Marian Hooper Adams Photographs ca. 1846-1885 Guide to the Photograph Collection Use of Albums 7, 8, and 9 is restricted. Color digital facsimiles of these three volumes are available in the MHS Reading Room, DF-003. Glass plate negatives, glass plate positives, and lantern slides of any size are not available for research use. Copy photographs or scans may be available for alternative viewing. Consult the Reference Librarian for more information.

Table of Contents Collection Summary Biographical Sketch Collection Description Related Materials Acquisition Information Restrictions on Access Organization of the Collection Detailed Description of the Collection Copy Images Name Subject Index Place Subject Index Preferred Citation Access Terms

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

Marian Hooper Adams (MHA) was born in Boston, 13 Sep. 1843, to Robert W. Hooper, an ophthalmologist, and Ellen (Sturgis), a Transcendental poet. Her maternal grandfather was William Sturgis, a prominent merchant and pioneer of the Boston-China trade. Known to friends and family as "Clover," she and her two siblings were raised by her father after her mother died when she was only five. Clover married historian and writer Henry Adams (HA) in 1872, and the couple spent their honeymoon in Europe. They moved to Washington in 1877, where Clover was known for her "salon" and hostess abilities. She took up photography in 1883 and her work was widely admired, although Henry Adams apparently discouraged publication of her photographs.

After her father's death in 1885, Clover suffered from an overwhelming depression, an illness that seemed to plague a number of her family members. In early December of 1885 she took her own life. Henry Adams erected a memorial monument to Clover by Augustus St. Gaudens in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C.

Collection Description

This collection of Clover Adams photographs was created by gathering together all of the known photographs by her and images of her at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The majority of the photographs were removed from the Henry Adams photographs (Photo. Coll. 40), the Adams-Thoron photographs (Photo. Coll. 42), and the Hooper-Adams papers. The remainder of the photographs came from either loose miscellaneous photographs or are of an unknown origin. Some of the photographs in this collection remain in their original locations, and this is noted in the list. These include the daguerreotype of Clover, glass-plate negatives, and images in Henry Adams's photograph albums 5 and 6.

Clover kept a chronological notebook (in the Hooper-Adams Papers) from May 1883-Jan. 1884 listing many of her photographs and commenting on exposures, lighting, etc. A photocopy of the notebook is located with this collection for reference. This guide notes (where it has been determined) that an image is mentioned in the notebook, as "Notebook, [date], [number]" in the photograph list.

The Marian Hooper Adams photographs consists of three photograph albums and 25 loose photographs by or of Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams (MHA). These three albums are numbered 7, 8, and 9, from their original order in the Henry Adams photographs (Photo. Coll. 40). Album 7 contains 47 images; Album 8 contains 48 images, and Album 9 contains 18 images. There are 14 other (loose) images taken by or possibly taken by MHA. There are 9 images of MHA, one of which (Photo. #50.128) have in the past been considered to be images of her but which are now questionable. In addition, there are two photographs (Photos. #50.132-133) of pages from a steamer letter written to her father in July 1872. The original letter is in the Adams papers at the MHS.

Related Materials

The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) library holds the following collections that are related to the Marian Hooper Adams photographs:

Adams-Thoron papers, 1844-1992. Finding aid available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0055

Adams-Thoron photographs, ca. 1861-1914. Photo. Coll. 42. Finding aid available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fap025

Henry Adams photographs, 1866-ca. 1900. Photo. Coll. 40. Finding aid available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fap004.

Acquisition Information

The majority of the photographs were removed from the Henry Adams photographs (Photo. Coll. 40), the Adams-Thoron photographs (Photo. Coll. 42), and the Hooper-Adams papers.

Restrictions on Access

Use of Albums 7, 8, and 9 is restricted. Color digital facsimiles of these three volumes are available in the MHS Reading Room, DF-003.

Glass plate negatives, glass plate positives, and lantern slides of any size are not available for research use. Copy photographs or scans may be available for alternative viewing. Consult the Reference Librarian for more information.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Detailed Description of the Collection

About reproduction of these images

These images are available for researcher use and reproduction. Please see the Reference Librarian when requesting reproductions of original images. The list below refers to books that contain illustrations of photographs from this collection. These books are:

Eugenia Kaledin, The Education of Mrs. Henry Adams, Philadelphia, 1981.

J. C. Levenson, et al, editors, The Letters of Henry Adams, Volume II: 1868-1885, Cambridge, 1982.

Ward Thoron, editor, The Letters of Mrs. Henry Adams, 1865-1883, Boston, 1936.

Otto Freidrich, Clover, New York, 1979.

Name Subject Index

Photos without album or page numbers are loose photographs stored in boxes 1 and 2. Note that many of the loose photographs are located in another collection. Consult the Guide for further details.

Place Subject Index

Preferred Citation

Marian Hooper Adams photographs, Photo. Coll. 50, Massachusetts Historical Society Photo Archives.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.