Special Collections Research Center
William & Mary Special Collections Research CenterFinding Aid Authors: Kathy Feeney.
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Leslie Cheek, Jr. Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
Transfer
Processed by Kathy Feeney in 1993.
Leslie Cheek was born in Nashville, TN in 1908. He studied art at Harvard University and architecture at Yale and Columbia. He headed the department of fine arts at the College of William and Mary 1937-39, where he was instrumental in getting an honorary award given to Georgia O'Keeffe by the college in 1938 and Frank Lloyd Wright.
In 1939 he married Mary Tyler Freeman (1917- 2005), the daughter of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of George Washington, Douglas Southall Freeman. That same year he joined the Baltimore Museum of Fine Art as its director, where he found Adelyn Breeskin (q.v.) of its prints department already assembling an outstanding collection. Cheek worked actively with various Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist's projects. He resigned from the Museum in 1942 to join the army corps of engineers in World War II.
After the war, he succeeded Thomas C. Colt, Jr as the second director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 1948 (the museum itself was founded in 1936). During his tenure at Virginia, he persuaded the General Assembly to finance the Museum as the state's official art museum. In 1953, Cheek developed a "mobile art program" to bring exhibitions to more remote parts of Virginia. The project, Artmobile I, was a success. In 1955, the Virginia Museum Theater opened to integrate the performing arts with the gallery. He retired from the Museum in 1968. The following year the Cheeks began a mountaintop compound they named Skylark on a former farm along the Blue Ridge Parkway. In 1977, they donated it to Washington & Lee University which is today that university's conference center. Cheek suffered a series of strokes at his home in Richmond and died in 1992.
His personal papers, 1981-1994, are held by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and 1940-1983 by the Archives of American Art, Washington, DC. The Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville, TN, the ancestral home of Cheek, is now a public art museum, built upon the collection of the former Nashville Museum of Art. Further information about this individual or organization may be available in the Special Collections Research Center Wiki: .
Papers, chiefly 1940-1955, relating to the purchase and operation of Faraway Farm, Lake Lure, North Carolina, the rural retreat of Leslie Cheek, Jr. and his wife Mary Tyler (Freeman) Cheek. Includes Cheek's architectural drawings and photographs as well as documentation concerning a painting of Faraway Farm by William Bailey.
There are papers concerning an egg project run by the Cheeks as part of the war effort during World War II.
The collection also includes architectural drawings for the plan of the Virginia Room at the New York World's Fair, 1939 and theater set designs as well as correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Malcolm E. Campbell of the University of North Carolina about the possibility of Cheek becoming Dean of the new School of Architecture and Landscape Design.
See also; Leslie Cheek, Jr. Papers (UA 6.007), Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William and Mary.
Other Information:
A PDF document of this inventory is available online.
Additional information may be found at http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/findingaids/98_C41_Cheek_Leslie.pdf
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Stewart Bryan, Jr. about the Chebry Corporation. (28 items)
Scope and Contents Documents, sketches and letters relating to the purchase of land from the Chebry Coporation made by Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Cheek, Jr. (7 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr., Lee Powers, Stewart Bryan, C. M. Tribble, and others, about financial matters concerning the Chebry Company and Tiger Cove Company. (33 items)
Scope and Contents Lists and correspondence discussing tasks to be done at Faraway Farm. Including letters from Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Mary Tyler Cheek to the manager of the farm. (21 items)
Scope and Contents Receipts and lists of projects to be done at Faraway Farm. Including letters from [Leslie Cheek, Jr.?] relating to the farm. (9 items)
Scope and Contents Letters and documents designated "Farm documents to keep" by Leslie Cheek, Jr.?, regarding the management of Faraway Farm. (23 items)
Scope and Contents Lists of jobs to be done at Faraway Farm written by Leslie Cheek, Jr. Includes sketches of a fountain and a plot of land as well as the booklet "A Business Farming Program for North Carolina." (7 items)
Scope and Contents Accounts, sketches and receipts for work done at Faraway Farm, including information about setting up a telephone line for the area. (7 items)
Scope and Contents Accounts and receipts for items purchased for Faraway Farm. Including letters regarding purchases. (38 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, including accounts and receipts, between Leslie Cheek, Jr., Lee Powers, and various businessmen about items purchased for and money spent on Faraway Farm. (46 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, including accounts and receipts between Leslie Cheek, Jr., Lee Powers, and various businessmen about items purchased for and money spent on Faraway Farm. (61 items)
Scope and Contents Costs of keeping cows. (2 items)
Scope and Contents Account of charges for testing cows. (1 item)
Scope and Contents Account of breeding fees for animals at Faraway Farm. (1 item)
Scope and Contents Receipts from an egg project run by Mary Tyler Freeman Cheek and G. Frank Wilson. (26 items)
Scope and Contents Records, including accounts and receipts, for an egg project run by Leslie Cheek, Jr. (28 items)
Scope and Contents Receipts and notes concerning an egg project run by Leslie Cheek, Jr.?. (34 items)
Scope and Contents Accounts relating to money earned and spent by the Cheek family. (6 items)
Scope and Contents Receipts and accounts for feed purchased for animals at Faraway Farm. (3 items)
Scope and Contents Accounts and receipts for labor hired at Faraway Farm. (17 items)
Scope and Contents Accounts and receipts relating to costs of repairing and maintaining farm vehicles and machinery. (20 items)
Scope and Contents Calculations of amount of fuel and oil used for farm work at Faraway Farm. (1 item)
Scope and Contents Accounts and receipts for shipping items to Faraway Farm (7 items)
Scope and Contents Accounts and receipts for supplies purchased for Faraway Farm. . (7 items)
Scope and Contents Receipts and accounts for seed, plants, and trees purchased for Faraway Farm. (7 items)
Scope and Contents Materials relating to the painting of Faraway Farm done by the artist William Bailey. Includes slides, photographs, and negatives of the painting. (21 items)
Scope and Contents Information regarding the sale of Faraway Farm by the Cheeks. Includes a copy of the sale contract. (10 items)
Scope and Contents Materials relating to the advertisement and sale of Faraway Farm by the Cheek family. (16 items)
Scope and Contents Descriptions of Faraway Farm by Leslie Cheek, Jr., including a sketch. (3 items)
Scope and Contents [undated] - 1951. Information about the Cheek property at Faraway Farm, including letters from people who would like to purchase the property. (7 items)
Scope and Contents Letters, clippings and documents regarding the sale of Faraway Farm, including a copy of the contract transferring ownership from Leslie Cheek, Jr. to Frank B. Edwards. (49 items)
Scope and Contents Information about the land around Lake Lure, including arial photographs of the region. Sketches, photos, typewritten letters, autograph note, printed materials. (13 items)
Scope and Contents Letters from Chambers Interior Design and Furniture to Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Cheek, Jr. regarding the furnishings and decorating of their apartment in Baltimore, Maryland. Includes blue prints, receipts. and sketches. (32 items)
Scope and Contents Letters written to Leslie Cheek, Jr., regarding his desire to buy property in North Carolina.(14 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, some with sketches, between Leslie Cheek, Jr., and others regarding his purchase of property at Lake Lure, North Carolina and the building and furnishing of a house there. (22 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, some with sketches, between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and others about the construction and furnishing of his summer home in Lake Lure, North Carolina. (39 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, sketches and copies [?] of deeds regarding leases on Leslie Cheek, Jr.'s land in North Carolina.(12 items)
Scope and Contents Letters and documents pertaining to the sale of the land on which Faraway Farm was built, and payments made by Leslie Cheek, Jr. on the mortgage of the property. (33 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr., officials of the town of Lake Lure, North Carolina, and others, regarding restrictions of public use of the lake and private facilities. (13 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr., Lee Powers, C.L. Lyons, and James Dockery, regarding an agreement allowing Lyons access to land owned by Cheek and Powers. (9 items)
Scope and Contents Drawings by Leslie Cheek, Jr. of landscaping plans for Faraway Farm. (7 items)
Scope and Contents Information about a conservation project for Faraway Farm. Copy of typewritten document, sketch, photo, printed material. (4 items)
Scope and Contents Information regarding fertilizer and lime for Faraway Farm (5 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, literature, and sketches regarding the fruit orchard at Faraway Farm. (11 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, literature, and sketches regarding planting berries and grapes at Faraway Farm. (11 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lou Bernard Voigt ("Barney") regarding landscaping at Faraway Farm. Includes a letter from S.K. Mortimer, of Anthony Lake Nursery, to Leslie Cheek, Jr. regarding plants. (13 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, literature, notes, and drawings regarding flower and vegetable gardens at Faraway Farm. (81 items)
Scope and Contents Information, sketches and instructions about maintenance and planting at Faraway Farm. (13 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and others, including officials of the Carolina Mountain Power Corporation and General Electric, about electrical problems at Faraway Farm. (11 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and others, detailing his quest to get a telephone line installed at Faraway Farm. (30 items)
Scope and Contents Letters to Leslie Cheek, Jr. from the Brook Water Wheel Company, the Fitzwater Wheel Company and the James Leffel and Company about the possibility of using hydroelectric power at Faraway Farm. Includes sketches and promotional literature. (50 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and others regarding his attempts to get a telephone line installed at Faraway Farm. Includes printed documents describing different methods of installing phone lines. (45 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and others, regarding his quest to get a phone line installed at Faraway Farm. (65 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and members of the North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission regarding road improvements to be made near his house at Lake Lure. (11 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and others, regarding his quest to get a telephone line installed at Faraway Farm. (32 items)
Scope and Contents Ivan E. Miles, Raleigh, North Carolina, to Frank Wilson, Faraway Farm, Uree, North Carolina. Describes results of measurements of the acidity of the soil at Faraway Farm.
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and various farm equipment suppliers, regarding rock crushers and saws he desired to purchase for use at Faraway Farm. (33 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and various auto sales representatives, regarding his desire to trade in his old cars for a new station wagon and truck. (14 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, mostly between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Malcolm E. Campbell of the University of North Carolina, about the possibility of Cheek becoming the Dean of a new School of Architecture and Landscape Design. (26 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence and course material relating to Cornell University's Farm Study Course "Farming as a Business," taken by Leslie Cheek, Jr. as a correspondence course. (23 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and others regarding his search for a new farm manager for Faraway Farm, including Cheek's notes about different applicants. (14 items)
Scope and Contents Copy of article about the house at Faraway Farm, from the June 1951 edition of House Beautiful magazine. 11 pages. (1 item)
Scope and Contents Notes and receipts regarding furniture for the guest house and the library at Faraway Farm. (12 items)
Scope and Contents Copies of the "Farmers' Bulletin" relating to storage of food and sketches by Leslie Cheek, Jr. for the layout of the root cellar at Faraway Farm. (3 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Donald E. Stoll, George E. Weeks, and C.R. Trimble about buying a fan and vents for the attic at Faraway Farm. (24 items)
Scope and Contents Sketches by Leslie Cheek, Jr. of potential entrance gates to Faraway Farm. Sketches. (21 items) Includes typewritten letters from Douglas Southall Freeman, Richmond, Virginia, to his son-in-law, Leslie Cheek, Jr., Uree, North Carolina, 27 August 1947, regarding wine. 1 page. Includes photos of printed material, 1 page. (24 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, sketches and literature relating to the building of the guest house at Faraway Farm. (31 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, including letters and promotional literature, between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and oil heating companies, discussing the type of heating unit to be used in the guest cottage at Faraway Farm. Includes blueprints of the cottage. (21 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Pat W. Brown, of Brown Appliance Company, about appliances to be installed in the house at Faraway Farm. (12 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and others about farm equipment he means to purchase. (18 items)
Scope and Contents Information regarding the furniture for the guest house at Faraway Farm, including sketches and pictures of potential items, and correspondence regarding particular items and their prices. Includes photographs and sketches. (41 items)
Scope and Contents Accounts, labeled, by Leslie Cheek, Jr.? as "Guest House Costs," stating amounts of money owed by Leslie Cheek, Jr. to Sears, Roebuck and Company and other companies. (6 items)
Scope and Contents Sketches and blueprints by Leslie Cheek, Jr. and others, showing plans for farm buildings at Faraway Farm. (15 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Harold Wilson, regarding tasks to be done at Faraway Farm. (26 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Cheek, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. G. Frank Wilson, and others, about the management of Faraway Farm. (18 items)
Scope and Contents Reports from Frank Wilson, the manager of Faraway Farm, concerning the expenses and income for a week's time. (51 items)
Scope and Contents Reports from Frank Wilson, manager of Faraway Farm, detailing expenses and income for a week's time. (52 items)
Scope and Contents Manager's reports of expenses and income for a week's time at Faraway Farm. (53 items)
Scope and Contents Reports of Frank Wilson, manager of Faraway Farm, describing expenses and income for a week's time. (51 items)
Scope and Contents Reports by G. Frank Wilson, manager of Faraway Farm, describing to Leslie Cheek, Jr. events that have taken place on the farm. (12 items)
Scope and Contents Manager's reports by Frank Wilson and Herrald Haynes, containing information about expenses and income for a week's time at Faraway Farm. (49 items)
Scope and Contents Copies of letters from Leslie Cheek, Jr. to Lee L. Powers regarding the construction of the farmhouse at Faraway Farm. Includes letters to Leslie Cheek, Jr. from Lee L. Powers. (23 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lee L. Powers about things to be done at Faraway Farm. (11 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Lee L. Powers and Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Cheek, Jr. about things to be done at Faraway Farm. (11 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Lee Powers and Leslie Cheek, Jr. regarding the management of Faraway Farm and personal matters. (18 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Lee Powers and Leslie Cheek, Jr. regarding the management of Faraway Farm and personal matters. (17 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lee L. Powers about Faraway Farm. (29 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence with sketches between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lee Powers regarding business at Faraway Farm. (30 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lee L. Powers about Faraway Farm. (26 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence mostly between Lee Powers and Leslie Cheek, Jr. regarding Faraway Farm, including the issue of a public road on Cheek's property. (26 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lee L. Powers about Faraway Farm. (11 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, mostly between Lee Powers and Leslie Cheek, Jr. regarding the status of Faraway Farm and personal matters. (17 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lee L. Powers about Faraway Farm. (17 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lee Powers regarding the management of Faraway Farm and the Chebry Company. (12 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lee L. Powers regarding the status of Faraway Farm. (13 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between Leslie Cheek, Jr. and Lee L. Powers regarding the status of Faraway Farm. (13 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, mostly between Lee Powers and Leslie Cheek, Jr., regarding the sale of Faraway Farm and personal matters. (18 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence, mostly between Lee Powers and Leslie Cheek, Jr., regarding the status of Faraway Farm and personal matters. (33 items)
Scope and Contents Photocopies of information regarding an egg project run by Mary Tyler Freeman Cheek [and G. Frank Wilson?] for the war effort. (46 items)
Scope and Contents Photocopies of information relating to an egg project undertaken by Mary Tyler Freeman Cheek [and G. Frank Wilson?] for the war effort. (29 items)
Scope and Contents Photocopies of information relating to an egg project run by Mary Tyler Freeman Cheek [and G. Frank Wilson?] for the war effort. (7 items)
Scope and Contents Letters and postcards from G. Frank Wilson in Uree, North Carolina to Mr. and Mrs. Cheek (22 items)
Scope and Contents Letters and postcards from G. Frank Wilson in Uree, North Carolina to Mr. and Mrs. Cheek. (23 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between G. Frank Wilson in Uree, North Carolina and Mr. and Mrs. Cheek. (84 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between G. Frank Wilson in Uree, North Carolina and Mr. and Mrs. Cheek. (102 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between G. Frank Wilson in Uree, North Carolina and Mr. and Mrs. Cheek. (122 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between G. Frank Wilson in Uree, North Carolina and Mr. and Mrs. Cheek. (93 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between G. Frank Wilson in Uree, North Carolina and Mr. and Mrs. Cheek. (84 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between G. Frank Wilson in Uree, North Carolina and Mr. and Mrs. Cheek. (41 items)
Scope and Contents Correspondence between G. Frank Wilson in Uree, North Carolina and Mr. and Mrs. Cheek. (114 items)
Scope and Contents Bank statements, checks, and income tax information of Leslie Cheek, Jr. (59 items)
Scope and Contents Blueprint of the agricultural areas of the Chebry Company and Faraway Farm. Gasoline and oil records, Faraway Farm, 1948-1951. (5 items) Architectural drawings: Plan of interior of Batchelor [sic] "kitchen" on Williamsburg's Palace Green. Plan of the Virginia Room for the New York World's Fair, designed by Leslie Cheek, Jr., 1939. Fireplace group for apartment at the Warrington designed for Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Cheek, Jr. Leslie Cheek, Jr. "Kitchen," Williamsburg, 1935-1936?. Photographs: "A room in a chateau, "The Marquise" by Noel Coward. Set by Leslie Cheek. Summer 1930. "Post Rd." University Players, 1930. "The Marquise," University Players, 1930. 4 unidentified photographs. (18 items)