- Collection Overview
- Collection Description & Creator Information
- Access & Use
- Collection History
- Find Related Materials
Expanded View
Collection Overview
- Creator:
- Morris, Harrison S. (Harrison Smith), 1856-1948
- Title:
- Harrison S. Morris Papers
- Repository:
- Manuscripts Division
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/f4752g73s
- Dates:
- 1784-1970 (mostly 1895-1935)
- Size:
- 341 boxes and 34 items
- Storage Note:
- ReCAP (scarcpxm): Box 1-341
- Language:
- English
Abstract
Consists of the personal papers of Philadelphia author, businessman, and philanthropist Harrison S. Morris.
Collection Description & Creator Information
- Scope and Contents
The collection consists of the personal papers of Morris, which reflect his interest in the world of letters, art, business, and government, as well as the social world of Philadelphia. The collection includes his original manuscripts for novels ( Hannah Bye and The Landlord's Daughter), poetry ( A Duet in Lyrics, Lyrics and Landscapes, and Madonna and Other Poems), short stories ( Tales from Shakespeare and Tales from Ten Poets), essays ( Papers to Put in Your Pipe), non-fiction ( Confessions in Art), biographies ( Walt Whitman and William T. Richards), and book reviews which appeared in periodicals such as Scribner's Magazine, Ladies' Home Journal, and the Century Magazine. Also included are the original manuscripts for "Books of the Month" published in Lippincott's Magazine.
Much of the collection is related to the American art world of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including correspondence from such artists as John La Farge, Joseph Pennell, J. Alden Weir, William M. Chase, Cecilia Beaux, Childe Hassam, Violet Oakley, J. McClure Hamilton, Elihu Vedder, and the sculptor Augustus S. Gaudens, to name but a few. Also, there are papers from institutions of art such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Corcoran Gallery, the Art Association of Newport (R.I.), the Albright Art Gallery, the Buffalo Fine Arts Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the St. Louis Art Museum, and the National Academy of Design. In addition, the records of the Rome International Art Exposition of 1911, of which Morris was commissioner-general, are included. Additional papers contain family correspondence dating back to the 1860s, as well as a number of daguerreotypes of family members.
Morris's papers reflect his interest in government at all levels, local, state, and national. Also included are the papers of Philadelphia societies and clubs such as the American Philosophical Society, the Browning Society, the Franklin Inn Club, and the Triplets. Morris was related by marriage to the Wharton and Lippincott families of Philadelphia, and his papers contain correspondence with many of the first families of the city. The Keats-Shelley Memorial Committee and the Hall of Fame are also represented. And there is lengthy correspondence between Morris and Robert Underwood Johnson who shared many literary interests, as well as material relating to Walt Whitman whose life and works were for Morris a life-long passion.
- Arrangement
Organized into ten series.
- Collection Creator Biography:
Morris, Harrison S. (Harrison Smith), 1856-1948
Harrison Smith Morris was born in Philadelphia on October 4, 1856, the son of George Washington and Catharine (Harris) Morris. He had two younger sisters, Matilda Harris Morris and Jane Walters Morris, who never married. At the age of sixteen he went to work for the Reading Coal & Iron Company to help support his parents, who were in ill health. In 1893 he became the managing director of the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts, a position which he held until 1905. Morris also served as editor of Lippincott's Magazine, art editor of the Ladies' Home Journal, and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the National Academy of Design. From 1909-1917 he was president of the Wharton Steel Company. His activities brought him in contact with leaders in the artistic and literary world. He also wrote and published his own works, in both English and Italian, on Roman history, literature, and culture, as well as at least seventeen volumes of poetry, fiction, and essays.
Morris married Anna, daughter of Joseph Wharton, on June 2, 1896. Their only child, Catherine Wharton Morris, nicknamed "Kit," was born on January 26, 1899. Harrison Smith Morris died on April 12, 1948. Anna Wharton Morris died on June 21, 1957, at the age of eighty-eight. Catharine "Kit" Morris Wright died in 1988.
Morris, Harrison S. (Harrison Smith), 1856-1948
Harrison Smith Morris was born in Philadelphia on October 4, 1856, the son of George Washington and Catharine (Harris) Morris. He had two younger sisters, Matilda Harris Morris and Jane Walters Morris, who never married. At the age of sixteen he went to work for the Reading Coal & Iron Company to help support his parents, who were in ill health. In 1893 he became the managing director of the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts, a position which he held until 1905. Morris also served as editor of Lippincott's Magazine, art editor of the Ladies' Home Journal, and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the National Academy of Design. From 1909-1917 he was president of the Wharton Steel Company. His activities brought him in contact with leaders in the artistic and literary world. He also wrote and published his own works, in both English and Italian, on Roman history, literature, and culture, as well as at least seventeen volumes of poetry, fiction, and essays.
Morris married Anna, daughter of Joseph Wharton, on June 2, 1896. Their only child, Catherine Wharton Morris, nicknamed "Kit," was born on January 26, 1899. Harrison Smith Morris died on April 12, 1948. Anna Wharton Morris died on June 21, 1957, at the age of eighty-eight. Catharine "Kit" Morris Wright died in 1988.
Collection History
- Acquisition:
Gift of Catherine Wharton Morris Wright (daughter) on February 4, 1974 .
- Appraisal
No appraisal information is available.
- Processing Information
This collection was processed by Judith Golden in 1988. Finding aid word-processed and upgraded by Traci Ballou in 2005.
Boxes 334-339 in Series 10: Additional Papers were processed by Holly Mengel with folder inventory added by Nicholas Williams '15 in 2013.
Access & Use
- Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use
Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
- Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
- Credit this material:
Harrison S. Morris Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/f4752g73s
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Storage Note:
- ReCAP (scarcpxm): Box 1-341
Find More
- Existence and Location of Copies
Some of the manuscripts in this collection have been published. The following were published by J. B. Lippincott of Philadelphia: In the Yule-Log Glow (1892), Madonna and Other Poems (1894), Martial Notes (1929), Masterpieces of the Sea (1912), A Mosaic, Tales from Shakespeare (1893), and Tales from Ten Poets (1893). Also published were: Confessions in Art (N.Y.: Sears, 1930), A Duet in Lyrics (published privately by Harrison S. Morris with co-author John Arthur Henry, 1883), Hannah Bye (Phila.: Penn Publishing Co., 1920), The Landlord's Daughter (Phila.: Penn Publishing Co., 1923), Lyrics and Landscapes (N.Y.: The Century Co., 1908), Odes (published privately by Harrison S. Morris, 1938), and Walt Whitman (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1929).
- Subject Terms:
- Architects--United States--20th century--Correspondence
Art critics--United States--20th century--Correspondence
Art dealers--United States--20th century--Correspondence
Art schools--United States--20th century
Art societies--United States--20th century
Art, American--19th century
Art, American--20th century
Art--Exhibitions--20th century
Arts--United States--Management--20th century - Genre Terms:
- Correspondence
Daguerreotypes (photographs)
Manuscripts - Names:
- Corcoran Gallery of Art.
Albright Art Gallery (Buffalo, N.Y.)
St. Louis Art Museum
National Academy of Design (U.S.) (1828-1997)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
New York University. Hall of Fame
Pennsylvania academy of the fine arts
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. - Places:
- Philadelphia (Pa.)--Intellecutal life--20th century
