Research material on Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, 1896-1980, bulk 1973-1977
name: label: Creator
content: Biddle, Flora Miller
label: Names
content: Whitney Studio Club
label: Names
content: Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt, 1875-1942
label: Names
content: Whitney, Harry Payne, 1872-1930
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art museum directors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Art, American
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women sculptors
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Material on reels 1903-1904 lent for microfilming 1980 and unmicrofilmed material donated 1981 by Flora Miller Irving, granddaughter of Gertrude V. Whitney.
creator: label: Creator
content: Biddle, Flora Miller
setName: label: See more items in
content: Research material on Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, 1896-1980, bulk 1973-1977
abstract: label: Summary
content: The research material on Gertrude Vanderbilt measures 3.0 linear feet and dates from circa 1896-1980. Flora Miller Irving compiled this information around the mid 1970s before the publication of B. H. Friedman's biography of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1978 and is accredited for her research collaboration with the author in the book. Flora Miller Irving chronologically organized copies of primary materials, including article clippings, photographs, and correspondence, that mention her grandmother, Getrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and maintained card index files to help build her life's timeline. The bulk of the collection is made up of this yearly timeline, starting from 1883 to after 1942, when Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney passed. Other portions of the collection include copies of photographs, and index files based on sculptures and people. Irving was also likely aided by her mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's daughter, Flora Whitney Miller.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Flora Miller Biddle, or Flora Miller Irving, was a mother and museum president based in New York. Biddle was born in 1928 and grew up in Aiken, SC, Connecticut, and Taos, New Mexico. Flora would later live with her first husband in New York and New Jersey, where she pursued being a mother and later helped steer the Whitney Museum of American Art as president from 1977-1995. She and her daughters continued to be involved in the museum's operations afterwards.  Flora Miller Irving is the granddaughter of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, renowned sculptor and founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Biddle's mother and Whitney's daughter was Flora Whitney Miller. 

Biddle engaged in several research projects on her grandmother, collaborating with B.H. Friedman on his biography of her in 1978, and writing her own books, The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made in 1999 and Embers of Childhood: Growing Up a Whitney in 2019.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1896-1980
label: Date
content: bulk 1973-1977
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.irviflor
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Clio Lang in 2024.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels 1903-1904 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Reels 1903-1904: Originals (typescripts) returned to Flora Miller Irving after microfilming.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The research material on Gertrude Vanderbilt measures 3.0 linear feet and dates from circa 1896-1980. Flora Miller Irving compiled this information around the mid 1970s before the publication of B. H. Friedman's biography of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1978 and is accredited for her research collaboration with the author in the book. Flora Miller Irving chronologically organized copies of primary materials, including article clippings, photographs, and correspondence, that mention her grandmother, Getrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and maintained card index files to help build her life's timeline. The bulk of the collection is made up of this yearly timeline, starting from 1883 to after 1942, when Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney passed. Other portions of the collection include copies of photographs, and index files based on sculptures and people. She was also likely aided by her mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney's daughter, Flora Whitney Miller.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Related material found in the Archives includes the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Papers.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels 1903-1904) including ten volumes of typescripts, of journal entries, correspondence, writings, and notes to references in the New York Times on the Vanderbilt and Whitney families. Loaned materials were returned to the donor and are not described in the collection container inventory.