Family Correspondence
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Dreier, Dorothea A., 1870-1923
setName: label: See more items in
content: Dorothea A. Dreier papers
label: See more items in
content: Dorothea A. Dreier papers / Series 2: Correspondence
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1881-1923
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.dreidoro, Subseries 2.1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: This subseries has been scanned in its entirety.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: Family correspondence consists of letters from relatives including members of her immediate family and more distant relatives from Germany. Whenever the relationship of the correspondent to Dorothea is known it has been noted in the folder title. Scattered throughout are letters from Dorothea; most of these were written to her mother (also named Dorothea A. Dreier) and her brother, H. Edward Dreier. Third party correspondence between family members is also found within this subseries.

There is a large group of letters, postcards, telegrams, and a scrapbook containing additional postcards and letters dated 1887, written by Theodor and his daughters Dorothea and Margaret (Gretchen), to Mrs. Dreier, who appears to have remained behind at the family's Brooklyn home while the other correspondents traveled cross-country to California. Some of the early letters between family members are written in German.

Dorothea Dreier enjoyed a close and affectionate relationship with her siblings, which is reflected in their correspondence. In addition to recounting quotidian family news and events, letters from her sisters and brother document the public lives of the correspondents. Her sisters Mary E. Dreier and Margret (Gretchen) Dreier Robins discuss their work for the Women's Trade Union League, the women's suffrage movement and the Bull Moose Party. Her brother Edward's letters provide information about family investments and recount the activities of his wife the suffragist, Ethyl Eyre Valentine Dreier. Dorothea was especially close to her youngest sister Katherine due to their shared interest in the arts. Katherine's letters include references to her painting and studies abroad, exhibitions, and the Cooperative Mural Workshop. However, only one letter, dated September 2, 1920, briefly mentions the Société Anonyme.