Archives of American Art

Oral history interview with Francis Sumner Merritt

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.merrit79
Creators:
Merritt, Francis Sumner, 1913-2000
Brown, Robert F.
Dates:
1979 May 25-June 25
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
61 Pages
Transcript
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
An interview of Francis Sumner Merritt conducted 1979 May 25-June 25, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
Scope and Contents
Merritt speaks of his education at art schools in Boston and at Yale; his career as a painter during the Depression; teaching at the Cranbrook Academy of Art; his tenure at the Flint (Michigan) Institute of Arts, 1947-1951; and the development of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts at Liberty and then at Deer Isle, Me.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Francis Sumner Merritt (1913-2000) was a painter, designer, art administrator, and the founder of Haystack Mountan School of Craftsof Deer Isle, Me. He studied at the Vesper George School of Art, the San Diego Academy of Fine Arts, the Massachusetts School of Art, and the Yale Univ. School of Fine Arts. Merritt taught at Bradford Junior College and was head of art department. He died Dec. 27, 2000, at age 87.

Administration

Sponsor
Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Digital Content


More Information

General

General
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Duration is 3 hrs., 14 min.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Painters -- Maine -- Interviews Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Designers -- Maine -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Educators -- Maine -- Interviews Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Depressions -- 1929 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sound recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Interviews Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Arts administrators -- Maine -- Deer Isle Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cranbrook Academy of Art Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Flint Institute of Arts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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