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COLLECTION Identifier: MC 989

Papers of Jocelyn Brodie, 1967-1979

Overview

Correspondence between artist and educator Jocelyn Brodie and urbanist and cultural critic Lewis Mumford documenting their professional and personal relationship.

Dates

  • Creation: 1967-1979

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Jocelyn Brodie is held by the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

1.46 linear feet (3+1/2 file boxes)

Collection contains correspondence between Jocelyn Brodie and Lewis Mumford documenting their professional relationship, beginning with Brodie's 1967 proposal to create a children's book based on Mumford's Sticks and Stones: A Study of American Architecture and Civilization, as well as their personal relationship, which included a period of romantic involvement. Brodie's letters to Mumford were returned to her by Mumford in 1976 with several letters featuring notations by Mumford. Also included are a small number of letters from Mumford's wife, Sophia, many of which document her feelings about Brodie's affair with Mumford.

BIOGRAPHY

Artist and educator Jocelyn (Levine) Brodie was born in Brooklyn, New York, where she graduated from Brooklyn Ethical Culture School. She later attended Cooper Union Art School (1947-1949) and graduated from Bennington College (BA 1951) and Keene State College (M.Ed 1970). In the 1950s she studied, painted, and exhibited in Europe and New York, and in 1955 she married artist Gandy Brodie. They had one child, Shane; Gandy Brodie died in 1975. In 1961 they moved to Vermont, forming the Gandy Brodie School of Fine Arts. Jocelyn Brodie taught art and directed the Newfane Gallery in Newfane, Vermont, and the Thorne Memorial Art Gallery in Keene, New Hampshire, and was active in numerous cultural organizations in Vermont and New Hampshire.

Physical Location

Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession number: 2012-M81

The papers of Jocelyn Brodie were acquired from her son, Shane Brodie, in 2012.

Processing Information

Processed: April 2019

By: Johanna Carll

The Schlesinger Library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.  Finding aids may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.

Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
Sponsor
Processing of this collection was made possible by the Jeannette Ward Fund.
EAD ID
sch01661

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

Contact:
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