Frances Adler Elkins Collection, ca. 1925-1953

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Summary

Creators:
Casa Blanca Interior Decoration Elkins, Frances Adler (1888-1953) Fry, Nelle Currie (1906-1986) Adler, David (1882-1949)
Abstract:
The collection consists of a broad range of materials created and accumulated by interior designer Frances Adler Elkins and architect David Adler (Elkins' brother) throughout their professional lives working for clients in Chicago, Illinois, Monterey, California and elsewhere. The collection also includes three binders documenting the research and interviews conducted by Monterey Peninsula College, Family and Consumer Sciences Department Chair Diane Bower from 1998-2002.
Extent:
30 boxes, over 100 oversize folders (blueprints), 2 binders of photos and papers documenting grant project, 1 trunk
Language:
Preferred citation:

Frances Adler Elkins Collection, MSS 001, Monterey Peninsula College Library, Archives and Special Collections Department

Background

Scope and content:

Group 1. Frances Adler Elkins Series 1. Client files consist mainly of correspondence and invoices. Series 2. Vendor files consist mainly of correspondence, orders, and invoices. Series 3. Personal & Financial files consist of banking, tax, buying trips regarding her business "Casa Blanca." Also includes correspondence and notes from David Adler. Series 4. Blueprints from many of the clients' homes and buildings Series 5. Drawings consist of sketches and formal drawings of furnishings and item placement. Series 6. Photographs consist mainly of example images sent by vendors. Also a collection from the California Centennial Celebration of 1946 highlighting Alvarado Street businesses. There are a few personal photographs. Series 7. Periodicals and loose articles, scrapbooks, ledgers Series 8. Textile Samples Series 9. Boyd donation added in 2021. Additional client and vendor files, photographs, textile samples, drawings, and blueprints. Additional: 3 binders of grant information including interviews with Elkins' associates and photographs. One trunk

Biographical / historical:

Frances Adler Elkins was born in Milwaukee on November 7, 1888. Her brother, David Adler (1882-1949), was a prominent Chicago architect. When David Adler studied architecture in Paris, from 1908 to 1911, Elkins joined him on many of his trips through Europe where her interest in design and art was cultivated. Following her divorce in the early 1920’s from Felton Broomall Elkins (1889-1944), a polo player, painter and playwright, Elkins turned her interest and knowledge of decorating into a business. She moved to Monterey, living in the adobe home she and her husband had purchased (Casa Amesti, 516 Polk Street, Monterey), and began to decorate the historic home, drawing attention to her work from many Pebble Beach and San Francisco socialites. Eventually she would establish her studio (Casa Blanca) in Monterey at Stevenson House and later on Old Fishermen’s Wharf. Elkins collaborated with David Adler on about 15 large houses in Illinois, New York, California, and elsewhere. She had numerous private commissions of her own, both for private homes and commercial buildings. Elkins died in San Francisco on August 26, 1953. Significance: Elkins was one of the most celebrated American interior designers of the early-to-mid twentieth century. She worked with the interior designer, Jean-Michel Frank and the sculptor, Alberto Giacometti, who produced fixtures for her commissions. Her first commissions were for residential designs for friends and social acquaintances, but she later obtained larger-scale commercial work including hotels and retail stores. Her bold and innovative style, combining traditional and contemporary styles, was her hallmark. Her work in California was far ahead of its time and influenced other decorators around the country. Dorothea Walker, a contributing editor to House & Garden magazine believed that Frances Elkins was “the first great California decorator.” After Elkins' death, her associate Nelle Currie Fry, 1904-1986 continued working with many of Elkins' clients and established her own interior design firm. See Nelle Currie Fry Collection, MSS 002, Monterey Peninsula College Library, Archives and Special Collections Department. The Monterey Peninsula College Library Archives & Special Collections Department extends their appreciation to the Monterey Peninsula College Foundation and the Thomas Doud, Sr. and Anita M. Doud Fund of the Community Foundation for Monterey County for their generous support of this special project.

Acquisition information:
In 1998, Diane Bower, the department chair of Monterey Peninsula College's (MPC) Family and Consumer Sciences Department received a grant from the American Society of Interior Designers to study interior designer Frances Elkins. From 1998-2002, Bower and her students researched and compiled information about Elkins life and work which included conducting interviews with Elkins' associates and eventually led to the donation of the Elkins' collection to MPC's Family and Consumer Sciences Department. The first donation was received in 2005 from Nelle Currie Fry's son, Milton Johnson. Johnson donated items belonging to both Frances Elkins and Nelle Currie Fry. In 2010, Elkins' grandson David Boyd donated additional textiles. In 2015, the Family and Consumer Science Department transferred the items to Monterey Peninsula college Library Archives and Special Collections. In 2021, David Boyd donated additional files from Frances Elkins.
Processing information:

The collection was organized and cataloged by Denise Sallee over several years beginning in 2015.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research by advance appointment.

Terms of access:

Property rights reside with Monterey Peninsula College Library, Archives and Special Collections Department. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heirs for permission to publish.

Preferred citation:

Frances Adler Elkins Collection, MSS 001, Monterey Peninsula College Library, Archives and Special Collections Department

Location of this collection:
980 Fremont Street
Monterey, CA 93940, US
Contact:
(831) 646-4095
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