Macena Barton Papers
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Barton, Macena, 1901-1986
setName: label: See more items in
content: Macena Barton papers
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1670
label: Date
content: 1839-1985
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.bartmace, Series 1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Marcena Barton papers concern Barton's career as a painter and also includes unlabeled family photographs and letters from previous generations and artwork by others. 

Two works of art by others are by Adriaen Jansz van Ostade and John J. Cappinger and were likely in the personal collection of Barton.

Biographical materials include address books, awards, a biographical sketch by C.J. Bulliet, examples of holiday cards designed by Barton, relevant medical records, membership cards, and school records. Also found are biographical records of Francis R. McNeilan, Barton's husband, her mother Jesse Rogers, and other Barton family members.

Largely professional, Barton's correspondence concerns the inquiry and sale of portraits, the exhibition of her artwork, and participation in artists clubs and groups. Later correspondence consists of holiday cards from artists friends and colleagues. Letters are from Art Institute of Chicago, Arts Club of Chicago, Clara Baatz, C. J. Bulliet, Carnegie Institute, Natalie Henry and Rowena Fry, and Eleanor Jewett. Also found are Barton family letters.

Founding documents and leases are found for the Chicago No-Jury Society of Artists and the Women Artists' Salon of Chicago, both groups Barton co-founded in the late 1930s. Personal business records consist of receipts, sales records, and scattered tax material. Writings and notes include a radio script entitled "Mona Lisa Hour," possibly written by Bulliet and dedicated to Barton. 

Photographs include portraits of Barton, including one by Helen Balfour Morrison, of Barton with her artwork and in her studio, snapshots with frends, and childhood photos. Extensive vintage family photographs are largely unlabeled aside from the name of Michigan-based photography studios and date from the 1870s to the 1930s. It is unclear but likely they are of Barton's family members. Also found are two portraits of painter Gregory Orloff. 

Printed material include unused blockprint calendars produced by the Chicago Society of Artists, clippings, exhibition announcements and catalogs, and periodicals containing examples of Barton's works. ALso found is a file of printed material relating to C.J. Bulliet and Louis Grell. 

Five scrapbooks contain clippings concerning Barton's career, focusing on her exhibitions.