Charles Coleman Sellers (March 16, 1903 – January 31, 1980) was an American historian, biographer, and librarian who won the

Bancroft Prize The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas. It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...

in 1970 for his biography of American painter

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...

. Sellers was a long-time librarian at Dickinson College and also held positions at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

and the

Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Pronounced “winter-tour," Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana in the United States. The museum and estate were the home o ...

Early life and education

Sellers was born in the Overbrook neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, to parents Horace Wells Sellers, an architect, and Cora (Wells) Sellers, Horace's first cousin. He was a great-grandson of Charles Willson Peale. Sellers graduated from Haverford College with a BA in 1925 and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

with an MA in 1926, and

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

with a PhD in 1957.

Career and service

Sellers worked as a writer and researcher from 1927 and, together with his wife, owned and operated Tracey's Book Store in

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, from 1932 to 1938. He also acted in amateur theatrical productions and authored three plays that were produced in the 1930s and 1940s. He served as the bibliographic librarian at Wesleyan University from 1937 to 1949. He simultaneously served as a research associate for the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

from 1947 to 1951. In 1949 he became curator of the Dickinsoniana Collection at Dickinson College and became head librarian of the college in 1956 after May Morris retired. He also became the librarian in charge of the Waldron Phoenix Belknap Jr. Research Library of American Painting at the

, organizing this newly established collection and editing and publishing Belknap's research notes between 1956 and 1959. With the opening of the May Morris Room in the new Boyd Lee Spahr Library, Sellers once again became historian and curator of the Dickinsoniana Collection in 1968. He held this appointment until his retirement in 1979, when Dickinson College awarded him an honorary doctorate of letters. He also received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Temple University. Sellers co-conceived a 1983 exhibition of Peale's work at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. He became editor of the ''American Colonial Painting'' magazine in 1959 and became an elected member of the American Philosophical Society in 1979. He was a member of the

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations. The AAUP's stated mission is ...

(Dickinson College chapter president, 1961–62) and the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their underst ...

. His papers are held at the

and the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Personal life

On October 6, 1932, Sellers married actor and poet Helen Earle Gilbert (died February 1951). On June 12, 1952, he married Barbara Stow Roberts (died September 1979). He had two children from his first marriage: Horace Wells Sellers III and Susan Pendleton Siemanoski. He died in Sydney, Australia, while visiting his daughter there.

Publications

* ''

Lorenzo Dow Lorenzo Dow (October 16, 1777February 2, 1834) was an eccentric itinerant American evangelist, said to have preached to more people than any other preacher of his era. He became an important figure and a popular writer. His autobiography at one ti ...

: The Bearer of the Word''. Minton, Balch & Company. 1928. * '' Benedict Arnold: The Proud Warrior''. Minton, Balch & Company. 1930. * '' Theophilus the Battle-Axe: A History of the Lives and Adventures of Theophilus Ransom Gates and the Battle-Axes''. Patterson & White Co. 1930. * ''The Artist of the Revolution: The Early Life of Charles Willson Peale''. Feather & Good. 1939. * ''Portraits and Miniatures by Charles Willson Peale''. American Philosophical Society. 1952. * (Editor) Waldron Phoenix Belknap. ''American Colonial Painting''. Belknap Press. 1959. * * ''Charles Willson Peale: A Biography''. Scribner. 1969. (

, 1970) * ''Dickinson College: A History''. Wesleyan University Press. 1973. ISBN 9780819540577. * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sellers, Charles Coleman 1903 births 1980 deaths Haverford College alumni Harvard University alumni Temple University alumni American librarians Wesleyan University people Charles Sellers 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians from Pennsylvania Bancroft Prize winners 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American biographers American art historians Academic librarians People associated with Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Dickinson College faculty Writers from Philadelphia