Katharine Whitney Curtis visual materials, ca. 1910-1980

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Materials were a gift of the estate of Katharine Whitney Curtis (accession number: 1981.0031).

Katharine Whitney Curtis visual materials (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.

Black-and-white and color photographic prints and negatives, newspaper clippings, and printed matter pertaining to the life of Katharine Whitney Curtis. Early photos show Curtis' teenage swimming activities and college years, and the swimming pageants she organized at the Century of Progress fair (1934) and in Caserta, Italy (1945). Curtis's career with the Red Cross and U.S. Army is also documented, particularly her headquarters and travels in Germany. Also present are photographs of Whitney and Rankin family ancestors from the nineteenth century and a photograph album of Washington Island (Wis.).

Katharine W. Curtis, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 4, 1897, was a swimming coach who led in the development of synchronized swimming in Chicago in the 1930s. Curtis organized and trained the Kay Curtis Modern Mermaids, a swimming act of thirty women who performed at the world's fair (Century of Progress International Exposition) in Chicago in 1933-1934, and in 1936, she published a book on synchronized swimming, entitled ”Rhythmic Swimming" (Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing Company).

In May of 1942, Curtis joined the American Red Cross. Her initial assignments were as Assistant Director of First Aid in Chicago and as a Club Director in Washington, D.C. In 1943 she was transferred to Casablanca, Morocco, to work as a military recreations official before transferring to Sicily, Italy, in September 1943. Positions in Italy followed at Palmero (August-December 1943), at Capri (December 1943-May 1944), at San Spirito (May-August 1944), and at Caserta (November 1944-September 1945). While at Caserta, Curtis organized an "Acquacade," which was staged on June 16 and 17, 1945.

Curtis was assigned to Marsailles, France, in October 1945 as Assistant Area Supervisor of Red Cross clubs, remaining there until early 1946. After returning briefly to Chicago's Wright College, the Red Cross requested that she serve in occupied Germany, and she arrived in Nuremburg in December 1946, where she supervised Red Cross service clubs in the area. The U.S. Army Special Services Unit assumed control of the service clubs in September 1947, and Curtis became Chief of the Leave Activities Section, Special Services, U.S. Army. Her duties included coordination between European bureaus of tourism, private travel agencies, and groups of U.S. armed forces personnel. Curtis remained with the Special Services Unit until September 1962, when she retired and settled in the Washington Island (Wisconsin) cottage which her mother had occupied.

In June 1959, Curtis became the first recipient of the Helms Synchronized Swimming Hall of Fame Award, and in May 1979, was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida.

Original descriptive inventory created by John Miller, March 1992 and edited in 2018.

• Subject
  • Swimmers--United States
  • Synchronized swimming
• Names
  • Curtis, Katharine Whitney, 1897-1980
  • American National Red Cross
  • United States. Army. Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
• Geographic Coverage
  • Europe--Description and travel--20th century
  • Mexico--Description and travel--20th century

The collection is arranged in three series.

Series 1. Personal and Family, 1900-1980 (Boxes 1-2, 5-6, 8)

Series 1 contains photographic prints and negatives depicting Katharine Whitney Curtis, her family, ancestors and friends. This series contains images of Curtis' swimming activities during the 1920s and 1930s. Box 1 is arranged chronologically, other images are grouped by topic, including ancestors, immediate family, and childhood.

Series 2. Travel, 1900-1980 (boxes 2-8)

Series 2 contains photographic prints documenting Katharine Whitney Curtis’ personal and professional travels. Due to Curtis’ work for the American Red Cross and the U.S. Army Special Services during the 1940s and 1950s, European nations are well represented, including Austria, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic), Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. Locations depicted outside of Europe include Algeria, Egypt, and Mexico.

Series 3. Scrapbooks, 1938-1975 (Boxes 5, 8)

Series 3 contains scrapbooks (and scrapbook pages) that include photographs, newspaper clippings, souvenirs, and postcards relating to Curtis and her family, travels in Mexico and Europe, and swim events such as the European Acquacade (1945) and the Chicago World’s Fair (1934).