Alice Jones MacMonnies Papers
Finding aid prepared by Katrina Denman.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical
Gardens
Manuscripts Department
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2011
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Alice Jones MacMonnies
Papers
Dates: approximately
1874-1952
Bulk dates: 1917-1929
Collection Number: mssHM
76195-76259
Creator:
MacMonnies, Alice Jones.
Extent:
65 items in 2 boxes + 1 oversize envelope
Repository: The Huntington Library,
Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts
Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The collection mainly consists of
incoming correspondence to American artist Alice Jones MacMonnies and her husband,
sculptor Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937), from Alice's mother, Georgina Sullivan
Jones. Jones's diary from an 1896 European tour and a variety of photographs of
Alice, her sisters, and Frederick MacMonnies are also included.
Language of Material: The records are in English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Alice Jones MacMonnies papers, The Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
Provenance
Purchased from Mary Smart, June 28, 2011.
Biographical note
Alice Jones MacMonnies (1875-approximately 1963) was the eldest daughter of Nevada
Senator John P. Jones (1829-1912) and his second wife Georgina Sullivan Jones
(1853-1936), also called Bonnie. Alice had a half-brother, Roy, from her father’s
first marriage and two full sisters, Marion (sometimes spelled Marian) Jones
Farquhar (1879-1965), a renowned tennis player who won the U.S. Championship in 1899
and 1902 and was an Olympic medalist in 1900, and Georgina Jones Walton (1882-1955),
who was also an Olympic tennis player. Walton also joined the Vedanta Society as
Sister Daya and was a close confidant of Swami Paramanada; she wrote the play The
Light of Asia, which was turned into a show choreographed by Ruth St. Denis.
Alice graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1896. Like her mother, who had been raised
in France, Alice had an affinity for music and the arts, and moved to Paris to train
her voice. In her late twenties she began studying art with American sculptor
Frederick William MacMonnies (1863-1937). The two were married in Switzerland in
1910 (MacMonnies divorced his first wife, artist Mary Louise Fairchild, in 1909) and
lived in Giverny, France, until the outbreak of World War I, when they returned to
the United States and settled in New York. Alice spent part of 1917 in California to
help settle disputes over her father’s estate. The MacMonnies lost most of their
assets in the 1929 stock market crash, and lived primarily off of Frederick
MacMonnies’ sculpture commissions until his death in 1937. Alice never remarried and
died in the early 1960s.
Scope and Content
The collection mainly consists of incoming correspondence to American artist Alice
Jones MacMonnies and her husband, sculptor Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937), from
Alice's mother, Georgina Sullivan Jones, as well as Jones's diary from an 1896
European tour and a variety of photographs of Alice, her sisters, and Frederick
MacMonnies.
The correspondence in the collection almost entirely consists of letters sent to
American artist Alice Jones MacMonnies from about 1917 until 1929. The bulk of the
correspondence is from Alice’s mother Georgina Sullivan Jones, and the letters focus
on news regarding family members and acquaintances, including General George
Pershing. Within the correspondence, Georgina admonishes Alice for not writing to
her more often and praises Frederick effusively for sending her letters. She also
writes of sculptor Prince Paul Troubetzkoy’s commission to create a bust of Henry E.
Huntington in 1917 and of her hatred of Troubetzkoy, of whom she writes “it is
sickening…the way that man advertises himself – he is so coarse and vulgar too and
his wife is unspeakable.” She also relates being angered by a discussion that rated
Troubetzkoy and Auguste Rodin as the greatest living sculptors with no mention of
MacMonnies. Other letters describe events related to World War I, such as the
raising of funds for French orphans and news of a friend’s brother who was killed in
an “aeroplane accident” in France. An undated letter from Alice’s nephew Gregory
Jones (the son of her half-brother Roy) describes war conditions in St. Rhomble,
France, and the “defiant” attitude of German prisoners-of-war toward the French and
American soldiers. A series of 1925 letters recount Georgina’s trip through Spain
and France, and other topics covered throughout the correspondence include Georgina
Jones Walton’s play (1927), the Jones’ mining interests in Alaska, Alice’s interest
in New York real estate, and memories of John P. Jones, whom Georgina wished had
“lived to see the wonders that science has accomplished and what has been done in
the film world” (1933). A few letters from Alice regarding the Jones estate before
and after Georgina’s death, including a notebook of property values from 1924, are
also included.
There is also a diary volume kept by Georgina Sullivan Jones during her 1896 European
tour with Alice following her graduation from Bryn Mawr (HM 76236). The diary
chronicles their voyage across the Atlantic on board the St. Paul of the American
Line, as well as their travels through London, Paris, Berlin, Beyreuth, Munich,
Innsbruck, Venice, Milan, Rome, and Zurich.
Finally, there are also 23 photographs, chiefly of Alice MacMonnies and her sisters
Georgina and Marion range from her childhood to adult years, including her 1896
class photo from Bryn Mawr College.
Notes accompanying some of the correspondence were included by the donor, Mary Smart,
who is the author of
A flight with fame: the life and art of Frederick
William MacMonnies
(Sound View Press, 1996).
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series, correspondence (Box 1) and photographs
(Box 2 and Oversize envelope). Each series is arranged chronologically. Also
included is one diary volume at the end of Box 1.
Indexing Terms
Personal Names
Farquhar,
Marian.
Jones, Georgina
Sullivan, 1853-1936.
MacMonnies, Alice
Jones, 1875-c.1963).
MacMonnies, Frederick
William, 1863-1937.
Pershing, John J. (John
Joseph), 1860-1948.
Trubet︠s︡koĭ, Pavel
Petrovich, kni︠a︡zʹ, 1866-1938.
Subjects
Domestic relations.
Sculptors--United States--20th
century.
Transatlantic voyages.
World War, 1914-1918.
Geographic Areas
Berlin
(Germany)--Description and travel.
Beyreuth
(Germany)--Description and travel.
Cadiz
(Spain)--Description and travel.
France--Description and
travel.
Innsbruck
(Austria)--Description and travel.
London
(England)--Description and travel.
Milan
(Italy)--Description and travel.
Munich
(Germany)--Description and travel.
Paris
(France)--Description and travel.
Rome
(Italy)--Description and travel.
Spain--Description and
travel.
Venice
(Italy)-_Description and travel.
Zurich
(Switzerland)--Description and travel.
Genre
Black-and-white photographs--19th
century.
Black-and-white photographs--20th
century.
Diaries--19th century.
Letters (correspondence)--19th
century.
Letters (correspondence)--20th
century.
Correspondence and manuscripts
Box 1
Correspondence, diary, and notes, 1874-1952 and undated.
Physical Description: 42 folders.
1874, Sep. 29 and Oct. 25.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan and Mary E. Bucknall. Letter to
Madame Graux. Paris, France.
HM 76195.
1876, July 12.
Letter ordering Alice Jones MacMonnies’ layette. San
Francisco, Calif.
HM 76196.
1899, April 1.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to “my dearest child”
[either Marion or Georgina]. New York, N.Y.
HM 76197.
1917, April 22.
Jones, Samuel L. Letter to Georgina Sullivan Jones. San
Francisco, Calif.
HM 76198.
1917, April 28.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Los Angeles, Calif.
HM 76199.
1917, May 14.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies
and Frederick MacMonnies. Los Angeles, Calif.
HM 76200.
1917, July 4.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies
and Frederick MacMonnies. Los Angeles, Calif.
HM 76201.
1917, July 18.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies
and Frederick MacMonnies. Los Angeles, Calif.
HM 76202.
1917, July 31.
Georgina Sullivan Jones. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Los Angeles, Calif.
HM 76203.
1917, Oct. 15.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
St. Paul, Minn.
HM 76204.
1917, Oct. 22.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
St. Paul, Minn.
HM 76205.
1918, Mar. 23.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Frederick MacMonnies.
Charleston, S.C.
HM 76206.
1918, Sep. 15.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Los Angeles, Calif.
HM 76207.
1919, Feb. 24.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Frederick MacMonnies. New
York, N.Y..
HM 76208.
1922, Jan. 21.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Daytona, Fla..
HM 76209.
1922, Apr. 16.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies. Flat Rock, N.C. HM 76210.
1924.
MacMonnies, Alice Jones. Draft notes on Jones property. HM 76211.
19[25], Jan. 19.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Algeciras, Spain.
HM 76212.
1925, Jan. 26.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Cadiz, Spain.
HM 76213.
1925, Feb. 1.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Madrid, Spain.
HM 76214.
1925, Feb. 18.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Limoges, France.
HM 76215.
1925, Feb. 19.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Châteauroux, France.
HM 76216.
1925, Feb. 20.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Tours, France.
HM 76217.
1925, Mar. 4.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Chartres, France.
HM 76218.
1927, June 8.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan and Marion Jones Farquhar.
Telegraph to Gregory Jones.
HM 76219.
1927, June 22.
Jones, Gregory. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies. La
Crescenta, Calif.
HM 76220.
[1927], June.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies. La
Crescenta, Calif.
HM 76221.
1927, Sep. 1.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Frederick MacMonnies. San
Francisco, Calif.
HM 76222.
1927, Nov. 1.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
San Francisco, Calif.
HM 76223.
1927.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies. HM 76224.
1928, Mar.30.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Washington, D.C.
HM 76225.
1928, June 2.
Sullivan, Mary. Letter to Georgina Sullivan Jones. Glendale,
Calif.
HM 76226.
1929, June 14-July 9.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies and
Frederick MacMonnies. S.S. American Trader.
HM 76227.
1929, Aug. 7.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
San Francisco, Calif.
HM 76228.
1929, Nov. 14.
Hardy, Samuel. To Alice Jones MacMonnies. Darien, Conn. HM 76229.
1933, Jan. 29.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Pirates Cove, Fla.
HM 76230.
1936, Aug. 27.
Bonnie? Letter to Frederick MacMonnies. Cannondale, Conn. HM 76231.
1939, Apr. 4.
Carson, William L. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies HM 76232.
1952, Feb. 15.
J.P. Morgan and Co. Notice to Alice Jones MacMonnies re:
estate of Georgina Sullivan Jones. New York, N.Y.
HM 76233.
Undated.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Letter to unknown recipient. HM 76234.
Undated.
Jones, Gregory. Letter to Alice Jones MacMonnies.
Saint-Rhomble, France.
HM 76235.
1896.
Jones, Georgina Sullivan. Diary of European tour. HM 76236.
Box 2
Photographs, 1876-1898 and undated.
Physical Description: 22 folders.
1876, Nov. 1.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies at age 11 months. HM 76237.
1886, Nov.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies. HM 76238.
1886, Dec.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies, Marion Jones Farquhar,
and Georgina Jones Walton. Washington, D.C.
HM 76239.
1896.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies in her dorm room at Bryn
Mawr.
HM 76240.
c.1896.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies in cap and gown. HM 76241.
1898, Mar.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies. HM 76242.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies as a young girl. HM 76243.
Undated.
Photograph of a young Alice Jones MacMonnies in costume. HM 76244.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies in debutante costume. HM 76245.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies. HM 76246.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies. HM 76247.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies, Marion Jones Farquhar,
and Georgina Jones Walton.
HM 76248.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies, Roy Jones, Marion
Jones Farquhar, and Georgina Jones Walton.
HM 76249.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies, Georgina Jones Walton,
Roy Jones, and unidentified man.
HM 76250.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies in Giverny, France. HM 76251.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies and Frederick
MacMonnies in Giverny, France.
HM 76252.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies and Frederick
MacMonnies in Giverny, probably with George Thesmar and his daughter
Berthe.
HM 76253.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies and Frederick MacMonnies
in Giverny, probably with George Thesmar and his daughter Berthe.
HM 76254.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies and Frederick
MacMonnies in Giverny, probably with George Thesmar and his daughter
Berthe.
HM 76255.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies in a nursing home. HM 76256.
Undated.
Unidentified photograph. HM 76257.
Undated.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies in silver frame. HM 76258.
1896.
Photograph of Alice Jones MacMonnies’ graduating class at
Bryn Mawr.
HM 76259.
