Elizabeth R. Payne papers
Scope and Contents
This collection contains three copies of Elizabeth R. Payne's manuscript biography of Anne Whitney. The typescript of "Anne Whitney: Nineteenth Century Sculptor and Liberal" is believed to have been one of Payne's own copies. It includes some of her handwritten edits. The two photocopies, one with copius notes and edits, were in the possession of Lynn Groh, the editor hired by Wilson F. Payne to edit and publish his late wife's work. Groh passed away in 1983 before completing her edits and securing a publisher.
The correspondence, dating from 1966-1971, is between Payne and editors and publishers. The collection also includes some of Payne's notes and the photographs that she collected of Whitney's sculpture.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1960-1983
Creator
- Payne, Elizabeth Rogers (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. To make an appointment to view materials, please contact the Archives staff by email at archives@wellesley.edu or by phone at (781) 283-3745.
Conditions Governing Use
The Wellesley College Archives welcomes researchers to use materials in the public domain, to make fair use of copyrighted materials as defined by copyright law, and to request permission to use works whose copyright is held by Wellesley College. All materials from the Archives, regardless of copyright status, should be attributed to the Wellesley College Archives, Library and Technology Services, Wellesley College when cited, quoted, or reproduced.
Biographical Note
Elizabeth Milward Rogers was born on March 29, 1904 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended Wellesley College, graduating in 1926 with a degree in English Literature. She received her M.A. degree in English from the University of Chicago in 1928, married Wilson F. Payne in 1929, and earned a PhD in English from Yale University in 1935.
Elizabeth, known to most as Betty, taught English at a variety of high schools and colleges before becoming an Instructor in English Composition at Wellesley College in 1937. She stayed at Wellesley until 1943, when her husband's work moved them to Mamaroneck, NY. There, she taught at the Rye County Day School from 1944-1951. When she and Wilson moved back to Massachusetts in the early 1950s she continued to teach, first at Weston High School and then at Pine Manor Junior College, until 1958.
In the early 1960s Payne began her work with the Anne Whitney papers, a collection of over 3,000 letters of the 19th-century sculptor held by the Wellesley College Library. Payne arranged and edited the letters, and eventually began work on a biography of Whitney. She also spent considerable time researching, tracking down, and photographing surviving pieces of Whitney's work. She published a catalogue of Whitney's sculpture in the Art Quarterly in 1962. Payne was in the process of editing her book, titled "Anne Whitney: Nineteenth Century Sculptor and Liberal," when she passed away on January 3, 1973, at the age of 68. The manuscript was never published.
Extent
3.33 Linear Feet (2 record cartons and 2 document boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection contains three copies of Elizabeth R. Payne's manuscript biography of the 19th-century sculptor Anne Whitney, as well as correspondence, Payne's notes, and photographs of Whitney's works.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in 4 series:
I. "Anne Whitney: Nineteenth Century Sculptor and Liberal" unpublished manuscript
II. Correspondence
III. Notes
IV. Photographs
Custodial History
The photographs and typescript of "Anne Whitney: Nineteenth Century Sculptor and Liberal" had been given to Sally Lou Buell in 1982 by the concierge of the apartment complex where Wilson F. Payne, Elizabeth's husband, had lived. The concierge had saved them from the burn pile after Wilson Payne and his second wife, Madeleine Darling Payne, died within months of each other in early 1982.
The photocopy and editor's copy of the manuscript were in the possession of Lynn Groh, the editor contracted by Wilson F. Payne to finish and publish his first wife's work after her death in 1973. Shortly before Groh died in the fall of 1983, she arranged for the two copies to be transferred to Madeleine Darling Payne's heirs, who had agreed to donate them to the Wellesley College Archives. Groh's copies of the manuscript were received by Wellesley College in early 1984.
Provenance
The typescript of "Anne Whitney: Nineteenth Century Sculptor and Liberal" and the photographs were donated by Sally Lou Buell in 2009.
The photocopy and editor's copy of the manuscript were donated by William G. Darling, Sheila Baumgartner, and John Richard Darling, heirs of Madeleine Darling Payne, Wilson F. Payne's second wife, in 1984.
The correspondence was donated by Sidney Kaplan of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1986.
The notes and inventory of the Anne Whitney papers were left in the Wellesley College Library by Elizabeth Payne during her work with the collection, circa 1960-1973.
- Title
- Elizabeth R. Payne papers, circa 1960-1983: A Guide
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Katie Lamontagne
- Date
- November 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Wellesley College Archives Repository