Anna Coleman Ladd papers
name: label: Creator
content: Ladd, Anna Coleman, 1878-1939 (sculptor)
label: Names
content: American Red Cross. Studio for Portrait Masks (Paris, France)
label: Names
content: Aldrich, William
label: Names
content: Fabbricotti, Gabriella
label: Names
content: Gardner, Isabella Stewart, 1840-1924
label: Names
content: Hammond, Natalie Hays, 1905-
label: Names
content: Southwick, Jessie Eldridge
topic: label: Occupation
content: Authors -- Massachusetts -- Boston
label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- Massachusetts -- Boston
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women sculptors
label: Topic
content: Women authors
label: Topic
content: Works of art
label: Topic
content: Portrait sculpture
label: Topic
content: Architectural sculpture
label: Topic
content: Artists' studios -- Photographs
label: Topic
content: World War, 1914-1918
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Anna Coleman Ladd papers were donated in 1991 by William Terry on behalf of Robert Edwards, a friend of Anna Coleman Ladd.
creator: label: Creator
content: Ladd, Anna Coleman, 1878-1939 (sculptor)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anna Coleman Ladd papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd measure 4.26 linear feet, date from 1881-1950, and document the career of sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd. Found within the papers are biographical material, letters, diaries, financial material, notes and writings, art work, a file concerning the American Red Cross Studio for Portrait-Masks, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: Born in 1878 in Philadelphia to John and Mary Watts, Anna Coleman Ladd (née Watts) was educated in private schools and Europe. She also studied in America under Charles Grafly.

She moved to Boston in 1905 and married Boston pediatrician Maynard Ladd with whom she had two daughters, Gabriella May Ladd and Vernon Abbott Ladd. Working in her studio on Clarendon Street, Ladd became one of the city's most prolific sculptors, creating fountain pieces, portrait busts, memorials, and reliefs in addition to authoring two novels, Hieronymus Rides in 1912, and The Candid Adventurer in 1913.

Between 1907 and 1915, Ladd had solo exhibitions at the Gorham Gallery in New York, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Pennsylvania Academy in Philadelphia. She was also invited to exhibit her bronzes at the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco. In 1914 she executed a bronze statuette of Eleanora Duse for which the actress posed, and later completed portrait busts of Anna Pavlova and Ethel Barrimore.

In late 1917 in Paris, Ladd founded the American Red Cross Studio for Portrait-Masks to provide cosmetic masks to be worn by men who had been badly disfigured in World War I. Her services earned her the Légion d'Honneur Crois de Chevalier and the Serbian Order of Saint Sava.

For many years, Ladd maintained a summer studio "Arden" at Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts. In 1923, she received an honorary degree of Master of Arts from Tufts College.

Anna Coleman Ladd died June 3, 1939 in Santa Barbara, California.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.26 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1881-1950
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.laddanna
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Diaries
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: The collection is arranged as 10 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and closed to researchers.

Series 1: Biographical Material, 1910-1950 (Box 1; 4 folders)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1895-1937 (Box 1-2; 1.1 linear feet)

Series 3: Diaries, 1903-1912 (Box 2; 2 folders)

Series 4: Financial Material, 1899-1934 (Box 2; 6 folders)

Series 5: Writings and Notes, 1888-1949 (Box 2, 6, OV 7; 0.6 linear feet)

Series 6: Artwork, 1901-1928 (Box 2, 6, OV 7; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 7: American Red Cross Studio for Portrait-Masks File, 1914-1925 (Box 2-3, 6; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1900-1940 (Box 3; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 9: Printed Material, 1889-1942 (Box 3, 6, OV 7; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 10: Photographs, 1881-1932 (Box 4-6, MGP 1; 0.8 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information note
content: The papers were processed by Jean Fitzgerald in December 2005 and were prepared for scanning in 2012 by Jayna Hanson, with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives were re-housed in 2015 with a grant provided by the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection was digitized in 2014 and is available via the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: The papers of sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd measure 4.26 linear feet, date from 1881-1950, and document the career of sculptor Anna Coleman Ladd. Found within the papers are biographical material, letters, diaries, financial material, notes and writings, art work, a file concerning the American Red Cross Studio for Portrait-Masks, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs.

Biographical materials are scattered and include calling cards, biographical sketches notes, and certificates.

Correspondence includes letters written to Anna Coleman Ladd from various family members, friends, and colleagues. Notable correspodents include William Aldrich, Gabriella Fabbricotti, Isabella Stewart Gardner, Natalie Hays Hammond, and Jessie Eldridge Southwick.

Diaries are daily diaries dating from 1903-1905 and from 1911-1912. Each diary includes short descriptions of Ladd's days.

Financial materials include receipts, stock certificates, travel materials, lists, and an account book for Dr. Maynard Ladd.

Writings and notes consists of notebooks, lists of works of art, inventories, manuscripts by Ladd and by others.

Artworks include two sketchbooks, loose drawings, and a plaster relief by Ladd as well as several sketches by others.

American Red Cross Studio for Portrait-Masks files include correspondence, writings, a scrapbook, printed materials, and photographs. Materials concern portrait masks used to disguise the disfigured faces of World War I veterans.

Scrapbooks consists of three scrapbooks containing photographs, printed materials, and writings.

Printed materials include clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs for Ladd's works, books and booklets, and posters, some of which are French World War I propaganda.

Photographs include photographs of Anna Coleman Ladd with her works of art and in the studio, Dr. Maynard Ladd, friends, family, colleagues, and works of sculpture.