Archives of American Art

A Finding Aid to the Grace Albee Papers, 1890-1971, in the Archives of American Art

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.albegrac
Creators:
Albee, Grace
Dates:
1890-1971
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
4.5 Linear feet
Repository:
The papers of printmaker Grace Albee measure 4.5 linear feet and date from 1890 to 1971. Found are biographical material, correspondence, twenty diaries, printed material, photographs, and artwork, including one sketchbook.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The papers of printmaker Grace Albee measure 4.5 linear feet and date from 1890 to 1971. Found are biographical material, correspondence, twenty diaries, printed material, photographs, and artwork, including one sketchbook.
Biographical materials include biographical sketches and family history records. Correspondence is with family, friends and institutions and includes letters from Percy Albee, John Taylor Arms, Ralph Fabri, and A. Hyatt Mayor. Twenty diaries and a fragment date from 1927-1970 and may include information on specific prints and daily activities. Artwork consists of prints by Albee, pencil sketches, and unsigned works.

Arrangement

Arrangement
This collection is arranged as 6 series.
  • Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1910s-1970 (0.5 linear feet; Box 1, OV6)
  • Series 2: Correspondence, 1890-1971 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
  • Series 3: Diaries, 1927-1970 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 2-3
  • Series 4: Printed Material, 1909-1917 (1.6 linear feet; Boxes 3-4)
  • Series 5: Photographic Material, 1910-1971 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 4-5, OV6)
  • Series 6: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1910-1960s (0.2 linear feet; Box 5)

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Grace Albee (1890-1985) was a printmaker and wood engraver active in Rhode Island and New York City, New York. Albee's prints were largely inspired by her surroundings while living in New York City, Paris, and rural Rhode Island.
Grace Thurston Arnold was born in 1890 in North Scituate, Rhode Island. During high school, she began weekend classes at the Rhode Island School of Design and enrolled as a student in 1910 where she studied painting, drawing, and printmaking. During her career, Grace concentrated on printmaking with woodcuts and lithographs.
In 1913, Grace married muralist Percy Albee and they raised five sons. The Albees moved to Paris, France in the 1930s where she held her first one-woman show. Later, they lived in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, locations which would inspire her throughout her artistic career. She produced prints into her nineties and died in 1985 in Rhode Island.

Administration

Author
Jayna M. Josefson
Sponsor
To process this collection, this project received Federal support from the Collections Care Initiative Fund, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the National Collections Program
Existence and Location of Copies
Portions of the collection are available on 35mm microfilm reels 2845-2847, 2977-2978 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Grace Albee donated her papers to the Archives of American Art in 1971.
Processing Information
The collection received a preliminary level of arrangement after donation and was microfilmed onto reels 2845-2847 and 2977-2978. In 2020, the collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson with funding provided by the Collections Care Initiative Fund, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative and the National Collections Program.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Terms of Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Preferred Citation
Grace Albee papers, 1890-1971. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

More Information

Other Finding Aids

Other Finding Aids
Microfilm reels 2845-2847: Inventory of correspondence available at Archives of American Art offices.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Printmakers -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wood-engravers -- New York (State) -- New York Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women artists Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Women printmakers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketchbooks Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Diaries Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Albee, Percy, 1883-1959 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arms, John Taylor, 1887-1953 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Fabri, Ralph, 1894-1975 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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