ARCHIVES

The Hermitage maintains an extensive collection of institutional archives that includes more than 1,200 documents, photographs, letters, newspapers, journals, scrapbooks, and architectural blueprints recording the evolution of the house and surrounding area.

One of the most valuable components of the Sloane Collection is the archival record attached to each work of art. Mrs. Sloane often befriended the artists she patronized, and the Hermitage archives are overflowing with correspondence from some of the most important artists, dealers, and collectors of the early 20th century. Letters between Mrs. Sloane and Georgia O’Keefe, Isabella Stewart Gardner, John Singer Sargent, Helen Turner, Douglas Volk, and many others are a valuable resource for scholars around the world.

An extensive collection of early Hermitage photographs document the activities of American, British, and Australian troops during the First and Second World Wars. These images provide an opportunity for Norfolk’s military community (Norfolk is home to the largest Naval base in the world) to imagine what it must have been like to be stationed here during the first half of the 20th century in a particularly trying time for service members.