Painter, architect, and furniture designer, William Penhallow Henderson was born in 1877 in Medford, Massachusetts. His father, William Oliver Henderson was a friend of painter William Edward Norton and an amateur painter himself. During Henderson's childhood, the family moved several times, settling in Turkey Creek, Texas, in 1879, and Clifton, Kansas, in 1886.
Returning to Boston in 1891, Henderson studied at the Massachusetts Normal Art School and, and in 1899, entered the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, studying under Edmund C. Tarbell. In the following year, he won the Paige Traveling Scholarship for two years of study in Europe. His travels, from 1902-1903, included London, where he became acquainted with the family of John Singer Sargent. He also traveled to Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Madrid, and the Azores.
From 1904 to 1910, Henderson taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago. In 1904 he painted in Mexico and Arizona with colleague Carl N. Werntz. He married the poet-editor of
Between 1906 and 1907 Henderson completed ten murals for the Joliet Township High School. Mrs. Henderson's book
Due to his wife's failing health, the family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1916, and in 1918, Henderson was employed by the U. S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation in San Francisco to paint camouflage onto the hulls of ships during World War I.
In 1925, Henderson, with his first son-in-law John Evans, formed the Pueblo-Spanish Building Company, through which he designed and built many private homes and some public buildings, including the Railroad Ticket Office in Santa Fe. Henderson was also successful at designing carved wooden furniture. In the mid-1930s, he was appointed to the Federal Arts Project, for which he completed easel paintings and six murals for the Santa Fe Federal Court Building.
In 1937, Henderson completed the impressive Navajo House of Religion, built in the style of an American Indian
William Penhallow Henderson died in 1943 in Tesuque, New Mexico.
The papers of Chicago and Santa Fe painter, architect, and furniture designer William Penhallow Henderson measure 10.5 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1987 (bulk dates 1876-1943). Found within the collection are biographical material; a file concerning Henderson's father William Oliver Henderson; correspondence primarily with colleagues discussing art-related topics; two diaries describing his student days in Paris, 1902-1903, and one concerning the latter part of his life; personal business records; subject files for the Santa Fe Painters and Sculptors and the Art in Embassies Program; architecture and furniture files containing notes, designs, and photographs of Henderson's work in these areas; additional project files concerning other projects, including a play, architectural projects, and a mural; exhibition files; notes and writings; artwork, including 64 sketchbooks by Henderson; miscellaneous printed material; and photographs of Henderson, his family, colleagues, and artwork.
The collection is arranged into 13 series primarily according to type of material; materials within series are arranged chronologically.
The William Penhallow Henderson papers were donated by Carlton Colquitt, on behalf of the estate of his late wife, Alice Henderson Rossin, the daughter of William Penhallow Henderson, in 1988.
Open for research. Use requires an appointment.
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
William Penhallow Henderson papers, 1876-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
The papers were processed by Jean Fitzgerald in October 2004.
Biographical material primarily consists of miscellaneous membership documents, legal records, address books, and biographical accounts.
Oversized certificate housed in Box 12, Folder 1.
This series contains letters, certificates, writings, artwork, printed material, and photographs that document the life of Henderson's father, William Oliver Henderson. Included are 28 photographs of the 1898 Omaha Exposition, and several views of early frontier towns.
Correspondence consists of letters exchanged with family, friends, and colleagues. Correspondence dated after Henderson's death is primarily from his daughter, Alice, to various institutions concerning exhibitions of her father's work. There are several letters each from artists Gustave Baumann, Joseph Birren, Ernest L. Blumenschein, Maynard Dixon, Frank P. Fairbanks, E. W. Gollings, John W. Norton, Earl Reed, Jr., Joseph Lindon Smith, Maurice Sterne, Lorado Taft, and Carl Werntz, architects John Duncan Forsyth, John Gaw Meem, and William Gray Purcell, authors Peggy Pond Church, Erna Fergusson, Esther Forbes, and Carl Sandberg, and actors Tyrone Power and Roland Young. There is also a letter containing schematic drawings of architectural plans by Henderson's son-in-law, Bill Mauldin.
Two illustrated diaries, 1902-1903, describe Henderson's daily activities while studying art in Europe. Henderson writes about daily activities and his art studies, including meetings with Walter Gay, frequent outings to galleries and museums with Emily Sargent, and travels with fellow art student Alden Twachtman, son of John Henry Twachtman. A third diary, 1940, describes daily activities in Santa Fe.
Personal business records document Henderson's various personal and art business interests and contain deeds, sales records for artwork by Henderson, blankets created by Navajo Indians, and for books written by his wife Alice Corbin Henderson. Also found are lists of artwork, price lists, an inventory of photographs, and miscellaneous receipts.
Subject files contain letters, notes, and printed material concerning the Santa Fe Painters and Sculptors, and the Art in Embassies Program.
Architecture and Furniture files contain notes, drawings, photographs, price lists, receipts, and printed material that reflect Henderson's work as an architect and document his work as a furniture designer.
Oversized material housed in OV 14.
Oversized material housed in Box 12, Folder 1.
Oversized material housed in Box 12, Folder 1.
Oversized material housed in Box 12, Folder 1.
Oversized material housed in Box 12, Folder 1.
Project files contain a variety of material including correspondence, notes and writings, drawings, receipts, photographs, and printed material pertaining to specific projects undertaken by Henderson. The fact that these files include a play, architectural projects and a mural illustrates the wide range of Henderson's talents.
Oversized material housed in OV 14.
Correspondence
Notebook "Specifications for Sandpainting Hogan,"
Miscellaneous Writings
Photographs of a Traditional Hogan
Photographs of the Model
Oversized material housed in Box 12, Folder 3.
Photographs
Exhibition files contain correspondence, financial records, notes and writings, photographs, and printed material documenting exhibitions of Henderson's work. See also Printed Materials and Photographs for additional exhibition-related documentation.
Notes and writings include notebooks, loose notes, and typescripts on miscellaneous art-related topics, and travel by Henderson, his wife Alice Corbin Henderson, and by others.
Oversized material housed in OV 14.
Artwork primarily consists of sketchbooks by Henderson. There are also unbound sketches by Henderson, a travel sketchbook by his wife Alice Corbin Henderson, artwork by others, and oversized Japanese prints. The albums of sketches were assembled by Henderson's daughter, Alice Henderson Rossin.
Oversized material housed in OV 14.
Printed material primarily consists of loose clippings, a scrapbook of clippings, and exhibition announcements and catalogs. There are also press releases, programs, and brochures and booklets on miscellaneous topics.
Photographs are of Henderson, his family, and friends including American Indians Elias Suazo and Klah, stunt riders, an expedition by horseback through the mountains, and Henderson's trip to a mine. Photographs of Henderson's architectural projects, include his own homes in Lake Bluff, Illinois, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Henderson also was the architect of the White Residence, McComb Garden, Railroad Ticket Office, and the Otis Residence, all in Santa Fe. There are also photographs of exhibitions and of artwork by Henderson and others. The albums of photographs of artwork were assembled by Henderson's daughter, Alice Henderson Rossin. Additional photographs may be found in the Project Files and Furniture Files.
Oversized material housed in Box 13, Folder 1.
Oversized material housed in Box 13, Folder 2.
Oversized material housed in Box 13, Folder 3.
Oversized material housed in Box 13, Folder 4.