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SIA RU007312, Gates, Adelia, Adelia Gates Collection, 1879-1898 and undated

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Summary

Creator:
Gates, Adelia
Title:
Adelia Gates Collection, 1879-1898 and undated
Dates:
1879, 1879-1898, 1879-1898 and undated
Notes:
Adelia Gates (circa 1820-1912) was born in the Susquehanna Valley of New York State. At age sixteen she taught in a country school, and later worked in the cotton mills at Lowell, Massachusetts. Gates attended Antioch College when she was in her thirties, but had to leave after two years because of poor health. At the age of fifty, Gates was taught how to paint flowers by Madame Vouga in Geneva, Switzerland
Summary:
This collection consists of 327 watercolors of flowers painted by Adelia Gates. It represents a fragment of a collection of 502 Gates watercolors donated to the Smithsonian by Eleanor Lewis in 1913. Approximately 175 watercolors are missing. The paintings cover a wide range of native and exotic plants and a majority of the studies were made in California, Algeria, and Italy. Also included is an alphabetic index to the paintings, arranged by genus
Topic:
Botany
Subjects:
Gates, Adelia, Maxon, William R (William Ralph) 1877-1948
Form/Genre:
Art objects, Collection descriptions
Local Number:
SIA RU007312
Physical Description:
0.8 linear meter

Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 7312

Gates, Adelia

Adelia Gates Collection, 1879-1898 and undated

Repository: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator: Gates, Adelia
Title: Adelia Gates Collection
Dates: 1879-1898 and undated
Quantity: 0.8 linear meter.
Collection: Record Unit 7312
Language of Materials: English

Historical Note

Adelia Gates (circa 1820-1912) was born in the Susquehanna Valley of New York State. At age sixteen she taught in a country school, and later worked in the cotton mills at Lowell, Massachusetts. Gates attended Antioch College when she was in her thirties, but had to leave after two years because of poor health. At the age of fifty, Gates was taught how to paint flowers by Madame Vouga in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Descriptive Entry

This collection consists of 327 watercolors of flowers painted by Adelia Gates. It represents a fragment of a collection of 502 Gates watercolors donated to the Smithsonian by Eleanor Lewis in 1913. Approximately 175 watercolors are missing. The paintings cover a wide range of native and exotic plants and a majority of the studies were made in California, Algeria, and Italy. Also included is an alphabetic index to the paintings, arranged by genus.

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This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7312, Gates, Adelia, Adelia Gates Collection

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Container List

Box 1

Folio I, #4179.1 - #4179.23

Box 1 of 5

Box 2

Folio II, #4180.1 - #4180.1; #4180.180

Box 2 of 5

Box 3

Folio II cont'd, #4180.1 - #4180.180

Box 3 of 5

Box 4

Folio III, #4181.1 - #4181.124

Box 4 of 5

Box 5

Index arranged by genus.

Box 5 of 5

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