Curtis-Iselin family papers

The Curtis-Iselin Family Papers document the lives of Sally (Curtis) Iselin and Lewis Iselin, Jr. Sally Cary Curtis was born in Nahant, Massachusetts on June 16, 1915 to Charles Pelham and Edith Roelker Curtis. The Curtises were both descendents of elite New England families and were identified with Boston's Back Bay elite; their acrimonious divorce in 1934 was the source of scandal. Sally attended a series of girls' preparatory schools before attending Radcliffe College in 1934. In Cambridge, she met Lewis Iselin, Jr., who, in that year, left Harvard University to study at the Art Students League of New York. Sally too left Radcliffe without completing her degree. Like Sally Curtis, Lewis Iselin, Jr.--known as "Skinny"--belonged to a wealthy, privileged family. He was born in New Rochelle, New York on June 22, 1913 to Lewis and Marie deNeufville Iselin. Lewis and Sally married in 1935 and had a daughter, Edith (Byron), on July 14, 1937. A boating enthusiast, Lewis enlisted in the naval reserve and was commissioned an ensign in 1940. He was called to active duty in 1941 and spent the war as Lieutenant Commander on a number of ships, receiving the Legion of Merit. The couple's second daughter, Sarah Cary (Morrison), was born on July 4, 1941.

During the war, Sally worked as an editorial assistant for the foreign news division of the fledgling magazine Newsweek . This was the start of a career in magazine publishing that included positions as assistant editor at Town and Country (1945-48), reporter for Life (1948-50); and fashion editor at Woman's Home Companion (1956). She also published freelance pieces and took up photography, which she exhibited later in life. Sally's most prominent work at these publications centered on the fashion industry, as she supervised fashion shoots and wrote articles on French couture. Couture was also a personal passion of Sally's, and she later donated designer pieces to the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. After the war, Lewis Iselin pursued an artistic career. He gained considerable renown for his portrait sculpture and received commissions that included the U.S. Military Cemetery in Paris and Whitney Museum of Art. He also exhibited widely, from small galleries to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The family's leisure activities echoed the pastimes of their elite forebears. They were avid sailors, art collectors, and active in New York City's society life. The couple maintained a house in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan and an apartment in Paris. In 1971, they relocated to Camden, Maine. Lewis Iselin died on August 10, 1990. Sally Curtis Iselin died on March 18, 1998.