Outline, notes and foreword. Ms, undated

Kimball apparently intended to present his life as it related to what he considered noteworthy topics. In the draft foreword he humbly submits that his experiences of childhood, youth and manhood gave him opportunities to know certain people and events worthy of portraying. Although the outline filed with the foreword includes the names of individuals Kimball encountered as museum director, it also refers to other institutions with which he formed an earlier affiliation. The remaining files consist of his manuscripts of three "chapters" that primarily document his work outside of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, namely his student days at Harvard, and his scholarly writings, historical renovations and a private architectural project. None of the material is dated. Because of the subject matter, a few items Kimball noted as "FK reminiscences" are included in the research files to the "Golden Age" sub-subseries. The only research file included here deals with Harvard professor Arthur Kinglsey Porter, who is noted in the outline. Kimball apparently decided to omit such an entry since his original folder was entitled "'Scholars-not needed."