Virginia Jeffrey Smith papers, 1949-1965

Summary

Abstract:
Virginia Jeffrey Smith was a Rochester artist and art critic. In the fall of 1950, she took over authorship of Artists and Craftsmen, a column created by long-time Times-Union journalist Amy H. Croughton, who was also the paper's theater and film critic. The last column authored by Virginia Jeffrey Smith appeared on September 9, 1965. Artists and Craftsmen covered the Rochester arts scene, including exhibitions at the Memorial Art Gallery, the Eastman House, and numerous smaller galleries. During the years that Smith authored the column, it reflected her personal interests as an artist, a local historian, and a world traveler. In addition to documenting the careers of local mid-century artists, including Ralph Avery, John Menihan, and James D. Havens, the column chronicles the growth of Rochester's art institutions and movements, such as the Arena Group, the Genesee Group, the Rochester Art Club, the annual Finger Lakes Exhibition, and the early years of the Clothesline Arts Festival. The collection includes copies of the published column (both loose clippings and clippings gathered into scrapbooks), draft versions of other writings by Smith, background notes on art and artists, a small amount of graphic materials, correspondence related to the column, and a small amount of personal ephemera.
Extent:
1.0 Cubic Feet 2 boxes, 1.04 Cubic Feet, and .35 Cubic Feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Virginia Jeffrey Smith Papers, [Box#, Folder#], Local History & Genealogy Division, Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, N.Y.

Background

Scope and content:

The Virginia Jeffrey Smith Papers contain newspaper clippings, notes, manuscripts, and other papers documenting Smith's long-running art column. The largest portion of the collection consists of newspaper clippings of the Artists and Craftsmen column, which Smith pasted into a series of scrapbooks from 1950-1959. The collection also includes a small number of photographs, manuscript versions of pieces Smith wrote for publication in the column and elsewhere, and extensive background notes that appear to consist mainly of quotations from published sources on art and criticism. Correspondence in the collection mainly consists of responses from readers to a controversial 1955 column. The collection also includes a small amount of ephemera from Smith's travels to Europe and Asia.

Biographical / historical:

Virginia Jeffrey Smith was a painter and art critic, active in the Rochester area and in Gloucester, Massachusetts from the 1930s-1960s.

Raised in Rochester's Third Ward, Smith came from a long line of women artists. She received her early art training from her mother, the painter Mary Jeffrey Smith, before going on to formal education at Smith College and the Mechanic's Institute (now the Rochester Institute of Technology). Smith was noted for her watercolors, especially those depicting the interiors of private homes.

Smith was a member of the Rochester Art Club, the Smith College Club, and the North Shore Art Association of Massachusetts. She was associated with the Genesee Group (formerly known as the Rationalists). The painters of the Genesee Group rejected the extremes of abstract expressionism, instead advocating individual expression based on sound knowledge of artistic fundamentals.

From 1950-1965, Smith authored the Artists and Craftsmen column for the Times-Union newspaper.

In addition to her art career, Smith was active in Rochester society. She taught ballroom dancing at the Century Club from 1913-1940. She was a member, and at one time president, of the Rochester Historical Society. She was a member of the Rochester Garden Club, a volunteer at Rochester General Hospital, and a lifelong parishioner at St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

Custodial history:

No prior history is known. The materials were reportedly donated to the library by Smith's housekeeper at some point after her death, and they were rediscovered in the Local History Division's collections in 2013.

Processing information:

Loose newspaper clippings were photocopied onto archival paper and the original newsprint was discarded. Scrapbook pages, which were originally housed in three-ring binders, have been transferred to folders in the original (roughly chronological) order. The handwritten and typed notes remain in their original bound volume. Loose note pages, which were laid into the bound volume, were transferred to a folder.

Arrangement:

For dated materials, the collection is arranged chronologically. In the case of the scrapbooks, this is the original order. Loose clippings of the column were arranged chronologically during processing. Other materials were not found to have any discernable order.

Physical location:
Shared Stacks Range I, Shelf 2
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

There are no known restrictions on the use of this collection.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use in any current or future manifestations must be obtained from the Rochester Public Library Local History & Genealogy Division.

Preferred citation:

Virginia Jeffrey Smith Papers, [Box#, Folder#], Local History & Genealogy Division, Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, N.Y.

Location of this collection:
Rundel Memorial Building
115 South Avenue
Rochester, NY 14604, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
585-428-8370
lochist@libraryweb.org