The Library and Research Center of the National Museum of Women in the Arts serves as an archival repository for museum curators, scholars, and students conducting research on women’s contributions to the arts. In the effort to more fully document the work of women artists, the LRC maintains a number of Special Collections within its Archives on Women Artists. A Special Collection includes an artist’s personal papers, correspondence, photographs, and other unique materials. The following collections are available to researchers upon appointment with the archivist. Please call (202) 266-2807 to schedule an appointment.

Ann Kocsis Papers, 1935-1973
Ann Kocsis (d. 1973) was a painter primarily of still lives and views of her own studio. The Ann Kocsis Papers contain mostly the artist’s correspondence with the artists’ associations and galleries from 1935 until 1973. Also included is a scrapbook of reviews and programs from exhibitions which included works by Kocsis. Carbon copies of typewritten biographies of the artist are also in the collection. One photograph of the artist is included.

Anna Lea Merritt Papers, 1863-1922
Anna Massey Lea Merritt (1844-1930) was a versatile artist and writer who executed several major mural commissions, portraits, and paintings on literary and religious subjects. The Anna Lea Merritt Papers consist almost entirely of photographs ranging in dates from 1863 to 1922. The most valuable item in the collection is a photograph album of reproductions of Merritt’s work. The remainder of the collection consists of review articles, a reproduction of a portrait of Anna Lea Merritt, and photographs of Merritt’s youngest sister, actress Marion Lea Mitchell. .

Doris Lee Papers, 1924-1987
Doris Lee was a highly-regarded painter who was awarded several commissions from Life magazine for travel articles and illustrations. The Doris Lee Papers consist of a great variety of materials. Personal objects such as photographs, correspondence, awards, and financial and legal documents make up a large portion of the collection. Ephemera such as periodicals, clippings, calendars, postcards, and exhibition catalogues are included in the collection along with original work by Lee.

Edna Reindel Papers, 1926-1979
Edna Reindel (1894-1990) was a painter, muralist and illustrator, known for her bold, delineated style. She was active from the late 1920s through the 1960s. The materials in this collection span the 1920s through the end of 1970s. The Edna Reindel Papers, although small, consists of a large variety of materials including biographical sketches, photographs, correspondence, short essays, awards, newspaper clippings, magazine articles and other ephemera documenting Reindel’s exhibitions and her career as a magazine illustrator.

Eulabee Dix Papers, 1900-1987
Eulabee Dix (1878-1961) is most famous for her work as a miniature painter. Her work is in several institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Portrait Gallery. Included in the Eulabee Dix Papers is correspondence with friends, patrons, and galleries; photographs; news-clippings; and two scrapbooks containing reproductions of Dix’s work. Manuscripts by Dix of a memoir and a history of miniatures, several medals won by Dix, and her palette and brush are all part of the collection.

The Irene Rice Pereira Papers, 1928-1971
Irene Rice Pereira (1902-1971) was an abstract painter, poet, and philosopher. The Irene Rice Pereira Papers collection contains periodicals, Pereira’s personal address book, notes and inventories on her paintings, a manuscript of Pereira’s memoir, photographs of her work, a copy of her 1957 book, The Lapis and photocopies of Pereira’s notebooks from the originals in the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.

Idah Pratt Scrapbook, 1912-1967
Idah Sidonia Ambuhl Pratt Foster was a newspaper woman who became very involved in women’s rights. This collection is composed of the contents of one scrapbook spanning the dates of 1912-1916. Constructed by Idah Pratt out of a folder sample book, the scrapbook contains a wide variety of material including photographs from the Panama-California Exposition in 1915, correspondence, and articles. Also in the collection is a copy of Pratt’s obituary laminated on a prayer card and copies of her newspaper, Redondo Breeze.

Judith Stein Collection, 1974-2001
Since the beginning of her career in the 1970s, Judith Stein had written extensively and curated many exhibitions highlighting art and artists not typically part of the popular dialog. This collection contains correspondence, copies of Stein’s published writings, ephemera relating to women artists, a single slide of an Oriole Farb lithograph called “4 generations” from 1980, a single framed print of Ouzo by Maurie Kerrigan from 1989, and two Artists’ Books -- square skyscapes by Jody Williams from 1990 and from 2000 Contact, by Kathryn Clark.

Louise Kidder Sparrow Papers, 1900-1986
Louise Kidder Sparrow was a sculptor of portraits and busts from 1924 to 1934, earning her international recognition. The collection contains biographical essays, chronologies, and notes written by Sparrow; clippings, letters to the editor and Sparrow’s obituary; correspondence, ephemera, writings including memoirs, poetry and essays; and 48 of Sparrow’s sculptural tools such as rulers, calipers, wooden and metal modeling tools, loop and ribbon tools, a tape measurer, and improvised tools.

Kleps-Hok Collection on Maria Sibylla Merian
The materials in the Kleps-Hok Collection consist of biographical information, correspondence, notes, photos, facsimiles, and other items relating to the life and work of Dutch naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). The collection spans the years 1620 to 1993.

Maria Messenger Collection of Bookplates
The Maria Messenger Collection of Bookplates is a fine example of a woman's interest in collecting at the end of the 19th century. The collection includes over 2,500 bookplates by American, English, French and Canadian artists dating from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Among these, 150 are by women artists.

Marian Sevens Papers
This collection contains 1116 original sketches, numerous newspaper clippings, correspondence, invitations, photographs, and the personal journal of American artist Marian Stevens.

Valeria Ladd Papers, 1919-1985
Valeria Ladd was a painter of figure abstraction in both oils and watercolor, but is best known for her dance. She directed numerous groups and worked for the Noyes School of Rhythm where a scholarship has been named after her. This small collection contains photographs, an award and clipping, several dance programs, letters from Ladd to her mother, a passport and two notebooks with Ladd’s poetry.

Washington Women’s Art Center Records
This collection consists of brochures and records of membership for this important organization for aspiring and working artists. The collection also contains newsletters for the Center’s members, spanning 1977 to 1988, as well as exhibition and show announcements from 1977 to 1984.

Collection of Bookplates