This collection is arranged into four main series: Correspondence, Business and Personal Papers, Magazines and Manuscripts, and Frank Stick's Unpublished Book on Fish of the Atlantic and Caribbean Waters.

Available for research.

Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials.

Processed by Kelly R. Grimm, September, 2009

Encoded by Kelly R. Grimm, October, 2009

Frank Leonard Stick (1884-1966) was born in Huron, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota) to David Leonard and Lydia Jane Marcellus Stick. In 1899, Stick moved with his family to the small mining town of Oglesby, Illinois, where his father operated a store owned by the Bents Coal Mine Company. Stick worked at the store with his father and older brother Claude. After two years of working as a stock and delivery boy, Stick had greater aspirations, so he struck out on his own and moved to Wisconsin. He spent the winter months trapping and the summer and fall as a hunting and fishing guide. It was during this time that he began sketching.

By 1904, Frank Stick decided to rejoin his family, who had moved to Chicago, and enroll in the Art Institute of Chicago. His instructors, impressed with his skill, suggested he go to Wilmington, Delaware and study with Howard Pyle, founder of the Brandywine School of Illustration. Pyle was a renowned and well-respected artist and illustrator. It was during his studies in Wilmington, that Frank met Ada Maud Hayes, an artists' model. Frank and Maud were both avid sportsmen who loved any activity that allowed them to be outdoors. The couple married in 1908 and together, had two children, Charlotte in 1909 and David, who would became a noted Outer Banks author, historian, and community leader and philanthrapist, in 1919.

Over the next twenty years, Frank Stick's career as an illustrator flourished. His artwork appeared on the front of calendars, book jackets, advertisements, and in publications such as  Sports Afield,  Outdoor America,  Field and Stream, and  Leslie's Illustrated Weekly. In addition to his illustrating, Stick was also an author. He submitted articles to many of the same magazines that ran his illustrations and in 1920, he co-authored the book  The Call of the Surf with Van Campen Heilner, the first book written on surf fishing. By 1929, Stick became disillusioned with the commercial art world. Tired of producing the same types of images over and over again for a living, Stick put down his paint brushes and moved his family to North Carolina's Outer Banks, an area he discovered while on a fishing trip to Hatteras in the early 1920s.

After Frank Stick's visit to Cape Hatteras, he began to invest in real estate and made land acquisitions with long-time friend and fellow artist Bill Koerner, and other partners. Together, they created the Dare County Development Company and the sub-division of Virginia Dare Shores. Stick continued these pursuits while moving his family to the area, and after weathering the Great Depression became a real estate developer and builder. One of Stick's many legacies to the heritage of the Outer Banks was the construction of the flat top cottages in Kill Devil Hills and Southern Shores. Borrowing design elements from the American Craftsman movement and his beloved Key West, Stick built these homes with extended overhangs which helped to reflect heat and kept the home's interior cooler during the summer. They were built with locally produced concrete at a fraction of the cost, and in shorter time, than a traditional wooden beach cottage, making them accessible to those of modest means.

Frank Stick was an ardent conservationist. He wanted to preserve both the natural beauty and the historical treasures of the Outer Banks. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and had a hand in establishing the Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Virgin Islands National Park.

Later in life, in between his other activities, Frank Stick found time to pick up his paint brushes again, though this time for pleasure instead of money. He continued to paint the subjects and places he loved and tried his hand at sculpture. Frank Stick illustrated two of the books authored by his son David,  The Graveyard of the Atlantic(UNC Press, 1952) and  The Outer Banks of North Carolina (UNC Press, 1958). He also began work on a series of fish paintings he intended to use in a book on southern salt and freshwater fish. Though he had painted nearly 300 different fish species, he was unable to get them published before his death in 1966. They were published posthumously in 1981 under the title  An Artist's Catch: Watercolors by Frank Stick. A definitive biography,  Frank Stick, Splendid Painter of the Out-of-Doors was published in 2004, authored by Michael F. Mordell.

Frank Leonard Stick (1884-1966) was born in Huron, Dakota Territory (now South Dakota) to David Leonard and Lydia Jane Marcellus Stick. In 1899, Stick moved with his family to the small mining town of Oglesby, Illinois, where his father operated a store owned by the Bents Coal Mine Company. Stick worked at the store with his father and older brother Claude. After two years of working as a stock and delivery boy, Stick had greater aspirations, so he struck out on his own and moved to Wisconsin. He spent the winter months trapping and the summer and fall as a hunting and fishing guide. It was during this time that he began sketching.

By 1904, Frank Stick decided to rejoin his family, who had moved to Chicago, and enroll in the Art Institute of Chicago. His instructors, impressed with his skill, suggested he go to Wilmington, Delaware and study with Howard Pyle, founder of the Brandywine School of Illustration. Pyle was a renowned and well-respected artist and illustrator. It was during his studies in Wilmington, that Frank met Ada Maud Hayes, an artists' model. Frank and Maud were both avid sportsmen who loved any activity that allowed them to be outdoors. The couple married in 1908 and together, had two children, Charlotte in 1909 and David, who would became a noted Outer Banks author, historian, and community leader and philanthrapist, in 1919.

Over the next twenty years, Frank Stick's career as an illustrator flourished. His artwork appeared on the front of calendars, book jackets, advertisements, and in publications such as  Sports Afield,  Outdoor America,  Field and Stream, and  Leslie's Illustrated Weekly. In addition to his illustrating, Stick was also an author. He submitted articles to many of the same magazines that ran his illustrations and in 1920, he co-authored the book  The Call of the Surf with Van Campen Heilner, the first book written on surf fishing. By 1929, Stick became disillusioned with the commercial art world. Tired of producing the same types of images over and over again for a living, Stick put down his paint brushes and moved his family to North Carolina's Outer Banks, an area he discovered while on a fishing trip to Hatteras in the early 1920s.

After Frank Stick's visit to Cape Hatteras, he began to invest in real estate and made land acquisitions with long-time friend and fellow artist Bill Koerner, and other partners. Together, they created the Dare County Development Company and the sub-division of Virginia Dare Shores. Stick continued these pursuits while moving his family to the area, and after weathering the Great Depression became a real estate developer and builder. One of Stick's many legacies to the heritage of the Outer Banks was the construction of the flat top cottages in Kill Devil Hills and Southern Shores. Borrowing design elements from the American Craftsman movement and his beloved Key West, Stick built these homes with extended overhangs which helped to reflect heat and kept the home's interior cooler during the summer. They were built with locally produced concrete at a fraction of the cost, and in shorter time, than a traditional wooden beach cottage, making them accessible to those of modest means.

Frank Stick was an ardent conservationist. He wanted to preserve both the natural beauty and the historical treasures of the Outer Banks. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and had a hand in establishing the Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. He was also instrumental in the creation of the Virgin Islands National Park.

Later in life, in between his other activities, Frank Stick found time to pick up his paint brushes again, though this time for pleasure instead of money. He continued to paint the subjects and places he loved and tried his hand at sculpture. Frank Stick illustrated two of the books authored by his son David,  The Graveyard of the Atlantic(UNC Press, 1952) and  The Outer Banks of North Carolina (UNC Press, 1958). He also began work on a series of fish paintings he intended to use in a book on southern salt and freshwater fish. Though he had painted nearly 300 different fish species, he was unable to get them published before his death in 1966. They were published posthumously in 1981 under the title  An Artist's Catch: Watercolors by Frank Stick. A definitive biography,  Frank Stick, Splendid Painter of the Out-of-Doors was published in 2004, authored by Michael F. Mordell.

[Identification of item], 33MSS-89, Frank Stick Papers, Outer Banks History Center, Manteo, N.C., U.S.A.

Donated by David Stick.

Additional information on topics found in this collection may be found in the Manuscript and Archives Reference System (MARS)  http://mars.archives.ncdcr.gov/BasicSearch.aspx.

1. 33MSS-73: Maud Hayes Stick Papers 33BOK-0-9425:  An Artist's Catch: Watercolors by Frank Stick, edited by David Stick, 1981 33BOK-0-2968:  Selected Published Paintings of Frank Stick from Calendars, Book Jackets, Magazine Covers, and Magazine Illustrations, 1901-1929, edited by David Stick, 1989. 33BOK-0-8458:  The Frank Stick Collection, author unknown, 1980 33BOK-0-10110:  Frank Stick: Splendid Painter of the Out-of-Doors, by Michael F. Mordell, 2004 33GRF-1: Fish Pictures by Frank Stick 33GRF-2: Oil Painting and Water Colors by Frank Stick 33GRF-11: Frank Stick Paintings Donated by Althea B. Adams

The Frank Stick Papers contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, magazines, bank statements, income tax returns, canceled checks, court proceedings, the last will and testaments of Frank Stick and his wife Maud Hayes Stick, and materials relating to his parents David L. and Lydia M. Stick. Topics covered in this collection include Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk and the Kitty Hawk Land Company, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Virgin Islands National Park, Stick's artwork, a collection of images donated to the New York Museum of the American Indian, as well as sports fishing. There is also information on the Isle of Pines located in Cuba, as well as a map of the South Coast of Cuba and map of the proposed boundaries of the Everglades National Park. All magazine articles and manuscripts are either by or about Frank Stick.

This collection is arranged into four main series: Correspondence, Business and Personal Papers, Magazines and Manuscripts, and Frank Stick's Unpublished Book on Fish of the Atlantic and Caribbean Waters.

The Frank Stick Papers contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, magazines, bank statements, income tax returns, canceled checks, court proceedings, the last will and testaments of Frank Stick and his wife Maud Hayes Stick, and materials relating to his parents David L. and Lydia M. Stick. Topics covered in this collection include Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk and the Kitty Hawk Land Company, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Virgin Islands National Park, Stick's artwork, a collection of images donated to the New York Museum of the American Indian, as well as sports fishing. There is also information on the Isle of Pines located in Cuba, as well as a map of the South Coast of Cuba and map of the proposed boundaries of the Everglades National Park. All magazine articles and manuscripts are either by or about Frank Stick.