Roger W. Smith letter to Harold J. Dies, March 24, 2007

 

roger-w-smith-to-harold-dies-3-24-20071

 

 

Harold J. Dies (1914-2012) was Trustee of the Dreiser Trust.

 

– posted by Roger W. Smith

June 2017

photos of Theodore Dreiser and relatives

 

Posted here (see below) are photos and portraits of Theodore Dreiser as well as numerous photos of Dreiser’s relatives and acquaintances.

There is some overlap with photos which I have already posted on this site. See

https://dreiseronlinecom.wordpress.com/?s=photographs

 

Notable among the persons included in these photos, besides Dreiser, are the following:

Esther A. (Schnepp) Dickerson, Theodore Dreiser’s aunt

Dreiser’s siblings Paul, Rome, Emma, Theresa, and Claire

Dreiser’s first wife Sara White Dreiser

Dreiser’s second wife Helen (Patges Richardson) Dreiser and several of her ancestors and relatives

Dreiser’s sister-in-law Mai Skelly Dreiser

Dreiser’s favorite niece Gertrude A. Hopkins

Dreiser’s niece Dr. Vera Dreiser

Harold James Dies, who was related to Helen (Patges Richardson) Dreiser and, more distantly, to Theodore Dreiser, and who served for many years as Trustee of the Dreiser Trust

 

Thanks are due to the following persons and institutions for permission to post photos:

Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Vigo County Historical Society Museum, Terre Haute, IN

the late Harold J. Dies

Gloria N. Vevante (a Dreiser family descendant)

Joann Crouch (a Dreiser family descendant)

Thomas P. Riggio

Please note: if you left click on a photo of interest, a descriptive caption for that photo will appear. If you right click on the photo, you will have the option of downloading (saving) it.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   May 2017

 

ancestors of Dreiser’s 2nd wife Helen (Patges) (Richardson) Dreiser; courtesy Joann Crouch

Esther (Schnepp) ({Parks) Dickerson, Dreiser’s aunt, with her grandson Carl Milo Dies, Jr (brother of Harold James Dies)

Dickerson family, Oregon 1884 … front, Esther A. (Schnepp) (Parks) Dickerson, Dreiser’s aunt, with her 2nd husband Samuel Turner Dickerson and their daughter Myrtle Josie Dickerson … rear, Esther A. (Schnepp) (Parks) Dickerson’s daughters by her first marriage to David Parks: Etta, Rosa, Ida, Lillian, and Amanda …. daughter Ida was the mother of Dreiser’s 2nd wife, Helen Esther Patges

Dreiser’s older brother Paul Dresser

Paul Dresser

Dreiser’s brother Markus Romanus Dreiser (Rome)

Dreiser’s sister Emma

Dreiser’s sister Mary Theresa Dreiser (1864-1897); courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser’s sister Clara Clothilde Dreiser (Claire); courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser (in rear, second from right) with spelunking group during his college days; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser in Pittsburgh 1894; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in Pittsburgh 1894; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser in New York City ca. 1907; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser in New York City ca. 1900; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in New York City 1900; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in New York City 1900; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in New York City 1900; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

editor Dreiser in New York City ca. 1907; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in New York City ca. 1907

Dreiser and Jug in New York City ca. 1907

Dreiser in New York City 1909; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in back yard of his Greenwich Village apartment building, West 11th Street, NYC

Dreiser in his Greenwich Village studio apartment

Dreiser in his studio apartment on St. Luke’s Place in Greenwich Village 1923; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser ca. 1918; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser, October 1919

sketch of Dreiser by Frank Harris

Dreiser in Indiana during his “Hoosier Holiday” trip in 1914; this photo is misidentified on the University of Pennsylvania’s site devoted to Dreiser as having been taken in Hollywood

Dreiser and Helen in Hollywood, ca. 1920-21, shortly after they had met and when Helen was pursing an acting career

Dreiser during 1920’s; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser during 1920’s; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in June 1926, shortly after publication of “An American Tragedy”; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser, June 1926; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser, June 1926; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser, June 1926; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in Berlin, August 1926

Dreiser in New York City, setting sail for USSR, October 1927; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser with companions in Donetz Basin, USSR 12-19-1927; from left to right, l’Etienne (Latvian agronomist); Dr. Sophia Davidovskaya; Dreiser; Dreiser’s secretary Ruth Kennell; a local guide; courtesy, Vigo County Historical Society

studio photo of Dreiser, presumably 1920’s; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Helen and Dreiser on patio at Iroki, Dreiser’s Westchester County, NY estate; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser with Nick on his Westchester County, NY estate. Iroki, February 1929

Dreiser with Helen and Nick, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, May 1930

Dreiser in his penthouse apartment, West 57th St., NYC 1931

Dreiser with fellow activists supporting miners in Harlan County, Kentucky

John Dos Passos, Dreiser. and Samuel Ornitz during investigations of mine workers’ conditions in Harlan County, Kentucky

Dreiser in November 1933; photo by Carl Van Vechten

Dreiser 1930’s

Dreiser with his secretary-research assistant Harriet Bissell and the poet Edgar Lee Masters on his Westchester County NY estate,, Iroki, summer 1938

Dreiser on his Westchester County, NY, estate; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser and Paul Robeson; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser at home of Marguerite Tjader Harris, Darien, CT; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser in California 1942

Dreiser in California 1942

Dreiser in California 1942

Theodore Dreiser, undated

Dreiser with bust of John Cowper Powys, Hollywood ca. 1942

Helen and Theodore Dreiser at wedding of Lt. George B. Smith and Dorothy Tucker, Glendale, CA 12-21-1945

sketch of Dreiser by Henry Poor

portrait of Dreiser by Wayman Adams

portrait of Dreiser by Wayman Adams

portrait of Dreiser by Boris Chaliapin; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

bust of Dreiser by Onorio Ruotolo; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Jug in young adulthood

Jug ca. 1912

Dreiser’s first wife Jug with her niece Vera Dreiser

Myrtle Josie Dickerson (1880-1938), Dreiser’s cousin at the time of the photo, she was employed as a secretary to her cousin Paul Dresser; she married Carl Milo Dies Sr.; their son was Harold J. Dies; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Mai Skelly Dreiser (1878-1955), wife of Dreiser’s brother Ed; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Claire Dreiser Gormley (1868-1918), Dreiser’s sister (wife of Henry V. Gormley) in touring car; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Helen Richardson, who became Dreiser’s 2nd wife; from the collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Helen Richardson in Hollywood; from the collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Helen Richardson with her wolfhound Nick in mid-1930’s; photo from Harold J. Dies collection, courtesy Joann Crouch

Myrtle Rose Patges (1900-1996), Helen (Patges Richardson) Dreiser’s sister; she married Chester Butcher; courtesy Joann Crouch

Dreiser’s niece Gertrude Amelia Hopkins (1894-1973); courtesy Gloria N. Vevante

Dreiser’s niece Dr. Vera Dreiser (1908-1998); courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Harold J. Dies in Portland, Oregon 1938; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Harold J. Dies, Helen Dreiser’s cousin, in Army uniform; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Harold J. Dies in his office, Brooklyn, NY at Theodore and Helen Dreiser’s home in Los Angeles; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Harold J. Dies in his office, Brooklyn, NY; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

 

 

Dreiser’s Greenwich Village lover, the actress Kyra Markham (1891-1967) in “The Trojan Women’; courtesy Thomas P. Riggio

Dreiser and Helen Richardson in Hollywood 1920; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Terre Haute poet Max Ehrmann (1872-1945), Dreiser, and Robert Heinl; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser at his Westchester County, NY estate, Iroki; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

 

 

excerpts from the autobiography of Harold James Dies

 

the-life-story-of-harold-james-dies-excerpts

 

Posted here as a downloadable PDF document are excerpts from the autobiography of Harold James Dies (1914-2012). Mr. Dies was related, on his mother’s side, to Theodore Dreiser’s second wife, Helen (Patges) (Richardson) Dreiser. He was Trustee of the Dreiser Trust.

The full title of the autobiography is “The Kingdom of God and the World’s Final Generation: The Life Story of Harold James Dies” (2010).

Included in the autobiography is anecdotal material related to Theodore Dreiser and his second wife Helen, as well as some information about Dreiser’s niece Gertrude Amelia Hopkins (1894-1963) that is not available elsewhere. Topics of interest discussed in the autobiography, and included in the excerpts posted below, include:

Mr. Dies’s relationship with Dreiser’s second wife Helen, whom he knew from his early years, and biographical information about her

his meeting Dreiser and some anecdotal material about Dreiser

mention of his cousin congressman Martin Dies, chairman of the House un-American Activities Committee

his relationship with Gertrude Amelia Hopkins, Dreiser’s favorite niece and the daughter of Dreiser’s sister Emma (“Sister Carrie”)

negotiations over the production of Tobias Picker’s opera “An American Tragedy”

I wish to thank Joann Crouch, Mr. Dies’s niece, who told me about this unique book and made it available to me for photocopying.

 

— Roger W. Smith

   February 2017

Esther Dickerson obituary

 

Sunday Oregonian (Portland, OR), August 27, 1916

 

“Mrs. E. A. Dickerson Dies,” Sunday Oregonian (Portland, OR), August 27, 1916,

Esther A. (Schnepp, or Schanab) Dickerson (1840-1916) was Theodore Dreiser’s aunt. She was the younger sister of Dreiser’s mother, Sarah (Schnepp, or Schanab) Dreiser. Samuel T. Dickerson was Esther’s second husband.

Esther Dickerson was also the maternal grandmother of Theodore Dreiser’s second wife, Helen (Patges) Dreiser. Esther’s daughter by her first marriage, Ida V. Parks, married George Patges. Their daughter Helen E. Patges married, secondly, Theodore Dreiser as his second wife.

The obituary notes that Mrs. Dickerson died at the residence of her daughter (by her second husband) Mrs. Carl M. Dies. The daughter, Myrtle Josie (Dickerson) Dies, was the mother of Harold James Dies (1914-2012), a relative of Theodore Dreiser’s second wife Helen (Patges) Dreiser. Harold Dies became Trustee of the Dreiser Trust.

— posted by Roger W. Smith

  March 2016

Gertrude A. Hopkins death certificate

 

Gertrude Amelia Hopkins (1894-1973) was Theodore Dreiser’s niece. Below is an image of her death certificate.

 

 

*****************************************************

Note: The late Harold J. Dies gave me a copy of Gertrude Hopkins’s death certificate. I would not have been able to obtain one otherwise, since only relatives can obtain such a record from the state of New York. It is an invaluable document. Gertrude was Theodore Dreiser’s favorite niece and knew Dreiser and his second wife Helen well.  See my article

“Lorenzo A. Hopkins, Emma Wilhelmina Dreiser, and Family”

posted on this site at

Roger W. Smith, “Lorenzo A. Hopkins, Emma Wilhelmina Dreiser, and Family”

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   March 2016

Harold J. Dies letter to Roger W. Smith, February 24, 2007

 

Harold J. Dies (1914-2012) was Trustee of the Dreiser Trust.  Mr. Dies was a first cousin once removed of Theodore Dreiser, and a half first cousin of Dreiser’s second wife, Helen Dreiser.

 

sara-dreiser-postcard-to-gertrude-nelson