John S. Cogdell to Thomas Jefferson, 17 June 1821
From John S. Cogdell
So Carolina Charleston 17th June 1821.
My dear sir.
I have the honour of being one among a small number of our Community—who have endeavoured to form an Academy of Arts—in the City of Charleston, our Building after the Grecian Temple is nearly finished, a Portico—12 feet wide by 30: & Columns—a front Room for Statuary 30 by 20: & the main room lighted by a Dome 45 by 35:
It has been made my very delightful duty to inform you by conveying the enclosed Certificate that you have been elected unanimously an Honorary Member of our Young Society.
| John S. Cogdell |
| Secy & Treasurer |
| “So Ca Academy of Arts.” |
RC (DLC); at foot of text: “To the Honble Thomas Jefferson Monticello Virginia”; endorsed by TJ as received 28 June 1821 and so recorded in SJL.
The South Carolina Academy of Arts was founded in Charleston in February 1821 to encourage and promote fine arts such as painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving through meetings and events that included an annual exhibition. Artists who qualified when academy directors approved of a submitted work were joined by dues-paying and honorary members. The academy ceased to exist in 1833 (Charleston City Gazette and Commercial Daily Advertiser, 19 Feb. 1821; Maurie D. McInnis, The Politics of Taste in Antebellum Charleston [2005], 135–41, 146–7).
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