Correspondence. American Council of Learned Societies, 1939-1940

In 1917, George Dow, secretary of the Essex Institute of Salem, Massachusetts, informed Kimball of the institute's desire to publish in "a dignified and suitable manner" its collection of architectural drawings by Samuel McIntire. Impressed by Kimball's recently published book on Jefferson's architectural works, Dow invited Kimball to edit the volume and prepare an introduction. Although initially hesitant, Kimball accepted the offer and, as evidenced by the earliest date of material, began work on it immediately. The volume, however, was not published until 1940, which Kimball attributed to the intervention of "other preoccupations." This sub-subseries, arranged in three subgroups, documents Kimball's research, writing and editing of "Mr. Samuel McIntire, Carver, The Architect of Salem."

The first set of files consists of correspondence with various officers and personnel of the Essex Institute, the publisher, the grant sponsor, and to a lesser extent with other McIntire "experts," including private collectors, dealers and museum curators. Most of the correspondence is with Henry Wyckoff Belknap, Dow's successor as secretary of the Essex Institute. Working in Salem, Belknap provided Kimball with vast amounts of research, even after his resignation as secretary in 1931. Much of the additional correspondence with Belknap contained in the research folders is in strips Kimball cut in order to divide information among the pertinent topic files. There is also significant correspondence with the institute's secretary Howard Corning. Corning worked with Kimball in securing a publisher and dealing with the costs of publication. The "Third Party Correspondence" file consists of a letter Frank Cousins wrote to John Robinson, director of Harvard University's Peabody Museum. Cousins and Phil M. Riley published a book on the life and work of Samuel McIntire in 1916.

The group of files documenting Kimball's research begins with the "Program of work" file, which contains various notes outlining things to do and topics to examine. Most of the research files, which comprise the bulk of this sub-subseries, pertain to the "works cited" in the book and are identified as such along with the name of the house owner. Material includes postcards published by the Essex Institute, illustrating various buildings, clippings from the American Architect and Building News, a journal published from 1876 to 1908, and what appear to be Kimball's initial writings about the houses examined. Handwritten transcripts of deeds and probate records are also included. The remaining files, identified as "Publication" document the production stages of the book, while the last three folders pertain to the book's review and sales.