Sara and Gerald Murphy papers

The Sara and Gerald Murphy Papers are comprised of correspondence, diaries, photographs, objects, artwork, audiovisual material, and printed material documenting the lives of the Murphy family and their circle of friends. The Papers also provide insight into Gerald Murphy's career as a painter. The Murphys' lifestyle is richly documented in photographs and various artifacts, which constitute an array of material culture. The Murphy Papers are a window into the American expatriate community in France during the 1920s, the creation of modern art, and the everyday life of a socially and artistically prominent family. The papers document the Murphys' friendships with a number of prominent authors and artists, including Ellen and Philip Barry, Katherine and John Dos Passos, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Fernand Léger, Ada and Archibald MacLeish, Dorothy Parker, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, and Monty Woolley. The Papers also provide evidence of the Murphys' ancestors and their business ventures, including Patrick Murphy and the Mark Cross Company and Frank Wiborg and the Ault and Wiborg Company. The Papers document industry (printing inks and leather goods) during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Murphys' upbringing, education, early travels, and courtship are documented in diaries, notebooks, and photographs. Sara Murphy's diaries, particularly those from 1898 to 1915, provide insight into her life as a young adult and her training in art. Her father, Frank Wiborg, kept detailed diaries that also give a sense of Sara Murphy's childhood and adolescence. Photograph albums record the family's travels, and provide rich insight into the Wiborgs' milieu as well as travel, photography, and customs at the turn of the nineteenth century. Diaries and photographs of Gerald Murphy during his adolescence, while attending Phillips Academy Andover and Yale University, are present in the Papers, although to a lesser degree.

The Murphys' everyday life, style, and circle of friends are documented throughout the Papers. Recognized for infusing the quotidian with creative flair, the Murphys' stylistic choices are represented by photographs and objects, which range from barware to costume jewellery to Mark Cross Company leather goods. Photographs of the Murphys' homes in the United States, France, and Switzerland, recipes in the Personal Papers series, and household goods located in the Objects Series provide insight into the Murphys' decorative tastes and talent for entertaining.

The Murphys' relationships are reflected in correspondence, photographs, and home movies, which illustrate expatriate life in France during the 1920s and the fate of the friendships over time. Fernand Léger is photographed visiting the Murphy family in Switzerland and the United States, and his collage postcards suggest his playful and intimate bond with the Murphys. The Murphys' correspondence and other documents provide evidence of their role as muses to their friends, for example, they were portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night, Archibald MacLeish's J.B., and Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Honoria Murphy Donnelly's diaries and notebooks date from her childhood and adolescence and provide a child's perspective of the Murphy family, including their frequent travels and circle of friends.

Both Sara and Gerald Murphy received artistic training and Gerald Murphy seriously applied himself in becoming a painter while living in France during the 1920s. Examples of Sara Murphy's artwork can be found in the Artwork series as well as tucked into the pages of her father's diaries, located in the Wiborg Family Papers series. Documents pertaining to Gerald Murphy's work as a painter can be found in the Artwork Series. Gerald Murphy's brother, Frederic Murphy, in correspondence with their mother describes visiting Gerald in his studio and provides a unique contemporary (and familial) perspective on his artwork. Material relating to the revived interest in Gerald Murphy's paintings beginning in the 1960s can be found in the Honoria Murphy Donnelly Papers Series.

The Papers also chronicle Gerald Murphy's careers in the military and with the Mark Cross Company. Gerald Murphy's experience studying landscape architecture at Harvard University is documented in his notes and sketches found in the Personal Papers series. His work to revive the Mark Cross Company can be found in the Objects series, which contains various Mark Cross handbags, some of which were designed by Gerald Murphy and are stamped with patent numbers.

The efforts of Gerald Murphy's father, Patrick Murphy, to transform the Mark Cross Company into a successful business specializing in luxury leather goods are documented in his papers, which include notes regarding advertising and merchandising, dating from the early twentieth century. Combined with the Murphys' collection of Mark Cross products, Patrick Murphy's papers represent various aspects of the Mark Cross Company's history.

Several documents pertaining to Gerald Murphy's brother Frederic Murphy (1885-1924) and sister-in-law Noël Haskins (b. 1895) are also present in the Papers. Frederic Murphy's service with the Tank Corps during World War I is documented in several series. These items give insight into American involvement in World War I as well as the perspective of an American soldier from training to deployment to post-war injuries. Frederic and Noël Haskins Murphy's lives in France following World War I are also represented in correspondence and photographs (located in the Photograph series).

Papers relating to Frank Wiborg, Sara Murphy's father, document his work as a partner in the ink manufacturers Ault and Wiborg Company. Frank Wiborg's diaries date from 1873 to 1914 and are a window into his rise as a businessman and the concurrent social and political status of the Wiborg family. The diaries are a record of a prominent industrialist family, who had homes in Cincinnati, New York City, and East Hampton, Long Island, and who were engaged in a number of civic organizations. In his diaries Wiborg provides insight into the daily affairs of the Ault and Wiborg Company and by extension the history of the ink manufacturing industry at the turn of the nineteenth century. Copies of posters for the company and Wiborg's treatise Printing Ink: A History with a Treatise on Modern Methods of Manufacture and Use also document the business.

Honoria Murphy Donnelly's work as an adult to recall, interpret, and preserve memories of her parents and her upbringing is illustrated in her correspondence, publishing projects, and collection of clippings. For example, Donnelly's book Sara & Gerald provides insight into her parents and family life. During research Donnelly interviewed a number of friends and family members, such as Hester Pickman and Noël Haskins Murphy, recordings of which are located in the audiovisual material series. Donnelly's work with a number of researchers interested in her parents and their circle of friends is demonstrated in her correspondence, collection of clippings, and audiovisual material. Donnelly's collection of writings by others based on the Murphys' lives illustrates the Murphys' enduring inspiration and fascination.