Sterling Cook Collection

Biographical Sketch

    Sterling Cook was fascinated with Melrose Plantation and the Cane River area from the time it was first mentioned to him. While attending school in Denton, Texas between 1937 and 1940, he was made aware of the area by two of his art teachers. He first visited Melrose Plantation in 1940, with a cousin from Bossier Parish. In 1957 Cook wrote Francois Mignon asking permission to visit him at Melrose. It was during this same year that the two first met. They remained friends and corresponded throughout the years until Mignon's death in 1981.
    Cook was born in Pima, Texas, and grew up in several Southern states. In 1954, he moved to Oxford, Ohio and pursued a master's degree in fine arts from Miami University. After receiving the degree in 1957, Cook took over as librarian for the university's art and architecture department. In 1972, he was coordinator of the university's art gallery, and by 1976 became the curator of the Miami University Art Museum. Though Cook was interested in and knowledgeable about all types of art, his favorite was folk art. Among his most successful exhibits was one featuring Louisiana-based folk artists, which he completed in 1981. After Cook retired in 1986, he concentrated on renovating his Oxford home and spending time in his yard and with his pets. He died July 19, 2002 at Berkeley Square in Hamilton of pneumonia. He was 85 years old. Cook was a member of the Ohio Folk Arts Society and the Victorian Society.
 

Scope and Content

The Cook Collection consists of correspondence sent by Francois Mignon to Sterling Cook from 1957 through 1979.  Correspondence from the period between 1970 (when Melrose was sold by the Henry Family) and 1977 does not exist.  According to a statement by Cook included in the collection, the two men did not correspond to any significant level during this period. 
    The bulk of the letters consist of Mignon's discussion of topics that he and Cook had a mutual interest in.  These topics included local news on the plantation and artistic endeavors Mignon was involved in.  In particular, Mignon often spoke of the development of rural folk artist Clementine Hunter.  Hunter, who first came to Melrose Plantation as a cook, had first been encouraged by Mignon to develop her talent.  The letters from Mignon to Cook offer a rare insight into Mignon's feelings toward Hunter, Melrose Plantation and the surrounding area.

Inventory

Letters to Sterling Cook from Francois Mignon

Folder 1 Letters, 1957
Folder 2 Letters, 1958
Folder 3 Letters, 1959
Folder 4 Letters, 1960
Folder 5 Letters, 1962
Folder 6 Letters, 1963
Folder 7 Letters, 1964
Folder 8 Letters, 1965
Folder 9 Letters, 1966
10 Letters, 1968
11 Letters, 1969
12 Letters, 1978
13 Letters, 1979
14 Letters to Mildred H. Bailey explanatory notes about the Francois Mignon letters
15 Letter from Francois Mignon to Sterling Cook, 1966
16 Letter from Francois Mignon to Sterling Cook, 1967
17 Letter from Francois Mignon to Sterling Cook, 1978