Personal

SCOPE AND CONTENT The Helen Merritt Collection consists of the Helen’s personal files, correspondence and documents related to her professional and academic research.  The collection retains Helen’s organization of her files in reverse chronological order by year and in chronological order by month within the groupings of individual years. Series one consists of Helen’s personal files, which include family correspondence, newspaper coverage of professional events and philanthropic activities as well as academic, professional and financial records.  Included in series two are Helen’s publications, unpublished works, lecture notes and documents related to exhibits and presentations. Series three consists of correspondence between Helen and other artists, professionals and various institutions.  This series also contains documents included in individual correspondences such as photographs, scholarly articles, prints of artworks and event documents.  Research and reference documents comprise the forth series, which includes notes, scholarly articles, portions of books, event documents, photographs and prints of artwork. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Helen Merritt was a sculptor, painter and crafts expert who specialized in Japanese arts and crafts.  In her lifetime, Helen received a BA from Colby University, a MA from Rockford College, and a MFA from Northern Illinois University, and also received graduate education at the Tokyo University of Fine Arts, Harvard University, Boston University, and Cambridge University.  Her works were commissioned for public buildings in Northern Illinois including the Haish Memorial Library, the headquarters of the DeKalb Agricultural Research Corporation, Northern Illinois University and the First Congregational Church in DeKalb as well as for many private collections.  She taught at all educational levels in drawing, painting, sculpture, and crafts, often organized and judged painting and craft exhibitions and eventually achieved professor emeriti status at Northern Illinois University after decades of undergraduate and graduate instruction.  Helen authored two major books through the University of Hawaii Press as well as articles and brochures for art and academic publications.  She was often invited as a guest lecturer to schools, libraries, museums and businesses due to her extensive experience and education. Helen and her husband Jim Merritt, along with their daughter Deborah, moved to DeKalb in 1948 and came to spend much of their time in DeKalb involved in preservation and philanthropy.  The couple was active in the preservation of the Gurler House and other nineteenth century homes in DeKalb, donated forty acres to DeKalb County which became known as the Merritt Prairie, gave notable gifts to Hope Haven as well as the Northern Illinois University Library Book fund, multiple works of art to local libraries, schools and businesses and also endowed Northern Illinois University’s Helen Merritt Art Scholarship and Award for Distinguished Service in Philosophy of Education.  Due to her involvement in these and similar endeavors, Helen was often recognized and applauded in local and regional newspapers and received numerous awards including a Distinguished Teaching Award from Northern Illinois University in 1990 and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 from the NIU Foundation.