Alice H. Donlevy papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library
Alice Heighes Donlevy (1846-1929) was an artist and advocate of industrial art education in the schools. She worked as a painter, illustrator and weaver and wrote and lectured on the art of illumination. In 1867 she became a founding member of the Ladies Art Association and was active with the Woman's South African League, the Woman's Auxiliary League of the Boer Relief Fund, and the Woman's Memorial Fund. Collection consists of personal correspondence and papers in addition to correspondence and ephemera relating to Donlevy's involvement with various organizations. Correspondence, 1860-1911, contains letters to Donlevy, many concerning Ladies Art Association activities, such as arrangements for classes, lectures, exhibits, and other programs sponsored by the Association. Some of the letters document the lives of women in the latter part of the 19th century. Correspondence also includes materials relating to Donlevy's Boer relief activities. Records of the Ladies Art Association, 1867-1900, consist of correspondence, financial records, minutes, and printed matter. Woman's Memorial Fund papers, 1889-1895, include correspondence, legal papers and printed matter. Materials related to the Woman's Auxiliary League of the Boer Relief Fund and the Woman's South African League (ca. 1900-1903) include correspondence, notebook and photograph of Eliza Verplanck Richards, petitions and records of assistance to Boer prisoners and refugees, and printed matter.
Alice H. Donlevy (1846-1929) was an artist and an advocate of Industrial Art Education in the schools. Donlevy worked as a painter and illustrator and wrote and lectured on the art of illumination. She was also a weaver and exhibited her tapes tries at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
In 1867 Donlevy became a founding member of the Ladies' Art Association and subsequently served as their recording secretary and as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. The Ladies' Art Association worked to promote industrial and applied art and design education in the schools and to promote the interests of women artists. The Association held classes, provided studio space and exhibited women's art.
Donlevy also worked with the Woman's South African League and the Woman's Auxiliary League of the Boer Relief Fund. Both of these organizations were engaged in raising money for Boer victims and prisoners of war during the Boer War and in promoting the Boer cause in the world.
Donlevy also served as the Secretary of the Woman's Memorial Fund which was formed to complete two statues - one of Susan B. Anthony and one of Mary Hamilton Schuyler. The statues were to be exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and were to represent "Woman as Reformer" and "Woman as Philanthropist".
The papers of Alice Donlevy span the years 1860-1911 and contain personal correspondence and writings and papers, correspondence and ephemera relating to Donlevy's involvement in the Ladies' Art Association, the Woman's Memorial Fund, the Woman's Auxiliary League of the Boer Relief Fund and the Woman's South African League.
June 1914, Received from Alice H. Donlevy
Accessioned by FP, 3/12/1986
Boer War papers, 1891-1906, available on microfilm; New York Public Library