Series I: Alexander C. Morgan Papers, 1881-1936, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Series 1 consists of the papers of Alexander C. Morgan, arranged in 6 subseries: a) Correspondence b) Relief Cases c) Membership d) Related Artists' Fund Societies e) Financial and Real Estate and f) Notes and Clippings.
Morgan (1849-1933) was a financier and amateur landscape painter who served as president of the Artists' Fund Society from 1910-1933. A cousin of J. P. Morgan, he entered the stock brokerage business at an early age and founded the firm A.C. Morgan & Co., serving as its head until 1928. He was a founder of the Salmagundi Club, a life member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a fellow in perpetuity of the National Academy of Design. His artwork was exhibited at a number of private showings.
Subseries A: Correspondence
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Letters consist largely of requests for assistance and thank you letters. Letters requesting assistance describe conditions of poverty, disability, illness, and old age, and are written by the artists themselves, as well as by family members, friends and charitable organizations on their behalf. Correspondents include John Ward Dunsmore, Secretary of the Artists' Fund Society, and William Merritt Post, Treasurer of the Artists' Fund Society.
Anderson-Aylward, 1923-1933, inclusive
Dunsmore-Dutton, 1924-1933, inclusive
Berneker-Buehler, 1929-1933, inclusive
Chapman-Dewey, 1923-1931, inclusive
Finley-French, 1926-1933, inclusive
Granville-Isador, 1925-1932, inclusive
Jackson-Loweth, 1924-1933, inclusive
MacDowell-Nichols, 1927-1933, inclusive
Nordell-Phelps, 1925-1933, inclusive
Post, 1923-1933, inclusive
Potthast-Price, 1925-1932, inclusive
Raynor-Streatfeild, 1925-1933, inclusive
Tompkins-Winsor, 1929-1933, inclusive
Subseries B: Relief Cases
Scope and Content Note
This bound volume documents aid to artists provided by the Artists' Fund Society. It includes an alphabetized list of recipients followed by brief descriptions of each artist's circumstances and actions taken by the Society to provide help.
Relief Cases, Board of Control, 1931-1933, inclusive
Subseries C: Membership
Scope and Content Note
These records document activities of the membership and legal agreements pertaining to assistance to families of deceased members. The Artists' Fund Society souvenir includes a small landscape painting by Arthur E. Powell.
Annual Dinner Souvenir and Ephemera, 1911 and undated, inclusive
Meeting Notices, 1924-1933, inclusive
Wills and Estates, 1923-1931, inclusive
Subseries D: Related Artist Fund Societies
Scope and Content Note
The Fund for Superannuated Artists was established in the early 1900s to assist aged artists in maintaining suitable homes. It was founded by members of the Artists' Fund Society and the Artists' Aid Society, and in 1932 it dissolved, dividing its money between the two organizations. Correspondence, meeting minutes, notes and memorandums document this history and the 1932 agreement.
Fund for Superannuated Artists, 1923-1932, inclusive
Subseries E: Financial and Real Estate
Scope and Content Note
The majority of these records document the Society's real estate investments.
Bills and Receipts, 1920-1931, inclusive
Mortgages, Becker-Kertyczak, 1923-1934, inclusive
Mortgages, Marx-Villosio, 1924-1934, inclusive
Real Estate Documents, 1924-1933, inclusive
Subseries F: Notes and Clippings
Scope and Content Note
This subseries consists largely of Morgan's hand written notes. A small quantity of newspaper clippings document Artists' Fund Society activities and external developments impacting the Society.