Correspondence, 1957-1993

Correspondence is organized chronologically, with each year usually divided into three major subjects. A small number of subjects of particular volume or importance are located in separate folders. Administrative correspondence, the first subject, addresses individual administrative issues related to the May Show. Correspondence with the press, complaints from patrons and artists, and sales correspondence are located here. Correspondence from Tom Hinson, Edward Henning and Mary Koster forms the bulk of administrative correspondence. Records are organized alphabetically within each folder.

The second subject, artists' correspondence, addresses individual artists' concerns regarding their entries. The correspondence covers a variety of topics, including discussions of the May Show entry requirements, additional information about artwork entered in the May Show, changes in entries or sales status, confirmation of the pick-up or drop-off of entries, and damages inflicted on pieces of art. Records are arranged alphabetically within each folder. In 1984, the May Show office began maintaining a separate file consisting solely of correspondence with artists concerning the retrieval of their artwork. This file, along with entry cards of the artists who never claimed their artwork, is located at the end of this series. Pick-up correspondence before 1984 and some after that date is also located within the more general artists' correspondence. Requests for entry blanks, common in the correspondence before 1980, was moved into a separate file beginning with 1980, and is located in series 2.8.1.

Interoffice correspondence, the final major subject heading, includes examples of entry blanks, lists of accepted entrants, lists of purchases, memoranda to offices, schedules of the show and statistical information about the show. Handwritten notes from May Show staff are sporadically located throughout the folders.