Reminiscences of Meyer Wolfe, [ca. 1980s]
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

A three-part series of articles about Wolfe's reminiscences of his work as an artist, cartoonist, and stage actor appeared in The Observer in 1980 and was reprinted in 1985; these articles are in the Nashville Room's biographical vertical files.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Reminiscences of artist Meyer Wolfe as dictated to his nephew, Dr. Lawrence Wolfe. A three-page biographical sketch of Wolfe is followed by Wolfe's fifty-page reminiscences of Nashville during the first part of the 20th century. The reminiscences are divided into chapters which correspond primarily to different geographic areas of Nashville: Capitol Avenue; Public Square; College Street; Union Street; Cherry Street or Fourth Avenue; The Arcade; Summer Street or Fifth Avenue; High Street or Sixth Avenue; Vine Street or Seventh Avenue; Spruce Street or Eighth Avenue; Church Street; Broad Street; and 1903 to 1916. Wolfe describes life in each area of Nashville, including the residents, architecture and buildings, recreation, businesses, and transportation. He also discusses local theatres and actors, including his own roles in several productions and working as a program boy. He discusses Nashville during Prohibition and describes the city's red light district. After the typescript comes a six-page photocopy of a handwritten manuscript by Meyer Wolfe titled "The Saga of the Wolfe Family," with yet more recollections.

Cite as: Reminiscences of Meyer Wolfe, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library.

Typescript (photocopy).

Original held by,Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee;,801 Percy Warner Blvd., Nashville, TN 37206;,USA.

The Nashville Public Library does not have intellectual property rights to these materials.

Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Wolfe;,Gift;,2006;,2006.002.

Painter, lithographer, sculptor, and illustrator Meyer Wolfe was born on 10 Sept. 1897 in Louisville, Kentucky. He moved to Nashville with his family at the age of two. His father, Jacob Wolfe-Lazarovitch (b. 1868), a Ukrainian immigrant, drove a wagon for the Werthan Bag and Burlap Company. His mother, Sklar (b. 1875), was a Lithuanian immigrant. Wolfe attended Nashville public schools and studied art under Professor A.C. Webb. He attended Watkins Night School and studied there under E.M. Gardner. He also studied under Carey Orr, cartoonist for Nashville and Chicago newspapers, and drew cartoons for the YMHA News. Wolfe left Nashville in 1917 to study at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He then went to New York to study with Michel Jacobs, founder of the Metropolitan Art School, and with John Sloan at the New York Art Student's League. While in New York, he worked for five years as a newspaper illustrator. In 1926, Wolfe went to Paris, France to study at the Academie Julian with Pierre Lauren. Wolfe traveled and painted throughout Southern France, Tunis, Arabia, French Africa and the Spanish Balearic Islands (Mallorca). While traveling in North Africa, Wolfe met photographer Louise Dahl (1895-1989), a renowned photographer, whom he married in Feb. 1928. When he returned to the US in 1928, there were exhibits of his work at the Nashville Carnegie Library and in Memphis at the Nineteenth Century Club. While he lived and worked in New York, exhibits of his work were held all across the US. Meyer Wolfe created his first series of lithographs, entitled American Negro Life, in 1934 while employed by the Public Works of Art Project. In 1940, he was one of the two exhibitors at the first exhibit of the then newly formed Nashville Artists Guild. The Wolfes moved to New Jersey in late 1960s or early 1970s, later lived in Carmel, California, moved back to New Jersey, and then returned to live in Nashville. Wolfe became ill and returned to New Jersey in May 1985, where he died of cancer the following month.

In English.

No further accruals expected.