included and remain close to the artifacts they originally held.