Photographs of the Works of Daniel Chester French, 1870-1925
Vault, A20, Unit A9
EXTENT: Approximately 145 photographs housed in two volumes and one box.
ORGANIZATION: Arranged in two series: Series I: Photographs mounted in albums; Series II: Loose photographs (boxed, formerly in envelopes).
BIOGRAPHY: The sculptor Daniel Chester French was born April 20, 1850, in Exeter, New Hampshire. His father was Henry Flagg French, who served as the Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury. French’s childhood was spent in Amherst and Cambridge, Massachusetts until 1867, when the family relocated to Concord. In that year, French attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but withdrew after two semesters and failing several classes.
French received advice in sculpting from May Alcott and studied with painters William Rimmer and William Morris Hunt. His early works include depictions of friends who were willing to sit for portraits. One of these pieces is a bust of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1879). In 1914, French completed a full-length seated Emerson that is still on view at the Concord Free Public Library.
Although the sculptor's works can be found throughout the country, he is most famous for the Minute Man Statue located at the North Bridge (1875) and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (1922). French’s early home and studio were located on Sudbury Road in Concord. He died on October 7, 1931, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and is buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, which is also the site of Mourning Victory (the Melvin Memorial), one of his better-known works.
SCOPE AND CONTENT: The collection contains approximately 145 hand-captioned photographs (dated 1870-1925) of works by Daniel Chester French. It includes pieces designed for public buildings and the World's Colombian Expedition (1893), as well as a large number of privately commissioned works. In addition to the artist's own work, collaborations with architects (Bruce Price, Thomas Hastings) and other sculptors (E.C. Potter) are also depicted. Most of the photographs are mounted and bound into two bound volumes; the remainder are mounted on loose sheets, unbound.
SOURCE OF ACQUISITION: Presented to the library in multiple accessions by Daniel Chester French (1899; 1916; 1925).
NOTES/COMMENTS: Accession numbers: v. 1, 31388; v. 2, 50325.
PROCESSED BY: Melissa Kaiser; finding aid completed April 3, 2011.
Container List
Series I: Photographs in Volumes
Volume I (1870-1907)
1.“Annie Shepard Keyes.
[Mrs. Edward Waldo Emerson]
Born May 4, 1847.
Mr. French born April 20, 1850.”
“Incised on the original:
D.C. French, Sculptor.
Concord, Mass.
July 1870.”
2a. “Dolly Varden and Joe Willet 1871”
2b.“St. Valentine's Day 1870”
3a. “The Minute Man Concord 1874”
3b. “The Awakening of Endymion 1876”
4. “Bust of Hon. Henry French 1878”
5. “Law, Prosperity and Power U.S. Courthouse Philadelphia 1879”
6. “Bust of Ralph Waldo Emerson 1879”
7. “Bust of Dr. Samuel Cabot 1881”
7a. “Bust of J. Eliot [Elliot] Cabot, Esq. 1882”
8. “Science controlling the forces of Steam & Electricity Boston Post Office 1882”
9. “Bust of Rev John H. Morison 1882”
10. “John Harvard Cambridge 1884”
11a. “Bust of Miss Mary A. French 1883”
11b.“Relief of Miss Susie Taft 1885”
11c.“Portrait Statue Dana de Cordova 1883”
12. “General Lewis Cass Capitol Washington 1886”
13. “Gallaudet and his first deaf-mute pupil Kendall Green Washington 1888”
14. “The Milmore Memorial Death staying the hand of the sculptor Forest Hills Cemeter Boston 1893”
15. “Thomas Starr King San Francisco 1891”
16. “The Republic World's Colombian Exhibition Statue sixty-five feet high 1893”
17. “Details of Republic.” (Two photographs)
18. “The Farmer World's Fair Chicago (Horse by E.C. Potter) 1893”
19. “The Teamster World's Fair Chicago (Horse by E.C. Potter) 1893”
20a. “Indian Corn World's Fair Chicago (Bull by E.C. Potter) 1893”
20b. “Triumph of Columbus World's Fair Chicago 1893
(By E.C. Potter & D.C. French)”
21. “Angels Clark Monument Forest Hills Boston 1894” (Two photographs)
22. “John Boyle O'Reilly Memorial Erin & her sons Patriotism & Poetry Boston 1897”
23. “John Boyle O'Reilly Memorial 1897” (View from left side of statue showing “Patriotism”)
24. “John Boyle O'Reilly Memorial 1897” (View from right side of statue showing “Poetry”)
25. “Figure from Chapman Memorial Milwaukee 1897”
26. [Blank page]
27. “Angel White Memorial Forest Hills 1898”
(Handwritten on photograph:
AB Bogart
Photo
N.Y.)
28. “Rufus Choate Court House Boston 1898”
29. “Portrait Relief 1898” (Title on bas relief reads: “Jennie Walters Delano At Eight Years”)
30. “Head of Angel White Memorial Forest Hills 1898”
31a. “Rev. Arthur Brooks New York 1898
Church of the Incarnation”
31b. “Richard M. Hunt. For the Hunt Memorial.
Central Park, New York.”
32. “Rev. Phillips Brooks. Trinity Church. Boston. 1899.”
33. “Washington. Paris. Replica in Chicago. (Horse by E.C. Potter) 1900.”
34. “Washington. Paris. 1900.” (Detail of upper section)
35. “Richard M. Hunt Memorial. New York. 1900.” (Two photographs depicting plaster casts of the bronze figures featured on either end of the memorial)
36. “Richard M. Hunt Memorial. Central Park, New York. (Bruce Price, architect.) 1900.” (Memorial shown in situ)
37. “Commodore George H. Perkins. Concord, New Hampshire. 1902.”
38. “Major-General Joseph Hooker. State House, Boston. (Horse by E.C. Potter) 1903.”
39. “Bronze Doors. Public Library, Boston. 1902.”
40. “Rev. William S. Rainsford. St. George's Church, New York. 1902(?)”
41. “Bronze Doors. Public Library, Boston, 1902.”
42. “Bronze Doors. Public Library, Boston, 1902.”
43. “Font, Baltimore, Md. 1904.”
44. “Col. James Anderson Memorial 1904.”
45. “Col. James Anderson Memorial. (Carnegie's benefactor). Alleghany, Pa. 1904.” (In situ)
46. “Senator George Frisbie Hoar. Library, State House, Boston. 1905(?)”
47. “The Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial. Wellesley College 1907.”
48. “Detail of Francis Parkman Memorial. Jamaica Plain, Mass. 1906.”
49. “Triumph of Minnesota. State Capital, St. Paul. (Horse by E.C. Potter.) 1907.”
Volume II (1907-1925)
1. “Gov. Roger Wolcott Memorial. State House, Boston. 1907.”
2. “General William F. Bartlett. State House, Boston. 1907 (about).”
3. “Asia Custom House, New York. 1907.”
4. “Africa Custom House, New York, 1907.”
5. “America. Custom House, New York. 1907.”
6. “Europe. Custom House, New York. 1907.”
7. “Senator George Frisbie Hoar. Worcester, Mass. 1908.”
8. “Edward I. Cuyahoga County Courthouse, Cleveland, O. 1908”
9. “John Hampden. Cuyahoga County Courthouse, Cleveland, O. 1908.”
10. “Commerce. Federal Building, Cleveland, O. 1908 (about).”
11. “Jurisprudence. Federal Building, Cleveland, O. 1908 (about).”
12. “Mourning Victory” The Melvin Memorial. Concord, Mass. 1909.
(Also on page: a New Year’s card from French featuring a small photograph of Mourning Victory, with text,
“Happy
New 1910
Year
Dan. C. French.”)
13. “The Meyer Memorial. Kansas City, Mo. 1909.”
14. “Governor James Oglethorpe. Savannah, Georgia. 1910.”
15. “The Slocum Memorial. Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston. 1910.”
16. “Greek Religion. Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. 1910.”
17. “Greek Epic Poetry. Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. 1910.”
18a. “‘Memory.’ The Marshall Field Memorial. Graceland Cemetery, Chicago. 1911.”
18b. “Modern History and Ancient History. Historical Society's Building, Concord, N.H. 1911.”
19. “The Kinsley Memorial. Woodlawn Cemetery, New York. 1912.”
20. “General William F. Draper. Milford, Mass. (Horse by F.H. Packer.) 1912.”
21. “Lincoln Monument. Lincoln, Nebraska. 1912.”
22. “Lincoln Monument. 1912.” (Detail)
23. “Lincoln Monument. Lincoln Nebraska. (Henry Bacon, architect.) 1912.” (In situ)
24. “The Princeton Student. The Earl Dodge Memorial. Princeton, New Jersey. 1912.”
25. “Emerson. Public Library, Concord, Mass. 1914.”
26. “‘Wisconsin.’ Dome of Wisconsin State Capital. 1914.”
27. “The Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain. Washington, D.C. 1914.” (Two photographs: Detail of figures featured on opposite sides of the fountain.)
28. “The Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain. Washington, D.C. (Thomas Hastings, architect.) 1914.”(In situ)
29. “The Longfellow Memorial. Cambridge, Mass. 1914.” (“Marble with Bronze Head.”)
30. “The Longfellow Memorial. Cambridge, Mass. 1914.” (In situ)
31. “’Sculpture.’ City Art Museum, St. Louis. 1915.”
32. “Wendell Phillips. Boston, Mass. 1915.”
33. “'Manhattan.’ Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1915.”
34. “’Brooklyn’. Manhattan Bridge, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1915.”
35. “The Spencer Trask Memorial Fountain. Saratoga Springs. 1915.” (Two photographs: top - in situ; bottom - detail of figure.)
36. “The Spencer Trask Memorial Fountain. 1915” (Detail)
37. “‘The Genius of Creation.’ Panama-Pacific Exposition. 1915.” (Rear view of sculpture.)
38. “‘The Genius of Creation.’ Panama-Pacific Exposition. 1915.” (In situ)
39. “‘The Angel of Peace,’ The Rutheford Stuyvesant Memorial. Allamuchy Cemetery, New Jersey.”
40. “Garden Fountain. D.C.F.'s studio garden, Glendale, Mass.”
41. “Bust of Ambrose Swasey of Cleveland, Ohio”
42. “The Marseillaise. Erected in Strassbourg.
The Gift of the Citizens of St. Louis.”
43. “‘Achievement’ ~ Williams Monument, Atlanta, Georgia. (1917.)”
44. “Lafayette ~ Prospect Park, Brooklyn, N.Y. (1917)”
45. “‘Alger Fountain’ (1918) Erected in Detroit, Michigan.”
46. “Ruth Ann Dodge Memorial. (1918). Erected in Council Bluffs, Iowa.”
47. “Protection ~ Victory Arch ~ (1918)”
48. “The DuPont Fountain ~ (1920) Washington, D.C.~ Henry Bacon. Architect” (In situ)
49. “Hazard Memorial ~ (1920) ‘Life, Time and the Weaver.’ Peacedale, Rhode Island.”
50. “‘Memory’~ in marble (1920) Metropolitan Museum.”
51. “‘Lincoln’ from “Lincoln Memorial at Washington, D.C. (1920.)”
52. “Lafayette ~ (1921) Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.”
53. “Soldiers Monument at Exeter, New Hampshire, (1921).”
54. “Bust of Edgar Allen Poe ~ (1922) Hall of Fame, N.Y. City”
55. “‘Love’~ (1924) Corcoran Gallery. Suggested by a
Photograph of a Geyser in Yellowstone Park.
‘The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair.’”
(The photograph and caption are accompanied by a letter from French dated July 14, 1925, and a magazine clipping of an image of a Yellowstone Park Geyser that inspired the sculpture. The letter indicates DCF's gift of 20 photographs "under separate cover.")
56. “‘The Spirit of Giving’ ~ George Robert White Memorial
Erected in Public Garden, Boston, (1924).”
(Two photographs: top - detail of winged figure featured on top of the fountain; bottom: fountain in situ at the Public Garden.)
57. “Dean Green Monument ~ (1924) ~ University of Kansas.”
58. “‘Victory’~ First Division Monument, Washington, D.C.”
59. “‘Milton Monument’ (1925)”
Series II: Loose Photographs (boxed, formerly in envelopes)
(Note: Except where specified, Daniel Chester French has written his name and the address of his New York studio on the back of each mounted image.)
1. “Gallaudet and the Deaf Mute.
1889.”
2. “Gallaudet and the Deaf Mute.
Group in bronze at Kendall Green, near Washington.
1889."
3. “Gallaudet and the Deaf Mute.
1889.” (View from right angle)
4. “Peace
One figure of colossal group on
the Custom House at St. Louis.”
5. “The Awakening of Endymion. (from the marble.) 1876.”(Reverse also has partial photograph of unidentified sculpture.)
6. “Law.
Power. Prosperity.
Group on the U.S. Court House & Post Office, Phila, Pa. 1883.”
7. "Margaret French Cresson at Chesterwood - photo" (caption from envelope)
(On reverse:
A.B. BOGART,
Commercial Photographer
30 East 14th Street,
Room 36, N.Y. City.)
8. “Corner of summer studio
at Concord, Mass.
1886.”
9. “Daniel Chester French in New York” (Photograph of the sculptor working in his New York studio. No studio address on reverse.)
10. “Studio of Daniel Chester French,
photographed by A.W. Hosmer,
Concord, Massachusetts.
Presented by Olive Hosmer, June 1953."
(Description of photograph taken from the reverse side.)
11. “Bas relief of Annie Shepard Keyes, now Mrs. Edward Waldo Emerson.
Photograph by Alfred E. Swift, October 18, 1925, at the House of
Prescott Keyes.
Incised on the back of the original:
‘D.C. French, Sculptor.
July 1870,
Concord,
Mass.’
Miss Keyes born May 4, 1847.
Mr. French born April 20, 1850.”
(Preceding text is handwritten on the reverse of the photograph. No studio address on reverse.)
12. “John Harvard.
Erected at Cambridge, Mass.
1884” (View from right)
13. “John Harvard.
Erected at Cambridge, Mass.
1884”(View from left)
14. “The Minute Man of Concord.
1875.” (Two photographs: views from front and left. Reverse also has partial photograph of unidentified sculpture, the same as no. 5 above, different section.)
15. “The Minute Man of Concord
1875
(Photographed from the plaster model.)”
16. Lewis Cass (Caption of photograph as read from the base of the sculpture. No studio address on reverse.)
17. “Labor. Department of Fine Arts.” (Caption of photograph handwritten on reverse along with the following:
“Miss Marion B. Keyes
with the compliments of
Dan Chester French,
Concord Mass,
Sept 10 1883.
(No studio address on reverse.)
18. Photograph of Ralph Waldo Emerson Statue. Signed by Daniel Chester French. Dated 1913. On the reverse is a page distributed by the Emerson Statue Committee, soliciting contributions for the erection of the statue. Includes two copies of the mounted image and an additional page of the committee advertisement. Handwritten on one copy: “Presented by George A. King 1915.” (No studio address on reverse of either copies.)
c2011 Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Mass.
Not to be reproduced in any form without permission of the Curator of Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library.
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