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Marian Griswold Nevins. Photograph. Edward and Marian Mac-Dowell Collection. Music Division. All photographs from the Edward and Marian MacDowell Collection are reproduced here courtesy of the Estate of Edward and Marian MacDowell.

Marian Griswold Nevins was a serious child and, as eldest daughter, gradually assumed responsibility for running the household after her mother's death. This undated photo was likely taken around 1865, not long before her mother died in childbirth.

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Marian MacDowell in the woods near the log cabin studio. Photograph, ca. 1898. Edward and Marian MacDowell Collection. Music Division.

Ever aware of her husband's need for a quiet spot in which to compose, Marian had a log cabin studio built for him in the woods on their Peterborough property. This photo, probably taken by Edward MacDowell, shows Marian in front of the cabin which later became the model for the colony studios.

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Marian MacDowell (right) and nurse Anna Baetz. Photograph. Ca. 1908-1909. Edward and Marian MacDowell Collection. Music Division.

Marian hired nurse Anna Baetz in 1905, when caring for Edward became too difficult for her alone. The two women became good friends and remained so until Anna's death in 1923. This photo was probably taken around 1908-9. Anna sports a parasol and Marian, who had aggravated an old back injury lifting her ailing husband, leans on a crutch as they pose together on the steps of Hillcrest.

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Marian and Edward MacDowell. Photograph, ca. 1905. MacDowell Colony Records. Prints and Photographs Division (unprocessed). LC-USZ62-92627.

This formal portrait of Marian and Edward MacDowell was made around 1905. Edward's final illness is evident in his vacant stare and graying hair, which turned completely white within a year's time. Marian's sure and steady gaze as she leans protectively towards her husband, her hand on his arm, lends a certain poignancy to the photo, one of the last taken of them together.

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Mrs. Edward MacDowell: Piano Recitals of MacDowell Music. Publicity brochure, ca.1920. Edward and Marian MacDowell Collection. Music Division.

Marian MacDowell returned to performing after people began asking to hear her play Edward's piano works. This publicity brochure dates from around 1920 when she was actively traveling throughout the United States and Canada to raise money for the colony. She performed in over four hundred programs and was regarded as the foremost interpreter of her husband's music.

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Louise Talma composing in her studio at the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, N.H. Photograph by Bernice B. Perry, March 1947. Modern Music Archives. Music Division.

Composer Louise Talma (1906-1996) worked on her oratorio The Divine Flame at the MacDowell Colony in 1947, while on her first Guggenheim Fellowship. Here she is shown in Pan's Cottage under the watchful eye of composer Lukas Foss whose photo sits on the piano. A photo of her teacher, Nadia Boulanger, sits on the mantel. Talma inscribed her photo to Minna Lederman, editor of Modern Music.

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Marian MacDowell and pianist Lillian Steuber with the score to Edward Mac-Dowell's Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra. Photograph by Rothschild Photo, 1951. Edward and Marian MacDowell Collection. Music Division.

Marian MacDowell was the foremost interpreter of Edward MacDowell's piano music during her lifetime and was frequently consulted by other pianists who were performing Edward's music. Here she examines the score to Edward Mac-Dowell's Concerto No. 2 for piano and orchestra with pianist Lillian Steuber.

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Marian MacDowell at the piano with Nina Maud Richardson. Photograph by C. Walbridge, 1940. Edward and Marian MacDowell Collection. Music Division.

Marian met Nina Maud Richardson in the late 1920s when she went to California to recover from a long illness. She eventually spent her winters in Los Angeles at the home of Nina Maud, who became her close companion and assistant. This formal portrait of the two women was made in 1940, when Marian was in her eighties. It was often said that when she sat down at the piano, her years melted away.