Blanche Payne papers, 1930-1981 PDF
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Payne, Blanche, 1897-1972
- Title
- Blanche Payne papers
- Dates
- 1930-1981 (inclusive)19301981
- Quantity
- 10.29 cubic feet (22 boxes, 1 tube)
- Collection Number
- 1918 (Accession No. 1918-012)
- Summary
- Papers of a professor of home economics and authority on historic costume
- Repository
- University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 206-543-1929
Fax: 206-543-1931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
These papers are open to all users.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Blanche Payne was born in 1897 in Thayer, Kansas. She earned a bachelor's degree in home economics from Kansas State Teacher's College in 1916 and a master of arts degree in clothing from Columbia University in 1924. Payne taught high school English and home economics classes in Kiowa, Kansas, and Lewiston, Idaho, before servng as a student nurse at Camp Lewis, Washington in 1918. In 1919 she joined the faculty at Arizona State Teachers College, where she taught classes in textiles and clothing. From 1924 to 1926 Payne taught clothing classes at high schools in New York City, studied draping with French designer Madame Geo, and started her own design business.
Payne joined the University of Washington faculty in 1927, where she taught costume and apparel design in the School of Home Economics. In 1929 she took a leave of absence to study flat pattern at the Mitchell School of Design in New York City, then extended her leave until 1930 to travel through Central Europe and the Balkans surveying folk costume in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia. Payne resumed her duties at the University of Washington in 1931 but returned to Yugoslavia in 1936 to 1937 for additional study. Her research focused on the regions of South Serbia (Macedonia), Croatia, Bosnia, North Serbia, and Dalmatia. In addition to exploring museum collections, Payne visited remote villages, markets, and festivals throughout the country to study and photograph peasant costumes. She also augmented her studies by drafting patterns from the clothing she encountered.
Payne's Yugoslav research failed to result in a full-length publication due to the prohibitive costs of publishing and the destruction of some of her color plates during World War II. However, in 1965 Payne published a textbook entitled History of Costume, which described the evolution of fashion from 3000 B.C. to 1900. The book contained detailed descriptions of historical and cultural fashions together with renditions of small-scale garment patterns that she meticulously drafted from various museum collections. In researching her book, Payne spent two years avidly collecting illustrations. Considered a foremost resource in the study of costume history, the text reflected her teaching philosophy that the study of original artifacts is of essential importance in understanding good design.
In addition to her intensive research on clothing and historic costume, Payne supervised work on the Textile and Costume Study Collection housed in the University of Washington School of Home Economics. As part of her studies of non-Western folk dress and embroidery technique, she collected original ethnic costumes along with textile and embroidery examples. She used her Balkan research as a valuable source for studying ethnic dress in its original context and to provide her students with primary source material for the study of modern costume construction and fine craftsmanship.
During the 1960s Payne consulted for the Brooklyn Museum, work that included a research trip to Europe to find costumes from the House of Worth for an exhibition. Payne retired from the University of Washington in 1966 and died in 1972.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Blanche Payne papers consist primarily of materials used in research for her books as well as for instruction. While the collection includes materials that are known to date from 1932-1981, many of the materials are undated. Most of the papers are from the 1940s through the 1960s. The original purpose of much of the material is unclear. For example, extensive notes, photographs, and illustrations that Payne made during visits to museums may have contributed to her History of Costume but were not kept with the manuscript. The typescript of the History of Costume is incomplete.
The bulk of the correspondence in the papers is with museums and organizations from which Payne had requested illustrations of costume and seems to be associated with the History of Costume.
Source material and several copies of the manuscript for Payne's book about Balkan costumes are grouped in the Speeches and Writings series under the book's tentative title, "Some Costumes of Jugoslavia."
The Study Sets series is a group of visual teaching aids that Payne and others in her department assembled as resources for students. They consist of clippings and occasional descriptions of various elements of costume, and were originally kept in binders in the library of the School of Home Economics.
The pattern drafts are scale drawings that Payne made of costumes she saw in various museums. Some depict garments of historical significance, such as the wedding costume of King Frederick V, while others are simply examples of period or ethnic dress. The sources of most of these costumes are marked on the pattern drafts.
The photographs are mostly reproductions of paintings that Payne selected for their significant examples of costume. Many of these were used or considered for the History of Costume, but some seem to have been teaching aids akin to the study sets. Payne acquired the reproductions from numerous museums worldwide.
Drawings in this collection are mostly tracings or copies of needlework, although some appear to be sketches of specific garments. Similar drawings can be found among her notes, which cover a wide variety of subjects related to costume history. It appears that the photographs, drawings, and notes served a similar function in Payne's research.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
The creator's literary rights have been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Incoming Letters, 1932-1965Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/1-20
Outgoing Letters, 1957-1965Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/21-25
General Correspondence, 1958-1964Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 1/26
Speeches and WritingsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Balkan Manuscript: ("Some Costumes of
Jugoslavia"
|
undated | |
Box/Folder | ||
1/27-30 |
Typescript
Most complete copy.
|
undated |
2/1-5 |
Carbon Copy
|
undated |
2/6-9 |
Photocopy
|
undated |
2/10 |
Typed Copy (Incomplete)
|
undated |
2/11 |
Table of Contents
|
undated |
2/12 |
"Matron from the Vicinity of Djakovo"
|
undated |
2/13 |
Illustrations
|
undated |
box-folder:oversize | ||
21 |
Illustrations: Pattern Drafts
|
undated |
Box/Folder | ||
2/14 |
Maps
|
undated |
box-folder:oversize | ||
21 |
Maps
|
undated |
Box/Folder | ||
2/15 |
Miscellaneous
|
undated |
Box/Folder | ||
3/1-2 |
"The Clothing of Seattle Citizens in 1951"
A survey to be enclosed in a time capsule at Alki Point.
|
1951 |
History of Costume
|
||
Box/Folder | ||
3/3-5 |
Typescript (Incomplete)
|
undated |
3/6-11 |
Lists of Illustrations
|
undated |
3/12-4/3 |
Illustrations: Pattern Drafts
|
undated |
Box/Folder | ||
4/4 |
"Needlecraft"
|
1942 |
4/5 |
T. & C. Conference Talk: Costumes of Central
Europe
|
1965 |
Speeches and Writings of OthersReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
4/6 |
Batik
|
undated |
4/7 |
Selections from
Le Costume Historique by Albert
Racinet
|
undated |
4/8 |
"Textiles, Their Scientific Cleaning and Care," by
Francina S. Greene
|
undated |
Study SetsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
4/9 |
Bridal Costume
|
1930-1931 |
Costume History Notebook
|
undated | |
Box/Folder | ||
4/10 |
A: Primitive and Egyptian
|
undated |
4/11 |
B: Assyria, Persia, Crete, Greece, Rome
|
undated |
4/12 |
C: Roman, Coptic, 1st to 12th Centuries
|
undated |
4/13-14 |
D: 13th to15th Centuries
|
undated |
4/15 |
French Manuscript Reproductions, 15th
Century
|
undated |
4/16-5/1 |
E: 16th to Early 17th Centuries
|
undated |
5/2 |
F: 17th to Early 18th Centuries
|
undated |
5/3 |
G: 1760-1805
|
undated |
5/4 |
H: Peasant Costume
|
undated |
5/5 |
I: Laces
|
undated |
5/6 |
J: Interiors, Exteriors, Embroidery
|
undated |
5/7 |
K: First Half of 19th Century
|
n. d. |
5/8 |
19th Century Fashion Illustrations
|
undated |
6/1 |
L: 1850-1915
|
undated |
6/2 |
M: 1915 and Later
|
undated |
Box/Folder | ||
6/3-4 |
Costume Illustration Notebook
|
undated |
6/5-7/13 |
History of Costume
|
1943 |
8/1 |
History of Textiles: Ozalid Prints
|
undated |
8/2 |
Lace Terms
|
undated |
8/3-4 |
Setbook of Historical Costume
|
undated |
8/5-7 |
Special Art Study Sets: Costume
|
1979 |
box:oversize | ||
22 |
Timelines
|
undated |
Pattern Drafts, undatedReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 8/8-9/70
Pattern Drafts, undatedReturn to Top
Container(s): Tube:oversize 23
Pattern Plates, undatedReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder:oversize 21-22
Needlework Patterns, undatedReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 9/71-76
PhotographsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Costume History Illustrations
Includes both illustrations used and illustrations considered
but not used in Payne's book,
The History of Costume, from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century. The arrangement corresponds to the
structure of the book.
|
||
Box/Folder | ||
10/1-2 |
Introduction: The Origin of Clothing
|
undated |
10/3-11 |
Chapter 1: Egypt
|
undated |
10/12-15 |
Chapter 2: Mesopotamia
|
undated |
10/16-18 |
Chapter 3: The Bronze Age in Denmark
|
undated |
10/19-11/1 |
Chapter 4: Crete and Greece
|
undated |
11/2-11/9 |
Chapter 5: Etruscans and Romans
|
undated |
11/10-11/13 |
Chapter 6: The Byzantine Empire
|
undated |
11/14-15 |
Chapter 7: Western Europe to the Twelfth
Century
|
undated |
11/16 |
Ancient Jewlery
|
undated |
11/17 |
Ancient Embroidery
|
undated |
12/1-4 |
Chapter 8: Twelfth and Thirteenth
Centuries
|
undated |
12/5-10 |
Chapter 9: The Fourteenth Century
|
undated |
12/11-20 |
Chapter 10: Men's Costume of the Fifteenth
Century
|
undated |
12/21-13/7 |
Chapter 11: Women's Costume of the Fifteenth
Century
|
undated |
13/8-14/15 |
Chapter 12: High Renaissance: Men's Costume of the
Sixteenth Century
|
undated |
14/16-31 |
Chapter 13: Women's Costume of the Sixteenth
Century
|
undated |
15/1-10 |
Chapter 14: The Baroque Period: Men's Costume of the
Seventeenth Century
|
undated |
15/11-16/5 |
Chapter 15: Women's Costume of the Seventeenth
Century
|
undated |
16/6-16/19 |
Chapter 16: Eighteenth-Century Fashions for
Men
|
undated |
16/20-17/10 |
Chapter 17: Women's Costume of the Eighteenth
Century
|
undated |
17/11-18 |
Chapter 18: Men's Wear in the Nineteenth
Century
|
undated |
17/19-18/11 |
Chapter 19: Women's Fashions of the Nineteenth
Century
|
undated |
18/12-16 |
Miscellaneous
|
undated |
Box/Folder | ||
18/17 |
Cooper Union Museum
|
undated |
18/18 |
Goteborgs Museum
|
undated |
18/19 |
Nordiska Museet
|
undated |
18/20 |
Oriental Institute
|
undated |
18/21 |
Ozalid Prints
|
undated |
18/22-19/6 |
Miscellaneous
|
undated |
box-folder:oversize | ||
21 |
Miscellaneous
|
undated |
DrawingsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
19/7 |
Byzantine Tracings
|
undated |
19/8 |
Greek Tracings
|
undated |
19/9-10 |
Miscellaneous
|
undated |
box-folder:oversize | ||
21 |
Miscellaneous
|
undated |
NotesReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
19/11 |
Artists
|
undated |
19/12-20/2 |
Costume
|
undated |
20/3 |
Costume: 20th Century Fox
|
undated |
20/4-5 |
Miscellaneous
|
undated |
Subject SeriesReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
20/6 |
Encyclopedia Americana
|
1959-1962 |
Datebook/Journal, 1936Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 20/7
Concerns a trip to the Balkan countries to collect doumentation on Balkan costume.
Financial Records, 1936-1963Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 20/8
Linen Samples, 1964Return to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 20/9
Petticoat Model, 19th century, undatedReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 20/10
Ephemera, 1941-1958, undatedReturn to Top
Container(s): Box-folder 20/11
ClippingsReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
box:oversize | ||
21 |
Balkan Costumes
|
1981, undated |
Box/Folder | ||
20/12-13 |
Miscellaneous
|
1928-1958, undated |
box:oversize | ||
21 |
Miscellaneous
|
1950-1965, undated |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
- Subject Terms :
- Clothing and dress--History
- Clothing and dress--Study and teaching (Higher)
- Costume--Drawings
- Costume--History
- Costume--Photographs
- Ethnic costume--Yugoslavia--History
- Fashion--History
- Home economics teachers--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives
- Needlework--Drawings
- Slavs, Southern--Clothing
- Teaching--Aids and devices
- University Archives/Faculty Papers (University of Washington)
- Women college teachers--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives
- Women historians--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives
- Personal Names :
- Payne, Blanche, 1897-1972--Archives
- Corporate Names :
- University of Washington--Faculty--Archives
- Form or Genre Terms :
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
- correspondence
- curricula
- Diaries
- drawings
- ephemera
- Maps
- Photographs
- scale drawings
- timelines (chronologies)
- tracings
- typescripts
- writings
- Titles within the Collection :
- History of costume
- Other Creators :
-
- Corporate Names :
- University of Washington. University Archives