Emma Cullum Huidekoper Cortazzo (1842-1918) was born on January 1, 1842, in Meadville, Pennsylvania, to Alfred (1810-1892) and Catharine Cullum Huidekoper (1812-1888). She married Italian artist, Oreste Antonio Nicolo Cortazzo (1836-1896) in 1866, but they later divorced in 1876. Together, they had one child, Katherine Renee Cortazzo (1868-1963), who was born on May 1, 1868, in Paris, France. The Cortazzos traveled extensively throughout Europe until the came to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1912, where they lived in a house on Sea View Avenue inherited from their relative, General George W. Cullum. They lived in this house until Emma Cortazzo's death on February 18, 1918. Following her mother's death, Katherine Cortazzo sold the Sea View Avenue house and took up residence at the Hotel Viking and other locations throughout Newport and Middletown, while still traveling to Europe often. Katherine Cortazzo died on January 18, 1963.
Access is open to members and researchers at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
This collection is owned by the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Special Collections Librarian of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
Cortazzo autograph collection , RLC.Ms.027, Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
This collection contains autographs, letters and letter fragments, postcards, notes, calling cards, poems, military orders, and other official documents collected by Emma Cullum Cortazzo and her daughter Katherine Cortazzo. This collection includes signed materials from notable people in American history, American literature, American naval history, European monarchs and nobles as well as some artists, musicians and scholars. The documents are predominately in English with some documents and letters appearing in the following languages: French, Latin, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Italian, and German.
This collection is arranged into the following series:
Gift of Katherine R. Cortazzo, 1918 Jun 17.
The collection was started by Emma Cortazzo and her daughter, Katherine, continued to add to the collection. Katherine Cortazzo donated the collection to the Redwood Library on June 17, 1918, in memory of her mother who had died that previous February.
Prior to processing in 2010 by Jessica Abramo, this collection was found within the Steel Cabinet Collection: Drawer 7, Folders 3-7, where it had been arranged into four separate series. The original inventory from the Steel Cabinet can be found within the first box of this collection.
This series is arranged in alphabetical order by last name and consists of letters, letter fragments, and autographs from American authors, editors, poets, and literary scholars. Also included are letters received by Emma and Katerine Cortazzo and other family members of theirs. Notable persons include: Mark Twain, Julia Ward Howe, Maude Howe Elliot, W. D. Howell, Sarah Orne Jewett, Henry Van Dyke, Sarah Woolsey, and Washington Irving.
This series is arranged in alphabetical order by last name and contains letters, documents, military orders, and bank checks from American activists, politicians, and servicemen. Included are military records and correspondence concerning the Cortazzo's relative, General George W. Cullum. Notable persons include: Jane Addams, Presidents Rutherford Hayes and Theodore Roosevelt, Winfield Scott, and Alfred T. Mahan.
Letters, official documents, and autographs from various kings, emperors, princes, and consorts. Notable persons include: Queen Victoria, King George III, Archduke Ferdinand I, King George I, Emperor Leopold I, and Anna de Medici. This series is arranged in alphabetical order.
This series is arranged in alphabetical order by last name and contains letters from various artists, surgeons, entertainers, musicians, theologians, and philosophers. Notable persons include: Samuel Wilberforce, Louis Pasteau, Dame Ethel Smyth, John Singer Sargent, and Camilla Landi.