Manuscripts
Materials separated from Indian scrapbook vol. II (listed on page 40 of inventory for Grace Nicholson Papers and Addenda)
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Grace Nicholson Papers and Addenda
Manuscripts
The collection consists of two distinct sections: the Grace Nicholson papers (2,926 pieces) and addenda (1,444 pieces). The papers are primarily correspondence, while the addenda is primarily notes. Both relate to Grace Nicholson (d. 1948) and her work in the fields of Native American and Asian art. There are many letters in the collection of Native Americans corresponding with Nicholson about what it is they are working on as well as thanking her for the copies of pictures she took of them. Complementing these letters are the extensive diaries and notes that Nicholson kept on her buying trips through Native American territory, especially of the Karok, Klamath, and Pomo Indians, covering the subjects of Native American legends, folklore, vocabulary, tribal festivals, basket making, business in art trade, and living conditions. There is also a considerable amount of correspondence from China, Japan, and Korea between Nicholson and her buyers, as well as from Nicholson herself on the trip she took there in 1929. Asian art figures well in the collection and covers a broad range of subjects such as Chinese art and architecture, Japanese art, Korean art, Javanese textiles, Siamese art, Philippine art, life and social conditions in Asia, and the business of trading Asian art. Being a well-known dealer in Native American and Asian art, Nicholson was in contact with many artists, such as Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847-1928), W. Herbert Dunton (1878-1936), Sadakichi Hartmann (1867-1944), Elizabeth Conrad Hickox (1872-1947), Louise Merrill Hickox (1896-1962), Grace Carpenter Hudson (1865-1937), George Wharton James (1858-1923), Lilian Miller, Hovsep T. Pushman (1877-1966), Joseph Henry Sharp (1859-1953), and Millard Sheets (b. 1907). Nicholson was also in contact with and purchased materials for many fine art and historical institutions such as the Field Museum of Natural History, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science, and Art, the Pasadena Art Museum, and the Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.). Her intimate relationships with Native Americans give particular insight into their lives and culture. Thus she was a key source of information about them and historians and academics sought her out, including A. L. (Alfred Lewis) Kroeber (1876-1960), Charles Fletcher Lummis (1859-1928), and C. Hart (Clinton Hart) Merriam (1855-1942). Nicholson also received correspondence from political figures such as Frederick Webb Hodge (1864-1956), Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), Hiram Johnson (1866-1945), and Franklin D. (Franklin Delano) Roosevelt (1882-1945). Two people who figure prominently in the collection are Estelle Bynum and Thyra H. Maxwell. These two women were assistants of Grace Nicholson and after her death were also the executors of her estate.
mssNicholson papers and addenda
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Indian baskets: Grace Nicholson collections
Manuscripts
mssNicholson papers and addenda