H. Maxson Holloway papers
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Creator
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Language of Materials
Abstract
This collection contains materials related to the personal and professional life of H. Maxson Holloway, curator at N-YHS and other institutions, including correspondence to and from family, friends, and professional associates, as well as material relating to his time in the United States Navy Reserve. It includes letters, employment applications, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Also included are military documents, awards, and decorations.
Biographical Note
Harold Maxson Holloway was born on January 11, 1907 in Cedar County, Iowa to Albert Holloway and Nannie Maxon. He was the second of three children. He attended the University of Iowa and the University of Alabama, where he received degrees in Library Science and Journalism. He also received a Rockefeller Foundation Internship from 1936-1937, and attended some graduate level classes at New York University.
Holloway was employed as the director of Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama (1931-1936); as a part-time employee of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration at the Cooper Union in New York City (1937-1938); as a curator at the New-York Historical Society (1938-1947); director and one of the founders of the Saginaw Museum in Saginaw, Michigan (1947-1949, 1956); the director of the Chicago Historical Society (1949-1956); and director of the Rensselaer County Historical Society in Troy, New York (1957-1966).
In 1942, while employed at the New-York Historical Society, Holloway enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve in a response to the outbreak of World War II. He was stationed at Guantanamo Bay and on the USS Potawatomi. He received an honorable discharge in 1945 at the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade). After being discharged from the United States Navy Reserve, Holloway returned to the New-York Historical Society, and continued to work in multiple positions within the museum curation field for many years, while also traveling extensively in both the United States and Europe.
In 1956, Holloway suffered from a heart attack, after which he was demoted from his position at the Chicago Historical Society, and had trouble finding new work. Though he did eventually find new employment at the Rensselaer County Historical Society, Holloway suffered from ill health for the rest of his life. He died on August 12, 1966 of prostate cancer.
Arrangement Note
This collection has been arranged into two series:
Series I: Correspondence
Series II: Military Service
Scope and Contents Note
This collection follows the professional career of H. Maxson Holloway, including his ongoing search for employment as a museum curator. It consists primarily of professional correspondence, letters to family and friends, and receipts, news clippings and other ephemera. It also documents Holloway's military service in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the collection is the way it documents the job hunting process in the 1930s through the 1950s. This collection includes a substantial number of letters between Holloway and the numerous museums he contacted throughout the United States regarding employment. Because Holloway saved both correspondence addressed to him and carbon copies of typewritten letters that he sent out, the collection offers a rare and complete picture of job hunting conventions for the time period.
Other correspondence describes travel plans and experiences, family matters, deaths of friends and family, and gossip within the museum community.
Holloway was a curator for the New-York Historical Society from 1938 to 1947, with a leave of absence during his World War II service. The collection includes a number of letters to and from employees of N-YHS both during and after his employment at the institution, generally about personal rather than business matters.
There is also one box of documents from Holloway's time serving in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II. Materials include news and magazine articles, ephemera, photographs, correspondence, and official military papers.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers.
Portions of the collection that have been microfilmed will be brought to the researcher in that format and can be made available by Interlibrary loan. Researchers on site may print out unlimited copies from microfilm reader-printer machines at per-exposure rates. See guidelines in Reading Room for details.
Items that include presidential signatures will be presented to researchers in duplicate form.
Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact manuscripts@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Use Restrictions
This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation Note
This collection should be cited as the H. Maxson Holloway Papers, MS 3012, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Provenance
Gift of H. Maxson Holloway and family, 1962, post-1966.
About this Guide
Repository
Series I: Correspondence, 1924-1966
Arrangement Note
This series contains correspondence both to and from H. Maxon Holloway, and retains its original arrangement by year or year range, and then by the name of the recipient within that year. Letters to and from Holloway's parents were kept separate and are arranged chronologally.
Correspondence: 1920s-1940s, 1930-1949
Correspondence: 1950-1955, 1950-1955
Correspondence: 1956, 1956
Correspondence: 1957-1958, 1957-1958
Correspondence: 1960-1963, 1960-1963
Correspondence: 1962-1966, 1962-1966
Family Correspondence, 1935-1945
Series II: Military Service, 1942-1944, inclusive
Scope and Arrangement Note
This series is arranged by format and is organized into the following categories:
Correspondence from family members or close friends;
Newspaper clippings and magazine articles relating to the navy and being a sailor, and clippings from notices put in the local newspaper when Holloway was on leave to visit family;
Ephemera such as Holloway's dog tags, medals, and pins, as well as invitations, cards, receipts, and more. Also included is a desk placard with Holloway's name and rank, as well as a panoramic photograph of his navy training class;
Military Awards including Holloway's certificates for completing different training courses, his promotion, and his honorary discharge, as well as photostats of some of the awards; and
Official military documents such as rosters, officer duty lists, memoranda, immunization records, applications for promotion, orders to active duties, etc.
Correspondence, 1942-1944
Newspaper Clippings and Magazine Articles, 1942-1944
Ephemera, 1942-1944
Separated Materials Note
Desk name plaquard and panoramic photograph of United States Navy Class stored in Box 7.