Kitty Parsons (nee: Mary Catherine Parsons) was born in Stratford Conn. Aug. 19, 1889 and raised in New York City where her family had lived for generations. She graduated from the Cathedral School of St. Mary in Garden City, New York and later studied at Pratt Institute, American Academy of Dramatic Art, Teacher’s College of Columbia Univ. and Boston Univ.

Her family moved to Boston shortly before WWI. Kitty spent the war years giving humorous monologues at army camps and naval bases in New England while working with the YMCA and American Red Cross. In one year, she gave nearly 200 performances. Following the death of her father, Kitty and her mother bought a summer place in Rockport that soon became a permanent residence. It was here that she met Richard Recchia, a widower with two young children. They were married June 30th 1927 and received as a wedding gift from her mother, the house at 6 Summer St.

For six decades, Kitty was a prolific writer of poems and historical articles. She was published in the Saturday Evening Post, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Evening Transcript, Saturday Review, Wall Street Journal, Rotarian, London Times, Boston Globe, Boston Herald and many anthologies.

Her professional career included membership in numerous poetry societies as well as being Chairman of the Maine Writers Conference from 1965-68. She also found time to write and have the following books published: Do You Know Them? 1922; Stories of People Worthwhile, 1924; Buccaneer Ballads, 1944; Gloucester Sea Ballads, 1946; As The Wind Blows, 1951; Ancestral Timber, 1957; People and People, 1961; Down To Earth, 1964; Up and Down and Round About, 1967; and Your Husband and Mine, 1970. After her marriage to Richard Recchia, she started painting to amuse her little stepdaughter. She eventually had many exhibits in Boston and New York but primarily with the Rockport Art Association.

Kitty Parsons died, age 86, July 16, 1976.

Richard Recchia was born in Quincy on Nov. 20, 1885. His father, Francesco Recchia, a native of Verona, Italy, was a sculptor and an early influence on his son. After studying at the Boston Fine Arts Museum, Richard traveled to Italy and Paris for further study. He was the recipient of many awards and the founder of the Boston Society of Sculptors. 

His bas-relief “Architecture” is carved on the façade of the Boston Fine Arts Museum and his works are represented in the J.B. Speed Museum in Louisville, KY.; the Buffalo Museum of Arts and Sciences; the Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina; the Red Cross Museum, Nashua, N.H.; the Boston State House; the Somerville Public Library; the George Davenport School in Malden; and Harvard, Brown and Purdue universities and a bronze bust of A. Piat Andrew at the Cape Ann Historical Museum.

He is best known for his larger than life equestrian statue of General John Stark in Manchester, N.H.; the Baby and Frog Fountain at Brookgreen Gardens and his “Mother Goose” in the Rockport Mass. public library.

Richard Recchia, age 98, died on Aug. 18, 1983.

Gift of Frederick C. Hoffman, Bank of New England – North Shore. From the estate of Richard H. Recchia.

The Parsons/Recchia papers cover the full career of Kitty Parsons and, following their marriage in 1927, the subsequent career of Richard Recchia. Each occupied a separate place in the artistic spectrum, Kitty as a writer and painter, Richard as a nationally known sculptor. Letters, awards, rejections, poems, essays, manuscripts and speeches all give a comprehensive understanding of two Rockport artists. Contents include letters, poems, articles, manuscripts, awards, and newspaper clippings.

I Personal correspondence

II Career accomplishments

Box 1

Series I & II

Folder 1: Recchia letters to and from son (Richard Edmund Recchia)

       Letters from Recchia mother

Folder 2: Recchia correspondence with Anthony diBond, Thomas C. Cole

Folder 3: Correspondence 1964 Syracuse, Ohio.

       Recchia collection.

       Professional correspondence

Folder 4: Recchia correspondence with son – mother – diBond.

       Professional letters re: models for medallions

Folder 5: Kitty Parsons; awards

Folder 6: Recchia awards.

       Newspaper clippings – articles by Kitty Parsons

Folder 7: Small brown notebook (1914).

       Clippings of a talented speaker at an early age Columbia Teachers College 1915; stories for children

       Clipping: WWI entertainment for YMCA

       Book Review: “Do You Know Them”

Folder 8: 1970’s clippings – General John Stark by R. Recchia

       Misc. humor articles by Kitty Parsons

       Misc. clippings

Folder 9: Parsons certificates, awards

Box 2

Series I and II

Folder 1: Misc. clippings; short poems

Folder 2: Correspondence: rejections and acceptances

Folder 3: Correspondence: rejections and acceptances

Folder 4: Correspondence: rejections and acceptances

Folder 5: Correspondence: rejections and acceptances

Folder 6: Awards, professional correspondence

      Personal correspondence

Folder 7: Clippings – articles

Box 3

Series I and II

Folder 1: Clippings: reviews, older articles, essays

Folder 2: Correspondence - awards

       Articles and photos – trip to Martinique

Folder 3: Misc. pamphlets – Maine writers conference

       Magazine article: “ A letter To Emily Dickinson from Emily Bronte.”

       Script June 5, 1937

       Obituary 

Box 4

Series I and II

Large notebook (20’s-30’s) Historical articles for juveniles

Folder 1: Misc. – photos

Folder 2: Misc. photos of Parson’s art work

Folder 3: Sketches by Parsons Sketches by Recchia

Folder 4: Parsons’s report cards 1907/08

       Letters from step-son

       Misc. acceptances

Folder 5: Professional letters and contracts

Folder 6: Misc. letters/correspondence

Folder 7: Misc. correspondence 1920’s-1950’s

Folder 8: Photos – Recchia – art works

Box 5

Series II

Manuscript: “3000 miles by water” With the Boy from The Isle of Jersey

Manuscript: “Another Spring” Poems 1971

Manuscript: “The Long Voyage” by Susan Ladd

Manuscript: “The Alphabet Circus” The Circus in

Manuscript: “The Adventures of Two Little Parakeets”

Manuscript: “Him the Hop Toad”

Notebook: Articles by Parsons for Teens. 1920’s

Notebook: Misc. children’s poems

Notebook: “White Gulls” a book of verse

Box 6

Series II

Two copper plates

Notebook: “Down to Earth” misc. poems

Diary: Trip to Martinique

Photos – Trip to Martinique Small scribble book

Notebook – pasted articles/poems 1970’s

Notebook – pasted articles/poems 1970’s

Notebook – Misc. research notes for articles

Prize poems 1966 Penn. Poetry Society

Pamphlet: The Women 1964

Prize poems 1972 Penn. Poetry Society

Box 6

Series II cont.

Pamphlet: Sounds of Maine 1970

Pamphlet: State of Maine 1972 Writers Conf.

Magazine: DAR 1956

Box 7

Series II

Genealogy Notebook – Parsons

(2) Manuscript “The Young Poet” A One Act Play for older children

Manuscript “The Gold Fish Who Wanted To See the World”

(2) Manuscript “Johanna’s Husband” One act play for television

Manuscript “Double Duty” A one act play

Manuscript “Late, Late, So Late: one act play

Manuscript “Butter Cup the Walking-Doll”

Manuscript “The Ultimate Reward” one act play in verse

Misc.: Professional Listings – writers conference

Manuscript: “Beyond the “ collected poems

Manuscript “Peter and the Big Black Bear”

Manuscript “It Pays to Travel” A three act play

Manuscript “Out of the Fog” one act play for television

Manuscript “Rainy Day Rhymes”

Manuscript “The Gold Fish Who Wanted to Roam”

(3) Manuscript “The Train Leaves at Five” one act play

Manuscript “The Elves and the Shoemaker” one act play

Manuscript “All Passes” one act play

Box 8 

Series II

Manuscript “Terry The Turtle”

Manuscript “Floating Through the Caribbean”

Manuscript “Out of the Fog” one act play

Manuscript “All Passes” one act play

Manuscript “ Martha’s Husband” one act play

Manuscript “Abigail Adams in France” a radio ply

Manuscript “Ring Around Her Finger” three act play

Manuscript “Johanna’s Husband” one act

Manuscript “All passes”

Manuscript “The Young Poet”

Manuscript “A Visit From Mr. Blue Jay”

Folder 1: First Draft “It Pays To Travel”

Folder 2: Misc. Collection of Articles

Folder 3: Manuscript “Trip To Martinique”

Folder 4: Poems/Notes Manuscripts

Folder 5: Misc. Poems/Notes Manuscripts

Folder 6: Essays/Notes/Poems

Box 9

Series II

Folder 1: Misc. Poems/Articles/Notes

Folder 2: Misc.

Folder 3: Misc.

Folder 4: Misc.

Folder 5: Misc.

Box 10

Series II

Folder 1: Poems/Stories/Notes

Folder 2: Poems

Folder 3: Poems

Folder 4: Poems