Series I. Cumming family photographs and papers, 1870s-2012, inclusive
Arrangement
Series I is organized in four sub-series. Material within each sub-series is sorted alphabetically by document type or topic.
Sub-series I.A. Rose Stuart Cumming, 1890s-2012
Sub-series I.B. Dorothy (Cumming) (Elliott) McNab and husbands, 1915-1978
Sub-series I.C. Greville and Anthony Cumming (sons of Dorothy Cumming), 1920s-1970s
Sub-series I.D. Other Cumming and related families, 1870s-1943
Sub-series I.A. Rose Stuart Cumming, 1890s-2012, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Sub-series I.A includes photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, and ephemera relating to interior decorator Rose Stuart Cumming (1887–1968). Of particular interest are the photographs of rooms she furnished (box 1, folders 26–27; box 8, folders 1–5), many of which came from deteriorated scrapbooks, where they were unidentified. A number, however, are reproduced in Jeffrey Simpson's 2012 book Rose Cumming: Design Inspiration, a copy of which may be found in box 1, folder 13. See, too, the vintage booklet "Rose Cumming, Designer of Interiors" (box 1, folder 14), Karl Freund's guided tour/inventory of "The Brownstone House of Rose Cumming, 36 West 53rd Street" (box 1, folder 15), and the Parke-Bernet Galleries 1968 auction catalog of her personal property (box 1, folder 11). The fabric samples in box 2 appear to originate with Rose Cumming Chintzes, a successor business that reproduced and marketed her designs.
Anzac Dinner, 1942, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Rose Cumming, with her sister, Eileen, under the auspices of the Anzac Division of the British War Relief Society, organized a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria to mark Anzac Day in tribute to Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations." ("ANZAC" stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.) Contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, and five copies of the program/menu.
Article: Augusta Owen Patterson, "The Grand Manner in a Triplex," Town & Country, 1947 April, inclusive
Article: Rose Cumming, "A Door Always Open", 1964, inclusive
Scope and Contents
A photocopy of Rose's chapter contributed to The Finest Rooms, By America's Great Decorators (New York: Viking Press, 1964).
Article: Jeffrey Simpson, "Rose Cumming Chintzes -- Honoring the Past," New York Times Magazine, 1980 September 28
Article: David Grafton, "Cafe Society: When Going Out Was Great", [1987?], inclusive
Scope and Contents
Photographs by Jerome Zerbe, a friend of Cumming girls, according to a note on the article.
Article: Mark Hampton, "Grandes Dames of Decorating," House & Garden, 1990 May, inclusive
Article: Jared Du Pont Goss, "Designing Women," Decor, 1995 April / May, inclusive
Article: Arthur Lubow, "Arbus Reconsidered," New York Times Magazine (2 copies), 2003 September 14
Scope and Contents
Rose Cumming's name is visible in photograph of Diane Arbus appointment book from 1959 (p. 40).
Article: John Esten, "Park Avenue Rose," Quest, 2005 March, inclusive
Article: Linda E. Clopton, "By Any Other Name: Rose Cumming, Ltd., American Beauty", undated, inclusive
Auction catalog, 1968 October 19
Scope and Contents
Parke-Bernet Galleries catalog of "English & Continental Eighteenth Century Furniture & Other Decorative Furniture, Old Master Paintings, Decorations, The Personal Property of the Late Rose Cumming."
Book: John Kobler, Otto the Magnificent: The Life of Otto Kahn (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons), 1988, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Kobler dispells the rumor that Rose Cumming was Otto Kahn's mistress.
Book: Jeffrey Simpson, Rose Cumming: Design Inspiration (Rizzoli), 2012, inclusive
Scope and Contents
With an introduction by Rose's grandniece and business successor, Sarah Cumming Cecil (granddaughter of Eileen Cumming Cecil), who has annotated and corrected this copy.
Booklet: "Rose Stuart Cumming, Designer of Interiors", [1920s-1930s], inclusive
"The Brownstone House of Rose Cumming, 36 West 53rd Street", [1960?], inclusive
Scope and Contents
Multiple copies of Karl Freund's guided tour / inventory of Rose Cumming's residence.
Chinese paper mats, undated, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Colorful paper mats, perhaps originally intended for spiritual devotions, from a folder marked "Rose made placemats from these -- bought in Chinatown, NYC."
Ephemera, 1899-1942, 1987, inclusive
Fabric samples, 1978, undated, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Nine fabric samples, some with tags for "Rose Cumming Chintzes" (one bears a copyright date of 1978), and seven small, striped slipcovers or antimacassars.
Letters, 1905-1912, inclusive
Letters from "Gilbert", 1912-1913, undated, inclusive
Letters, 1913-1920, inclusive
Letters, 1921-1928, inclusive
Letters, 1933-1968, inclusive
Letters (undated), undated, inclusive
Letters of condolence to sister, Eileen Cumming Cecil, 1968 February-March, inclusive
Newspaper clippings, 1926-1979, undated, inclusive
Printing plate: "Rose Cumming" stationery, undated, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Printing plate with facsimile signature of Rose Cumming, 515 Madison Avenue, Specialist in Decoration, Antiques, Bibelots, Reproductions of Antique Wallpapers and Chintzes. Materials Wholesale and Retail.
Photographs, interiors (scrapbook) (2 folders), undated, inclusive
Photographs, interiors (loose) (2 folders), undated, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes images by Mattie Edwards Hewitt, more of which may be found in the New-York Historical Society's Mattie E. Hewitt & Richard A. Smith Photograph Collection, PR-26.
Photographs, interiors: Cecil residence, 535 Park Avenue, undated, inclusive
Photographs, interiors: Cecil residence, 153 East 61st Street (magazine tear sheets), [1930s?], inclusive
Photographs, interiors: Rose Cumming shop, East 59th Street (transparencies), 1978-2008, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Bill Kontzias, photographer, "R. Cumming transparencies of original shop in NYC Fine Arts Building, East 59th Street."
Photographs: "Green Shutters," South Main Street, Southampton, New York, undated, inclusive
Photographs: 499 Park Avenue (location of Rose Cumming shop), 1978 April 3
Photographs, personal, circa 1905-1966, inclusive
Photographs, personal, undated, inclusive
Portrait (charcoal), undated, inclusive
Portrait (pastel), 1923, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Framed, oval, pastel portrait of Rose Cumming by Jean Eritziane (1850-1925).
Portrait (watercolor), undated, inclusive
Conditions Governing Access
This portrait survives in multiple, fragile pieces. Handle with care.
Rose Cumming, Inc., 1920s-1981, inclusive
Scrapbook, [1890s], inclusive
Scrapbook, 1897-1906, inclusive
Scrapbook, 1906-1912, inclusive
Scrapbook, 1913-1918, inclusive
Sub-series I.B. Dorothy (Cumming) (Elliott) McNab and husbands, 1915-1978, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Sub-series I.B includes letters, photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera relating to Dorothy (Cumming) (Elliott) McNab (1894–1983) and her husbands, Frank Elliott and Allan McNab. A number of photographs, and a booklet of publicity stills, depict Dorothy, a silent film actress, in costume for her most famous role as Mary, mother of Jesus, in Cecil B. DeMille's 1927 epic "King of Kings." Note that many of the letters Dorothy wrote to her sister, Eileen Cumming Cecil, and to her sons, are incomplete, either missing their final or initial pages. Some carry London addresses, where she lived for a time, or the imprint of her business in Jamaica, Dorothy McNab Ltd., "Fabulous Fabrics, Feminine Fashions."
Diary, 1944 January, inclusive
Diary (project diary), 1971, inclusive
Ephemera, 1910s-1930s, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes an illustrated booklet for Cecil B. DeMille's production of "The King of Kings" (1927) and playbill for Dorothy Cumming's play, "The Woman Brown," opening at the Biltmore Theatre, December 11, 1939.
Letters received, 1915-1969, inclusive
Letters to sister, Eileen Cumming Cecil, 1936, 1970-1976, undated, inclusive
Letters, etc. to sister, Eileen Cumming Cecil re: financial difficulties, 1972-1978, inclusive
Letters to sister, Rose Cumming, 1925-1945, undated, inclusive
Letters to son, Anthony "Tony" Cumming, 1938, undated, inclusive
Letters to unidentified recipients, 1916-1961, undated, inclusive
Newspaper clippings, 1920s-1950s, inclusive
Photographs, miscellaneous, 1920s-1979, inclusive
Photographs, personal, undated, inclusive
Photographs, personal (oversize), 1917, [1927], inclusive
[1st husband] Frank Elliott (a.k.a. Frank Elliott Dakin). Telegram, 1921, inclusive
[2nd husband] Allan McNab (a.k.a. Duncan Allan McNab). Letter and newspaper clippings, 1932, undated, inclusive
[2nd husband] Allan McNab (a.k.a. Duncan Allan McNab). Photographs, personal, undated, inclusive
Sub-series I.C. Greville and Anthony Cumming (sons of Dorothy Cumming), 1920s-1970s, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Sub-series I.C includes letters, photographs, and other material relating to the sons of Dorothy (Cumming) (Elliott) McNab: Anthony "Tony" Cumming (1924– ) and Greville Cobbett Elliott Cumming (1922–1944). Tony served in the U.S. Marines during World War II. Greville, a survivor of polio who became a lieutenant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps of the British Army, was killed during the Battle of Anzio, Italy, on February 28, 1944.
Greville Cumming. Letters, 1934, 1942-43, undated, inclusive
Greville Cumming. Memorial booklet (2 copies), 1946, inclusive
Greville Cumming. Photographs, personal, [1920s-1944], inclusive
Greville Cumming. Photographs, personal (oversize), undated, inclusive
Greville Cumming. School: St. George's School, The Dragon, 1939, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Two issues containing work by Greville Cumming:
Vol. 41, no. 3 (February 22, 1939): "To Iconoclasts" [poem]; "Le Fin" [fiction]
Vol. 41, no. 4 (March 15, 1939): "Glory" [fiction]; "When Others Boasting" [poem]; "Despair" [poem]; ""Through the Night of Dark and --" [fiction]; "Great Contemporaries by Winston Churchill" [book review]
Greville Cumming. School: Princeton University. Dedication of World War II Panels in the Memorial Room of Nassau Hall, 1949 June 12
Anthony "Tony" Cumming. Letters to aunt, Eileen Cumming Cecil, [1940s], 1970, inclusive
Anthony "Tony" Cumming. Letters to aunt, Rose Cumming, [1940s-1950s], undated, inclusive
Anthony "Tony" Cumming. Letters to mother, Dorothy (Cumming) McNab, [1940s], inclusive
Anthony "Tony" Cumming. Photographs, personal and family, [1940s-1970s], inclusive
Anthony "Tony" Cumming. Photographs and negatives, "Tony & Greville", undated, inclusive
Sub-series I.D. Other Cumming and related families, 1870s-1943, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Sub-series I.D includes photographs and other material related to Victor Albert Cumming (1858–1926) and Sarah (Fennell) (Hughes) Cumming (c. 1860–1939), parents of Rose, Eileen, and Dorothy Cumming. Victor's sister, Agnes (Cumming) Harrison, is represented by photographs. And Sarah Cumming's children by her first marriage to Frederick Hughes—Marjorie (Hughes) Loney and Jack Hughes—are represented by letters, newspaper clippings, and photographs.