Oral history interview with Nancy Douglas Bowditch
odd: label: General
content: Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 1 digital wav file. Duration is 1 hr., 38 min.
name: label: Interviewee
content: Bowditch, Nancy Douglas
label: Interviewer
content: Brown, Robert F.
label: Names
content: Brush, George de Forest, 1855-1941
label: Names
content: Faulkner, Barry, 1881-1966
label: Names
content: Pearmain, William Robert, 1888-1912
label: Names
content: Saint-Gaudens, Augustus, 1848-1907
label: Names
content: Thayer, Abbott Handerson, 1849-1921
label: Names
content: Twain, Mark, 1835-1910
label: Names
content: Volk, Douglas , 1856-1935
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New Hampshire
label: Occupation
content: Set designers -- New Hampshire
label: Occupation
content: Costume designers -- New Hampshire
label: Occupation
content: Authors -- New Hampshire
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Women designers
label: Topic
content: Women authors
label: Topic
content: Art, American
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Bowditch, Nancy Douglas
label: Interviewer
content: Brown, Robert F.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Nancy Bowditch (1890-1979) was a painter, a playwright, and costume and set designer. Bowditch was born in Paris, the second eldest child of painter George de Forest Brush. Brush made the artist-colony of Dublin, N.H. his American home, where Mark Twain and daughter Jean Clemens were neighbors. They spent considerable time in Paris and Italy. Nancy married William Robert Pearmain, a childhood neighbor and later, a pupil of her father, in 1909. Pearmain died of leukemia in 1912. Subsequently, she married Dr. Harold Bowditch whose father was instrumental in the development of Harvard University Medical School.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 28 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1974 January 30
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.bowdit74
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Transcript available online.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview of Nancy Douglas Bowditch conducted 1974 January 30, by Robert F. Brown, for the Archives of American Art.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Bowditch speaks of her memories of early childhood; her father, George de Forest Brush, and his work; her relationship with her father; and her education and upbringing. She reminisces about Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Abbott H. Thayer, who were family friends, and their relationships with Brush; her family's home life, their travels in Europe; her family's relationship with Samuel Clemens and family; and her first husband, William Robert Pearmain, his family background, their marriage, his involvement with organized labor and social reform, and his early death from leukemia. She also recalls Douglas Volk and Barry Faulkner.