Manuscript Register
PAPERS OF CARL VAN VECHTEN
Collection
Dates: [1939 -- 1960]
1 linear ft.
This
document describes a collection of materials held by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Posted
to Internet: May 2003
Addenda: May 2003
 |
Carl van Vechten holding a lion cub. |
Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research.
Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce
the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials
are available only in the Special Collections Department.
Copyright: Please read The University
of Iowa Libraries' statement on "Property Rights,
Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials"
Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.
Biographical Note
Carl Van Vechten was born on June 17, 1880, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At an early age, he developed an interest in music and theatre that he found hard to satisfy in his hometown. He left Iowa in 1899 to attend the University of Chicago. In Chicago he was able to explore art, music, and opera. He became interested in writing and contributed to the University of Chicago Weekly.
After college, Van Vechten's first job was with the Chicago American. In addition to covering a broad range of topics, he was occasionally asked to provide photographs to go along with his copy.
In 1906, when Van Vechten moved to New York City, he
was hired as the assistant music critic at the New York Times. His
interest in opera prompted him to take a leave of absence from the Times
in 1907, to examine this art form in Europe. While in England he married his
long-time friend from Cedar Rapids, Ann Snyder. The marriage would end in
divorce in 1912.
Van Vechten returned to his job at the New York Times in 1909 and soon became the first American critic of modern dance. At that time, Isadora Duncan, Anna Pavlova, and Loie Fuller were performing in New York.
In 1914, Van Vechten married actress Fania Marinoff. He left his full time newspaper job in the spring, but he continued to write, and published several collections of his essays relating to music, ballet, and cats. Peter Whiffle: His Life and Works, Van Vechten's first novel, was published in 1922.
Van Vechten became very interested in promoting black artists and writers. He was an avid collector of ephemera and books pertaining to black arts and letters, and was a frequent visitor to Harlem. These experiences provided the inspiration for his controversial novel, Nigger Heaven, which was published in 1926. In the future, he would photograph many of the creative people he met in Harlem.
In the early 1930s Miguel Covarrubias introduced Van Vechten to the 35 mm Leica camera. He began photographing his large circle of friends and acquaintances. His earlier career as a writer and his wife's experience as an actress provided him with access to both fledgling artists and established cultural figures of the time. Some of his subjects from this period include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Langston Hughes, Alfred A. Knopf, Bessie Smith, and Gertrude Stein.
Van Vechten's portraits are frequently busts or half-length poses in front of bold backdrops. Dancers were usually photographed on stage. Van Vechten did his own darkroom work, but frequently used an assistant to help set up lights for portrait sittings.
During World War II Van Vechten volunteered at the Stage Door Canteen. Top-notch entertainers frequently performed there for servicemen.
Van Vechten's photographs have been widely exhibited and frequently used as illustrations in books and magazines. He felt very strongly that his collections of manuscripts, letters, clippings, programs, and photographs, many pertaining to creative blacks, should be available for scholarly research. With this in mind, he presented various parts of his collections to several university libraries during his lifetime. Van Vechten remained active, writing and photographing up until his death in 1961.
(This biography was copied from the Library of Congress web site on Van Vechten. For the URL, see below.)
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised mainly of 8 x 10 photographs. There are drafts for one essay on Gertrude Stein. some photocopied correspondence, pamphlet material about Van Vechten and the typescript of a stage adaptation of "The Tattooed Countess."
Related materials
Andrews, Clarence. "Iowa
Literary History 1971 -- 1991." Books at Iowa, April 1992.
Carney, Thomas L. and Joyce Crawford. "The Torch Press: A Preliminary History." Books at Iowa, November, 1974.
Kellner, Bruce. "Baby
Woojums in Iowa." Books at Iowa, April, 1977.
Kuhl, Nancy. Extravagant Crowd : Carl Van Vechten's Portraits of Women. New Haven, Conn. : Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, 2003. Online exhibit available at http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/cvvpw/
Library of Congress, American Memory Project. Creative
Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten.
Sigmund, Jay. Manuscript Collection, The University
of Iowa Libraries. Papers of Jay Sigmund: MsC697
Box List
Box 1
Biographical and bibliographic information
Clippings
"An Evening with George Gershwin." With the Cedar Rapids Symphony conducted by Richard Williams. "An event of Carl Van Vechten -- Cultural Contributions on a Century 1880 --1980." Concert Program
"Gertrude Stein: An Epilogue"
Correspondence,
1939 -- 1960
Typescript,
with revisions. Autographed. 1946
First
draft
Second
draft
Third
draft
"Memorial
to Miss Gertrude Stein." New York Post, December 9, 1946
Index to the photographs
Albee,
Edward
d'Alvarez,
Marguerite
Anderson,
Judith
Barchardy,
Dan
Bankhead,
Tallulah
Belafonte,
Harry
Blixen,
Karen (Isak Dinesen)
Boatright,
McHenry
Brando,
Marlon
Bruskin,
Mark
Calder,
Alexander
Calder,
Alexander (1 smaller photograph)
Carroll,
Diahann
Cather,
Willa
Channing,
Carol
Cooper,
Gladys
David,
Christopher
Dobbs,
Mattiwilda
Dowell,
Coleman
Dullea,
Keir
Fini,
Leonor
Fontanne,
Lynn
Ford,
Ruth
Garden,
Mary
Domingue-Gassieau,
Pierre
Gish,
Lillian
Graham,
Martha and Bertram Ross
Gross,
Chiam
Himes,
Chester
Holiday,
Billie
Jackson,
Mahalia
[Jacob,
Max?]
Johnson,
Philip
Jones,
James Earl
Jones,
LeRoi
Julian,
Doris (5 folders)
Julian,
Doris and her son Stephen Van Ophuigsen (6 folders)
Kaye,
Nora
Kellner,
Bruce
King,
Alexander and Margie
Lenya,
Lotte
Madden,
Donald
Markova,
Alicia
Martin,
Nan
Mencken,
H.L.
Mercer,
Mabel
Mancion,
Francesco
Moore,
Grace
Morgan,
Helen
Morse,
Robert
Mostel,
Zero
Olaf,
Pierre
O'Neill,
Carlotta
O'Neill,
Eugene
Ortega,
Domingo
Plummer,
Christopher
Price,
Leontyne
Quintero,
Jose (2 folders)
Rawlings,
Marjorie Kinnan
Sands,
Diana
17
Belley Grande Rue (Post card)
Shankari
Musicians
Shirley,
George
Short,
Bobby
Stage
Door Canteen
Stanley,
Kim
Stein,
Gertrude
Stein,
Gertrude (five smaller photographs)
Studio
at 27 Rue de Fleurus
Svendson,
Clara
Szell,
George
Taylor,
Paul
Tchelichew,
Pavel
Toklas,
Alice B.
Toklas,
Alice B. (3 smaller photographs)
Turnbull,
Andrew
Unidentified
man
Unidentified
man
Unidentified
man
Van
Dyke, Henry
Van
Ophuigsen, Stephen (6 folders)
Van
Vechten, Carl (3 folders)
Van
Vechten, Carl (photograph of bust)
Van
Vechten and Coleman Dowell
Van
Vechten, Carl and Ethel Waters
Verdy,
Violette
Verret,
Shirley
Waters,
Ethel
Waugh,
Evelyn
Williams,
John
Wolfe,
Thomas
Box
2
May,
2003 Addendum. Gift of Kirkwood Community College
Ailey,
Alvin
Albee,
Edward (2 folders)
Allen,
Betty
Bailey,
Pearl
Baldwin,
James
Cather,
Willa
DuBois,
W.E.B.
Field,
Betty
Gish,
Lillian
Graham,
Martha and Bertram
Himes,
Chester
Kellner,
Bruce
Kellner,
Bruce and Carl Van Vechten
Lenya,
Lotte
Madden,
Donald
Markova,
Alicia
Martin,
Mary
Moncion,
Francisco
Mostel,
Zero
Motley,
Willard
O'Neill,
Eugene
Petry,
Ann L.
Price,
Leontyne
Sands,
Diana
Schuyler,
Phillippa Duke
Stanley,
Kim
Still,
William Grant
Szell,
George
Thomson,
Virgil
Warfield,
William
Waugh,
Evelyn
Williams,
John A.
Wolfe,
Thomas
Box
3
