Henry Pearson Papers Initial Inventory (#3911)

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Processed by

Linda Sellars

Date Completed

March 2001

Encoded by

Linda Sellars

Descriptive Summary Including Abstract

Title

Henry Pearson Papers (#3911) 1931-1999

Creator

Pearson, Henry, 1914- .

Extent

About 4000 items (4.5 linear feet)

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Abstract

Artist Henry (Hank) Charles Pearson was born in Kinston, N.C., in 1914. He was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1935; received an M.F.A. degree from Yale University in 1938; worked as a stage scene designer, 1937-1942; and served in the United States Army, 1942-1948, and Air Force, 1948-1953. Pearson's works in acrylic, oil, and water color have been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the United States and are included in the permanent collections of major museums. Pearson has taught at the New School for Social Research and served as a general critic for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Papers include correspondence, materials documenting Pearson's career and education, photographs, and other items. Correspondence includes postcards sent by Pearson to his mother and other family members, including Minora P. (Mrs. Louis N.) Howard, Stanley W. Pearson, Marta Pearson, and Phylis Bagan, and to friends, including Mr. and Mrs. Karl E. Gay, George Wingate, Mrs. J. Worth McAlister, Dorothy Croissant, Loraine Stevens, and Jane Logemann. Postcards to Karl Gay, 1960s-1979, constitute a running account of Pearson's life during those years. Also included is Pearson's correspondence with Seamus Heaney (mostly photocopies of letters from Pearson to Heaney). Materials documenting Pearson's career and education include announcements of art exhibitions; exhibition catalogs; clippings; articles by or about Pearson; school notebooks; a scrapbook documenting Pearson's work as technical director and scene designer at the Dock Street Theater in Charleston, S.C., 1940-1941; and photographs of Pearson and of his work.

Administrative Information

Access

No restrictions.

Usage Restrictions

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Provenance

Received from Henry Pearson of New York, N.Y., in 1970, with subsequent additions from Pearson and other donors.

Online Catalog Terms

Artists--United States--History--20th century.

Heaney, Seamus.

Pearson, Henry, 1914- .

Biographical Note

Henry (Hank) Charles Pearson was born in Kinston, N.C., on 8 October 1914. His parents were A. Louis and Estelle Pearson. Pearson was graduated from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1935. He received an M.F.A. degree from Yale University in 1938. He worked as a stage scene designer, 1937-1942; served in the United States Army, 1942-1948, and the United States Air Force, 1948-1953. When he was discharged from the miltary in 1953, Pearson went to New York to study at the Art Students League.

Pearson's works in acrylic, oil, and water color have been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the United States and are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City; the Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y.; and the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, N.C.

Pearson has taught at the New School for Social Research and served as a general critic for the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Collection Overview

The papers of artist Henry Pearson include correspondence, materials documenting Pearson's career and education, photographs, and other items. Correspondence includes postcards sent by Pearson to his mother and other family members, including Minora P. Howard (Mrs. Louis N. Howard), Stanley W. Pearson, Marta Pearson, and Phylis Bagan, and to friends, including Mr. and Mrs. Karl E. Gay, George Wingate, Mrs. J. Worth McAlister, Dorothy Croissant, Loraine Stevens, and Jane Logemann. Postcards to Karl Gay, 1960s-1979, constitute a running account of Pearson's life during those years. Also included is Pearson's correspondence with Seamus Heaney (mostly photocopies of letters from Pearson to Heaney). Letters from Heaney to Pearson may be found in the Henry Pearson Collection, Rare Book Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Materials documenting Pearson's career and education include announcements of art exhibitions; exhibition catalogs; clippings; articles by or about Pearson; school notebooks; a scrapbook documenting Pearson's work as technical director and scene designer at the Dock Street Theater in Charleston, S.C., 1940-1941; and photographs of Pearson and of his work.

Description

Items separated

Items separated include photographs (P-3911), oversize drawings (OP-3911), and an oversize volume (S-3911).

Related Collection

Henry Pearson Collection, Rare Book Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.