George W. Vanderbilt (1862-1914), 1894

The Leonora Jackson McKim Photograph Collection consists of three boxes of 269 photographs related to Leonora Jackson McKim, one of the first female violinists to achieve international acclaim. There are publicity photographs of McKim, photographs of her family, including her husband, Dr. William Duncan McKim, his family, and images of their homes. There are also photographs of Jackson McKim’s musical peers including her violin teacher while in Europe, Joseph Joachim. The violin he passed along to her is today famously known as “Leonora.”

The collection is broken down into three series:

Series I: Leonora Jackson McKim

This series consists of images of Leonora Jackson as a child and during her career as a violinist up to circa 1900. .

Series II: Jackson and McKim Families

This series consists of images of various members of the McKim and Jackson families including Leonora Jackson’s parents and brother, her husband, William Duncan McKim, and images of the McKim residence. A travel album from 1904 contains 163 photographs mostly of Jackson’s travels through Europe.

Series III: Musicians and Friends

This series contains images of some of Leonora Jackson’s musical peers and friends, including Russian author Olga Novikoff (1842-1925); Ernest Schelling (1876-1939), American Composer and Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, 1935 – 1937; Hungarian Composer Arthur Nikisch (1855-1922); Hungarian Violinist and instructor Joseph Joachim (1831-1907); and George Vanderbilt (1862-1914), one of Jackson's patrons.