Henderson, Alice Corbin, 1881-1949

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American poet, editor, and writer on Southwestern topics.

From the description of Papers, 1861-1987 (bulk 1920-1949). (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRC); University of Texas at Austin). WorldCat record id: 122349020

Note: The initials ACH for Alice R. Corbin Henderson, WPH for her husband, William Penhallow Henderson, and AHR for her daughter, Alice Oliver Henderson Evans Rossin Colquitt are used throughout this inventory. AHR identified herself in her correspondence as Alice Henderson Rossin from 1938 until the late 1980s, which is why the initials AHR are used.

Alice Corbin was born to Lula Hebe Carradine and Fillmore Mallory Corbin in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 16, 1881. After the death of her mother in 1884, ACH was sent to Chicago to live with her father's cousin, Alice Mallory Richardson. When Fillmore Corbin remarried in 1891, Alice joined the family in Kansas, staying until 1894 when she returned to Chicago. After high school graduation, Harriet C. Brainard (who later married William Vaughn Moody), ACH's English teacher, persuaded her to attend the University of Chicago. In 1898 ACH published her first book of poetry, The Linnet Songs. ACH lived with Miss Brainard for three years until her health forced her to move to a milder climate. The inflammation in her chest subsided and after a year at Sophie Newcomb College in New Orleans, ACH returned to Chicago. Writing reviews for the Chicago Tribune and Evening Post provided the income for ACH to rent a studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1904, where she met William Penhallow Henderson.

WPH had accepted a teaching position at the Academy after spending two years abroad studying European art on a scholarship. On October 14, 1905, WPH and ACH were married. Daughter Alice was born on January 27, 1907, and was their only child. During this time, ACH worked on plays for children with plots based on Biblical stories and published Adam's Dream in 1908. That same year Andersen's Best Fairy Tales was also published. This joint effort of ACH's translations and WPH's illustrations provided the necessary income for the family to travel in Europe from July 1910 until September 1911.

A second volume of poetry, The Spinning Woman of the Sky was published in 1912. In that same year ACH became assistant editor to Poetry: A Magazine of Verse, with Harriet Monroe, founder and editor-in-chief. In 1916, ACH was diagnosed as having tuberculosis, causing her to leave Chicago permanently. The Sunmount Sanatorium in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was recommended by her doctor as an excellent facility. In 1917, ACH and Monroe published the anthology The New Poetry with new editions published in 1923 and 1932. She continued working on the magazine Poetry long distance until 1922.

The Hendersons moved to Santa Fe, NM, for ACH to recuperate and found the area optimal for both her health and their work. Dedication to New Mexico and the concerns of the region became a life-long passion of the Henderson family. In the early 1920s they became active in the civil rights of Native Americans. This was not just a political interest, for one can see the effects of their involvement with New Mexico in their work. Red Earth, Poems of New Mexico was published in 1920 and is an example of how New Mexico affected ACH. The Turquoise Trail, An Anthology of New Mexico Poetry, was published in 1928.

William and Alice Henderson were both very involved with the perpetuation of local New Mexican traditions and customs. WPH's style of architecture, the content in his drawings, and other projects illustrate his interpretations of New Mexico. ACH demonstrated her affections for the area through her writings, by creating the Poet's Round-up, establishing the Writer's Edition (which published her The Sun Turns West in 1933 and A Child's Bouquet in 1935), and in her involvement with the Works Progress Administration Federal Writers Project, New Mexico: a Guide to the Colorful State (1940). In the late 1930s, the Hendersons and Mary C. Wheelwright established the House of Navajo Religion, a museum of Indian culture and spirituality. WPH helped design the building and the sand painting panels inside, and ACH was the curator when it was completed. Another Henderson project was the formation of the Eugene Manlove Rhodes Memorial Association and the erection of a monument to this Southwestern writer on his grave site in New Mexico. The Hendersons joined efforts again in 1937 with WPH illustrating ACH's Brothers of Light, her last published book.

WPH gained exposure as an architect and furniture designer and builder through the business he developed with his first son-in-law, John Evans. Alice Oliver Henderson married John Evans, Mabel Dodge Luhan's only son, in December of 1922. Even though the marriage was short-lived, it established a life-long relationship between Luhan and the Hendersons. John and Alice Evans lived in Santa Fe where their first two daughters were born, Natalie on January 8, 1924, and Nancy on February 23, 1925. John Evans, Edwin Brooks, and WPH began the Pueblo-Spanish Building Company in 1925, and that fall the Evans family moved to Buffalo, NY, John Evans's family home. The Evans's third daughter, Letitia, was born on November 6, 1926.

The Pueblo-Spanish Building Company was a growing concern with WPH designing furniture and buildings until the stock market crash of 1929. The Crash of 1929 severely affected the stability of the company as customers could not afford to have projects completed, including the Diamond Club, a hotel for which WPH had drawn blueprints. John Evans lost most of his personal investments in the crash and declared bankruptcy. Evans's departure from the company and the financial constraints of the times eventually caused the company to fold. Fortunately, WPH had established his reputation not only as an artist, but also as an architect, and furniture designer and builder.

The 1930s were years of financial struggle for the Hendersons. Caring for their three granddaughters while Alice and John Evans divorced compounded the Hendersons' economic difficulties, although Evans's grandmother, Sara Montague, provided some financial support for the children. The divorce was finalized in December 1933. Alice Evans married Edgar Lewis Rossin on June 3, 1938. They lived in New York City and raised her three daughters, while his son lived with them occasionally.

ACH's health was unsound throughout much of her life. There were many periods when she was simply too weak to work, and the need to work to overcome financial problems created additional stress. WPH's death in 1943 of a heart attack further weakened her will, and she became increasingly unwell until her death in 1949.

After ACH died, AHR moved back to New Mexico and became involved with many projects such as the Museum of New Mexico Foundation (1962-1980) and a revival of the Poet's Round-up in 1968. She also produced the play Husband's Don't Count in London in 1958. Some of AHR's activities focused on her parents' work, including maintaining copyright status of ACH's works, exhibiting her father's work, and assisting with the biographies of her parents. AHR married Carlton Colquitt sometime during the mid-1980s.

For further information on the Hendersons see: Witter Bynner and Oliver La Farge's An Appreciation: Alice Corbin Henderson (galley), Ina Sizer Cassidy Alice Corbin Henderson (box 13.4), T. M. Pearce's Biography of Alice Corbin Henderson (box 55.5), David Bell's biography of William Penhallow Henderson (box 55.7), other articles about WPH (box 55.8), and William Penhallow Henderson, Master Colorist of Santa Fe in the HRC book collection.

  • 1877: William Penhallow Henderson (WPH) was born on June 4, in the Boston area.
  • 1879 - 85 : WPH and parents settled near Uvalde, Texas, to raise cattle.
  • 1881: Alice R. Corbin (ACH) was born on April 16 in St. Louis, Missouri.
  • 1884: ACH's two brothers died young; Mallory at the age of two and Beverly about two months after their mother, Lulu Corbin, died of tuberculosis.
  • 1884 - 91 : ACH lived with her father's cousin, Alice Richardson.
  • 1891: ACH's father, Fillmore, remarried and Alice went to live with the family in Kansas City.
  • 1893: ACH's half-sister, Margaret was born.
  • 1895: ACH's half-brother Ewing was born. Corbin returned to Chicago to attend high school and lived with the Richardsons.
  • 1898: ACH published her first volume of poetry, the Linnet Songs.
  • 1899 - 02 : ACH entered the University of Chicago and lived with her high school English teacher, Harriet C. Brainard.
  • 1901 - 03 : WPH in Europe on a scholarship to study art.
  • 1902: ACH moved to New Orleans where she attended Sophie Newcomb College. Worked as a book reviewer for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
  • 1903: In the fall ACH returned to Chicago and began writing reviews for the Chicago Tribune and the Evening Post.
  • 1904: WPH returned from Europe to Boston in January. Accepted a teaching position at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.
  • 1904: ACH rented a studio at the Academy of Fine Arts where she met William Penhallow Henderson.
  • 1905: On October 14, ACH and WPH were married. Lake Bluff, Illinois, (a house given to ACH by the Richardsons) was their home, though they maintained the studio in Chicago.
  • 1906: WPH's father, William Oliver Henderson died.
  • 1907: Alice Oliver Henderson was born on January 27, (see AHR chronology).
  • 1908: Together ACH and WPH published a translation of Andersen's Best Fairy Tales. ACH also published Adam's Dream.
  • 1910 - 11 : The Hendersons traveled in Europe for 14 months, returning to Chicago in September.
  • 1912: ACH published her second book of poetry The Spinning Woman of the Sky, and became the assistant editor of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse.
  • 1916: Hendersons moved to Santa Fe, NM, where ACH recuperated from tuberculosis at the Sunmount Sanatorium.
  • 1917: ACH worked with Harriet Monroe on an anthology, The New Poetry. Later editions were published in 1923 and in 1932.
  • 1920: ACH published Red Earth. During the 1920s the Hendersons became involved with the rights of American Indians.
  • 1922: ACH resigned as assistant editor of Poetry.
  • 1925: WPH, John Evans, and Edwin Brooks began the Pueblo-Spanish Building Co. WPH designed a plan for the Cheyenne Mountain House in Colorado Springs.
  • 1926 - 27 : WPH remodeled the Santa Fe Railroad Ticket Office.
  • 1928: ACH published the Turquoise Trail.
  • 1929: WPH remodeled the Santa Fe Sena Plaza.
  • 1930: WPH designed a hotel for Diamond Club, however, the stock market crash prevented it from being built.
  • 1930: ACH helped create the Poet's Round-up on August 16.
  • 1933: ACH published The Sun Turns West through the Writer's Edition, which she helped form.
  • 1934: ACH and WPH helped initiate the Eugene Manlove Rhodes Memorial Association. WPH designed the monument.
  • 1935: ACH published A Child's Bouquet through the Writer's Edition.
  • 1936 - 37 : ACH was editor-in-chief for the Works Progress Administration Federal Writers Project, New Mexico: a Guide to the Colorful State.
  • 1937: ACH published Brothers of Light, and WPH illustrated it.
  • 1938 - 42 : WPH built the House of Navajo Religion (later the Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art and subsequently the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian) originally part of the Laboratory of Anthropology. ACH became the curator for this facility.
  • 1939: The Writer's Edition dissolved, as did the Poet's Round-up.
  • 1941: The Eugene Manlove Rhodes Memorial was dedicated on May 19.
  • 1943: On October 14 William P. Henderson died of a heart attack.
  • 1949: On July 18 Alice Corbin Henderson died from heart failure.
  • 1907: Alice Oliver Henderson born on January 27.
  • 1922: AHR married John Evans in December.
  • 1924: Natalie Evans born on January 8.
  • 1925: Nancy Evans born on February 23. The family moved to Buffalo, NY, in the fall.
  • 1926: Letitia (Tish) Evans born on November 6.
  • 1931: AHR and daughters went to Europe in the fall.
  • 1932 - 33 : From one summer to the next, the grandchildren stayed with ACH and WPH.
  • 1933: In December, the Evans divorced.
  • 1934: AHR and daughters moved to Santa Fe where AHR opened a dress shop.
  • 1938: AHR married Edgar Lewis Rossin on June 3 and moved to New York.
  • 1947: Alfred S. Rossin (Edgar's father) died on June 5. Nancy Evans married Robert William Janes on June 10. Natalie Evans married Bill Mauldin on June 27.
  • 1948: Edgar Rossin died of a heart attack on August 18. Andrew Edgar Mauldin born on September 3.
  • 1962 - 80 : AHR on the board of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.
  • 1968: AHR revived the Poet's Round-up.
  • 19 - : AHR married Carlton Colquitt.
  • 1988: Alice Oliver Henderson Evans Rossin Colquitt died of cancer in February.

From the guide to the Alice Corbin Henderson Collection TXRC92-A24., 1861-1987, (Harry Ransom Center University of Texas at Austin)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Women in New Mexico Collection University of New Mexico-Main Campus
referencedIn Rydal Press Collection, 1930-1967 Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, New Mexico History Museum.
referencedIn Pearce, T. M. (Thomas Matthews), 1902-. Thomas M. Pearce Pictorial Collection [Picture]. University of New Mexico-Main Campus
referencedIn Moody, Harriet Converse Tilden, 1857-1932. Papers, 1906-1932. Univerisity of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
referencedIn Thomas M. Pearce Pictorial Collection, 1905-1985 The University of New Mexico, University Libraries, Center for SouthwestResearch
creatorOf William Penhallow Henderson papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Henderson, Alice Corbin, 1881-1949. Papers, 1861-1987 (bulk 1920-1949). Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
referencedIn Carnochan, Brigitte Hoy. Papers relating to research on Janet Lewis, 1930-1994. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Teasdale, Sara, 1884-1933. Papers of Sara Teasdale [manuscript], 1888-1934 (bulk 1905-1933). University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn New Yorker records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Soule, Edmund F. (Edmund Foster), 1915-2000. Songs from a book of airs : high voice and piano / music by Edmund F. Soule ; poems by Alice Corbin. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Dorothy Nevile Lees papers relating to Edward Gordon Craig and, The Mask, 1905-1963. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Witter Bynner papers, 1829-1965. Houghton Library
referencedIn Clint O. Dumm,. Alice Corbin photograph, 1919. Boulder Public Library
referencedIn William Penhallow Henderson papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Century Company records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Jones Studio (Boulder, Colo.),. Marian and Alice Corbin portrait, [ca. 1920]. Boulder Public Library
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive) 1880-1940 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Chauvenet, Beatrice. Beatrice Chauvenet photograph collection [picture]. University of New Mexico-Main Campus
referencedIn Thomas M. Pearce Papers, 1904-1985 The University of New Mexico, University Libraries, Center for SouthwestResearch
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company correspondence and records, 1832-1944. Houghton Library
creatorOf Alice Corbin Henderson Collection TXRC92-A24., 1861-1987 Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
referencedIn Braithwaite, William Stanley, 1878-1962. Papers, 1897-1930 Houghton Library
creatorOf Henderson, Alice Corbin, 1881-1949. Correspondence to Van Wyck Brooks, 1923. University of Pennsylvania Library
referencedIn Amy Lowell correspondence, 1883-1927 (inclusive), 1910-1925 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Beatrice Chauvenet Photograph Collection, 1905-1984 The University of New Mexico, University Libraries, Center for SouthwestResearch
creatorOf Pearce, T. M. (Thomas Matthews), 1902-. Thomas M. Pearce Papers 1462-1985. University of New Mexico-Main Campus
referencedIn New Mexico Music Collection, 1868-1993 Fray Angélico Chávez History Library.
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Aldington, Richard, 1892-1962 person
associatedWith Allgood, Sara, 1883-1950 person
associatedWith Anderson, Sherwood, 1876-1941 person
associatedWith Austin, Mary Hunter, 1868-1934 person
associatedWith Ayer, Edward Everett, 1841-1927 person
associatedWith Baumann, Gustave, 1881-1971 person
associatedWith Bloch, Ernest, 1880-1959 person
correspondedWith Braithwaite, William Stanley, 1878-1962 person
associatedWith Brooks, Van Wyck, 1886-1963 person
associatedWith Bynner, Witter, 1881-1963 person
associatedWith Bynner, Witter, 1881-1968. person
associatedWith Canby, Henry Seidel, 1878-1961 person
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associatedWith Carnochan, Brigitte Hoy. person
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correspondedWith Century Company corporateBody
associatedWith Chauvenet, Beatrice. person
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associatedWith Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish, 1877-1947 person
associatedWith Craig, Edward Gordon, 1872-1966 person
associatedWith Cram, Ralph Adams, 1863-1942 person
associatedWith Cross, Wilbur L. (Wilbur Lucius), 1862-1948 person
correspondedWith Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel, 1853-1935 person
associatedWith Dell, Floyd, 1887-1969 person
associatedWith DeVoto, Bernard Augustine, 1897-1955 person
associatedWith Dillon, George, 1906- person
associatedWith Dillon, George, 1906-1968. person
associatedWith Dove, Arthur Garfield, 1880-1947 person
associatedWith Eugene Manlove Rhodes Memorial Association corporateBody
associatedWith Evans, John Ganson, 1901- person
associatedWith Evans, Margaret person
associatedWith Evans, Margaret. person
associatedWith Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of New Mexico corporateBody
associatedWith Fergusson, Erna, 1888-1964 person
associatedWith Fergusson, Harvey, 1890-1971. person
associatedWith Field, Sara Bard, 1882-1974 person
associatedWith Fletcher, John Gould, 1886-1950 person
associatedWith Frost, Robert, 1874-1963 person
associatedWith Fuller, Henry Blake, 1857-1929 person
associatedWith Galsworthy, John, 1867-1933 person
associatedWith Gilman, Lawrence, 1878-1939 person
associatedWith Gregory, Lady, 1852-1932 person
associatedWith Hackett, Francis, 1883-1962 person
associatedWith Harris, Frank, 1855-1931 person
associatedWith Hartley, Marsden, 1877-1943 person
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correspondedWith Houghton Mifflin Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Hughes, Dorothy B. (Dorothy Belle), 1904- person
associatedWith Janes, Nancy Evans, 1925- person
associatedWith Janes, Nancy Evans, 1928- person
associatedWith Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912- person
associatedWith Johnson, Spud, 1897-1968 person
associatedWith Jones Studio (Boulder, Colo.), corporateBody
associatedWith King, Grace Elizabeth, 1852-1932 person
associatedWith Kreymborg, Alfred, 1883-1966 person
associatedWith La Farge, Oliver, 1901-1963 person
associatedWith Lange, Hans, 1884-1960 person
associatedWith Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert), 1885-1930 person
associatedWith Lawrence, Frieda von Richthofen, 1879-1956 person
associatedWith Lee, Agnes, 1868-1939 person
correspondedWith Lees, Dorothy Nevile. person
associatedWith Lindsay, Vachel, 1879-1931 person
associatedWith Long, Haniel, 1888-1956 person
associatedWith Lowell, Amy, 1871-1925 person
associatedWith Lowell, Amy, 1874-1925. person
associatedWith Luhan, Mabel Dodge, 1879-1962 person
associatedWith Masefield, John, 1878-1967 person
associatedWith Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950 person
associatedWith Mauldin, Natalie Evans, 1924- person
associatedWith McWilliams, Betty person
associatedWith McWilliams, Betty. person
associatedWith Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956 person
associatedWith Monroe, Harriet, 1860-1936 person
associatedWith Montague, Sara, d. 1933 person
associatedWith Moody, Harriet Converse Tilden, 1857-1932. person
associatedWith Moody, William Vaughn, 1869-1910 person
associatedWith Museum of New Mexico corporateBody
associatedWith Navajo House of Religion corporateBody
correspondedWith New Yorker Magazine, Inc corporateBody
associatedWith Orage, A. R., (Alfred Richard), 1873-1934 person
associatedWith Pearce, T. M. (Thomas Matthews), 1902- person
associatedWith Poet's Round-up. corporateBody
associatedWith Poet's Round-Up corporateBody
associatedWith Pound, Ezra person
associatedWith Pound, Ezra, 1885-1972. person
associatedWith Pound, Louise, 1872-1958 person
associatedWith Priestley, John Boynton, 1894- person
associatedWith Priestley, John Boynton, 1894- person
associatedWith Pueblo-Spanish Building Company corporateBody
associatedWith Rascoe, Burton, 1892-1957 person
associatedWith Reed, John, 1887-1920 person
associatedWith Reedy, William Marion, 1862-1920 person
associatedWith Rhodes, Eugene Manlove, 1869-1934 person
associatedWith Rhys, Ernest, 1859-1946 person
associatedWith Riggs, Lynn, 1899-1954 person
associatedWith Rittenhouse, Jessie Belle, 1869-1948 person
associatedWith Robinson, Edwin Arlington, 1869-1935 person
associatedWith Robinson, Lenox, 1886-1958 person
associatedWith Roosevelt, Nicholas, 1893- person
associatedWith Roosevelt, Nicholas, 1893-1982. person
associatedWith Rorty, James, 1890-1973 person
associatedWith Rossin, Alice Henderson, 1907-1988 person
associatedWith Rossin, Clara, d. 1928 person
associatedWith Rossin, Edgar Lewis, 1901-1948 person
associatedWith Sandburg, Carl, 1878-1967 person
associatedWith Scott, Evelyn, 1893- person
associatedWith Soule, Edmund F. (Edmund Foster), 1915-2000. person
associatedWith Spire, André. person
associatedWith Spire, André person
associatedWith Springer, Frank person
associatedWith Springer, Frank. person
associatedWith Stevens, Wallace, 1879-1955 person
associatedWith Stokowski, Leopold, 1882-1977. person
associatedWith Stowkowski, Leopold, 1882-1977 person
associatedWith Szigeti, Joseph, 1892-1973 person
associatedWith Tagor, Rabindranath, 1861-1941 person
associatedWith Tarbell, Ida M. (Ida Minerva), 1857-1944 person
associatedWith Teasdale, Sara, 1884-1933 person
associatedWith Tibbett, Lawrence, 1896-1960 person
associatedWith Tietjens, Eunice (Hammond), 1884- person
associatedWith Todd, Dorothea person
associatedWith Todd, Dorothea. person
associatedWith Todd, Jouett person
associatedWith Todd, Jouett. person
associatedWith Untermeyer, Jean Starr, 1886-1970 person
associatedWith Untermeyer, Louis, 1885-1977 person
associatedWith Van Doren, Carl, 1885-1950 person
associatedWith Vidor, King, 1894-1982 person
associatedWith Walker, Roberts, 1874- person
associatedWith Walker, Roberts, 1974- person
associatedWith Wescott, Glenway, 1901- person
associatedWith Wheelock, John Hall, 1886-1978 person
associatedWith Wheelwright, Mary C. person
associatedWith Wheelwright, Mary C. person
associatedWith Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian corporateBody
associatedWith White, Amelia Elizabeth person
associatedWith White, Amelia Elizabeth. person
associatedWith White, Martha person
associatedWith White, Martha. person
associatedWith Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963 person
associatedWith Winters, Yvor, 1900-1968 person
associatedWith Writer's Edition corporateBody
associatedWith Writer's Edition. corporateBody
associatedWith Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939 person
associatedWith Young, Margaret Corbin, 1893- person
Place Name Admin Code Country
New Mexico--Santa Fe
Southwest, New
New Mexico
Subject
American literature
American literature
Art, American
Art, American
Authors, American
Authors, American
American poetry
American poetry
American poetry
American poetry
Women authors, American
Women authors, American
Architecture
Architecture
Indians of North America
Indians of North America
Indians of North America
Indians of North America
Indians of North America
Navajo Indians
Poetry
Poetry
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1881-04-16

Death 1949-07-18

Americans

English

Information

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