Marie Goebel Kimball (June 7, 1889 – March 2, 1955) was an author, historian, and Jefferson scholar who served as the first curator of

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

from 1944 until her death in 1955. During her career, she published more than 30 books, articles, and book reviews about Jefferson, Monticello, early America, and decorative arts.

Biography

Born in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

, on June 7, 1889, to Julius Goebel (1857-1931) and Kathryn Vreeland (1861-1932), Kimball studied at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

before taking her degree in literature and arts at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in 1911. She married

Fiske Kimball Sidney Fiske Kimball (1888 – 1955) was an American architect, architectural historian and museum director. A pioneer in the field of architectural preservation in the United States, he played a leading part in the restoration of Montice ...

on June 7, 1913. Early investigations into Thomas Jefferson's papers by Marie Kimball were later carried on by her husband and developed into his folio publication, ''Thomas Jefferson Architect'' (1916). During this time period, Kimball began publishing her own research into various aspects of Thomas Jefferson's life, including "A Playmate of Thomas Jefferson" (''North American Review'', 1921), and "William Short, Jefferson's Only 'Son'" (''North American Review'', 1926). In 1924, Fiske Kimball was appointed to the restoration committee of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, whose mission was to preserve Monticello and operate it as a historic site. In 1927, Marie Kimball began

documentary research Documentary research is the use of outside sources, documents, to support the viewpoint or argument of an academic work. The process of documentary research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of kno ...

to support the TJMF's interior restoration efforts; her research was published in a two-part article in ''Antiques'' later that year. Kimball continued to be involved in the restoration and running of Monticello until shortly before her death, and was named curator in 1944. In addition to her work at Monticello, Kimball published a number of books and articles, including ''Thomas Jefferson's Cook Book'' (1938) and three volumes of a projected five-volume biography of Jefferson: ''Jefferson, the Road to Glory, 1743 to 1776'' (1943); Jefferson, War and Peace, 1776 to 1784 (1947); and Jefferson, the Scene of Europe, 1784 to 1789 (1950). She received two

Guggenheim Fellowships Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, in 1945 and 1946.John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. "Marie Kimball." https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/marie-kimball/ Marie Kimball died on March 2, 1955, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Works

*''Thomas Jefferson's Cook Book''. Richmond: Garrett & Massie, 1938. *''The Martha Washington Cook Book.'' New York, NY: Coward-McCann, 1940. *''Jefferson: The Road to Glory, 1743 to 1776.'' New York, NY: Coward-McCann, 1943. *''Jefferson: War and Peace, 1776 to 1784.'' New York, NY: Coward-McCann, 1947. *''Jefferson: The Scene of Europe, 1784 to 1789.'' New York, NY: Coward-McCann, 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Marie Goebel 1889 births 1955 deaths American women historians Writers from Hackensack, New Jersey 20th-century American historians American curators American women curators Radcliffe College alumni University of Illinois alumni 20th-century American women writers American people of Dutch descent American people of German descent People from Monticello American cookbook writers Historians from Virginia Historians from New Jersey