Hartley Burr Alexander Papers, 1834-2000, bulk 1908-1938

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Summary

Creators:
Alexander, Hartley Burr, 1873-1939
Abstract:
Correspondence, typescripts, journal and newspaper articles and clippings, photographs, notes, scrapbooks, original artwork, and other materials, the bulk dating from 1908-1938, relating to the life and career of educator, author, poet, and philosopher Hartley Burr Alexander (1873-1939). The bulk of the collection relates to Alexander’s research on the philosophy, culture, traditions, art, and music of Native North Americans, and includes original works by Pueblo and Plains artists, and large-scale photographic reproductions of images from the ledger of artist Amos Bad Heart Bull, which is no longer extant. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, architectural drawings and blueprints, newspaper clippings, and other materials documenting Alexander's non-academic career as "thematic designer" of sculpture, inscriptions, and other ornamentation for large public buildings, including the Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska; the Los Angeles Public Library; and Rockefeller Center, New York City. The collection also contains typescripts and offprints of journal articles by Alexander on philosophy, music, and the interpretation of symbols in art and architecture, as well as many of Alexander's own literary works, including poetry, plays, pageants, and operas, many based on Native North American themes. Other materials include extensive correspondence files; papers documenting Alexander's teaching careers at the University of Nebraska and at Scripps College; personal papers of the Alexander family and Nathan Kirk Griggs; and photographs, including many of the Turlington W. Harvey family and estate in Syracuse, Nebraska.
Extent:
23.5 linear feet
Language:
The materials in the collection are in English.

Background

Scope and content:

The Hartley Burr Alexander Papers consist of correspondence, typescripts, journal and newspaper articles and clippings, photographs, notes, scrapbooks, original artwork, and other materials relating to the life and career of educator, author, poet, and philosopher Hartley Burr Alexander. The bulk of the collection relates to Alexander’s research on the philosophy, culture, traditions, art, and music of Native North Americans. These materials include extensive correspondence with other researchers and with staff at the Smithsonian Institution; unique photographs of Native North American rituals; original works by Pueblo and Plains artists, in particular the Oglala Sioux, Kills Two; and large-scale color reproductions from the ledger of Oglala Sioux artist Amos Bad Heart Bull, which is no longer extant. The materials also include an unpublished Indian Primer, or Stories About Indians For Youthful Readers; articles on Native North American philosophy; and Alexander's draft texts for, and extensive correspondence relating to, Pueblo Indian Painting (1932) and Sioux Indian Painting (1938).

The second most significant part of the collection consists of correspondence, photographs, architectural drawings and blueprints, newspaper clippings, and other materials documenting Alexander's non-academic career as "thematic designer" of sculpture, inscriptions, and other ornamentation for large public buildings, the most important of which were the Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska; the Los Angeles Public Library; Rockefeller Center, New York City; and several buildings at the 1933 Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago. The collection includes particularly extensive correspondence with architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, the sculptor Lee Lawrie, and the muralist Hildreth Meiere.

The collection contains an extensive number of typescripts and offprints of journal articles by Alexander on philosophy, music, and the interpretation of symbols in art and architecture. It also contains many of Alexander's own literary works, including poetry, plays, pageants, and operas. Many of these--such as Taiwa, the opera Minnewakan (libretto by Alexander, music by Victor Hugo Kasper), the light opera Priscilla (music by Henry Purmort Eames), and the pageants designed, authored, and produced by Alexander in Nebraska between 1915 and 1929--are based on, or make extensive use of, Native North American themes.

The collection also contains extensive correspondence between Alexander and his friends and colleagues from his editorial career with Dodd, Mead and Merriam publishing companies, his academic career at the University of Nebraska and Scripps College, his research on Native North Americans, and his extra-academic career as a designer of architectural inscriptions and ornamentation, as well as with members of his family, in particular his brother Arthur.

Few papers survive relating to Alexander’s teaching careers at the University of Nebraska and at Scripps College. Those relating to the University of Nebraska primarily concern his relations with the administration and his resignation from the faculty; those relating to Scripps College primarily concern curriculum development.

The majority of photographs in the collection can be traced to Alexander's elder brother, A. D. (Arthur Davis) Alexander, and his career as a photographer in Syracuse, Nebraska, and include a large number of photographs of the Turlington W. Harvey family and estate.

The materials relating to the personal lives of Hartley Burr Alexander and members of his family include his 1935 curriculum vitae and bibliography, a manuscript of his early memories, and a series of scrapbooks, arranged chronologically, of clippings and other documents relating to his life and activities from 1882 to approximately 1935. The Alexander family papers consist largely of obituaries; the Griggs family papers include Nathan Kirk Griggs' admission to the Nebraska State and Federal bars, several addresses and songs, and papers relating to his position as United States Consul in Chemnitz, Saxony.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Hubert Griggs Alexander, son of Hartley Burr Alexander, 1943.
Arrangement:

The collection is organized in ten series:

  • Series 1. Personal and biographical material
  • Series 2. Correspondence
  • Series 3. Academic administration and teaching
  • Series 4. Native American research
  • Series 5. Native American art
  • Series 6. Inscription, mural, and sculpture Project Files
  • Series 7. Writings
  • Series 8. Writings by others
  • Series 9. Photographs
  • Series 10. Realia

Physical location:
Ella Strong Denison Library
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
1030 Columbia Avenue, #2031
Claremont, CA 91711, US
Contact:
(909) 607-3941
Denison@scrippscollege.edu
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