Papers of Edward Waldo Forbes and the Forbes family
Overview
Edward Waldo Forbes (1873-1969) was director of the Fogg Art Museum and lecturer in art history at Harvard University, an accomplished artist, and a world traveler. These papers document the personal and professional life of Edward Waldo Forbes and the lives of members of the Forbes family.
Dates
- Creation: 1873-1969
Creator
Language of Materials
English
Extent
37 cubic feet (103 boxes and 15 folders)These papers document the personal and professional life of Edward Waldo Forbes and the lives of members of the Forbes family. They include Edward Waldo Forbes' personal and professional correspondence and papers, diaries and calendars, writings, account books, school papers, lecture notes, and memorabilia. Of note are the manuscript of Edward Waldo Forbes' history of the Fogg Art Museum, papers relating to Gerry's Landing (a riverfront site in Cambridge), papers relating to Harvard Riverside Associates, and papers relating to Edward Waldo Forbes' World War I Red Cross service. Included are diaries belonging to Margaret Laighton Forbes and Sarah Forbes.
Biographical / Historical
Edward Waldo Forbes (1873-1969) was director of the Fogg Art Museum and lecturer in Fine Arts at Harvard University, an accomplished artist, and a world traveler.
Forbes was born into a prominent family on Naushon Island in Massachusetts. His parents were William Hathaway Forbes and Edith Emerson Forbes; his maternal grandfather was Ralph Waldo Emerson. In 1907, Forbes married Margaret Laighton, a notable watercolorist and gardener; they had five children.
Forbes’s long association with Harvard and the arts began when he earned his Harvard A.B. in 1895, having studied with the art historian Charles Eliot Norton. He continued his studies at Oxford and traveled in Europe, returning to Massachusetts n 1902 to establish the Harvard Riverside Associates, an organization dedicated to preserving the landscape adjacent to Harvard. Forbes was appointed a trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1903 and served in that capacity for 63 years. In 1909, he became the second director of Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum. During his 35 years as Director, Forbes and his assistant director Paul Sachs oversaw the impressive growth of the Museum’s collections, staff, property, and reputation. Throughout his life Forbes acquired art, with a particular interest in Italian paintings; gifts and loans from his personal collection contributed significantly to the Fogg Museum’s rise to international prominence.
In addition to his directorship of the Fogg Art Museum, Forbes also served as a lecturer in Fine Arts at Harvard from 1909 to 1935. In 1935, he was named the Martin A. Ryerson Lecturer on Fine Arts, a position he held until 1941. From 1945 to 1957, Forbes was a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was received in installments and processed at various times throughout the years. Accessions of material from Rosamund Forbes (Mrs. Carl) Pickhardt is comprised of twelve accessions received from 1973 through 2001. Material from more one accession is represented in most series. Accession numbers are also recorded with the series descriptions.
- Accession 7202, received 1973
- Accession 7954, received 8/31/1976
- Accession 8729, received 8/15/1979
- Accession 8880, received 5/5/1980
- Accession 9254, received 8/5/1981
- Accession 9540, received 8/26/1982
- Accession 9814, received 8/9/1983
- Accession 10550, received 8/28/1985
- Accession 10831, received 8/26/1986
- Accession 11092, received 5/19/1987
- Accession 11954, received 6/1/1990
- Accession 14266, received 1/19/2001
Inventory Update
This document last updated 2022 September 1.
Processing Information
The collection was re-organized and re-numbered by Barbara Meloni in 1998; it contains material formerly identified as HUG 4401.xx, HUGB F656.xx, and HUH 403. In 2019, Kate Bowers converted to an online inventory with minor edits by Kate Bowers and Robin McElheny.
Creator
- Title
- Papers of Edward Waldo Forbes and the Forbes family
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua20019
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
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