Russell Meriwether Hughes photographs, watercolors, and ephemera
Overview
Photographs, watercolors and ephemera of American dancer, teacher and choreographer, Russell Meriwether Huges, known as La Meri.
Dates
- 1920-1988
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
1 linear feet (1 box and 1 portfolio box)The collection features photographs relating to the career of Russell Meriwether Hughes, know professionally as La Meri, as well as several watercolors attributed to her, pamphlets, and clippings. It is comprised mainly of individual portraits of La Meri in ethnic costumes and dance poses, primarily depicting the dances of India, Indonesia, Persia, and the Philippines, though Eastern Europe and Spain are also represented.
Biographical / Historical
Russell Meriwether Hughes (1898-1988), also known as La Meri, was an American dancer, teacher, scholar and choreographer specializing in ethnic Spanish and Indian dance. She co-founded the School of Natya with Ruth St. Denis in 1940 and founded Ethnologic Dance Center and the Ethnologic Dance Theater in 1945.
Arrangement
Organized into the following series:
- I. Photographs
- II. Watercolors
- III. Ephemera
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Physical Location
b, pf
Immediate Source of Acquisition
91-92.004. Gift of Anna Erskine Crouse, 1991 July 2.
General note
This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.
Processing Information
Processed by: Emma Clement
- Title
- Hughes, Russell Meriwether, 1898-1988. Russell Meriwether Hughes photographs, watercolors, and ephemera, 1920-1988: Guide.
- Author
- Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02410
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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