Chenoweth Hall papers
name: label: Creator
content: Hall, Chenoweth, 1908-1999
label: Names
content: Colwell, Miriam, 1917-
topic: label: Occupation
content: Authors -- Maine
label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- Maine
label: Occupation
content: Art teachers -- Maine
label: Topic
content: Women authors
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women sculptors
label: Topic
content: Women educators
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated in 2001 by Miriam Colwell.
creator: label: Creator
content: Hall, Chenoweth, 1908-1999
setName: label: See more items in
content: Chenoweth Hall papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of sculptor, writer, and teacher Chenoweth Hall measure 5.9 linear feet and date from circa 1870s-2001, with the bulk of the records dating between 1938-1999. The papers document Hall's career through personal and professional files, correspondence, writing files, printed materials, photographs, and some artwork.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Chenoweth Hall (1908-1999) was a sculptor, writer, musician, and teacher from Prospect Harbor, Maine. Born in Indiana, Hall attended college at the University of Wisconsin where she was initially enrolled as an architecture student, but ultimately changed majors to study music. Hall moved to New York, took classes at Columbia University Teachers College, and became a licensed teacher in New York. There, her primary employment was account executive at an advertising agency, a position she subsequently credited with improving her writing. 

After moving to Maine in the late-1930s, Hall became a free-lance fiction writer working on short stories, novellas, and novels, and met Miriam Colwell, a writer who became her lifelong partner. 

Hall's stories were published in newspapers and magazines, and her novel, Crow on the Spruce, was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1946. In 1968, Hall wrote the text for photographer Bernice Abbott's Portrait of Maine.

Hall began exhibiting her sculpture in the 1950s, with one-man shows at Cape Split Gallery, Maine Art Gallery, University of Maine, Joan Whitney Payson Gallery, and the Philips Gallery. She also exhibited in group shows at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Portland Museum of Art, Shore Gallery, and Hobe Sound Gallery. Hall was commissioned by the Pierre Monteux Foundation to install a sculpture at the Monteux School in Maine. Her work is also found in the collection at the University of Maine, Orono, and in the homes of private collectors.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 5.9 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1870s-2001
label: Date
content: bulk 1938-1999
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.hallchen
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Video recordings
label: Type
content: Sketchbooks
label: Type
content: Drawings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 6 series.

Series 1: Personal and Professional Files, 1905-1989 (Boxes 1, 7; 0.5 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, circa 1938-circa 1981 (Boxes 1-2; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 3: Writing Files, circa 1938-1970 (Boxes 2-5; 3.2 linear feet)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1940-1999 (Boxes 5, 7; 10 folders)

Series 5: Photographs, circa 1870s-1990s (Boxes 5-6, 8; 0.7 linear feet)

Series 6: Artwork, 1937-1990 (Boxes 6-7; 8 folders)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed and a finding aid prepared by Christopher DeMairo in 2020.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Video recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketchbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of sculptor, writer, and teacher Chenoweth Hall measure 5.9 linear feet and date from circa 1870s-2001, with the bulk of the records dating between 1938-1999. The papers document Hall's career through personal and professional files, correspondence, writing files, printed materials, photographs, and some artwork.

Personal and professional files contain biographical materials such as resumes, biographical summaries, and family histories; gallery, exhibition, and financial files; papers related to talks given by Hall; education and employment records; an inventory of sculptures; and one VHS recording. 

Correspondence is between Hall and Miriam Colwell and their families, as well as with publishers, literary agents, and fans regarding Hall's writings. Also found is correspondence with artists, galleries, and museums. 

Hall's writing files form the bulk of the collection and include drafts, handwritten and typed, of her stories, novellas,  novels, and plays; notebooks, notes and other writings; and a handwritten copy of Colwell's book, Young (1955). Printed materials include clippings, exhibition material, and other printed ephemera. Photographs depict Hall's sculptures, one exhibition at the University of Maine, and Hall's family and friends. Hall's artwork found in the collection includes illustrated folders, sketchbooks, and loose sketches.