Creator: James Earle Fraser and Laura Gardin Fraser
Dates: 1864-1870, 1892-1965
Quantity: 8 feet 1 inch
Accession #: 1968.001
Biography
James Earle Fraser (November 4, 1876-October 11, 1953) was a nationally acclaimed sculptor in the early twentieth century. He is most known for his monumental works that can be found across the United States. One of his most famous monuments is “End of the Trail.” His wife, Laura Gardin Fraser (September 14, 1889-August 13, 1966), was also an award winning sculptor. She produced monuments, medals, trophies, and coins. She was the first woman to design a coin for the United States Treasury. The couple worked together to sculpt the design for the Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar. Their legacies are preserved in the many monuments, medals, and coins they sculpted over the course of their careers.
Scope & Content Note
Records include incoming letters, some correspondence, photographs and photographic albums, scrapbooks, sketches and sketch books, clippings, a diary, manuscripts, research material, and plans for monuments, medals, and coins. The James Earle and Laura Gardin Papers are very similar in content and were acquired together, thus they are described together.
Series 1: James Earle Fraser (1910 – 1961)
This series contains all materials in the Papers that are specific to James. The biographical information is mostly copied news clippings, but there is a biography written by Laura Gardin Fraser and a typed memoir manuscript. Two interesting personal items in the biographical category are his Museum of Modern Art member identification, and his State of Connecticut driver’s license. The business files are journals in which he kept track of sculptures that had been purchased and payments to foundries. The correspondence tends to be business communication rather than personal. Highlights of the small personal correspondence include various fan mail, and letters from the first African American heavyweight world champion, Jack Johnson. The photographs are of his sculptures and personal life. The sculptures sub-series is categorized by type of art work. It includes coins, medals, monumental work, and a silverware pattern design. There is documentation about the process of creating “End of the Trail” and “Abraham Lincoln.” These monumental sculptures are on display at the Cowboy Museum. Other references to his art can be found in the sketchbooks.
Series 2: Laura Gardin Fraser (1892 – 1965)
This series contains all materials in the Papers that are specific to Laura. The biographical information is mostly copied news clippings. The correspondence consists of business communication. There are diaries in which Laura writes about the day to day activities of the Frasers and progress of her artworks. One of the diaries has been transcribed. The photo albums and photographs are of her art work and her personal life. They often feature the family pets. The scrapbooks subseries contains a scrapbook her mother made in the late 1800s, and personal records of Fraser’s teen years. Her mother’s scrapbook documents the Gardin family including childhood photographs of Laura. Her personal scrapbook is filled with news clippings pertaining to stage actors and actresses, as well as high school mementos such as dance cards. The sculptures category has materials relating to her art work categorized by coins, figurative, medals, pins, and trophies. Fraser often sculpted coins and medals for the United States Government. All correspondence, design ideas, sketches, and final drafts are located in the sculptures sub-series. This series also contains Laura’s sketchbooks. Several of the sketchbooks are dedicated to detailed drawings of horses, including John, Miss Buck, and Fair Play. Laura sculpted a memorial to Fair Play that stands over his grave at the Elmendorf Thoroughbred Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. The famed Man o’ War thoroughbred was a sire of Fair Play. Also among the sketchbooks is one used during the Fraser’s trip to the Yucatan and corresponds to the photograph album from the same trip.
Series 3: Subject Files (1864 – 1964)
This series contains reference material possibly used by both artists. The Frasers sculpted coins, medals, and monuments of many historical figures including presidents, inventors, and business moguls. They collected biographical information on most of their subjects, and the materials that were not marked who used them were placed in this series. The Frasers each created monuments that featured equestrians so there is extensive information about the anatomy of horses. This series also contains a large number of political cartoons by Jay Darling, a friend of the Frasers. There are also materials about artists from around the world that worked during the early twentieth century.
Series 4: Unattributed Materials (ca. 1900 – 1964)
This series contains correspondence, various documents, photographs, posters, and sketches that make no reference to the owner. The items in this series could have been used or created by either Fraser.
Note to Researchers
Syracuse University Special Collections is home to a more extensive Fraser Papers. In the late 1990s, copies of some materials in the Syracuse Fraser Papers were given to the Dickinson Research Center. These copies have been made into their own collection: the Syracuse University Special Collections Copied James Earle and Laura Gardin Fraser Papers. If you are unable to find the information you need in either Fraser collection housed at the Dickinson Research Center, please visit Syracuse University Library’s Special Collections Research Center for their James Earle and Laura Gardin Fraser Papers.
Subject Terms
Personal Names:
Darling, Jay Norwood, 1876-1962
Firestone, Harvey Samuel, 1868-1938
Fraser, James Earle, 1876-1953
Fraser, James Earle, 1876-1953. End of the Trail
Fraser, Laura Gardin, 1889-1968
Lindbergh, Charles Augustus, 1902-1974
Subject Headings:
Artists, American
Coin design
Coinage-United States
Medals-United States
Numismatics
Sculptors, American
Sculptors-United States
Sculpture, American
Sculpture-United States-History
Processing Information
Organization: From the time of the collection’s acquisition in 1968, the original order of the records was disturbed. A tenuous order was applied and the records became the basis of expanding vertical files on the artists and their activities, and were maintained by staff and volunteers. Photocopied materials, clippings, letters, photographs, and manuscripts, which postdated the original primary records, were added to folders which were organized topically around each of the artists and around a subject file. This organization provided the basis of the structure during the collection’s reprocessing in 2000. Among the added materials were photocopied documents from the James Earle & Laura Gardin Fraser Papers, 1872 – 1967 held by Syracuse University. All photocopied materials were separated from original documents during the 2000 processing, and the ephemera files are still available for research. Preservation concerns led to the Papers being reprocessed in 2013. The original series organization was maintained, but the remaining order was updated to current archival standards for ease of use.
Accession: The studio collection from Westport, Connecticut was acquired through a gift-purchase transaction between Syracuse University, the executors of the estate, and Dean Fenton Krakel, Director of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame & Western Heritage Center in 1968.
Processing: In 2000, the Papers was reprocessed by retaining its organization and removing records which postdated 1968, the year the collection was acquired. The removed records became the basis for a number of large Fraser vertical files arranged topically and available in the Research Center. In 2013, the Papers was reprocessed again due to preservation concerns. The materials were rehoused to current archival standards, and precautions were taken to prevent further deterioration.
Additional Information: An addendum to the studio collection is the Syracuse University materials which were foldered and arranged according to the Syracuse box in which the original materials are housed. The Syracuse materials can be accessed upon request.
Copyright
The James Earle Fraser and Laura Gardin Fraser Papers is the property of the Donald C. & Elizabeth M. Dickinson Research Center, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Literary right, including copyright, belongs to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, with the exception of copyrighted images and published literary works, which are the property of the respective copyright holders. It is the responsibility of the researcher, and his/her publisher, to obtain publishing permission from individuals pictured, relevant copyright holders, and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Copyright
The collection is open for research. It is advisable for researchers to discuss their proposed research with staff prior to visiting the Center.
Preferred Citation
James Earle Fraser and Laura Gardin Fraser Papers, MS004, Box ##, Folder ##, Dickinson Research Center, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Container List
Series 1-4
Box | Folder | Folder Title / Description | ||||||
James Earle Fraser | ||||||||
Awards | ||||||||
1 | 1 | 1916-1950 | ||||||
Biographical | ||||||||
2 | Biography of JE Fraser written by Laura Gardin Fraser, 1954 | |||||||
3 | Art clippings, 1910-1957 | |||||||
4 | Clippings, 1919-1965 | |||||||
5 | Flim: Uncommon Clay, November 1951 | |||||||
6 | Genealogy of Thomas Brown, undated | |||||||
7 | Marriage clippings, 1939 | |||||||
8 | Memoirs, 1952-1953 | |||||||
9 | Obituaries, 1953 | |||||||
10 | Recipes, 1919-1949 | |||||||
Business Files | ||||||||
11 | 1914-1952 | |||||||
Correspondence | ||||||||
12 | American Academy in Rome, 1931-1948 | |||||||
13 | Artists, 1928-1952 | |||||||
14 | Art related organizations, 1926-1948 | |||||||
15 | Beliefs and Ideas, 1942-1947 | |||||||
16 | Commission of Fine Arts, 1921-1942 | |||||||
17 | Jay N. Darling, 1924 | |||||||
18 | Personal, 1916-1947 | |||||||
Photographs | ||||||||
19 | At work, undated | |||||||
20 | Equestirian Group, undated | |||||||
2 | 1 | Indians, undated | ||||||
2-3 | James Earle and Laura Gardin Fraser, undated | |||||||
4 | James Earle Fraser’s parents, undated | |||||||
5 | Studio and house at North Avenue in West Point, Connecticut, undated | |||||||
6 | Works, undated | |||||||
Scrapbook | ||||||||
7 | Alexander Hamilton Statue, 1919-1924 | |||||||
Sculpture | ||||||||
Coins | ||||||||
8 | Buffalo Nickel, 1913-1941 | |||||||
Medals | ||||||||
9 | American Academy of Arts, undated | |||||||
10 | American Institute of Graphic Arts, undated | |||||||
11 | American Numismatic Society, undated | |||||||
12 | Armed Forces Medals, 1920-1942 | |||||||
13 | Charles Doolittle Walcot, undated | |||||||
3 | 1 | Edward H. Harriman, undated | ||||||
2 | George Wallace Melville Medal for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, undated | |||||||
3 | Henry Elias Howland, undated | |||||||
4 | Hot Springs High School, undated | |||||||
5 | Miscellaneous Medals, undated | |||||||
6 | Navy Cross Medal, 1942 | |||||||
7 | Norse American Centennial, 1942 | |||||||
8 | Pan- American Exposition, undated | |||||||
9 | Pony Express, 1952-1955 | |||||||
10 | Roosevelt Medal of Honor, 1921-1931 | |||||||
11 | Williams College, undated | |||||||
12 | Victory Medal, undated | |||||||
Monumental | ||||||||
13 | Abraham Lincoln, 1930 | |||||||
14 | Albert Gallatin, 1934-1947 | |||||||
15 | Alexander Hamilton, 1920-1941 | |||||||
16 | Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1905-1948 | |||||||
17 | Bank of Montreal-Canadian Officer, 1925 | |||||||
18 | Buffalo Herd, undated | |||||||
19 | Buffalo Prayer, undated | |||||||
20 | Charles Dana Gibson, undated | |||||||
21 | Chicago’s Michigan Avenue Bridge, 1928 | |||||||
22 | Children, 1910 | |||||||
23 | Daniel Boone, undated | |||||||
24 | Department of Commerce, 1947 | |||||||
25 | Edwin H. Harriman, 1912-1913 | |||||||
26 | Elihu Root, 1928-1953 | |||||||
27 | Elks Memorial Building, undated | |||||||
28 | End of the Trail, 1915-1951 | |||||||
29 | Equestrian Groups, 1923-1959 | |||||||
30 | Flora and Sonny-Boy Whitney, 1913-1914 | |||||||
31 | Franklin Institute, 1937-1961 | |||||||
32 | Franklin Life Insurance Company, 1949 | |||||||
33 | George S. Paton, 1948-1954 | |||||||
34 | George Washington, 1937-1939 | |||||||
35 | Grief, undated | |||||||
36 | Grover Cleveland, 1914 | |||||||
37 | Henry Codman Potter, 1916 | |||||||
38 | John Ericsson, 1929-1947 | |||||||
39 | John Hay, 1914-1917 | |||||||
40 | John James Audubon, undated | |||||||
41 | John Nance Garner, 1941-1942 | |||||||
42 | Masque, 1926 | |||||||
43 | Mayo Memorial, 1942-1944 | |||||||
4 | 1 | Missouri State Capitol, 1928 | ||||||
2 | Olesen Head at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, 1934 | |||||||
3 | Pediment on the Constitution Avenue side of the National Archives Building, 1932-1953 | |||||||
4 | Pegasus, undated | |||||||
5 | Pioneer Woman, 1927 | |||||||
6 | Robert Todd Lincoln, 1928-1930 | |||||||
7 | Second Division of the US Army Memorial, 1920 | |||||||
8 | Sonny-Boy Whitney, undated | |||||||
9 | Supreme Court figures, 1933-1968 | |||||||
10 | Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Equestrian statue, 1922-1940 | |||||||
11 | Theodore Roosevelt, 1921-1923 | |||||||
12 | Theodore Roosevelt, undated | |||||||
13 | Thomas Edison, 1941-1947 | |||||||
14 | Thomas Jefferson, 1923-1939 | |||||||
15 | Victory-Montreal, 1923-1924 | |||||||
16 | Warren Delano, undated | |||||||
17 | White Eagle bust, undated | |||||||
Silverware | ||||||||
18 | Victory pattern, 1919 | |||||||
Sketches | ||||||||
19-23 | Sketches, undated | |||||||
24 | Oregon Trail medal, undated | |||||||
Laura Gardin Fraser | ||||||||
Biographical | ||||||||
25 | Autobiographical writings, undated | |||||||
26 | Clippings, 1919-1958 | |||||||
27 | Copyrights, 1916-1941 | |||||||
28 | Manuscripts of “History of American Sculpture,” 1958-1959 | |||||||
Correspondence | ||||||||
5 | 1 | 1913-1965 | ||||||
Diaries | ||||||||
2 | Original, 1920-1924 | |||||||
3 | Transcription, 1920-1924 | |||||||
Photo Album and Photographs | ||||||||
4 | Record of Photographs- Brownie Camera, 1903-1910 | |||||||
5 | Yearbook, Horace Mann High School, 1907 | |||||||
6 | Rubens Family (friends of the Gardin’s), c.1915 | |||||||
6 | 1 | Album, 1916-1918 | ||||||
2 | Album, c.1920 | |||||||
3 | Album, Port Au Prince and Yucatan, 1927 | |||||||
4 | At work, undated | |||||||
5 | Personal, undated | |||||||
Scrapbook | ||||||||
7 | 1 | 1892-1897 (most likely kept by Alice Tilton Gardin) | ||||||
2 | 1902-1923 | |||||||
3 | 1905-1908 | |||||||
Sculpture | ||||||||
Coins | ||||||||
8 | 1 | Alabama Centennial Fifty Cent Piece, 1944-1946 | ||||||
2 | George Washington Coin transparencies, undated | |||||||
2A | George Washington Coin sketches, undated | |||||||
3 | Oregon Trail Memorial Coin and Markers, 1926 | |||||||
4 | Philippine Commemorative Coin, 1947-1948 | |||||||
Figurative | ||||||||
5 | Baby Goat, 1919-1955 | |||||||
6 | Children, undated | |||||||
7 | Elks National War Memorial, undated | |||||||
8 | Fair Play, 1927-1928 | |||||||
9 | Frog, undated | |||||||
10 | Gilbert Stuart bust, 1922 | |||||||
11 | Goat Baby Fountain, 1955 | |||||||
12 | Goose Boy, undated | |||||||
13 | Grape Baby, undated | |||||||
14 | Hamlet, undated | |||||||
15 | Hitt Monument, undated | |||||||
16 | John K. Tener Memorial Relief, 1948 | |||||||
17 | Lee and Jackson Equestrian Memorial casting and shipping, 1938-1948 | |||||||
18 | Lee and Jackson Equestrian Memorial clippings, 1936-1948 | |||||||
19 | Lee and Jackson Equestrian Memorial copyright and timekeeping, 1936-1948 | |||||||
20 | Lee and Jackson Equestrian Memorial dedication, 1948 | |||||||
21 | Lee and Jackson Equestrian Memorial photography, undated | |||||||
22 | Liebman Memorial, undated | |||||||
23 | Long, Long Trail Memorial, 1923-1948 | |||||||
24 | Mary W. Harriman Memorial, 1928 | |||||||
25 | Mary Lyon bust, 1927 | |||||||
26 | Nativity Panel, undated | |||||||
27 | Navy Goat, undated | |||||||
28 | Oklahoma Run, 1948-1962 | |||||||
29 | Pegasus, undated | |||||||
9 | 1 | Penguin, 1931 | ||||||
2 | Pershing Memorial, undated | |||||||
3 | Peter Pan novelties, undated | |||||||
4 | Roosevelt Memorial Bridge reliefs, 1959-1960 | |||||||
5 | Satyr and Nymph, undated | |||||||
6 | Simplicity, 1931 | |||||||
7 | Smith relief, undated | |||||||
8 | Snuff, 1913-1925 | |||||||
9 | Sylvanus Thayer, undated | |||||||
10 | Timmy (Chow dog owned by President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge), 1929 | |||||||
11 | US Military Academy, undated | |||||||
12 | Washington relief panel, undated | |||||||
13 | West Point-American History Panels, 1958 | |||||||
14 | West Point-Guides, 1958 | |||||||
15 | West Point-Library, 1949 | |||||||
16 | West Point-Photographs, 1958 | |||||||
17 | Wrestlers, undated | |||||||
Medals | ||||||||
18 | American Bar Association, undated | |||||||
19 | American Numismatic Society Centennial, undated | |||||||
20 | Anthony Nicholas Brady Memorial, undated | |||||||
21 | Better Babies, undated | |||||||
22 | Bide-A-Wee Home for Animals, 1929-1930 | |||||||
23 | Congressional Medal – Charles A. Lindbergh, 1928-1930 | |||||||
24 | Connecticut War Council, undated | |||||||
25 | George Catlett Marshall, 1946-1947 | |||||||
26 | George Washington Bicentennial, undated | |||||||
27 | Grosvenor Medal National Geographic Society, 1949 | |||||||
28 | Hubbard, 1928-1963 | |||||||
29 | Irish Setter Club, 1927-1932 | |||||||
10 | 1 | J. Sandford Saltus, 1926-1930 | ||||||
2 | Massachusetts Bay Tercentenary, 1931 | |||||||
3 | Medal of the Congress-Benjamin Franklin, undated | |||||||
4 | Miscellaneous, 1920-1958 | |||||||
5 | New Frontiers and Pony Express, undated | |||||||
6 | Oklahoma Semi-Centennial Exposition, 1957 | |||||||
7 | Peanuts, undated | |||||||
8 | Richard Evelyn Byrd, undated | |||||||
9 | Rosemary Hall, undated | |||||||
10 | Society of Medalists, undated | |||||||
11 | Samuel Finley Breese Morse, undated | |||||||
12 | South Hampton Hospital School of Nursing, undated | |||||||
13 | Special Medal of Honor-National Geographic Society, undated | |||||||
14 | West Point Sesquicentennial, undated | |||||||
Pins | ||||||||
15 | Patriotic Pin, 1942 | |||||||
Trophy | ||||||||
16 | US Polo Association, 1930 | |||||||
Sketches and Sketchbooks | ||||||||
17 | Five small sketchbooks, c.1905-1945 | |||||||
18 | Sketchbook, 1924-1926 | |||||||
19 | Four sketchbooks, 1924 | |||||||
20 | Sketchbook, 1928-1941 | |||||||
11 | 1 | Eight small sketchbooks, 1929-1951 | ||||||
2 | Undated | |||||||
3 | US Cavalry, 1889 | |||||||
Subject Files | ||||||||
4 | Amateis, Edmond, 1942 | |||||||
4A | Artists, undated | |||||||
5 | Asbury, Francis, 1925 | |||||||
6 | Bourdelle, Emile Antoine, 1925 | |||||||
7 | Barthold, Borglum Barnard, George Gray 1935-1964 Baker, Bryant |
|||||||
8 | Booth, Edwin, undated | |||||||
9 | Campbell, Alice Fraser Cathedral Age China’s Great Wall 1930-1947 Commission of Fine Arts |
|||||||
Darling, Jay | ||||||||
10 | Cartoons, 1929 | |||||||
11 | Cartoons, 1931 | |||||||
12 | Cartonns, 1933 | |||||||
13 | Presidential Race booklet, 1928 | |||||||
14 | “A Cartoonist’s Travelogue,” 1931 | |||||||
12 | 1 | “The Jazz Era” booklet, 1920 | ||||||
2 | “Our Own Outlines of History” booklet, 1921-1922 | |||||||
3 | Russia Trip, 1931 | |||||||
4 | Davidson, Jo, 1933 | |||||||
5 | Dubois, Paul, undated | |||||||
6 | Edison, Thomas A., undated | |||||||
7 | Epstein, Jacob, undated | |||||||
8 | Firestone, Harvey, 1942 | |||||||
9 | Gerard, James D., 1930 | |||||||
10 | Griffiths, Clark, 1942 | |||||||
11 | Garner, John Nance, undated | |||||||
12 | Grosvernor, Gilbert, 1935-1945 | |||||||
13 | Godey’s Fashions, 1864-1870 | |||||||
13A | Horses, undated | |||||||
14 | Jackson, WH, 1931 | |||||||
15 | Jefferson, Thomas, undated | |||||||
16 | Lee, Arthur, 1924 | |||||||
17 | Lee, Robert E., undated | |||||||
18 | Lincoln, Abraham, 1928-1947 | |||||||
19 | Masks, 1940 | |||||||
20 | Miscellaneous F, undated | |||||||
21 | Miscellaneous G, 1932 | |||||||
22 | Miscellaneous H, 1919-1953 | |||||||
13 | 1 | Miscellaneous I, undated | ||||||
2 | Miscellaneous L, 1921-1942 | |||||||
3 | Miscellaneous M, 1920-1954 | |||||||
4 | Miscellaneous N, 1957 | |||||||
5 | Miscellaneous P, 1938 | |||||||
6 | Miscellaneous R, undated | |||||||
7 | Miscellaneous S, undated | |||||||
8 | Miscellaneous W, 1942-1952 | |||||||
9 | Moore, Charles, 1942 | |||||||
10 | Panama-Pacific International Exposition, 1915 | |||||||
11 | Platt, Eleanor, 1942 | |||||||
12 | Robinson, Edwin Arlington, 1919-1935 | |||||||
13 | Roosevelt, Theodore, 1898-1936 | |||||||
14 | Saint-Gaudens, Augustus, 1905-1947 | |||||||
15 | Stenographers notebooks, 1948 | |||||||
16 | Tools, undated | |||||||
17 | Uniform, 1946 | |||||||
18 | Washington, George, 1924-1935 | |||||||
14 | 1 | Washington, George, 1930-1948 | ||||||
2 | Westport, Connecticut, 1949 | |||||||
3 | Zeigler, Lee Woodward, 1945 | |||||||
Unattributed Materials | ||||||||
Correspondence | ||||||||
4 | 1942-1964 | |||||||
Documents | ||||||||
5 | Miscellaneous, undated | |||||||
6 | Studio plans, 1968 | |||||||
Photographs and Photo Albums | ||||||||
7 | Photo Album, c.1900 | |||||||
8 | Photographs, undated | |||||||
Posters | ||||||||
9 | National Sculpture Society, 1929 | |||||||
Sketches | ||||||||
10 | Signed “AK,” undated | |||||||
11 | Medals and coins, undated | |||||||
12-15 | Miscellaneous, undated |