Helen Stuart (Foulke) Davis was born to Charles Foulke and Eliza Wilson (Kippen) Foulke on March 11, 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a sculptor, specializing in animals. Helen studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Students League. During her career, among other things, she worked for the National Parks Museum, making figures for their dioramas.

She married Edward Wyatt Davis, the art editor of The Philadelphia Press, on April 30, 1889. Together they had two children, modernist painter Stuart Davis (born 1892) and John Wyatt Davis (born 1906). In 1915, Helen and family were invited by the artist John Sloan to Gloucester. By the 1930s Helen and Edward Davis had a summer residence at 51 Mt. Pleasant Avenue in Gloucester. Helen operated “Davis Sculpture Studios” and resided at Reeds Wharf in her later years. Helen Stuart (Foulke) Davis died October 22, 1965, in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The Helen Stuart (Foulke) Davis Papers contain an estimated 400 letters (many with original envelopes) sent from Helen Stuart (Foulke) Davis to her son, modernist painter Stuart Davis and his family. The bulk of the letters are addressed to Stuart, while some are addressed to his wife Roselle and/or their son Earl. 

There is minimal material in the collection that are not letters sent by Helen to her son and his family. However, interspersed throughout the collection are a few letters sent by Stuart and others to Helen. These are within the main folders, organized by date. Additionally, there is one folder of letters received by Stuart Davis and family that were not sent by Helen Stuart (Foulke) Davis. There is also a folder of letters sent from Roselle Davis to Helen Stuart (Foulke) Davis in 1965 and a folder of copied newspaper clippings. Material in the collection was gifted by Earl Davis, son of Stuart Davis and grandson of Helen Stuart (Foulke) Davis.

Box 1:

Folder 1: Letters to Stuart Davis, 1928

Folder 2: Letters to Stuart Davis, 1935

Folder 3: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, January-April1936

Folder 4: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, May-August 1936

Folder 5: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, September-December 1936

Folder 6: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, 1937

Folder 7: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, 1938

Folder 8: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, January-April 1939

Folder 9: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, May-August 1939

Folder 10: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, September-December 1939

Folder 11: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, January-March,1940

Folder 12: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, April-June,1940

Box 2:

Folder 1: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, July-August,1940

Folder 2: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, September-October,1940

Folder 3: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, November-December,1940

Folder 4: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, January-February 1941

Folder 5: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, March-April 1941

Folder 6: Letters to Stuart Davis, May 1941

Folder 7: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, 1949

Folder 8: Letter to Stuart Davis, August 16, 1961

Folder 9: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, 1962

Folder 10: Letters to Stuart Davis and family, 1964

Folder 11: Letters to Roselle Davis, 1965

Folder 12: Roselle Davis to Helen Stuart (Foulke) Davis, 1965

Folder 13: Letters to Stuart Davis, undated

Folder 14: Correspondence to Stuart Davis and family from people other than Helen Stuart (Foulke) Davis, 1938-1965

Folder 15: Newspaper clippings, 1940-1965