Julia G. Severance Papers, 1912-1955, 1957, undated
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
A gifted artist, Julia Gridley Severance designed the still-official Oberlin College seal and was noted for her many pieces of sculpture and works of art.
She was born in Oberlin on January 11, 1877. Her father, James R., graduated from the College in 1868 and from the Seminary in 1871. Her mother, Rosa Gridley, studied at Oberlin from 1865 to 1871.
At a very early age Julia Severance could draw as well as write and she thought it strange that everybody could not do the same. She first studied at the Chicago Art Institute and continued her artwork in connection with her studies at Oberlin. She was a regular student in the College of Arts and Sciences from 1896-99, a special student in 1899-1900, and took special courses in fine arts and music for several additional years. She also studied in the Cleveland Art School, in Italy, and with the New York Art Students’ League. In 1941 she commented that, though she never received a degree, she had “four years’ training in lines of my own choosing.”
In the June 1922 Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Arthur S. Kimball ’15, then professor of singing, discussed her “great gifts for portraying human character and attributes in the round or in relief” and the fact that she was “always conspicuous for fine drawing from casts and from nature.”
When the architect for Wilder Hall (Men’s Building) wanted a college seal (now displayed above the entrance to Wilder’s main lounge), he asked Severance to develop a design from the wording of the bylaws and the shapes in the old college seal, which was three feet in diameter. The trustees decided to have a new seal made from her design and she made several casts, about 12 inches in diameter. One was cast in bronze for the president’s office.
In 1916 Severance received an award in sculpture at the Women’s Artists’ Club in Cleveland. In 1917 she gave an exhibition of sculptures at the home of Delphine Hanna ’01 A.M., then professor of physical education, in Florida. In 1921 she designed the Leffingwell bronze tablet in the Chapel of St. Mary’s School in Knoxville, Illinois. Several hundred copies of her etchings of Florida scenes decorated guest rooms at the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York City. She exhibited sculpture and etchings at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1925.
“Neither the accuracy of the camera nor the skill of its manipulator can ever compete with those subtle gifts of the sculptor at their best,” wrote Mr. Kimball in 1922. As proof of Julia Severance’s ability, he cited the Leffingwell tablet, two low reliefs of Miss Severance’s parents, a portrait of Elizabeth Swing ’07, a portrait bust of the late Prof. G. Frederick Wright, and portraits of F. Champion Ward ’32, and his sister, the late Helen Ward ’32. The Ward portraits were mentioned “as only two of many similar ones that adorn the homes and gladden the hearts of fond parents, fixing for all time the passing beauty of childhood.”
Julia G. Severance died March 9, 1972, in Chula Vista, California.
Sources Consulted
Oberlin Alumni Magazine (May/June 1972).
Author: Oberlin Alumni Magazine Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationStudent Alumni Records file of Julia Severance (28/1).
Oberlin College Archives Objects Collection (RG 35).
Goldberg, Marcia, “A statue, the College seal, a mural,” Oberlin Alumni Magazine 72 (January/February 1976): 8-12.
RG 40, Oversize box 27. Contains art by Julia G. Severance: a mounted etching of the Cox Administration Building and postcard of the image.
For more information please see http://cdm15963.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/objects.
The Julia G. Severance papers primarily consist of her etchings of notable sites and buildings around the Oberlin College campus. Also included are letters written to friends regarding personal matters. The letters were retained for the additional artwork found on them. The photograph series contains photos of Julia Severance, her studio, and the Severance home in Oberlin, Ohio, as well as a photo album documenting her time in California and various loose photographs. The two scrapbooks in the collection primarily consist of newspaper clippings on various subjects. Miscellaneous items include an account book, two published books, a small bronze plate, and an art exhibit event program. Although the collection documents her artistic talents, there exists only a small amount of biographical information and other materials relating to her education and family.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Correspondence, 1940, 1955, undated
The correspondence includes letters and cards written by Julia Severance to her friends containing artwork such as sketches and photographs.
Series II. Etchings and Other Artwork, 1912-1943, undated
The etchings consist of ink renderings of sites associated with Oberlin College and two sketches of unidentified people. These prints, including some that are mounted, range in size from 9 inches by 12 inches to 3 inches by 5 inches. Many of these were used for the Oberlin College calendar as well as postcards. Artwork consists of two small round plaster maquettes and two watercolors from Italy. Sketches include 19 loose drawings and watercolors from Severance’s trip to Italy, and a sketchbook containing landscape pencil drawings.
Series III. Photographs, 1922,1926, 1940s-1950s
This series consists of five photographs taken of Julia Severance and her studio, professional photographs of the Severance home, informal snapshots of family and friends, numerous loose photographs of various subjects but primarily sculpture, and a photograph album from her family's time in California.
Series IV. Scrapbooks, ca. 1937-1948
Two scrapbooks are contained in the collection. Both relate to numerous subjects such as theatre, humor, poetry, etc. through newspaper clippings, photographs, and cards. The scrapbook in box 4 was previously in a three-ring binder. It was removed from the binder and placed within 3 folders in a half-size box.
Series V. Miscellaneous, ca. 1930-1949, 1957, undated
Miscellaneous items of the collection include Severance’s account book, a small bronze plate, a catalogue of a Cleveland Museum exhibit, postcards (7) that contain Severance’s drawings of buildings and scenes of Berea College, Berea, Kentucky, and a program for an art exhibit event with an award ticket for Julia Severance.