Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938

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American writer and illustrator, one of the finest western local-color realists of the late 19th century.

From the description of Letter, 1896 Nov. 28, Grass Valley, to Charles P. Scott. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122387683

American author and illustrator.

From the description of Letter to Julia Finch, 1917 August 16. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 55531434

Mary Hallock Foote (1847-1938) was an American novelist and short story writer.

From the description of Papers of Mary Hallock Foote, 1886-1909? (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 86129608

Mary Hallock Foote, writer and illustrator from Milton-on-Hudson, New York, moved west with her husband, a mining engineer, in 1876.

From the description of Mary Hallock Foote collection, 1871-1896. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80056322

From the description of Mary Hallock Foote collection, 1871-1896. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702163769

Mary Hallock Foote was the author of 12 novels and numerous magazine articles that she illustrated herself. She came to Idaho in 1884, joining her husband Arthur Foote, an engineer who designed irrigation works in the Boise valley. Her works portray the American West from a woman's point of view, though politically she was not always in sympathy with feminist aims, as this letter illustrates. Her reminiscences were published as A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West by the Huntington Library (California) in 1972; her life story was fictionalized by Wallace Stegner in his novel, Angle of Repose (1971).

From the guide to the Mary Hallock Foote Letter, 1887 August 5, (Boise State University Library Special Collections and Archives)

American illustrator; later became novelist and short story writer; wrote about the American West where she lived for many years.

From the description of Papers of Mary Hallock Foote, 1885-1894. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 34336537

Illustrator and author of stories and novels about the West; born in Milton, New York, November 19, 1847 and died in Boston, Massachusetts in 1938. In 1875 she married Arthur DeWint Foote, a mining engineer, and moved to New Almaden, California.

From the description of Mary Hallock Foote papers, 1863-1924 (inclusive), 1868-1916 (bulk). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122397917

Biographical Note

Mary Hallock Foote was born Mary Haviland Hallock on November 19, 1847, at Milton-on-Hudson, N.Y., the youngest of four children. Her close-knit farming family were Quakers, Free-Soil Republicans of English stock, sympathetic to anti-slavery, temperance, and women's rights.

Nathaniel Hallock, Mary's father, unfortunately not an astute businessman in his farming practices, was keenly interested in literature and early influenced Mary in her admiration of Browning, Tennyson, Rossetti, and other Victorians.

Mary's mother, Ann Burling Hallock, affected Mary's development in the social graces. Charming and lady-like, she taught her children strict obedience, at the same time encouraging independence of thought and supporting Mary's decision to attend art school in New York City at the age of 17.

From 1860-64 Mary attended Poughkeepsie Female Seminary (later Vassar) and in Fall 1864 entered the Cooper School of Design for Women in NYC, the only institution at the time when anything approaching an art education could be had for a girl. There she met Helena de Kay, daughter of a prominent New York family and later wife of the distinguished poet and editor of Century Magazine, Richard Watson Gilder, beginning a life-long friendship and a transcontinental correspondence spanning 50 years.

New York teachers included Samuel Frost Johnson, with whom she studied color, John A.E. Whitney, Charles H. Burt, Wm. Rimmer, and Wm. J. Linton. Linton, a well-known English artist, was especially helpful to Foote, teaching her to draw directly on wood rather than on thin paper which then had to be placed face down onto a wood block, with the image transferred to the block by tracing on the paper from the reverse side. Under the tutelage of this exceptional teacher, Foote became one of the America's best designers on the wood.

Through Linton, she met A. V. S. Anthony, art editor for Tichnor and was commissioned in 1874 to work with Thomas Moran on works by Longfellow and Whittier. Quick to catch shadings of character and precise in her detailed representations, she was soon established as one of America's pre-eminent illustrators.

Because of her friendship with Helena de Kay at Cooper Union, she had met Helena's future husband, Richard Watson Gilder, the de facto editor of Scribner's Monthly, committed to securing the best artistic and literary talent in America for his magazine. He became the most important editor in her life, encouraging her to submit her illustrations to the magazine and, later, to write articles and stories accompanying them.

In 1873, Mary Hallock met Arthur De Wint Foote, son of a member of the Connecticut legislature. An engineering student at Yale's Sheffield Scientific School, he found that the best opportunities for engineers were opening up in the West, so he went west to work on the Southern Pacific system at Tehachapi Pass, then on the Sutro Tunnel in Virginia City, and finally the New Almaden quicksilver mine near San Jose where he became resident manager. He and Mary were married in Milton on February 9, 1876 but established their first home in the West at New Almaden. Their first child, Arthur Burling Foote was born there in April 1877.

Because of her husband's changing professional fortunes, Mary Hallock Foote moved with him from New Almaden to Santa Cruz, California, to Deadwood, Colorado, to Boise, Idaho, and finally to Grass Valley, California. When conditions made family residence impossible, Mary stayed with her family in Milton where her second child, Elizabeth Townsend Foote, was born in September 1882. A third child, Agnes, was born in Boise in June 1886.

Although she found material for her stories and illustrations wherever she was, it was the Leadville experience in 1879 that gave Foote some of the richest characterizations for her fiction. Stories based on the Leadville characters, especially her first novel, The Led-Horse Claim (1883), established Foote's reputation as a Western writer.

Recognized as one of America's best illustrators, she was chosen a juror on Chalk, Charcoal, Pastel and Other Drawings for the Chicago World's Fair Columbian Exposition in 1893. In 1894 she was elected to the National Academy of Women Painters and Sculptors and acclaimed as the "dean of women illustrators."

Because of her ability to examine the essence of Western life and the impact of specific locale on its residents, her work belongs to the late nineteenth century tradition known as "local color" and was accepted by Gilder and other editors as an important voice from the West.

In the last phase of their lives, Mary and Arthur returned to the East to live with their daughter Betty. Arthur died there, in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1933. Mary Hallock Foote continued to reside in Hingham, dying on June 25, 1938.

From the guide to the Mary Hallock Foote Papers, 1863-1924 (inclusive), 1868-1916 (bulk), (Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Bunnell, Katherine Mapes. Bunnell-Mapes family papers, 1821-1966 (bulk 1870-1907). UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Colton, Jessie Tuttle. Contributions : autograph collection, 1869-1907. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive) 1880-1940 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Miller, Darlis A., 1939-. Mary Hallock Foote : author-illustrator of the American west : copy of final typescript, 2002. Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
referencedIn Gilder, Richard Watson, 1844-1909. Papers, 1781-1984. Indiana University
creatorOf Mary Hallock Foote Letter, 1887 August 5 Boise State University Library, Special Collections and Archives
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Mary Hallock Foote collection, 1871-1896. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Dorr, Julia C. R. (Julia Caroline Ripley), 1825-1913. Papers of 47 women authors, chiefly American [manuscript] 1847-1949, 1970. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Letter to Albert S. Brady, Oct. 5, 1898, [from] Grass Valley, Cal. / Mary Hallock Foote. University of Wisconsin - Madison, General Library System
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Letter, 1896 Nov. 28, Grass Valley, to Charles P. Scott. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive) 1880-1940 (bulk). Houghton Library
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Papers of Mary Hallock Foote, 1886-1909? Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
referencedIn Sampson, William, b. 1878. Letters of William Sampson, 1901-1904. Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
creatorOf Hague, James D. (James Duncan), 1836-1908. Papers of James D. Hague (Addenda), 1836-1908. Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Mary Hallock Foote collection, 1871-1896. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Rogers Memorial Collection: Papers of James R. Osgood and A. V. S. Anthony, 1853-1912. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Poets of America, extra-illustrated. Houghton Library
creatorOf Century Magazine letters Archives of American Art
referencedIn Horace Elisha Scudder correspondence Houghton Library
referencedIn Mary Hallock Foote Biography and Letter to Francis Wolle (MS 198), 1929 University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept.
referencedIn Century Company records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company correspondence and records, 1832-1944. Houghton Library
referencedIn Wallace Stegner and his use of the Mary Hallock Foote letters in ANGLE OF REPOSE : articles, 1983-2003. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Mary Hallock Foote letters to friends and family, 1868-1915. UC Berkeley Libraries
creatorOf Keeler, Charles Augustus, 1871-1937. Papers of Charles Augustus Keeler, 1895-1944. Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
creatorOf Graham, Margaret Collier, 1850-1910. Papers of Margaret Collier Graham, 1821-1934 (bulk 1876-1896). Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. [Drawing] / Mary Hallock Foote. Dartmouth College Library
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Letter to Julia Finch, 1917 August 16. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Stegner, Wallace, 1909-1993. Angle of repose collection, 1875-1934. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Luhan, Mabel Dodge, 1879-1962. Mabel Dodge Luhan collection, 1885-1984. Yale University Library
creatorOf Paine, Albert Bigelow, 1861-1937,. Letters to Albert Bigelow Paine, 1875-1934 (bulk 1891-1934). Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
referencedIn Henry Oscar Houghton additional papers, 1839-1895 Houghton Library
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Letter, 1887 Aug. 15 : Boise, Idaho, to Dr. Alice B. Stockham. Boise State University, Albertsons Library
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Papers of Mary Hallock Foote, 1885-1894. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Mabel Dodge Luhan collection, 1885-1984 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Mary Hallock Foote Papers, 1863-1924 (inclusive), 1868-1916 (bulk) Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Letters from various correspondents, 1869-1942. Houghton Library
creatorOf Howard, Charles Webb, 1831-1908?. Charles Webb Howard letters, 1896-1905. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Miller, Darlis A., 1939-. Mary Hallock Foote; author-illustrator of the American west : copy of final typescript, 2002. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Hague, James D. (James Duncan), 1836-1908. Papers of James D. Hague, 1824-1936. Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
creatorOf Foote, Mary Hallock, 1847-1938. Mary Hallock Foote papers, 1863-1924 (inclusive), 1868-1916 (bulk). Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Bates, Florence E., person
associatedWith Beach, Ella. person
associatedWith Beach, Emma. person
associatedWith Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887. person
associatedWith Brady, Albert S. person
associatedWith Bunnell, Katherine Mapes. person
correspondedWith Century Company corporateBody
associatedWith Century illustrated monthly magazine. corporateBody
associatedWith Century Magazine. corporateBody
associatedWith Colton, Jessie Tuttle. person
correspondedWith Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel, 1853-1935 person
associatedWith Finch, Julia Neely, person
associatedWith Gilder, Helena. person
correspondedWith Gilder, Helena. $? UNAUTHORIZED. person
associatedWith Gilder, Richard Watson, 1844-1909, person
associatedWith Graham, Margaret Collier, 1850-1910. person
associatedWith Hague, James D. (James Duncan), 1836-1908. person
associatedWith Holden, Edward Singleton, 1846-1914. person
associatedWith Houghton, Henry Oscar, 1823-1895 person
associatedWith Houghton Mifflin Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Howard, Charles Webb, 1831-1908? person
associatedWith Ives, Halsey Cooley, 1847-1911. person
associatedWith Keeler, Charles Augustus, 1871-1937. person
associatedWith Luhan, Mabel Dodge, 1879-1962. person
associatedWith Mary Hallock Foote and Francis Wolle person
associatedWith McMurray, George H. (George Harold), 1898-1975. person
associatedWith Miller, Darlis A., 1939- person
associatedWith New Almaden Mine (Calif.) corporateBody
correspondedWith New Almaden Mine (Calif.)$?UNAUTHORIZED. corporateBody
associatedWith Nixon, Jenny Caldwell, person
associatedWith Paine, Albert Bigelow, 1861-1937, person
associatedWith Perry, Bliss, 1860-1954. person
correspondedWith Rogers, Henry Munroe, 1839-1937 person
associatedWith Sampson, William, b. 1878. person
associatedWith Savage, Ernest Albert, 1877-1966. person
associatedWith Scott, Charles P. person
associatedWith Scudder, Horace Elisha, 1838-1902 person
associatedWith Stedman, Edmund Clarence, 1833-1908 person
associatedWith Stegner, Wallace, 1909-1993. person
correspondedWith Stockham, Alice B. (Alice Bunker), 1833-1912 person
associatedWith Ticknor, Benjamin Holt, 1842-1914. person
associatedWith University of Wisconsin--Madison. Libraries. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections. corporateBody
associatedWith Wiley, A. J., 1826-1905. person
associatedWith Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
California
Mexico City (Mexico)
United States
Idaho
Mexico City (Mexico)
United States
California
United States
California
Subject
American literature
American literature
American literature
Publishers and publishing
Suffrage
Women authors
Idaho
Illustrators
Industrial relations
Literature
Mines and mineral resources
Mines and mineral resources
Suffragists
Women
Women
Women
Women novelists
Occupation
Authors
Illustrator
Activity

Person

Birth 1847-11-09

Death 1938-06-25

Americans

English

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