A History of the Hiram and Lydia Pease Portraits at Oberlin
	Archivist and College Friends Rescue Portraits Relating to Early Oberlin History		Archivist Roland Baumann--who traced the paintings' provenance and researched the artist's life with College Archives student assistant Josh Adler, a senior from Doylestown, Pennsylvania--says that the two portraits were sent to Oberlin in 1913 by the artist's granddaughter, Mrs. F. S. Jordan, and that they hung in the library for some 16 years until they fell into disrepair. In the 1930s the paintings vanished from view until they were reassigned to the Archives in the mid 1990s and were reported in even greater need of work. But funding was not available at the time, even though the Cleveland Museum of Art requested use of Lydia's portrait for Cleveland's 1995 bicentennial exhibition. In 1999, with an offer by Oberlin residents Douglas and Shirley Johnson to underwrite the cost, Baumann was able to authorize the restoration. Former Oberlin resident Dorothy Jaworowski donated funds for reframing both paintings. There are more stories about the paintings and their provenance between the 1930s and the 1990s. According to Adler, in 1929 Mrs. Jordan inquired about the condition of the portraits, offering to pay for their restoration. Allen Memorial Art Museum then-director Clarence Ward examined the paintings and pronounced that they needed to be "re-cradled, cleaned, and probably reframed." "On January 10, 1936," Adler says, "Mrs. Jordan's son, Charles Roderick Jordan, informed the College that his mother was ill, and that he would like the portraits of Hiram and Lydia Pease returned to him, 'as they complete, or would complete, a collection of great-uncle's work which I am very proud to have in my house.' "On January 24, W.F. Bohn, assistant to [Oberlin's] President E.H. Wilkins, contacted Mr. Jordan and [College] librarian Julian Fowler, to arrange shipment. Three days later, a telegram arrived from [the son]: 'Your Letter January Twenty Fourth Do Not Ship Portraits Stop In View Of Fact They Are Hung We Are Not Desirous Of Their Return At This Time.'" "Presumably, under the responsibility of the librarian," says Baumann, "the portraits remained in Carnegie Library, in poor condition, until 1974. With the construction of Mudd Learning Center in the early 1970s, responsibility for the historical portraits became unclear, and the issue was left unresolved. Many of the historical portraits were put in storage, where they awaited action. In 1978 then-librarian Herbert Johnson and art-history specialist Marcia Goldberg arranged for the Intermuseum Conservation Association to examine all the portraits to determine the costs of conservation. The portrait of Lydia Pease was found to have had two large tears, support losses, and bulges, warps, and draws in the corners. The portrait of Hiram Pease had a large tear on the left side, and a dry and brittle support."
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