Guide to the Jere Abbott Papers, 1879-1934
Jere Abbott Papers, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine
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Jere Abbott was born on October 5, 1897, to Arthur and Flora (nee Parkman) Abbott in Dexter, Maine. After graduating from Bowdoin in 1920, he did graduate work in science at Harvard and was an instructor of physics at Bowdoin from 1921-1922. During the next six years, he studied art and the history of art in France and Russia, and at Princeton and Harvard. In the spring of 1929 Abbott was invited to start a department of fine arts at Wesleyan University; later in 1929 he helped establish the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Abbott was associate director of the Museum of Modern Art when he resigned in 1932 to become director of the Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton, Massachusetts, a position he held until 1947. Abbott also served for many years as treasurer of the Amos Abbott Co. in Dexter, was a trustee of the Abbott Memorial Library in Dexter for thirty-five years, and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Colby College in 1970.
Jere Abbott died in Dexter, Maine on July 9, 1982, survived by four cousins.
Family papers, chiefly letters dated 1916-1934 from Jere Abbott to his parents, including letters while he was a student at Bowdoin. There are also two sketchpad albums of European sites, drawings, newspaper clippings, programs, and other printed ephemera.
Jere Abbott's correspondence, mainly letters from Jere to his parents. Letters dating from 1916 to 1922 reflect Abbott's years at Bowdoin as student and instructor. Information about Abbott's travel and study in Europe, Russia, and time spent at Princeton and Harvard, is found in letters from 1923 to 1929. Correspondence from 1929 to 1932 includes communication with Wesleyan University and references to his work on the development of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Abbott was Director of the Smith College Museum of Art when letters from 1932 to 1934 were written.
Arranged chronologically.
1916 Sep
1916 Oct-Dec
1917 Jan-Mar
1917 May-Sep
1917 Sep-Dec
1918 Jan-Feb
1918 Mar-Sep
1918 Oct
1918 Nov-Dec
1919 Jan-Feb
1919 Mar-May
1919 Sep-Dec
1920 Jan-Feb
1920 Apr-May
1920 May-Sep
1920 Sep-Oct
1920 Oct-Dec
1921 Jan-Feb
1921 Feb-Mar
1921 Mar-May
1921 May-Jul
1921 Jul
1921 Aug-Nov
1922 Jan-Dec
1923 Jan-Feb
1923 Feb-Apr
1923 Apr-Dec
1924 Jan-Mar
1924 Mar-May
1924 May-Oct
1924 Oct-Dec
1925 Jan-May
1925 Jun-Jul
1925 Jul-Dec
1926 Jan-Feb
1926 Feb-May
1926 May-Nov
1926 Nov-Dec
1927 Jan-Feb
1927 Feb-May
1927 May-Oct
1927 Oct-Nov
1927 Nov-Dec
1927 Dec
1928 Jan-Feb
1928 Feb-Oct
1928 Oct-Nov
1928 Nov-Dec
1929 Jan-Mar
1929 Mar-Apr
1929 Apr-Sep
1929 Sep-Dec
1930 Jan-May
1930 May-Sep
1930 Oct-Dec
1931 Jan-Feb
1931 Feb-Jun
1931 Jun-Dec
1932 Jan-Dec
1933 Jan-Apr
1933 Apr-Jun
1933 Jun-Nov
1933 Nov-Dec
1934 Jan
Undated
Magazine articles and newspaper clippings, some in Russian, most concerning art. There are drawings that were enclosed with correspondence, childhood drawings, two sketchpad albums of European sites, and a manuscript illustrated book. Also included is a report of rank and other Bowdoin College ephemera. Miscellaneous printed material includes the 1884 Westbrook Seminary commencement announcement for Flora S. Parkman, Abbott's mother, and a 1898 certificate of dedication announcing Abbott's baptism.
Arranged alphabetically by material type.
Clippings and articles, 1879, 1925-1930, n.d.
Drawings, 1921-1928, n.d.
Drawings from childhood, n.d.
Ephemera, 1884-1898, 1928-1931, n.d.
Ephemera - Bowdoin College, 1917-1923
Manuscript illustrated book "The Inventive Life of Henry Crabapple," 1931
Photoprint created and signed by Abbott, 1926
Sketchpad album of Europe, 1921
Sketchpad album of Europe, n.d.