Elizabeth Oliver was born in 1940 on her father's dairy farm in Virginia. After attending the University of North Carolina, she moved to New York City, N.Y., and worked as a set designer in the theater. In 1968, she taught craft workshops at the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, N.C. She then moved back to New York City to work as a video producer and editor. In 1977, Oliver was a student at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Me., where she was later invited to teach and serve as a visiting artist. Her primary topics were papermaking and crafts. In the 1990s, she also ventured into poetry and began performing her work. None of her work was published. Around 1997, she was diagnosed with cancer and began three years of treatments. She died on 10 October 2000 in Virginia Beach, Va. The collection contains correspondence and other papers of Elizabeth Oliver. Correspondence is primarily with her father, mother, and other family members, as well as with her students, assistants, friends, and other acquaintances. In her letters, Oliver discussed family matters; her health; course information and teaching, including her work at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts; politics; financial matters; and other topics. Some of the letters are drafts and were never sent. Also included are drafts of poems and other writings, diary entries, samples of Oliver's artwork, photographs, class and teaching notes, clippings, programs, and fliers, and other items.
