Dates
Biography
Gertrude Underhill joined the Museum staff for a temporary project a few months before it opened in 1916, rising in various positions to Curator of Textiles in 1944 until her retirement in 1947. She is credited with developing one of the finest collections of tapestries, silks and laces in the country.
Underhill earned her A.B. from Wellesley College, studied Library Science at Columbia University, and worked for a time in the chemistry library there. After a position in the library at the Boston Museum of Art, she resolved to pursue a career in art museums. At the Cleveland Museum of Art, she advanced from a temporary project cataloging photographs in the library to a staff position directing the education department from 1918 to 1924. In 1925 as the Assistant in Charge of Textiles in the Decorative Arts Department, she catalogued J. H. Wade’s substantial gift of textiles and laces. She was promoted to Associate Curator of Textiles in 1931, then Curator of Textiles in 1944.
As curator Underhill organized exhibits in the textile study room and the educational corridor, in addition to her responsibility for all textiles in the main galleries. She provided guidance for some of the Museum’s principal donors, among them Mrs. John Sherwin and Mrs. Edward S. Harkness. Her last great purchase for the Museum was the Savonerie Tapestry of the Regency Period of France, 1715-23, acquired through the John L. Severance Fund.
Underhill founded the Textile Arts Club of Cleveland, for which she served on the board. She travelled to Europe every other summer on holiday to visit museums and private collections to study textiles, particularly in Eastern Europe. She contributed to various art magazines, primarily Antiques, and wrote over fifty articles on textiles in the Museum Bulletin.
After her retirement in 1947, Underhill worked for a time at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. She and her sister had planned and built adjoining cottages for summer vacations in Hillsdale, New York, where she founded a library, and eventually lived full-time.
-Biography by Anne Cuyler Salsich, 2024
Occupations
Topics
Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:
File — Box: 52, Folder: 17
Scope and Contents note
From the Series:
This is the largest series of records documenting Whiting's tenure as director of The Cleveland Museum of Art. Most of the series dates from 1913 to 1930, the years that Whiting was director, although a small percentage predates his arrival in Cleveland (see, for example, Henry Kent's correspondence with the building committee from 1912-1913, located in box 1). These records reflect a time when museum functions and departments were not yet fully delineated. Together, they...
Dates:
1926-1928
File — Box: 52, Folder: 18
Scope and Contents note
From the Series:
This is the largest series of records documenting Whiting's tenure as director of The Cleveland Museum of Art. Most of the series dates from 1913 to 1930, the years that Whiting was director, although a small percentage predates his arrival in Cleveland (see, for example, Henry Kent's correspondence with the building committee from 1912-1913, located in box 1). These records reflect a time when museum functions and departments were not yet fully delineated. Together, they...
Dates:
1929
File — Box: 52, Folder: 19
Scope and Contents note
From the Series:
This is the largest series of records documenting Whiting's tenure as director of The Cleveland Museum of Art. Most of the series dates from 1913 to 1930, the years that Whiting was director, although a small percentage predates his arrival in Cleveland (see, for example, Henry Kent's correspondence with the building committee from 1912-1913, located in box 1). These records reflect a time when museum functions and departments were not yet fully delineated. Together, they...
Dates:
1930
File — Box: 52, Folder: 20
Scope and Contents note
From the Series:
This is the largest series of records documenting Whiting's tenure as director of The Cleveland Museum of Art. Most of the series dates from 1913 to 1930, the years that Whiting was director, although a small percentage predates his arrival in Cleveland (see, for example, Henry Kent's correspondence with the building committee from 1912-1913, located in box 1). These records reflect a time when museum functions and departments were not yet fully delineated. Together, they...
Dates:
1931
File — Box: 43, Folder: 10
Scope and Contents note
From the Series:
This is the central correspondence file from Milliken's tenure as director, dating from 1930-1958. When Milliken became director, he apparently continued Whiting's numerical filing scheme for awhile, but at some point he (or someone on his support staff) decided to establish a new central file of director's correspondence in an alphabetical sequence by correspondent names and subject terms. Materials in each file are usually arranged chronologically, although general files, such as those...
Dates:
1931-1952
File — Box: 13, Folder: 31
Scope and Contents note
From the Series:
The CMA Portraits series includes two subseries: named individuals and groups/events/programs. Named individuals are arranged alphabetically, and groups/events/programs are arranged chronologically. Most photographs are of staff, trustees, donors, visiting lecturers, organists and other performers. Files for the museum directors include the director's family and group photographs. The people in the photographs in the groups subseries may or may not be directly related to the museum. Not all...
Dates:
approximately 1880-2014
