Mabel Elsworth Todd – Letters
Most of the letters in this collection were assembled and preserved by Barbara Clark for the purpose of providing future generations of teachers and scholars a more personal understanding of the history of the field.
Letters to Barbara Clark
Todd did not correspond with Miss Clark with the exception of one Christmas card that she sent to her in 1933. The other letters in this collection relate to Clark’s efforts to collect biographical information on Mabel Todd from Ruth Mitchell and Cora Belle Hunter, two of the last assistant teachers working in Todd’s New York City studio.
Todd Card to Barbara Clark with Receipt 1933
A card to Barbara Clark written in the Christmas season, which included a receipt indicating that Clark’s lessons to date were paid in full.
Ruth Mitchell Letter to Barbara Clark September 1961
This letter written to Barbara Clark by Ruth Mitchell is a response to Clark’s request for materials that might provide insight into Mabel Todd’s life and teaching. Mitchell was a student of Todd who became a teacher of Todd’s approach. Mitchell was the only teacher assisting Todd in her last New York City studio location; they were also personal friends. This letter describes Todd’s association with James Harvey Robinson and mentions various teachers with whom Todd was associated in New York.
Ruth Mitchell Letter to Barbara Clark October 1961
This letter to Barbara Clark introduced and accompanied a collection of letters written by Mabel E. Todd which were sent to Ruth Mitchell between 1928 and 1957. Mitchell was a student of Todd who became a teacher of Todd’s approach. Mitchell was the only teacher assisting Todd in her last New York City studio location; they were also personal friends. The collection of letters referenced in this letter was sent to Clark in response to her request for materials that might provide insight into Todd’s life and teaching. Although this letter only cites October 5th as a date, it is likely that it was a follow-up letter to the one written to Clark by Mitchell dated September 5th, 1961.
Cora Belle Hunter – Letter to Barbara Clark 1969
This letter was written by Cora Belle Hunter to Barbara Clark in 1969. She describes the influence of Todd’s teaching on her work with piano students, her experience as one of Todd’s Normal Class students at Columbia University, her subsequent relationship with Todd, and her assessment of the significance of Todd’s work.
Cora Belle Hunter – Page of Letter to Ruth Mitchell
This page of a letter was written by Cora Belle Hunter to Ruth Mitchell. Mitchell saved many letters related to Todd’s work and sent them to Barbara Clark in her later years. Hunter refers to the spiritual significance of Todd’s work.
Letters to Ruth Mitchell
Most of the letters in this collection present the correspondence between Mabel Todd and Ruth Mitchell. Mitchell was a student of Todd who became a teacher of Todd’s approach in New York. They were also personal friends and used letter writing to maintain their ties when Todd began spending more time in the west and Mitchell moved to Minnesota. With interest in expanding her knowledge of Mabel Todd’s biography, Miss Clark requested information on Mitchell’s correspondence with Miss Todd in 1961. Mitchell assembled her collection of letters and mailed them to Miss Clark that year for her study. This collection presents correspondence that took place between 1928 and 1957.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell October 1928
Personal letter to Ruth Mitchell dated October 19, 1928. Includes discussion the of rates for teaching spaces in The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, activities at Todd’s studio and her college classes.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell April 1932
Personal letter from Mabel Todd to Ruth Mitchell written April 4, 1932. Provides suggestions for working with two pupils that Todd evaluated.
Todd Second Letter to Ruth Mitchell 1932
This letter describes Todd’s assessment of the problems of a particular pupil and suggests strategies for teaching her.
Todd Third Letter to Ruth Mitchell 1932
This letter describes Todd’s assessment of the problems of another pupil and suggests strategies for working with her.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell March 1934
Personal letter from Todd to Ruth Mitchell sent from the island of Bermuda. The letter contains some information on the activities of the studio and studio teachers and a reference to the actress Cornelia Otis Skinner who studied Todd’s approach in California.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell November 1934
Personal letter to Ruth Mitchell from the Essex House studio location, 160 Central Park South. Information on the activities of the studio and studio teachers is included.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell July 1936
Personal letter to Ruth Mitchell from Rhode Island. This letter refers to Todd’s work on the “revision of ‘The Balancing of Forces.’” Although the title The Thinking Body is not used in the letter, it is likely that she is referring to her work on that book. The name of the publisher she was working with at the time is also mentioned.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell September 1936
Personal letter to Ruth Mitchell from Rhode Island. This letter begins by proposing arrangements that might be made for a young dance student (the niece of Miss White) for study with Miss Mitchell and Cora Belle Hunter in Minneapolis. Todd also provides more information on her work on the revision of “The Balancing of Forces” and names two individuals who were helping her.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell February 14, 1938
Personal letter written by Todd from Beverly Hills, California. She describes the California trip as an opportunity to rest after the publication of The Thinking Body.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell February 23, 1938
Personal letter from Todd when she was staying in Beverly Hills, California. This letter mentions a review of The Thinking Body published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The year of the letter is not indicated. But the letter was written on the same stationary as the letter of February 14, 1938 and pertains to Todd’s activities in California during that period.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell March 1938
Personal letter from Beverly Hills, California. This letter indicates that Todd may have experienced poor health during this period. Plans for travel to Arizona for further rest are described. The letter was dated March 20th but the year of the letter was not indicated. This letter was written on the same stationary as the letter of February 14, 1938 and so it has been assumed that this letter was also written in the same year.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell December 1940
A personal letter to Ruth Mitchell dated December 1, 1940. This letter recounts Todd’s move to a new location in the Los Angeles area which seems to agree better with her health. There is mention of Miss White, a former assistant teacher and of seeing Cornelia Otis Skinner.
Todd Letter to Ruth Mitchell 1941
This personal letter from Todd to Ruth Mitchell was written from Los Angeles. The letter is not dated but makes reference to the start of World War II which, for the United States, occurred in 1941. The letter recounts Miss Todd’s care of two of her assistant teachers who appear to have been living with her at that time. She writes of the final days of Miss Choate and her care of Miss White.
Aldous Huxley Letter to Ruth Mitchell 1943
This letter to Ruth Mitchell was sent March 28, 1943 in response to a letter from Miss Mitchell. Ruth Mitchell was a student of the Alexander technique before she learned Todd’s approach. She also was a practitioner of the Bates Method. This letter describes Huxley’s understanding of several features of the Bates Method as well as his impressions of the distinctions between Todd’s approach and the Alexander Technique.
Weddell Letter to Mitchell about Todd’s Death – February 1957
Copy of part of a letter written in 1957 from Mary E. Weddell to Ruth Mitchell announcing Mabel Todd’s death on December 14th 1956. This copy was sent to Barbara Clark in September of 1961 by Ruth Mitchell. The letter provides description of Todd’s final days and details from the autopsy report.
Student Letters
These letters from two of Todd’s New York City studio teachers responded to requests for information from two University of Illinois dance graduate students who were conducting historical research.
Ruth Mitchell – Letter to Pamela Matt 1972
This letter was written by Ruth Mitchell to Pamela Matt. Her comments respond to Matt’s questions about Todd’s work in California and New York City and provide information about some of Todd’s associates.
Letter to Bridget Davis – Information on Cora Belle Hunter 1974
This letter to Bridget Davis was written by the wife of Cora Belle Hunter’s nephew in 1974. Cora Belle was a student of Todd who applied the teaching to dance and influenced the direction of Joan Skinner who worked with Miss Hunter as a child. The letter was written as a response to an inquiry by Davis, a student of Joan Skinner. The letter contains many interesting details about Cora Belle’s life and dance activities.