Scope and Content of Collection
The collection comprises materials gathered from a variety of sources that relate to art
collector and oil tycoon J. Paul Getty and his parents, George F. Getty I and Sarah C.
Getty. The collection includes correspondence, art and furniture inventories, financial
records, legal documents, publications, ephemera, and photographs, dating from
approximately 1880 to 1989 and undated.
The collected papers on J. Paul Getty include some of his personal and business
correspondence and other documents, providing insight into his art collecting
activities, his business ventures, and his personal and family relationships. The
financial records primarily describe the affairs of Getty family businesses as well as
Getty's estate at the time of his death. The legal documents describe legal and
financial relationships within the Getty family through correspondence, wills,
prenuptial agreements, divorce decrees, financial settlements, child and spousal support
agreements, and other supporting documents. Materials related to Mr. Getty's
publications contain correspondence with co-authors and publishers, typescripts and
drafts of his books, and copies of his published books and articles. The collected
papers also contain documents postdating Mr. Getty's death (1977, 1980-1989) that
concern the management of his estate and eulogize his life and accomplishments.
The collected George F. Getty I and Sarah C. Getty papers include letters, telegrams,
hand-drawn maps, cancelled stock certificates, contracts, promissory notes, travel
documents, receipts, and various forms of ephemera. The family correspondence includes
letters written by J. Paul Getty to his parents that provide insight into the personal
and early business relationships between George, Sarah, and Paul. While the family
correspondence hints at the atmosphere of the Getty household, George's papers shed
light on his early oil operations, including scouting potential drilling sites,
day-to-day management of drilling activities, and his political efforts to protect his
interests/land in the Osage Nation (part of the Indian Territory that became Oklahoma).
Sarah's mostly peripheral involvement in the family business is evinced by her
correspondence with George and several notarized documents.
The photographs consist primarily of black-and-white photographs and negatives, dating
from approximately the 1880s to the 1970s, of J. Paul Getty, family, friends,
properties, and city and landscape views. The photographs also include several images of
the J. Paul Getty Museum and galleries during its early years. The images are of various
sizes, and are largely undated and unidentified. The majority of these photographs once
belonged to J. Paul Getty, while a smaller number of them seem to have belonged to his
father, George F. Getty I. The photographs come from several different sources,
including Ralph Hewins, Getty's biographer.
Arrangement
These records are organized into three series:
Series I. J. Paul Getty papers, 1909-1977, 1982-1984, 1989, undated (bulk
1912-1976);
Series II. George F. Getty I and Sarah C. Getty papers, 1890, 1904-1921, 1928,
1931-1934, 1939, undated (bulk 1911-1912);
Series III. Photographs, 1880s-1970s, undated.
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