Sculpture

*Daniel C. French in the Chesterwood studio working on the bust of Ambrose Swasey*. 1922. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.

The Manuscript Division holds a wealth of papers pertaining to American sculptors and prominent sculptural works that help to realize the likeness of and to commemorate well-known figures in American history.

Of particular importance, for example, is a file on the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln that sculptor Daniel Chester French created for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The papers of Gutzon Borglum also include extensive files concerning Borglum's most ambitious and best-known projects, including an uncompleted memorial to the Confederacy at Stone Mountain, Georgia, and the faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt on Mount Rushmore. Various collections also cover the creation of several well known sculptures standing in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and memorials along the National Mall.

Many visual materials from the collections, including photographs, etchings, drawings, and others have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division. Patrons are advised to contact both the Manuscript Division and the Prints and Photographs Division for guidance on accessing these materials.

Collections

The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content, including finding aids for the collections, are included when available.

Hendrik Christian Andersen papers
Published/Created: 1844-1940 (bulk 1890-1920)
Author and sculptor. Correspondence, diaries, notebooks, poetry, lectures, family papers, drawings, and photographs relating primarily to Andersen's interest in the arts and in the creation of a world capital.
Paul Wayland Bartlett papers
Published/Created: 1875-1959
Correspondence, speeches, lecture notes, notes, financial and legal records, printed matter, scrapbooks, sketches, blueprints, and other papers relating chiefly to Bartlett's career as a sculptor. Documents his methods of work, manner of selecting materials, contracts, and negotiations. Also documents Bartlett's discussions with other sculptors, architects, artists, and craftsmen concerning the field of art.
Gutzon Borglum papers
Published/Created: 1895-1960 (bulk 1912-1941)
Correspondence, diaries, speeches, writings, family papers, subject files, and other papers relating primarily to Borglum's artistic works, especially the Mount Rushmore National Memorial and the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial. Also includes material relating to his activities in the Republican and Progressive parties, as a member of several aeronautics societies, and as a Freemason. Subjects include an investigation into federal government contracts with aeronautics industries during World War I, civic affairs including highway planning, and Indian affairs pertaining primarily to the Oglala Sioux Indians of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S.D.
Solon Hannibal Borglum papers
Published/Created: 1886-1969 (bulk 1900-1922)
Sculptor. Correspondence, commission files, subject files, articles, certificates and awards, photographs, printed matter, a scrapbook, and microfilm mostly relating to Borglum's career as a sculptor, his works of art, and his activities with the American Expeditionary Forces Art Training Center in Bellevue, France, Silvermine Group of Artists in New Canaan, Connecticut, and the School of American Sculpture in New York.
Jo Davidson papers
Published/Created: 1906-1952
Correspondence, speeches, writings, articles, notes, clippings, photographs, and other papers relating to Davidson's career as a portrait sculptor and to his activities as cochairman of the Progressive Citizens of America and chairman of the National Wallace for President Committee. Includes individual files on many of Davidson's sculptures and a draft of Between Sittings; An Informal Autobiography (1951).
Rudulph Evans papers
Published/Created: 1862-2001 (bulk 1925-1960)
Sculptor. Correspondence, photographs, drawings, financial and legal records, awards and citations, printed matter, writings, and miscellaneous items relating to the creation of Evans’s sculptures, in particular the commission and execution of the statue for the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.
Daniel Chester French papers
Published/Created: 1848-1968 (bulk 1911-1945)
Correspondence, writings, financial records, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other papers relating chiefly to French's career as an artist and sculptor and to the French family. Subjects include his sculpture of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., and the artistic milieu of the period. Papers of his daughter, Margaret French Cresson, reflect her career as a sculptress, author, and lecturer as well as her service with many cultural organizations.
Adelaide Johnson papers
Published/Created: 1873-1947
Correspondence, diaries, speeches, articles, notes, and other papers concerning Johnson's life and activities as sculptor and feminist. Documents her work on the monument to Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, now located in the crypt of the U.S. Capitol. Also includes records kept of sittings by Anthony, John Burroughs, Ella Wheeler Wilcox and others of whom she created portrait busts.
Lee Lawrie papers
Published/Created: 1908-1990 (bulk 1920-1963)
General and family correspondence, sculpture commission files, biographical file, and other papers documenting Lawrie's career as a sculptor whose works were an integral part of public buildings, monuments, and churches throughout the United States. Includes correspondence between Lawrie and architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue with whom he collaborated on sculptures for St. Thomas' Church and Church of the Heavenly Rest, New York, N.Y., and material relating to his design of the memorial tomb for Goodhue at the Chapel of the Intercession, also in New York.
Vinnie Ream and R.L. Hoxie papers
Published/Created: 1853-1937 (bulk 1853-1914)
Correspondence, memoranda, writings, reports, notebooks, commissions, biographical data, printed material, and other papers pertaining chiefly to Ream's work following her commission to execute the statue of Abraham Lincoln now standing in the U.S. Capitol rotunda.
William Zorach papers
Published/Created: 1822-1974 (bulk 1930-1968)
Artist. Correspondence; speeches, articles, and books; lectures; sketches; newspaper clippings; financial records; printed material; subject files; and other papers relating principally to the creation, production, and sale of sculpture and paintings by Zorach and his fellow artists.

Art Topics and Resources in the Manuscript Collections at the Library of Congress

Manuscripts: Ask a Librarian

Sculpture

Collections