Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America
Archives related to: McCormick, Cyrus Hall, 1859-1936
| title | McCormick family photographs and graphic materials, 1842-1966 | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Photographs and other graphic materials relating to the family of Cyrus Hall McCormick. Included are cartes-de-visite, lithographs, informal photographs, formal studio photographs, tintypes, painted porcelain, daguerreotypes, and photo albums featuring the children and grandchildren of Cyrus Hall McCormick; the Fowler, Spice, and Merrick families; the Robert McCormick family; and friends of the McCormicks. Also included are a number of oversized materials concerning McCormick genealogy and the genealogy of related families. One item of particular note is the 1923 death mask of Nettie Fowler McCormick. |
| extent | 14.0 c.f. |
| formats | Photographs Prints |
| access | Restricted: The death mask of Nettie Fowler McCormick is closed to research due to its fragile condition. (10/10/2002 LCG) |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| updated | 03/16/2023 10:29:59 |
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| title | McCormick family travel photo albums, 1900-1935. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Thirty photograph albums which belonged primarily to Cyrus Hall McCormick, Jr. and documented the McCormick family’s extensive trips throughout Europe and South America. Many of the albums are postcard albums consisting of postcards and commercial (stock) photographs, while others combine postcards, commercial photographs, and original photographs taken by Cyrus, Jr. or other members of the travelling parties. Four of the albums appear to have belonged to Cyrus, Jr.’s nephew, Fowler McCormick, documenting his European tours. Also included is one box of loose travel photographs. |
| extent | 4.2 c.f. |
| formats | Photographs Postcards |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| finding aid | This collection is unprocessed. |
| acquisition information | Forms part of the McCormick Collection. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Business papers--real estate and trusts, 1897-1936. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Composed primarily of monthly, quarterly, and annual statements of the income from real estate owned wholly or in part by Cyrus H. McCormick, Jr., or administered by him as trustee or executor. Reports on trusts for Mary Virginia McCormick, Stanley McCormick, Elizabeth Morss, and Sarah E. Stickney are included here, as well as reports on the estates of Elizabeth McCormick and Nettie Fowler McCormick. In addition, a small number of reports are given on properties owned entirely by Harold McCormick, Stanley McCormick (before his property was placed in trust), or Anita McCormick Blaine. Besides real estate reports, more general financial reports by the trustees of Mary Virginia and Stanley are also included, along with legal documents appointing administrators of Stanley’s property in 1906 and 1909. Also present are reports on the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co., and material on the proposed additions to the Reaper Block in 1919. |
| extent | 5.2 c.f. (13 archives boxes) |
| formats | Financial Records Legal Papers |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| finding aid | Box list. Also described in Guide to the McCormick Collection, Margaret R. Hafstad, ed., Madison: 1973. |
| acquisition information | Forms part of the McCormick Collection. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Cyrus Hall McCormick Correspondence, 1870-1936. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Private and business correspondence of Chicago industrialist Cyrus McCormick, Jr., consisting of incoming and outgoing correspondence, copies of monthly financial records, annual reports, newspaper clippings, bulletins, photographs, copies of wills, and other legal documents. A wide variety of subjects is covered, including the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, investments, trusteeships and settlements of estates, charities and donations, membership in many societies, particularly in Chicago, and family affairs. Many segments of the papers concern McCormick’s business life from the time he finished at Princeton University in 1879 until he retired from the board of the International Harvester Company in 1935. Internal operation, plant expansion, acquisition of factories producing materials needed by International Harvester, introduction of new lines of agricultural equipment, and both domestic and foreign marketing are revealed in communications passing through McCormick’s offices. Frequent trips in the United States and Europe by McCormick and his brothers, Harold, and for a few years, Stanley, produced numerous messages on behalf of their company, an organization that came to own plants in cities other than the Chicago area and had production agreements with many foreign manufacturers. Voluminous correspondence was carried on with other company officials, bankers, lawyers, and competitors. In addition to the business of his companies, McCormick’s papers contain correspondence, reports, stock purchase records, and negotiations concerning a great number and variety of investments. Present are files for McCormick Estates through which the family maintained a large interest in Chicago real estate; the Merchants Loan & Trust Company and the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company, of which McCormick was a director; the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company of San Francisco, through which McCormick invested in mines of the West and Canada; and the Deepwater Coal and Iron Corporation operating in Alabama, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Correspondence and reports on contributions to charities constitute a large portion of the papers, representing hundreds of appeals and giving evidence of a selective response by Mr. and Mrs. McCormick. Motivated by their daughter’s interest in the missionary work of the Waldensian Society, for many years after her death they corresponded with and supported Luigi Angelini at a school operated by the society in Italy. The chief beneficiary of their large Elizabeth McCormick Memorial Fund was child welfare in Chicago, especially open-air schools. The Presbyterian Church, locally and in the mission fields, consistently received communications and funds. From the time of his father’s death until his own, McCormick showed great concern for the McCormick Theological Seminary, of which he was a trustee and treasurer and for which his papers contain much correspondence concerning faculty, buildings, minutes of meetings, and treasurer’s reports. In 1889 he became a trustee for Princeton University, and for the remainder of his life corresponded with faculty members and other trustees. To a lesser extent his papers contain letters and reports relating to Lake Forest University, of which he was a trustee, and to other schools such as Dubuque Theological Seminary (Iowa), Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (Virginia), Macalester College (Minnesota), and Washington and Lee University (Virginia). Institutions in and near Chicago, such as the Allendale Farm for Boys, Olivet Institute, and Presbyterian Hospital, also received his attention. The work of the Young Men’s Christian Association was of particular interest to McCormick, and there is ample evidence that he served as a working member of the Chicago YMCA and the board of the International Committee. The papers also demonstrate the McCormicks’ interest in the Young Women’s Christian Association and the Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago. In 1917, McCormick’s service as a member of the government’s Special Diplomatic Mission to Russia (the Root Commission) produced letters, reports, and clippings concerning post-revolutionary economic and social conditions there, including progress of International Harvester Company agents in Russia. McCormick was often asked to help welcome dignitaries to Chicago, and committee plans for receiving men such as Admiral George Dewey, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, Georges Clemenceau, and David Lloyd George are filed with his papers. The McCormicks corresponded with the composer Serge Prokofiev, the pianist Gunnar Johansen, and the painter Vladimir Perfilieff; filed clippings concerning the Chicago Grand Opera; and gave active support to the Chicago Opera Association, the Art Institute, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Chicago Historical Society. He was particularly interested in the City Club of Chicago, the Commercial Club, and the National Civic Federation. Numerous letters to, from, and about his mother, other family members, and relatives in the Adams, Esselstyn, Fowler, Hammond, McCormick, Merick, Shields, Spicer, and Stickney families are included. McCormick was involved in the administration of family estates and trusts for which many records appear in both his correspondence and business files. He administered the estates of his parents, and of his first wife, Harriet, and of her aunt, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Stickney; was a trustee for the estates of his mentally incompetent sister, Mary Virginia, and brother, Stanley; advised his sister, Anita, on investments; and handled funds established in memory of his daughter and his wife. Very limited material appears related to his second wife, Alice Marie Hoit, whom he married in 1927. Her correspondence concerning the YWCA in included, a few letters and clippings make reference to her, and she signed many letters for him while she was McCormick’s secretary prior to their marriage. |
| extent | 120.4 c.f. |
| formats | Business Papers Personal Papers Correspondence Legal Papers Photographs |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| finding aid | Box list. Also described in Guide to the McCormick Collection, Margaret R. Hafstad, ed., Madison: 1973. An alphabetical index to names and topics fills four index boxes located on 3M/ 5/J3. |
| acquisition information | Forms part of the McCormick Collection. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Diaries, appointment books, letterbooks, school books, memorial volumes, 1875-1936. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Volumes dealing with both business and personal matters in the life of Chicago industrialist Cyrus McCormick, Jr. The diaries contain references supplementing the correspondence found in other series by recording contacts and comments often not found in letters. For example, Cyrus, Jr.’s detailed diary of disagreements and negotiations with his uncle and counsin, Leander J. and Robert Hall McCormick, appears for 1879, when the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company was agreed upon. McCormick’s office staff also kept diaries and journals for him and both he and his staff recorded appointments. Letterbooks of particular interest are his traveling copy books which contain letters to his parents and other business associates, 1881-1885 and 1887. Other volumes include his personal health record, 1888-1894; school books from high school and Princeton University; congratulatory letters on the births of his children; condolences on the death of his wife and on his own death; printed musical compositions by McCormick; clippings concerning Cyrus McCormick, Sr.; and letterbooks touching on family history, the McCormick Theological Seminary, the Elizabeth McCormick Memorial Fund, and the private letters of John R. Hoagland, 1884-1895 |
| extent | 9.6 c.f. (19 archives boxes and 8 oversize volumes) |
| formats | Diaries Correspondence Ephemera Business Papers Personal Papers |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| finding aid | Finding aid: Box list. Also described in Guide to the McCormick Collection, Margaret R. Hafstad, ed., Madison: 1973. |
| acquisition information | Forms part of the McCormick Collection. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Donation papers, 1880-1937. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Routine records of philanthropic donations by Chicago industrialist McCormick to a variety of organizations and individuals. Grouped by recipient, the files typically include a letter of appeal, McCormick’s or his secretary’s response, his secretary’s letter enclosing the check, letters from the recipient thanking him for the money, and occasional correspondence between McCormick and his secretary on how much to give; all enclosed with a slip for each recipient identifying the subject with remarks on what the donation was for. The individuals McCormick gave to varied from people asking for a few dollars to large yearly donations. Organizations represented include those concerned with world peace, Native Americans, education, the Presbyterian Church of Chicago and the United States, women’s and children’s charities, and Chicago area philanthropies. Miscellaneous volumes in the series are donation record lists, dockets, financial record books, and YMCA International Committee subscription books. |
| extent | 14.4 c.f. (38 archives boxes) |
| formats | Legal Papers Financial Records |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| finding aid | Box list. Also described in Guide to the McCormick Collection, Margaret R. Hafstad, ed., Madison: 1973. |
| acquisition information | Forms part of the McCormick Collection |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Historical interest documents, 1891-1928. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Documents representing the historical interests of Chicago industrialist Cyrus McCormick, Jr., including correspondence often carried on through his secretaries and generally with people or organizations involved in historical research and publications; reports; and articles from newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets pertaining to the harvester and diverse historical subjects. The subjects covered vary from archeological investigations at Sardis, Turkey, to the evolution of the McCormick reaper. A large part of the series is made up of McCormick Historical Association reports, including Herbert Keller’s weekly reports, 1916-1927. The last box contains photostats and typewritten copies of the Woodrow Wilson--C. H. McCormick, Jr., correspondence from 1891 to 1924. |
| extent | 2.4 c.f. (6 archives boxes) |
| formats | Clippings Ephemera |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| finding aid | Box list. Also described in Guide to the McCormick Collection, Margaret R. Hafstad, ed., Madison: 1973. |
| acquisition information | Forms part of the McCormick Collection |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Home files, 1873-1936. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Letters and other papers which McCormick had kept in his home rather than in his office. The contents of many of the folders are fragmentary, and in effect supplement correspondence or records in other series. Many of the papers relate to organizations and educational projects, mainly for women and girls, which in the early 1920’s were prospective recipients of funds in memory of his first wife, Harriet Hammond McCormick. Particularly extensive are the files on the activities of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in the United States and in China, Japan, and Hawaii, and files on the YMCA. Also included in the Home Files are letters by, to, or about numerous members and relatives of the McCormick family, letters from a few personal friends, material relating to McCormick’s patronage of musicians and musical events, and data on household expenses and maintenance. Included is correspondence, 1892-1934, with the Rev. James G. K. McClure, president of Lake Forest College and president of the McCormick Theological Seminary, and his wife. Also present are recollections of ten men employed by McCormick, Deering, and other agricultural implement manufacturers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who were interviewed in California by Herbert A. Kellar in 1930. |
| extent | 5.6 c.f. (14 archives boxes) |
| formats | Personal Papers Correspondence Financial Papers Ephemera |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
| .................................................................... | |
| title | Letterpress copy books [microform], 1891-1928. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Outgoing correspondence of Cyrus Hall McCormick, Jr., president of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company (later International Harvester), 1884-1918, and chairman of the board, 1918-1935. The letters reflect external business conditions including the unsuccessful attempt in 1890 to combine with other companies to form the American Harvester Company; the successful consolidation with the Deering Harvester Company and other companies to form International Harvester; the role of J. P. Morgan and Company in effecting that consolidation; and problems attendant to the government’s subsequent anti-trust suit. Internal operations such as plant expansions, introduction of new lines, and domestic and foreign marketing are also covered. Other topics include McCormick’s personal investments; his service as trustee of Princeton University, 1889-1936; and his role as a member of the government’s special diplomatic mission to Russia (the Root Commission) in 1917. |
| extent | 72 reels of microfilm (35mm) |
| formats | Correspondence |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| acquisition information | Microfilmed in 1991-1992 with support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The original records have been destroyed. Forms part of the McCormick Collection. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Cyrus Hall McCormick Librarian's files, 1900-1936. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Miscellaneous items kept by McCormick's personal librarian composed of correspondence, telegrams, lists of artworks and catalogs of art for sale, articles, pamphlets, and reports of the library; attesting to McCormick's interest in art, music, Princeton University, and rare books. |
| extent | 4.6 c.f. (12 archives boxes) |
| formats | Correspondence Inventories Catalogs Ephemera |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Cyrus Hall McCormick, Jr., Papers: Subject File | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Papers consisting of correspondence, speeches, articles, maps, telegrams, newspaper clippings, financial statements, accounts, and receipts, reports, and bulletins relating to the business and personal interests of Chicago industrialist Cyrus McCormick, Jr. The papers concern McCormick family activities and estates, the International Harvester Company, United States-Russian relations, and organizations and investments involving McCormick. Included are materials on the Elizabeth McCormick Memorial Fund and its financing of open air schools; minutes and other records from McCormick family conferences; information on the estates of Harriet Hammond McCormick and Nettie Fowler McCormick, and on the affairs of Stanley R. McCormick; correspondence, reports, and minutes of the McCormick Theological Seminary; correspondence and records on Princeton University and the Young Men’s Christian Association; information on Russia in general and on the 1917 Root Commission; and records of many financial investments, especially the Beaver Cove Lumber and Pulp Company, Ltd., a major investment in the timber industry on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. |
| extent | 55.0f c.f. (138 archives boxes and 1 package) |
| formats | Correspondence Writings Financial Papers Clippings Ephemera |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| finding aid | Register. |
| acquisition information | Forms part of the McCormick Collection. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Letterpress copy books [microform], 1891-1928. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Outgoing correspondence of Cyrus Hall McCormick, Jr., president of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company (later International Harvester), 1884-1918, and chairman of the board, 1918-1935. The letters reflect external business conditions including the unsuccessful attempt in 1890 to combine with other companies to form the American Harvester Company; the successful consolidation with the Deering Harvester Company and other companies to form International Harvester; the role of J. P. Morgan and Company in effecting that consolidation; and problems attendant to the government’s subsequent anti-trust suit. Internal operations such as plant expansions, introduction of new lines, and domestic and foreign marketing are also covered. Other topics include McCormick’s personal investments; his service as trustee of Princeton University, 1889-1936; and his role as a member of the government’s special diplomatic mission to Russia (the Root Commission) in 1917. |
| extent | 72 reels of microfilm (35mm) |
| formats | Correspondence |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| acquisition information | Microfilmed in 1991-1992 with support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The original records have been destroyed. Forms part of the McCormick Collection. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Root Commission photographs, 1917. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Two photograph albums and some loose photographs documenting Cyrus McCormick, Jr.’s travels through Russia as a member of the United States government’s Special Diplomatic Mission to Russia (also known as the Root Commission, after its head, former Secretary of War Elihu Root). The Mission was a high-level delegation dispatched by President Woodrow Wilson to foster amicable relations between the U.S. and the new Russian Provisional Government and to discourage the latter from making a separate peace with Germany. The photographs depict scenes in Russia and China; soldiers; civilians; and Commission members. Also included is a map of Russia. |
| extent | 0.4 c.f. |
| formats | Photographs |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| finding aid | This collection is unprocessed. |
| acquisition information | Forms part of the McCormick collection. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | Princeton University Board of Trustees papers, 1903-1935. | repository | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| description | Printed and typewritten reports of various committees of the Princeton University Board of Trustee, received by McCormick as a member of the Board. |
| extent | 2.4 c.f. (6 archives boxes) |
| formats | Reports |
| access | Contact repository for restrictions and policies. |
| record source | http://arcat.library.wisc.edu/ |
| finding aid | Box list. Also described in Guide to the McCormick Collection, Margaret R. Hafstad, ed., Madison: 1973 |
| acquisition information | Forms part of the McCormick Collection. |
| updated | 11/12/2014 11:29:58 |
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| title | M. Knoedler & Co. records, approximately 1848-1971 | repository | The Getty Research Institute |
| description | The records of M. Knoedler & Co. document the business of the prominent American art dealer from the mid-19th century to 1971, when the Knoedler Gallery was acquired by Armand Hammer. The archive traces the development of the once provincial American art market into one of the world's leading art centers and the formation of the private art collections that would ultimately establish many of the nation's leading art museums, such as the Frick Collection and the National Gallery of Art. It brings to the foreground the business side of dealing as artworks shuttled back and forth among Knoedler, fellow dealers, and collectors, documenting developments in art connoisseurship, shifting tastes, the changing role of art in American society, and the essential role of private collectors in the formation of public American art collections. The records provide insight into broader economic, social and cultural histories and the nation's evolving sense of place in the world. The Knoedler Gallery became one of the main suppliers of old master and post-Impressionist paintings in the United States. Financial records of the firm provide crucial provenance information on the large number of artworks in American museums that were sold by the gallery. The archive includes stock books, sales books and commission books; correspondence with collectors, artists, art dealers and other associates; photographs of the artworks sold by the gallery; records from the firm's offices in London, Paris and other cities; exhibition files; framing and restoration records, and records of the firm's Print Department. Selected portions of the archive have been digitized and made available online. Connect to selected digitized portions of the archive. Arranged in 14 series: Series I. Stock books; Series II. Sales books; Series III. Commission books; Series IV. Inventory cards; Series V. Receiving and shipping records; Series VI. Correspondence; Series VII. Photographs; Series VIII. Exhibition files; Series IX. American Department records; Series X. Framing and restoration records; Series XI. Print Department records; Series XII. Other financial records; Series XIII. Library cards, scrapbooks, and research materials; Series XIV. Knoedler family papers Biographical/Historical Note: M. Knoedler & Co. was a successor to the New York branch of Goupil & Co., an extremely dynamic print-publishing house founded in Paris in 1827. Goupil's branches in London, Berlin, Brussels, and The Hague, as well as New York, expanded the firm's market in the sale of reproductive prints. The firm's office in New York was established in 1848. In 1857, Michael Knoedler, an employee of Goupil and a manager for the firm, bought out the interests in the firm's New York branch, conducted the business under his own name, and diversified its activities to include the sale of paintings. Roland Knoedler, Michael's son, took over the firm in 1878 and with Charles Carstairs opened galleries in Paris and London. In 1928, the management of the firm passed to Roland's nephew Charles Henschel, Carman Messmore, Charles Carstairs and Carstairs' son Carroll. In 1956 Henschel died, and E. Coe Kerr and Roland Balaÿ, Michael Knoedler's grandson, took over. In 1971 the firm was sold to businessman and collector Armand Hammer. The gallery closed in November 2011. |
| extent | 3042.6 linear feet (5550 boxes, 17 flat file folders). |
| formats | Auction Catalogs Business Records Correspondence Financial Records Ephemera |
| access | Open for use by qualified researchers, with the following exceptions. Boxes 77, 262-264, 1308-1512, 1969-1974, 3592-3723 are restricted due to fragility. Box 4468 is restricted until 2075. |
| record link | http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2012m54 |
| record source | http://primo.getty.edu/GRI:GETTY_ALMA21129976460001551 |
| contact information | Contact gallery's archivist |
| finding aid | At the Getty Research Institute and over their website. |
| acquisition information | Acquired in 2012. |
| updated | 05/29/2018 14:44:15 |
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