Lilly Martin Spencer papers
name: label: Creator
content: Spencer, Lilly Martin, 1822-1902
label: Names
content: Sorosis (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Avery, Samuel Putnam, 1822-1904
label: Names
content: Ingersoll, Robert Green, 1833-1899
label: Names
content: Sartain, John, 1808-1897
label: Names
content: Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 1815-1902
topic: label: Occupation
content: Portrait painters -- New York (State)
label: Occupation
content: Genre painters -- New York (State)
label: Occupation
content: Genre painters -- Ohio
label: Occupation
content: Portrait painters -- Ohio
label: Topic
content: Women painters
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 1971 by Lillian Spencer Gates, Spencer's granddaughter.
creator: label: Creator
content: Spencer, Lilly Martin, 1822-1902
setName: label: See more items in
content: Lilly Martin Spencer papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of portrait and genre painter Lilly Martin Spencer, measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1828-1966. The collection includes biographical material, scattered lists, notes, receipts, and legal documents relating to Spencer's life and work, Spencer's business and family correspondence, printed material, a lithograph, photographs of Spencer and others, and photographs of Spencer's artwork.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: New York and Ohio painter Lilly Martin Spencer (1822-1902) was known for her popular portrait paintings and humorous domestic genre scenes. 


Spencer was born Angelique Marie Martin in England to French parents, Giles and Angelique Martin, who were followers of the French social critic Charles Fournier. The family came to New York in 1830, moved to Marietta, Ohio, in 1833 and, in 1845, co-founded the communal settlement, Trumbull Phalanx, near Braceville, Ohio. In 1848, after her marriage to Benjamin Spencer at the age of 22, Spencer returned to New York. She achieved much success as a painter and was the main breadwinner for her family while giving birth to thirteen children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. The family moved several times, to Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio; Newark, New Jersey; and Highlands and Poughkeepsie, New York.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.9 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1828-1966
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.spenlill
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as four series:

Series 1: Biographical Material and Other Papers, 1853-1959 (0.3 linear feet; Box 1, OV 3)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1828-1966 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Printed Material, 1857-1961 (0.2 linear feet; Box 2, OV 3)

Series 4: Photographs, circa 1890-circa 1950 (0.1 linear feet; Box 2)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection received a preliminary level of arrangement after donation and was microfilmed on reel 131. The collection was processed and described in a finding aid by Stephanie Ashley in 2019. The collection was prepared for digitization by Stephanie Ashley and was digitized in 2022 with funding provided by the Lichtenstein Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2022 and is available on the Archives of American Art website. Items not digitized include the full text of some catalogs and other publications, for which only the title pages and relevant pages have been digitized.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of portrait and genre painter Lilly Martin Spencer, measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1828-1966. The collection includes biographical material, scattered lists, notes, receipts, and legal documents relating to Spencer's life and work, Spencer's business and family correspondence, printed material, a lithograph, photographs of Spencer and others, and photos of Spencer's artwork.

The collection documents Spencer's popularity and success as a painter, her involvement with art associations and civic organizations such as Sorosis, and her personal life as a wife, mother, and breadwinner through correspondence with family, artists including John Sartain and Benjamin John Lossing, dealers including Samuel Putnam Avery, writers and editors such as Robert Green Ingersoll and Fannie Raymond Bitter, and social activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also has microfilm (reel 132) of the Martin family papers and Campus Martius Museum records regarding Lilly Martin Spencer. Originals are located at the Campus Martius Museum, Ohio Historical Society.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming on reel 131 including family history; biographical material; circa 50 photographs of Spencer and her paintings; M.A. thesis, "Lilly Martin Spencer: American Painter of the Nineteenth Century," by Ann Byrd Schumer; articles about Spencer's life and work, 1959; and a list of paintings owned by her granddaughter, Lillian Spencer Gates. Loaned materials were returned to the donor and are not described in the collection container inventory.