The collection was donated in 1957 by Phoebe DuBois and Violet Organ.
The collection was digitized in 2017 and is available via the Archives of American Art's website.
The collection was arranged upon accessioning and microfilmed on reels D161-D164. A finding aid to the microfilm was prepared by Erin Corley in 2006 and the collection was digitized in 2017 as part of the Terra Foundation for American Art Grant.
Mary Fanton Roberts papers, 1880-1956. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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Mary Fanton Roberts was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1864. When she was a young girl her family moved to Deadwood, in the Montana territory, where her father had mining prospects. When she was old enough, she and her sister were sent back to New York to attend the Albany Female Academy. After finishing school, Roberts pursued journalism and became a staff writer for four years for the Herald Tribune, the Journal, and the Sun in New York. During her long career she was editor of
In 1906 she married William Carman Roberts, writer and editor of
Roberts was very involved in the artistic, theatrical, and literary circles in New York City, and met and became friends with many young avant garde American artists, including Robert Henri and John Sloan. Through her husband she met many writers and poets, including Theodore Dreiser and Bliss Carman. Roberts was active in organizations such as the Women's City Club, Pen and Brush, and the MacDowell Society and also attended countless art openings, theater performances, and other social events. As an avid supporter of modern dance, she became friends with many performers, including Isadora Duncan and Angna Enters. After her husband's death in 1941, Roberts moved to the Chelsea Hotel, where she lived for the rest of her life. She maintained lifelong relationships with a wide circle of friends and continued to correspond with them and attend social events until her death in 1956 at the age of 92.
The papers of art writer and editor Mary Fanton Roberts measure 3.8 linear feet and are dated 1880 to 1956. The collection is comprised mainly of correspondence with family members, artists, dancers, actors, writers, musicians, and visual and performing arts organizations. Also found are scattered biographical materials, writings, printed material, photographs and artwork.
The collection contains a small amount of biographical material about Mary Fanton Roberts and her husband, William Carman Roberts, including his journal of a vacation with Ernest Thompson Seton and his wife. Personal Correspondence is with her husband and sister Belle Fanton, and with friends. Business and political correspondence documents her career as a magazine editor and writer, her participation in political organizations and events, her participation in radio talks, and her correspondence regarding war issues.
Art correspondence/subject files include correspondence with and collected materials on artists, photographers, art patrons, critics, and wives of artists, as well as arts organizations, museums, and schools. Correspondence of note is with George Gray Barnard, Gutzon Borglum, Ben Ali Haggin, Leon Kroll, Frederic Remington, W. Goodridge Roberts, Nicholas Roerich, Pierre Troubetzkoy, illustrator Oliver Herford, John Butler Yeats, and Ashcan school artists Robert Henri, John Sloan, and William Glackens, as well as many others. Dance and theatre correspondence/subject files include correspondence with actors, dancers, playwrights, patrons, organizations and theatres. Correspondence of note in this series is with Charles "Orlando" Coburn, Eva Le Gallienne, Angna Enters, and the "Duncan Dancers." Literary and music orrespondence/subject files include correspondence with authors, poets, critics, singers, publishers, and musicians, such as Bliss Carman, Yvette Guilbert, and Lloyd Osbourne. Additional material found in these subject files, other than letters, includes invitations, photographs, calling cards, artwork, news clippings, and printed material.
Writings by Roberts include an autobiographical essay about her youth and early career, guest lists and notes concerning hosted events, and typescripts of poems by her niece Dorothy Gostwick Roberts. Printed material is comprised of art exhibition catalogs, published articles and trade bulletins written by Roberts, and newsclippings. Photographs are of Roberts, her family, friends, and places she lived, and include autographed portraits given to her, primarily from actors and actresses. Also found are photographs taken by Nickolas Muray of art models. Scattered artwork in this collection includes several small drawings by unidentified artists, as well as a pencil portrait of Roberts by John Butler Yeats.
The collection is arranged into 11 series:
This series contains biographical material about Mary Fanton Roberts, including the wedding announcement for her marriage to William Carman Roberts and a questionnaire and published entry about her career in
Mary Fanton Roberts Biographical Material
William C. Roberts Biographical Material
Personal correspondence includes letters between Mary Fanton Roberts and her husband "Billy" during periods of travel, and letters between Mary and her sister Belle Fanton. Also found is correspondence regarding Roberts' club activities, including P. E. N. (An International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists), the Drama Society, and various women's clubs. Miscellaneous personal correspondence includes letters and brief notes from friends and acquaintances, many expressing thanks, replying to her invitations to visit, and condolences on the death of her husband. This series also includes two valentines to Mary from her husband. Items are arranged chronologically within each folder.
Correspondence with William C. Roberts (1 of 2)
Correspondence with William C. Roberts (2 of 2)
Correspondence with Belle Fanton
Club Activities
Miscellaneous Personal Correspondence, A-H
Miscellaneous Personal Correspondence, K-Z
Valentine Cards
This series contains correspondence related to Mary Fanton Roberts' work and political activities, including correspondence regarding her writing and editorial work. Correspondence related to her political activities includes numerous invitations to political and war-time events, as well as letters from political and civic organizations of which she was a member, including the Women's Committee of One Hundred for Non-Partisan City Government and the Academy of Political Science. This series also contains correspondence regarding Roberts' participation in several radio talks discussing home decoration and her professional editorial work.
Magazine Work Correspondence
Miscellaneous Business Correspondence
Political Correspondence
Political Correspondence
Radio Broadcasts Correspondence
War Issues Correspondence
This series documents Mary Fanton Roberts' art-related activities and memberships, as well as friendships with painters, sculptors, photographers, art patrons, art critics, and wives of artists. Folders may contain a variety of material on the subject, including letters, invitations, photographs, artwork, programs, catalogs, news clippings, and other printed material. Topics included in the correspondence range from invitations to art events, thanks for publishing articles in her magazines, accounts of travels abroad, and other general news.
Roberts was friends with many prominent artists from the early twentieth century and a small amount of their correspondence is found here, including Ashcan school artists Robert Henri, John Sloan, George Bellows, and William Glackens. Other correspondence of note is with sculptors George Gray Barnard, Gutzon Borglum, painters Ben Ali Haggin, Leon Kroll, W. Goodridge Roberts, Nicholas Roerich, and Pierre Troubetzkoy, as well as illustrator Oliver Herford. Much of the correspondence is also with the artists' wives. Additional significant correspondence is with Belle da Costa Greene, librarian for J. P. Morgan, and art writer Edward Alden Jewell. Items of note in this series include illustrated cards and letters from Edward Caswell, F. Luis Mora, and Ethel Myers, photographs of Frederic Remington and Bessie Potter Vonnoh, eleven small watercolor American Indian scenes by Edwin Deming, three etchings by John Sloan, and an essay by Gustav Stickley (located in
Alexander, Elizabeth (Mrs. John W.)
American Academy of Arts and Letters
American-Sweden News Exchange
Architectural League of New York
Armory Show (International Exhibition of Modern Art)
Associated American Artists
Barnard, George Gray & Edna
Bellows, George
Borglum, Gutzon & Mary
Borglum, Emma Vignal (Mrs. Solon H.)
Bossom, Alfred & Emily
Bracken, Clio (Mrs. William B.)
Brooklyn Museum
Caffin, Charles
Calder, A. Stirling
Caparn, Harold & Rhys
Carnegie Institute
Caswell, Edward
Chambers, Robert W., Mary, & Elise
Chanler, Robert W.
Connecticut College Library
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Cortissoz, Royal
Cram, Ralph Adams
Crowninshield, Frank
Davey, Randall
De Casseres, Benjamin
Deming, Edwin W. & Therese O.
Dielman, Mr. & Mrs. Frederick
Dougherty, Paul
French, Daniel Chester
Fromkes, Eva Maurice
Garden Club of America
Genthe, Arnold
Gilbert, C. Allan
Glackens, William, Edith, and Ira
Greene, Belle da Costa
Haggin, Ben Ali, Lee W., and Bonnie
Hale, Gardner
Hassam, Child
Henri, Robert
Herford, Oliver & Peggy
Herter, Mr. & Mrs. Albert, undated
Higgins, Eugene
Independent Artists Exhibition
Jewell, Edward Alden
Jones, Robert Edmond
Judd, Joseph A.
Kroll, Leon
Lamb, Charles R.
Lane, John
Lavery, Sir John
Lawton, Mary
Levy, Florence
Lie, Jonas
Low, Will H.
Lynch, George
Lyons, Edward
MacDowell Club, NYC
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Mora, F. Luis
Museum of Modern Art
Myers, Jerome & Ethel
New Society of Artists
New York School of Applied Design for Women
Pen & Brush
Pennell, Joseph
Perrine, Van Dearing
Preston, James
Pyle, Howard
Remington, Frederic
Roberts, W. Goodridge
Rockefeller, Mrs. John D., Jr. (Abby)
Roerich, Nicholas
Roorbach, Eloise
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
Shinn, Everett
Sloan, John
Smith, Pamela C.
Speicher, Eugene
Stieglitz, Alfred
Sterner, Marie (Mrs. Albert)
Taft, Lorado
Tarbell, Ida M.
Thomas, Joseph B.
Troubetzkoy, Pierre & Amelie
Ver Beck, W. Francis
Vonnoh, Robert W. & Bessie Potter
Walker, Horatio
Whitney Museum of American Art
Wiborg, Mary Hoyt
Wildenstein & Co.
Wright, Russel & Mary
Yeats, John Butler
Unidentified Letters
This series contains correspondence with actors, dancers, playwrights, theatre patrons, dance and theatre organizations and clubs, and individual theatres, as well as related materials collected by Roberts. Folders may contain a variety of material, including letters, invitations, photographs, programs and event booklets, news clippings, and other printed material.
Roberts was friends with many prominent performers from the early twentieth century and a small amount of their correspondence is found here. She wrote and published articles about dancers, actors, and other performers, but was also a great admirer and supporter of modern dance and theatre, participating in many organizations, including the Drama League of America in which she was a member of their Playgoing Committee of New York. Correspondence of note is with actors Charles "Orlando" Coburn, William Faversham, and Walter Hampden, actresses Eva Le Gallienne and Mary Shaw, playwrights Louis K. Anspacher, Cosmo Hamilton, and Percy MacKaye, dancer and artist Angna Enters, theatre patron Mrs. Samuel "Minnie" Untermyer, and Romola Nijinsky, wife of dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. Additional significant correspondence is with the "Duncan Dancers", students of Isadora Duncan, including Anna, Irma, Lisa, and others. There is also a small amount of correspondence with Isadora Duncan and her brother Augustin Duncan and his wife Margherita, as well as printed material documenting their careers as dancers and photographs of Isadora and Anna Duncan. Other items of note in this series include photographs of actress Maxine Elliott and dancer Doris Humphrey, and a small painted self-portrait of Angna Enters. Several folders of Miscellaneous Dance Files include correspondence and a large amount of printed material about individual dancers and performances.
Actor-Managers, Inc.
Actors' Fund Matinee Club
American Laboratory Theatre
Ames, Winthrop
Anderson, John Murray
Anspacher, Louis K. and Kathryn
Baker, George P.
Becque, Don Oscar & Elizabeth
Bernays, Edward L.
Bowers, Edward J.
Castle, Irene
Coburn, Charles (Orlando) & Ivah (1 of 2)
Coburn, Charles (Orlando) & Ivah (2 of 2)
Collier, Constance
The Country Playhouse
De Mille, Agnes & Anna G.
Drama League of America (1 of 2)
Drama League of America (2 of 2)
Draper, Muriel
Duncan, Augustin & Margherita
Duncan Dancers (1 of 2)
Duncan Dancers (2 of 2)
Duncan, Isadora (1 of 2)
Duncan, Isadora (2 of 2)
Elliott, Maxine
Emery, Gilbert
Enters, Angna
Episcopal Actor's Guild
Equity Players, Inc.
Faversham, William & Julie
Garden, Mary
Guy, Edna
Hamilton, Cosmo & Julie
Hampden, Walter & Mabel
Humphrey, Doris
Irving, Isabel
Kahn, Otto H.
Kirstein, Lincoln
Le Gallienne, Eva
Le Gallienne, Richard, Irma & Julie
Loftus, Cecelia
Losch, Tilly
Lunt, Alfred
MacKaye, Percy
Morin, Pilar
National Federation of Theatre Clubs
Neighborhood Playhouse
Nijinsky, Romola
Parker, Louise N.
The Players
Provincetown Players
Punch & Judy Theatre
Row, Arthur
Shaw, Mary
Skinner, Cordelia & Otis
St. Denis, Ruth
Terry, Ellen
Theatre Guild
Untermyer, Mrs. Samuel (Minnie)
Walker, Stuart
Washington Square Players
Wigman, Mary
Miscellaneous, A-C
Miscellaneous, D
Miscellaneous, E-K
Miscellaneous, L-M
Miscellaneous, N-P
Miscellaneous, R-T
Miscellaneous, W-Z
This series contains correspondence and other material documenting Mary Fanton Roberts' friendships with authors, poets, critics, publishers, singers, musicians, and colleagues. Found are letters, invitations, calling cards, programs, artwork, photographs, and news clippings. Topics of discussion include social invitations, poems and articles in the
Atherton, Gertrude
Bambino
Bispham, David
Brooks, Van Wyck
Burgess, Gelett
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Bynner, Witter
Carman, Bliss (1 of 2)
Carman, Bliss (2 of 2)
Cobb, Irvin S.
Comfort, Will Levington
Damrosch, Walter
Dawson, Coningsby
Desti, Mary
Dreiser, Theodore
Eastman, Max & Eliena
Ellis, Havelock
Emerson, Edwin
Field, Mrs. Edward Salisbury (Teuila)
Gale, Zona
Galsworthy, John
Garland, Hamlin
Guilbert, Yvette
Hoffenstein, Samuel & Edith
Hurst, Fannie
Kilmer, Joyce
Khayat, Khalil
McClure, S. S.
Mannes, Mrs. David (Clara)
Masefield, John
Maxim, Hudson
Metropolitan Opera Association
Namara, Marguerite
Pinchot, Gifford
Osbourne, Lloyd & Ethel
Oskison, Hildegarde Hawthorne
Riggs, Mrs. George C. (Kate Dougles Wiggin)
Riis, Jacob
Roberts, Sir Charles G. D.
Roberts, Theodore Goodridge
Seton, Ernest Thompson & Grace
Sinclair, May
Singer, Paris
Stevenson, Mrs. Robert Louis
Stokowski, Leopold
Strong, Austin & Mary
Teasdale, Sara
Towne, Charles Hanson
Vorse, Mary Heaton
West, Rebecca
Widdemer, Margaret
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler
Wilkinson, Marguerite
Young, Stark
Miscellaneous Correspondence
General correspondence includes invitations, programs, calling cards, and thank you notes regarding general social and club events. Researchers should note that there is some overlap with the above series. Items are arranged alphabetically by person or organization.
A
B
C
D-E
F
G
H
I-J-K
L
M
N
O-P
R
S-T
U-V
W-Z
Writings include a draft of an autobiographical essay written by Mary Fanton Roberts that was intended to become a published memoir. Also found in this series are guest lists and notes concerning events she was hosting as well as typescripts of several poems by Dorothy Gostwick Roberts, who wrote under the name Gostwick Roberts, and was a niece of William Carman Roberts. Items are arranged in chronological order within each folder.
Biographical Essay, "Point of View" by Mary Fanton Roberts
Guest Lists and Notes
Poetry by [Dorothy] Gostwick Roberts
Printed material documents Mary Fanton Roberts' writing career and social activities. Found here are various art exhibition catalogs, trade bulletins for the
Art Exhibition Catalogs
Article, "Deadwood Gold"
House and Garden Trade Bulletin
Magazine,
Magazine,
News Clippings, Biographical
News Clippings, Published Writings (1 of 2)
News Clippings, Published Writings (2 of 2)
Poetry Clippings, A-P
Poetry Clippings, S-Y
Photographs include personal photographs of Mary Fanton Roberts, her family, and friends as well as autographed portraits given to her. Photographs of actors and actresses include portraits of theater actresses such as Leslie Carter and Mildred McLeod as well as photographs of scenes from plays. Also found here are photographs of nude male models taken by photographer Nickolas Muray. Other items in this series include three framed portraits of Roberts's mother, Isabelle Annable Fanton, and several tintype portraits which include individuals and groups of young men and women. All are unidentified, but two of the young women often photographed may be Mary and her sister Belle. Miscellaneous photographs of people include portraits and snapshots of family and friends, many of them are unidentified and may be photographs of Roberts. One item of note is a photograph of the artist John Twachtman. Also in this series are photographs of various places, including the Roberts house in Waterford, Connecticut and stereo cards of street scenes in Deadwood, South Dakota, where Roberts lived for a period of time as a child. Researchers should note that series 4, 5, and 6 also contain photographs, filed with the appropriate person or subject heading.
Actors and Actresses
Male Models by Nickolas Muray
Portraits, Isabelle Agnes Annable Fanton (M. F. R.'s Mother)
Tintype Portraits (may include M. F. R.)
Miscellaneous Photographs of People (1 of 4)
Miscellaneous Photographs of People (2 of 4)
Miscellaneous Photographs of People (3 of 4)
Miscellaneous Photographs of People (4 of 4)
Photographs of Places
House in Waterford, Connecticut (Copyprints)
Stereo Cards of Deadwood, South Dakota
Artwork includes a small pencil portrait of Mary Fanton Roberts by John Butler Yeats, and other small drawings of people and animals by unidentified artists. Also found are four hand colored book illustrations of unknown origin.
Drawing of Mary Fanton Roberts by John Butler Yeats
Drawings by Unidentified Artists
Hand-colored Book Illustrations