Henry Ossawa Tanner papers, 1860s-1978, bulk 1890-1937

This series contains Henry Ossawa Tanner's personal and professional correspondence, with the bulk of the letters dating after 1900 until his death in 1937. Found here are letters from members of the Tanner family, including his sisters Mary and Belle, several nieces, and one letter from Benjamin Tucker Tanner to Jessie Olssen Tanner. These letters primarily discuss family news. Also found is correspondence between Tanner and his wife Jessie, including telegrams and letters from Jessie while Tanner was traveling in Jerusalem and while serving in the Red Cross in 1918. A small amount of correspondence with his son Jesse Ossawa Tanner exists here. Also found is correspondence with Tanner's friend J. S. Carpenter, president of the Des Moines Association of Fine Arts, that concerns sales of Tanner's work in the mid-west, and with his closest friend Atherton Curtis and his wife Ingeborg. Additional correspondence is with Grand Central Art Galleries in who represented his art in the New York area, with J. J. Haverty who purchased Tanner's work for the High Museum in Atlanta, and with Tanner's brother-in-law Charles Tough. Tanner also received numerous letters of condolence after the death of his wife in 1925.

General chronological correspondence includes letters from friends, patrons, dealers, galleries, and others. Business letters concern loans of paintings for exhibitions, requests for photograph reproductions, information requests for articles, commissioned artwork, and inquiries about purchasing paintings. Also included are more intimate correspondence with friends, letters of congratulations, and correspondence with his wife's family. A small amount of the general correspondence is in French. Additional material found in this series is a letterbook containing carbon copies of letters Tanner wrote during 1918 while working for the Red Cross, and Jesse Tanner's correspondence with others concerning Henry Tanner's death and his artwork.

Items are arranged chronologically within each folder.