Marion Meisel, circa 1920
Marion Barnes Meisel was born Mary Hall Barnes in 1874 to James Jethro Barnes and Cornelia V. Hall Barnes in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the second oldest and only girl of four children. Her father was a prominent figure, serving as a City Councilman and Sheriff in Atlanta in the late nineteenth century. Little is known about Meisel's childhood.
Marion Barnes studied piano intermittently between 1895 and 1901 at C.A. Klemm's Musikalen-Sortiment in Leipzig, Germany. During this time she was courted by a violinist from Missouri named Victor Lichtenstein. In 1902, at age 28, she married Guido Meisel, a German chemist. They resided primarily in New York City and Boston. Marion studied photography at the Clarence H. White school of photography and became part of a community of elite photographers, including Alfred Stieglitz and Arthur D. Chapman. She worked primarily as a portrait photographer during the World War I period. Guido was convicted of commercial espionage in 1928, having sold chemical information to the Germans. This resulted in their separation and his permanent residence in Germany. They had no children.
After Guido's conviction, Marion moved to Poughkeepsie, New York, where she owned the Treasure Chest Tavern and Antique Shop which served the Vassar College community. She then moved to Weston, Vermont around 1935 to open the Hitching Post, a country inn. Marion also wrote poetry upon moving to Vermont, some of which was published in small magazines such as
Around 1948, when she was 74, Marion moved to South Londonderry, Vermont and then to Acworth, New Hampshire in 1951. Around 1959, at age 85, Marion moved back to New York City where she remained until her death in 1965 at age 91.
The Marion Barnes Meisel Papers consist of .75 linear ft. of material dating from 1895 to 1983 and are primarily related to her work as a poet and photographer. Types of materials include correspondence, drafts and published versions of poems, photographs, newspaper clippings, business information, and memorabilia.
Correspondence dates primarily from 1896 to 1899 and consists of letters from Victor Lichtenstein. There are some later letters from Marion Burling dating from 1935 to 1959.
The bulk of the papers date from 1917 to 1950 and consist of poems written by Meisel, as well as her photographic works. The photographs are primarily portraits, with some landscapes and artistic pieces. The bulk of the photographs are unidentified and undated. There are also scrapbook pages and photographs of Marion and her cats.
This collection is organized into four series:
The Papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection without any additional restrictions.
Copyright ownership of Marion Meisel's writings is unknown. Copyright to materials authored by persons other than Meisel may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. Permission must be obtained to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Marion Barnes Meisel Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Richard Hanau donated Marion Meisel's Papers to the Sophia Smith Collection 1989.
Processed by Allison Pilatsky, 2009.