Frank Stick Papers and Artwork, PC.5089
Abstract
Frank Stick was an artist, conservationist, real estate developer, and writer active on the Outer Banks of North Carolina from the 1920s to the 1960s. The Frank Stick Papers and Artwork, 1910-1966 and undated, contains a substantial collection of artwork and personal papers created by Stick. Included in the collection are Stick's fish watercolors, several of his landscape and naturalist oil paintings, papers related to his family and personal life, documentation of his efforts to establish the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Virgin Islands National Park, numerous deeds and other real estate records documenting the early development of the Outer Banks, plans for his signature flat top cottages, drafts of his writings, and papers related to members of his immediate family.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Frank Stick Papers and Artwork
- Call Number
- PC.5089
- Creator
- Stick, Frank
- Date
- 1910-1966 and undated
- Extent
- 35.813 cubic feet, 64 Box, 1 Folder
- Language
- English
- Repository
- Outer Banks History Center
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
Available for research.
Use Restrictions
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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], PC.5089, Frank Stick Papers and Artwork, Outer Banks History Center, Manteo, N.C., U.S.A.
Collection Overview
The Frank Stick Papers and Artwork, 1910-1966 and undated, contains a substantial
collection of artwork and personal papers created by Frank Stick. Included in the
collection are Stick's fish watercolors, several of his landscape and naturalist oil
paintings, papers related to his family and personal life, documentation of his efforts
to establish the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Virgin Islands National Park,
numerous deeds and other real estate records documenting the early development of
the Outer Banks, plans for his signature flat top cottages, drafts of his writings,
and papers related to members of his immediate family. Much of his collection of personal
papers consists of correspondence, in which he frequently remarks on the social and
political conditions on the Outer Banks and throughout the nation, including civil
rights and white supremacy, relations between privileged and underprivileged classes,
modern colonization of native peoples in the Virgin Islands, and environmental conservation.
The collection is arranged into two series: Papers, 1910-1966 and undated, and Artwork,
circa 1910s-1960s.
Arrangement Note
The collection is arranged into two series: Papers, 1910-1966 and undated, and Artwork, circa 1920s-1960s. Each series is further arranged into subseries. Within the Papers series, folders within each subseries are arranged alphabetically, with the exception of deeds and other real estate documents, which are arranged according to the geographical distribution (north-south) of the properties they discuss. Most material within each folder is arranged chronologically.
Biographical Note
Frank Leonard Stick (10 February 1884-12 November 1966) was born in Huron, South Dakota,
to David L Stick (1853-1914) and Lydia Jane Marcellus Stick (1852-1942). He had one
brother, Daniel C. Stick (1879-1913). Frank Stick's family moved to Illinois in 1899,
where he spent much of his time in the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and camping. He
demonstrated a talent for art an early age. In his late teens, he moved to Chicago
to study art and sold his first illustration to Sports Afield magazine when he was nineteen. He also studied under notable illustrator Howard Pyle
in Wilmington, Delaware, for a time. His studies with Powell helped develop the specialized
techniques he employed in the field of outdoor illustration. Stick soon made a career
selling his paintings to sporting magazines and other publications, such as the Saturday Evening Post and Ladies Home Journal. Known for his paintings of dogs, Stick also produced illustrations for the short
stories of Albert Payson Terhune and the Anti-Vivisection League of America.
In addition to his work as a painter, Stick was also an accomplished writer, and he
contributed numerous editorial articles to Field and Stream and co-authored a book on surf fishing entitled The Call of the Surf. Throughout his life he wrote numerous vignettes, articles, and books on the topics
of cancer prevention, beach erosion, fishing and hunting, ichthyology, and conservation,
most of which remain unpublished.
Stick married Maud Hayes Stick in 1908, and the couple had two children: Charlotte
Stick McMullan (1909-1969) and David Stick (1919-2009). In the early 1920s, with a
group of other Howard Pyle students, Stick established an informal artists' colony
in Interlaken, New Jersey, where he was elected the first mayor in 1922. A fishing
trip in the mid-1920s brought him to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where he became
so enchanted with the area that he began buying up large tracts of property in Dare
County. He retired from painting in 1929 and moved his family to the Skyco area of
Roanoke Island. He then focused his career on real estate development and construction,
and he became known for his modernist designs for simple flat top cottages. He was
instrumental in the development of the communities of Virginia Dare Shores and Southern
Shores. He co-founded several companies engaged in real estate development, including
Kitty Hawk Development Company/Kitty Hawk Land Company, Southern Shores Realty Company,
and Hatteras Holding Corporation.
Stick was an avid conservationist and spent much of his free time advocating for the
preservation of the Outer Banks' natural resources. In 1933, Stick began to campaign
for the establishment of a national park along the Outer Banks and began procuring
extensive land holdings that would ultimately form the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
In establishing the park, one of Stick's goals was to protect and stabilize the area's
fragile dunes, and he pioneered the design and construction of sand fences along the
seashore, in addition to planting beach grasses for dune stabilization. He was also
instrumental in bringing in transient and WPA work forces to engage in conservation
work in the park. Stick was largely opposed to beach renourishment projects that involved
bringing in sand, encouraging efforts to protect dunes as they stood rather than attempting
to artificially extend the shoreline.
Stick returned to art in the early 1940s. His interest in ichthyology inspired the
creation of nearly three hundred watercolor sketches of the fish he identified. He
also drafted a book based on this work entitled Fishes of Atlantic and Caribbean Waters, which was never published. A revised version was eventually published under the
title An Artist's Catch by his son, David, utilizing his famous fish watercolors as illustrations.
In his later life. Stick spent a great deal of his free time in the Florida Keys and
the Virgin Islands. In the early 1950s, he began working closely with Laurance Rockefeller
and other interested parties to acquire land holdings on the island of St. John, which
were originally intended to be developed into a resort community. However, as Stick
recalls in a 9 October 1960 letter to a business associate, Allston Boyer, "But one
day as I sat on an out-cropping watching a bulldozer cut a red gash along the base
of Old Bordeaux Mountain, visualization of what the future might bring came to me,
and I determined then and there that this lovely island would not become a symbol
of man's commercial desecration, if I could help it" (this letter can be found in
the Correspondence, 1959-1963 folder of this collection, in the Virgin Islands National
Park subseries of Stick's papers). Together Stick, Rockefeller, and several other
property owners on the island worked to establish the Virgin Islands National Park
in 1956.
Stick remained active as both a watercolorist and a realtor until the end of his life.
He passed away in November 1966 in Dare County at the age of 82. He is buried alongside
his wife and daughter in Austin Cemetery in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Contents of the Collection
1. Papers, 1910-1966 and undated
Scope and Content:
Frank Stick's papers document his business and personal interests, family life, and personal life. The bulk of the documents in this series date from the last two decades of Stick's life, but earlier materials are also included, particularly as related to Stick's efforts to establish the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and his real estate career. This series is divided into four subseries: Conservation, 1931-1966 and undated; Writings, 1924-1965 and undated; Professional Papers, 1922-1966 and undated; and Personal Papers, 1910-1966 and undated.
Conservation, 1931-1966 and undated
Scope and Content:
The Conservation subseries contains material related to Frank Stick's various conservation interests and the initiatives in which he participated. Most of the materials in this series relate to Stick's work to establish national parks on North Carolina's Outer Banks (the Cape Hatteras National Seashore) and the island of St. John (Virgin Islands National Park), but documentation of Stick's interest in erosion control and wildlife conservation, as well as papers related to various projects in the state of Florida in which he was interested are included. The bulk of the material is correspondence, but maps, reports and other publications, legal documents, and clippings are also included.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, 1935-1963
Scope and Content:
The Cape Hatteras National Seashore subseries, 1935-1963, contains materials documenting Frank Stick's attempts to establish a national park on the Outer Banks south of Oregon Inlet. Papers primarily consist of correspondence, largely written or received by Frank Stick, relating to land acquisition, lobbying efforts, conservation measures, and project planning. Several letters in this subseries document the complicated social history of the park, such as local opposition to the establishment of an African American Civilian Conservation Corps camp and concerns about the "transient class" representing the Works Progress Administration's labor base. In addition to correspondence, drafts and published copies of legislation, maps, and isolated records of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Commission are also included.
Scope and Content:
This folder primarily consists of letters written by Frank Stick, in his capacity
as secretary of the commission, to R. Bruce Etheridge and other representatives with
an interest in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Many of Stick's letters express
his discomfort that the language of the proposed bill to establish the park would
result in overhunting of waterfowl, while others discuss work done to recruit donations
and survey land holdings on Ocracoke to be included in the park. In a 24 June 1940
letter to Etheridge, Stick describes "the old negro, Bryant, head of the only colored
family on Ocracoke Island" who wished to contribute his land to the project. Stick
remarks that "here is some darned good publicity if properly handled." In addition
to correspondence, the folder includes typed transcripts of data related to the commission
(such as budgetary and membership information), drafts and published copies of bills
and amendments, and a map of the area covered by the project.
Scope and Content:
This folder primarily consists of letters sent to or from Representative Herbert C.
Bonner and National Park Service Director Conrad L. Wirth, as well as letters related
to erosion control and other conservation efforts explored during the Cape Hatteras
National Seashore project.
Scope and Content:
These materials comprise correspondence between Frank Stick, State and National Park
Service personnel, and prospective property donors regarding establishing a state
park in the area now known as the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Many of the letters
are from John S. Phipps, who owned a 4,000-acre tract of land on Hatteras Island,
including the J.D. Dailey Tract desired by the National Park Service for the park.
The establishment of a state park on Hatteras Island was viewed by project organizers
as a precursory step to creating a national park there.
Many of the letters in this folder discuss protective measures to be taken to guard
the seashore from erosion and the establishment of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
camp to assist with this work, including some discussion pertinent to race relations
in the area. In a 17 June 1935 letter, Stick remarks that "While a negro CCC camp
would probably do as much work as a white camp, we feel that it should not be established
on the banks...I believe I can say with complete confidence that a negro camp will
not be placed in the Hatteras area." Establishment of a camp was denied in June 1935,
possibly (according to Stick) due to concerns over whether it would be staffed by
African American workmen.
Scope and Content:
This folder consists of correspondence related to the use of Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers in creating the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Letters primarily discuss the supervisory responsibility associated with bringing in WPA workers and the general oversight of the project. In his letters, Stick expresses concern with the lack of qualified leaders allocated to oversee the unskilled laborers hired by the WPA, stating in one letter (9 January 1936), "...no class is more dependent upon leadership impossible to provide from the Transient class."
Florida Projects, 1957-1960
Virgin Islands National Park, 1932-1963 and undated (bulk 1952-1959) 1952-1959
Scope and Content:
The Virgin Islands National Park subseries, 1932-1963 and undated (bulk 1952-1959) contains materials created or collected by Frank Stick over the course of his campaign to establish a national park on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Most of this subseries consists of correspondence, but brochures, event programs, reports, maps, publications, clippings, and legal documents are also included. Much of the correspondence is between Frank Stick and Allston Boyer, an associate of the Rockefellers, resort planner, and conservationist who helped develop several national parks in addition to Virgin Islands National Park. Letters to National Park Service superintendent Conrad Wirth, letters from Stick to various government officials, and correspondence between Stick and property owners who sold land acquired for the park are also included. Additionally, many of the letters in this subseries related to the operations of the Lameshur estate, a property purchased by Laurance Rockefeller with the intention of establishing a park and managed by the Stick family. Drafts of articles written by Stick on St. John and the Virgin Islands National Park can be found in the Writings series.
Scope and Content:
Letters primarily discuss a heated dispute between the Folks and Frank Faulk, owner
of the Reef Bay estate on St. John, for which the Folks served as caretakers until
May 1953. Following the dispute, the Folks moved to the adjacent Lameshur Estate where
they were retained by Stick as caretakers. The letters discuss improvements made to
both properties and the daily tasks of the Folks as they carried out their duties
on St. John.
Scope and Content:
This folder includes a published copy of Senate Bill 1604 authorizing the establishment
of Virgin Islands National Park.
Writings, 1924-1965 and undated
Scope and Content:
The Writings series, 1924-1965 and undated, contains drafts and manuscript fragments, correspondence, clippings, and research material related to Stick's various writing projects. Stick's writings primarily relate to his interests in ichthyology and conservation, but other topics are also covered. The series is arranged into two subseries: Ichthyology, 1950-1965 and undated; and Articles and Other Writings, 1924-1963 and undated. Most of the undated material likely dates from the latter part of Stick's life, circa 1950s-1960s.
Ichthyology, 1950-1965 and undated
Scope and Content:
The Ichthyology subseries, 1950-1965 and undated, contains drafts and research materials related to Stick's study of ichthyology. Particularly, much of the material in this subseries relates to Stick's book, Fishes of Atlantic and Caribbean Waters, which was never published, despite several publishers expressing interest in it. Included in this series is correspondence between Stick and publishers, scholars, ichthyologists, and other individuals interested in the study of fish; drafts of Stick's book and other writings on fish; and research materials. Drafts are undated, but likely date from the mid-1950s. Related to Stick's study of ichthyology are his watercolor paintings of fish, which can be found in the Artwork series of this collection.
Fishes of Atlantic and Caribbean Waters, undated
Articles and Other Writings, 1924-1963 and undated
Scope and Content:
The Articles and Other Writings subseries, 1924-1963 and undated, contains correspondence, clippings, and drafts of articles, vignettes, affidavits, and other short pieces written by Frank Stick on subjects besides ichthyology. Most materials are undated but appear to date from around the 1950s-early 1960s. Some of the pieces in this subseries are unidentified, and some folders contain only fragments. Many of the writings in this subseries relate to conservation and beach erosion control, particularly in the wake of the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, including one unidentified manuscript of a book (or series of articles) on erosion control, written near the end of Stick's life, in which he expresses discomfort with beach renourishment as an erosion control method. This manuscript draft appears to be incomplete and extremely disordered. One unpublished story entitled "The Man in the White Suit" recounts a young Stick's chance encounter with Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain), whom Stick believes convinced the staff of Century magazine to hire him as an illustrator. Also included in this subseries are two folders of material related to cancer prevention, including correspondence, research material, and drafts of a diet plan and an unpublished book by Stick entitled Cancer: A Preventable Disease.
Scope and Content:
This folder contains the following articles: "Of Fishermen and Fishes" (draft), "How
to Write a Fishing Story" (published, Outdoor America March 1924), "Fishing Resorts Near Chicago" (published), and "This is the Damndest
Fish" (draft).
Scope and Content:
This folder contains several drafts of an article entitled "The Man in the White Suit,"
which describes Stick's early experiences studying with Howard Pyle and trying to
begin a career in illustration. In it, Stick recounts a chance meeting with a man
in a white suit, who is later revealed to be Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain), which
led to Stick's first illustration job for Century magazine.
Scope and Content:
This folder contains clippings, letters, research material, and drafts of an article
entitled "Our Endangered Coastland," which Stick submitted for publication in The State magazine in 1963. Most of the material relates to the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962,
as well as other environmental threats to the coast. The article was eventually published
under the title "Dunes Can Cure...And Also Kill" in the 9 November 1963 issue of The
State.
Scope and Content:
Materials in this folder comprise letters related to an article by Richard Thruelsen
entitled "The Island Nobody Spoiled," which ran in the Saturday Evening Post 3 September 1955. The article discussed St. John and the Virgin Islands. Stick appears
to have assisted with the article by providing pictures and editorial input.
Professional Papers, 1922-1966 and undated
Scope and Content:
The Professional Papers subseries, 1922-1966 and undated, contains papers related to Stick's career interests, including his work as an artist and his involvement in real estate speculation on the Outer Banks. Materials include correspondence, legal documents, blueprints, and other business papers. This subseries is arranged into two subseries: Art Career, 1922-1966 and undated, and Real Estate, 1926-1966 and undated.
Art Career, 1922-1966 and undated
Scope and Content:
This subseries contains correspondence, inventories, and other papers related to Stick's career as an artist. Included in this series are two contemporary publications (The Izaak Walton League Monthly and Outdoor America) featuring illustrations by Frank Stick. Also included are two folders of material related to exhibitions of Stick's artwork held during his lifetime. For more information on Stick's art career, including additional publications containing his illustrations, information on posthumous exhibitions, and inventories and photographs of his works, see PC.5001 David Stick Papers.
Scope and Content:
Art supplies consist of one green eyeshade, one plastic paint pallet, ten paintbrushes,
two dip pens, two pallet knives, one bottle of Grumbacher Artist's Quality Casein
Painting Medium, one bottle of Art Maskoid Liquid Frisket, one brick of Amaco modeling
clay, and seven tubes of paint.
Real Estate, 1926-1966 and undated
Scope and Content:
The Real Estate subseries, 1926-1966 and undated, contains records related to Stick's
career in real estate and land speculation. Materials include correspondence, deeds,
abstracts of title, purchase and sale agreements, financial records, blueprints and
plans, and other papers. Much of the correspondence is between Stick and his associates
in Kitty Hawk Land Co./Kitty Hawk Development Co., including David Stick, N. Elton
Aydlett, John B. McMullan, and Cyrus Aydlett. Other correspondence is between Stick
and various homeowners regarding specifications for improvements or design elements
for their homes. Included in this series is extensive documentation of the early development
of the town of Southern Shores and the Virginia Dare Shores community, as well as
numerous deeds documenting the chain of early ownership of tracts on the northern
Outer Banks and Hatteras Island.
Some of the deeds in this series include language overtly excluding ownership or occupancy
by Black residents, stating that the property in question may not be conveyed to "colored
persons" or "persons of African descent." For example, the 1945 deed for the Susan
M. Sutton property in this series includes as its first clause a provision that: "The
said premises shall not be conveyed to or occupied by any colored persons, or persons
of African descent, except that such persons actually employed as a domestic servant
may be permitted to occupy portions of said premises."
Researchers can find many more real estate records related to Kitty Hawk Land Co.,
Hatteras Holding Corporation, and Southern Shores Realty Co., including additional
papers created by Frank Stick, in PC.5001 David Stick Papers.
Scope and Content:
This folder includes an original letter from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Green,
10 January 1960
Scope and Content:
Includes a certificate from the United States Copyright Office registering Frank Stick's
copyright to the chapel at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, which Stick designed.
Personal Papers, 1910-1966 and undated
Scope and Content:
This subseries contains personal correspondence, vital records, clippings, financial records, family papers, and other papers related to Frank Stick's personal and family life. Included in this series are a manuscript draft of a memoir by Charlotte Stick McMullan (Stick's daughter) and a small collection of receipts and invoices accumulated by Stick's parents, Lydia and David, primarily relating to a burial plot at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Chicago.
Family Papers, 1910-1959 and undated
Scope and Content:
Reny and James Hill, family friends of the Sticks, corresponded with Frank Stick briefly
in 1954 concerning the possibility of retiring to the Virgin Islands. A letter from
Reny Hill, dated 18 May 1954, expresses interest in the idea but concern over the
potential for racial inequity and an atmosphere of subjugation to develop between
the island's natives and the white retirees that would eventually settle there. Hill
goes on to discuss increased racial tensions in St. Thomas, stating "I don't think
a native of an idyllic island should be willing to trade his dignity and way of life
for the prosperity of acting as servant to white householders." In a reply drafted
on 9 June of that year, Stick states that "I believe now that our United States is
in the gravest danger it has been in since the signing of the declaration of independence,
and I believe in my heart that the danger from within is more serious than from without;"
and, in a later draft of the same letter, Stick remarks that "I swing more sharply
to the left even than Maud or my children, and I think you may appreciate the difficulties
I have encountered here in Dare County, where traditional intolerances are so strongly
manifested and where the word democracy has little significance other than its worn
out defence [sic] of white supremacy." In addition to racism, the letters in this
folder discuss plans for the development of the Lameshur Estate, McCarthyism, Communism,
and other political and social issues of the time.
2. Artwork, circa 1910s-1966
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
The bulk of the collection was donated by David Stick or the David Stick Estate in various accessions, 1986-2011. Additional paintings were donated by Althea B. Adams, 1990, and Thomas A. McDonald, 2012.