The records of the MacDowell Colony span the period 1869-2017, with most of the material dated between 1945-2007. The collection consists of two parts. Part I documents the operational and administrative functions of the colony and its parent organization, the Edward MacDowell Association , from 1907 to 1970. Part II contains materials from the colony's fundraising and administrative office based in New York, dating primarily from 1986 to 2017.

Part I

Part I spans the years 1869-1970, with most material dated 1945-1968 and documents the administration of the colony through its founder Marian MacDowell and its parent organization, the Edward MacDowell Association . Materials consists of correspondence, applications for admission, minutes of meetings, reports, legal and financial papers, and miscellany.

Although the Edward MacDowell Association was established to supervise and maintain the Colony, Marian MacDowell preferred to direct the colony herself and remained the principal administrator and fund-raiser for over forty years. Her correspondence is located in the Personal Correspondence series. The correspondence of association members is arranged in the Correspondence subseries under Administrative Papers. The files include the directors' correspondence and memoranda exchanged between fellow directors and the general public and reflect the degree of personal influence and operational control exercised by the officers of the association over the colony. Until 1946 this control was more symbolic than real as Marian MacDowell managed all aspects of the colony's operation. The period from 1946 to 1956 was a time of transition as administrative responsibilities were passed from MacDowell to the association's board of directors, and a general director was appointed to supervise the daily operations of the colony itself. Association officers whose files are of particular importance include Marie Brodeur (General Director), Aaron Copland (President), Parker and Louise Dutton Fillmore (General Directors), Thomas Shaw Hale (Treasurer), Lewis Montefiore Isaacs (Treasurer), George M. Kendall (General Director), James Johnson Sweeney (President), and Charles H. Studin (Secretary). Correspondents include Hervey Allen, Alexander Calder, Padraic and Mary Colum, Max Frankel, Chaim Gross, DuBose Heyward, Marianne Craig Moore, Tillie Olsen, Louise Talma, Jean Starr Untermeyer, and Thornton Wilder.

The operations of the MacDowell Colony were directed through a series of committees, each chaired by an association director. The records of these committees are filed in the Committees subseries. The responsibility of selecting the colonists to be admitted for each colony session was delegated to special subcommittees under the aegis of the Admissions Committee which approved the final selections and sent out invitations to those chosen. The records of the Admissions Committee, in conjunction with the records in the Admission Applications subseries, provide a record of admission policies and selection procedures employed by the colony. The names of those selected to attend the colony include many of America's eminent writers, composers, and artists, and the admission applications, along with the admission committee's files and the colony's register and residents' book, supply a thorough listing of former colonists.

Marian MacDowell promoted funding for the colony during the early years of its existence through a series of piano recitals and personal appeals. The scope of funding activities and the attendant problems of accounting and financial management are detailed in the Financial Papers and Legal File subseries. Private donors named the colony as beneficiary in wills and testaments and granted continuing endowments through bequests. Material relevant to these bequests are listed in headings under the Legal File. Material documenting fundraising activities, including the ambitious endowment drive of 1937, is located among the Financial Papers, as are accounting and financial reports. The latter material provides a breakdown of the colony's financial position, concentrating on the period after 1946 when the association assumed full fiscal responsibility. The Miscellany series contains booklets published for the Peterborough Pageants (1910-14), the colony's first major publicity event and fundraising success.

Affiliations with music clubs and associations had always been important to the colony. Since 1919, when the National Federation of Music Clubs asked to hold its biennial meeting at Peterborough, the colony cultivated contacts with both local and national organizations, as well as unifying the network of MacDowell Clubs that exist throughout the country. The Office File Miscellany subseries includes headings pertaining to these club affiliations.

Also of interest is a group of letters written by Parker Fillmore to Hermann Hagedorn dated from 1936 to 1938 and arranged in the Miscellany series. These are unusually full and informative reminiscences about Edwin Arlington Robinson, longtime resident and friend of the colony. The letters were written to aid in a biography of Robinson that Hagedorn was working on at the time.

There are few items in the collection that relate to Edward MacDowell. The Miscellany series includes an appointment calendar, 1884, and some biographical notes. In addition to the Personal Correspondence series, Marian MacDowell is also represented in the Miscellany series which includes her speeches and writings.

Part II

Part II of the MacDowell Colony Records spans 1909-2017, with the bulk of material dated between 1986-2007. Part II principally documents the activities of the MacDowell Colony's New York headquarters, which serves as the major fundraising arm for the colony and houses the office of the executive director and development staff. Materials include correspondence, reports and reference material, event planning, financial and fundraising papers, and meeting minutes.

The MacDowell Colony's need for a stronger presence near its fundraising base in New York City grew as it initiated projects to accommodate more artists, such as switching from summertime to year-round operations in the mid-1950s. The general director juggled daily colony operations in New Hampshire with frequent trips to New York City to fund increasing operating expenses. In 1983, the Board of Directors (formerly the Edward MacDowell Association) hired Trevor Cushman (1983-1984) to handle such responsibilities in New York, while a resident director remained on-site in New Hampshire to upkeep the colony and manage community relationships in Peterborough. In 1985, the board hired Frederieke S. Taylor (1985-1986) to fill the newly established position of executive director in New York City to oversee the colony's overall funding, development, public relations, and admissions process.

The Office Files series contains the desk files of the executive director, staff, and other leadership primarily located at this New York office between 1986-2018. The records of Mary Carswell (Executive Director, 1986-1996) and Cheryl A. Young (Director of Development 1988-1993, Deputy Director 1993-1996, Executive Director 1997-2019) make up the bulk of the series. Their files illustrate the breadth of their duties as executive director, including fundraising, finances, events, strategic planning, staffing, outreach, and colony operations. The series also contains the less voluminous files of Taylor and fundraising staff members Tim Lewis (Director of Development, 1996-2000), Adria Santo (Assistant Director for Development, 1998-2007), Wendy Besler (Director of Development, 2000-2010), Elena Quevado (Director of Special Events, 2007-2010, Director of Giving and Special Events, 2010-2013), Dona Lee Kelly (Director of Development and Major Gifts, 2008-2010), and John Martin (Development Officer, 2008-2013). Due to fundraising being the primary function of the New York office for the MacDowell Colony, some Office Files of various staff may include additional fundraising material as well, such as material regarding the $13 million capital campaign known as the Campaign for the Second Century in the office files of Cheryl Young and Dona Lee Kelly.

Part II lacks a continuation from Part I of board member, committee, and director files. Therefore, documentation of the colony's administrative and fundraising activities between 1970 and 1985, before the establishment of the executive directorship is relatively sparse. The remaining incomplete files from this time period of William Schuman (Chairman, 1974-1984), Nancy Englander (Director, 1977-1980), Chris Barnes (Director, 1980-1983, Resident Director, 1984-1989), Trevor Cushman (President, 1983-1984), Elsa Jean Davidson (Administrative Coordinator, circa 1983-circa 1988), and a development committee file are also contained in the Office Files series. However, runs of committee materials from the mid-1980s through 2016, such as the Board of Directors, Patrons and Friends Committee, Executive Committee, and Development Committee, are included throughout the series in the files of staff who held various committee memberships.

The Fundraising series documents the major methods the New York office staff employed to raise money for the MacDowell Colony from individuals, foundations, and corporations through general solicitations and appeals, special fundraising campaigns, and events. Fundraising campaigns such as the Capital Campaign, Campaign for MacDowell, and Campaign for the Studios raised money for the endowment or to winterize and renovate artist studios. Events ranging from annual fundraising galas, such as the New York Benefit, to special events designed to enhance donor relations and promote the MacDowell Colony and the arts contributed in raising individual and corporate donations. Examples of these events include the annual Medal Day celebrations to honor an outstanding artist, the MacDowell Colony’s centennial celebration in 2007, or private exhibit tours and performances for donors. The Fundraising series also details the solicitation of charitable grants received from many sources and includes extensive documentation from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts . Application and reporting of Challenge Grants from the NEA, which awarded additional funding upon achieving separate fundraising goals, can be found with the two associated fundraising campaigns, the Campaign for MacDowell and the Campaign for the Studios.

The Miscellany series reflects the other responsibilities of the New York office staff, including collaboration with other arts organizations such as the Alliance of Artists Communities , of which the MacDowell Colony was a founding partner in 1991 and Carswell served as chairman between 1994-1996. The series also includes material related to colonists, public relations, general finances, and outreach.