As Ever, Miriam

As Ever, Miriam by Faythe Levine centers on the relationship and lives of Charlotte Russell Partridge (1882-1975) and Miriam Frink (1892-1978), who co-founded and ran the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived together for over 50 years. This book presents a collection of epistolary sign-offs from Frink’s letters to Partridge across the decades of their working and personal relationships, exploring how one says goodbye over 50 years. 

Featuring a thorough introduction by the author, a 10-inch long foldout timeline, and robust footnotes sprinkled with fun facts that bring context to the brief archival excerpts, Levine contextualizes the relationship between the two and their contributions to the arts in Milwaukee and beyond. 

Levine’s text suits a methodical reader as well as a casual browser. Notable, however, is her introduction that positions her personal and kindred relationship to the lives she encounters through her letter-based research. Levine is currently based in upstate New York but spent twenty years living and working in Wisconsin. She has a career engaging with archives and collections through a queer, feminist lens that spans decades. As Ever, Miriam would interest readers connected to art education, queer archival methods, twentieth-century history, and anything related to correspondence and biography.