Letters and Correspondence

Notes on Paul Sargent Letters Housed in EIU Library Archives

Transcriptions were completed by Dr. Richard Hummel.

The “Paul Sargent Letters’ Collection” owned by EIU Archives was donated in 1957 by the family of Sam Sargent, Paul’s brother. The letters can be categorized in several ways: by date, by writer, by recipient. The letters commence in 1906 with a letter from Paul to Sam, describing Paul’s first experiences in Chicago as an art student. The second letter in sequence is a 1908 letter from Paul to his mother, assuring her that he was getting on with managing his expenses in Chicago. Next, several letters to Paul from Ginny Anderson, an important early patron of Paul’s work and a Charleston resident.

A major portion of the letters are from Paul, from Charleston, to Sam, living in Los Angeles in the 1930s and working as a meat cutter. These letters are filled with Paul’s news from home about local events, weather, and copious advice to Sam regarding Sam’s apparent efforts to take up painting in a serious way. Most of the letters contain at least a mini-lecture on some points of painting—mixing paints, making frames, analyzing landscapes, etc. Paul also weighs in on the international news of the times-gathering war clouds especially.

The other major portion of letters commence in 1941, apparently after Sam had moved back to Charleston. The post-1941 letters are written by Paul to Dario Covi, a former student of Paul’s and aspiring artist. Covi preserved letters received by him from Paul and presented them to the EIU archives after Paul’s death. The “Dario” letters were written as Covi was drafted into the army in WW II. Paul typically fills the letters with advice on painting, many of the same topics he directed to Sam in the 1930s. Paul also provides running commentary on how the war is progressing, from the perspective of a stateside citizen. One revealing letter contains Paul’s elaborate explication of the Koreshan religious/communal belief system that Paul’ father, John, embraced about 1893, leaving the family forever to join in Estero, Florida. Paul, circa 1944, claims that this system of beliefs, the Koreshan movement, founded by Cyrus Teed, comes closest to what Paul declares as his personal religion. Paul expresses no admission of the desertion of the family by his father when Paul was 13, nor the attempt by his father to turn over the farm to the Koreshan community about 1894, an attempt successfully defeated by legal action taken by his mother. The deed to the farm was surrendered by John Sargent to Teed and his operatives. The court case resulted in Coles County officials refusing to register the deed (transfer of ownership).

One especially poignant letter from Paul to Dario is dated Jan. 30, 1946, one week before Paul’s death on Feb. 6, 1946. This is the last letter Paul wrote. The letter shows Paul still at the height of his powers, dispensing elaborate details to Dario on how to simulate the visual appearance indoors of frozen sleet on vegetation with cellophane and white bed sheets.