Ellen Gates Starr papers
Collection
Identifier: SSC-MS-00151
Scope and Contents
The Ellen Gates Starr Papers consist of 12 linear feet and date from 1659 to 1975. The bulk of the papers range from 1850 to 1970. Types of material include correspondence, writings, artwork, diaries, legal documents, photographs, printed material, memorabilia, biographical and genealogical material. They relate to Starr's personal and professional life, Jane Addams, and Hull House, and the Starr family. Of particular interest is material on Jane Addams including correspondence, photographs and biographical material. Jane Addams material can be found in SERIES I, II, and IV. The bulk of the papers, however, consist of those of Ellen Gates Starr and her family, dating from her grandfather Oliver Starr's family in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in the early 1800s to her grand niece Angela Starr Van Patten in 1971. There are large amounts of correspondence, writings and art relating to her sister, Mary Houghton Starr Blaisdell and her aunt, Eliza Allen Starr, and correspondence of her niece, Josephine Susanna Starr.
Always devoted to the liturgy and history of the church, Starr studied, wrote, and corresponded with the learned and interested, both lay and clerical, and correspondence and writings reflects this long and close devotion and the manner in which she shared it with others. Her socialist activism is illustrated by clippings and articles as well as correspondence concerning the Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike in Chicago in 1915. Letters from Sidney Hillman and Jacob Patofsky, heads of the Clothing Workers, attest to their admiration and appreciation of Starr's contribution to the cause of organized labor.
Always devoted to the liturgy and history of the church, Starr studied, wrote, and corresponded with the learned and interested, both lay and clerical, and correspondence and writings reflects this long and close devotion and the manner in which she shared it with others. Her socialist activism is illustrated by clippings and articles as well as correspondence concerning the Amalgamated Clothing Workers strike in Chicago in 1915. Letters from Sidney Hillman and Jacob Patofsky, heads of the Clothing Workers, attest to their admiration and appreciation of Starr's contribution to the cause of organized labor.
Dates
- 1659 - 1975
- Majority of material found within 1850-1970
Creator
- Starr, Ellen Gates (Person)
Language of Materials
English.
Conditions Governing Access
The Papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.
Conditions Governing Access
Until we move into New Neilson in early 2021, collections are stored in multiple locations and may take up to 48 hours to retrieve. Researchers are strongly encouraged to contact Special Collections (specialcollections@smith.edu) at least a week in advance of any planned visits so that boxes may be retrieved for them in a timely manner.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright to materials created by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Biographical / Historical
Ellen Gates Starr was born near Laona, Illinois, the third of four children of Caleb Allen Starr and Susan Childs Gates Starr. She attended local schools and enrolled at Rockford Seminary, Rockford, Illinois, in 1877. She spent only one year at Rockford because her father could not afford the tuition. She taught at a country school in Mount Morris, Illinois, and in 1879 accepted a position at Miss Kirkland's School for Girls in Chicago where she taught a variety of subjects. Although religion was not part of her early upbringing, she spent much of her life in search of religious truth. She was greatly influenced by her aunt, Eliza Allen Starr, a devout Roman Catholic convert, writer, and lecturer. In 1884 Ellen joined the Episcopal Church.
During these years Starr was in frequent contact with Jane Addams, a close friend from Rockford Seminary. In 1888, while they were traveling in Europe, Addams confided her dream of establishing a settlement house. On their return they opened Hull House in Chicago in September 1889. Although Addams was the financial and executive force behind the establishment of Hull House, she depended on Starr's support and contacts in Chicago society. In an attempt to enlighten the lives of the immigrant population of Chicago, Starr established reading clubs, decorated Hull House with reproductions of great art, organized art history classes, and in 1894, founded and became the first president of the Chicago Public School Art Society. In the late 1890s she spent fifteen months in London studying bookbinding with T.J. Cobden-Sanderson. Although she was eager to teach the art of bookbinding on her return to the United States, she found that it was of little practical value to the people of Hull House.
Noting the prevalence of sweatshops, child labor, low wages, and long hours, she joined with Florence Kelley and others in the battle against child labor. She was a charter member of the Illinois branch of the National Women's Trade Union League and in 1896, 1910, and 1915 she came to the aid of striking textile workers. She delivered speeches, provided food and clothing, and marched in picket lines. She was arrested during a 1914 restaurant workers' strike. Starr was a close friend of Sidney Hillman and Jacob Potofsky and was made an honorary member of Hillman's Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. She joined the socialist party in 1916 and unsuccessfully ran for alderman in Chicago.
Her spiritual quest culminated in conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1920. Thereafter she spent much of her time writing and speaking about Catholic art and worship and her own conversion experience. She continued to be an occasional visitor to Hull House until 1929, when an operation to remove a spinal abscess left her paralyzed from the waist down. In 1930, she settled at the convent of the Holy Child in Suffern, NY, becoming an oblate of the Third Order of St. Benedict in 1939. She died in 1940 and was buried at the convent.
During these years Starr was in frequent contact with Jane Addams, a close friend from Rockford Seminary. In 1888, while they were traveling in Europe, Addams confided her dream of establishing a settlement house. On their return they opened Hull House in Chicago in September 1889. Although Addams was the financial and executive force behind the establishment of Hull House, she depended on Starr's support and contacts in Chicago society. In an attempt to enlighten the lives of the immigrant population of Chicago, Starr established reading clubs, decorated Hull House with reproductions of great art, organized art history classes, and in 1894, founded and became the first president of the Chicago Public School Art Society. In the late 1890s she spent fifteen months in London studying bookbinding with T.J. Cobden-Sanderson. Although she was eager to teach the art of bookbinding on her return to the United States, she found that it was of little practical value to the people of Hull House.
Noting the prevalence of sweatshops, child labor, low wages, and long hours, she joined with Florence Kelley and others in the battle against child labor. She was a charter member of the Illinois branch of the National Women's Trade Union League and in 1896, 1910, and 1915 she came to the aid of striking textile workers. She delivered speeches, provided food and clothing, and marched in picket lines. She was arrested during a 1914 restaurant workers' strike. Starr was a close friend of Sidney Hillman and Jacob Potofsky and was made an honorary member of Hillman's Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. She joined the socialist party in 1916 and unsuccessfully ran for alderman in Chicago.
Her spiritual quest culminated in conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1920. Thereafter she spent much of her time writing and speaking about Catholic art and worship and her own conversion experience. She continued to be an occasional visitor to Hull House until 1929, when an operation to remove a spinal abscess left her paralyzed from the waist down. In 1930, she settled at the convent of the Holy Child in Suffern, NY, becoming an oblate of the Third Order of St. Benedict in 1939. She died in 1940 and was buried at the convent.
Extent
26 boxes (12 linear feet)
Overview
Labor organizer; religious writer; settlement house worker; and founder, Hull House, Chicago. Papers represent 4 generations of the Starr family, primarily Ellen Gates Starr. Of particular interest is correspondence with Jane Addams pertaining to the founding of Hull House, as well as photographs and biographical information about Jane Addams. There is also extensive family correspondence and her writings on book binding and religion. Family material includes writings and letters of her aunt Eliza Allen Starr, sister Mary Houghton Starr Blaisdell, niece Josephine Starr, mother Susan Starr, and sea journals of her father, Caleb Allen Starr. Correspondents include Vida D. Scudder, Archibald MacLeish, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Thornton Wilder, Thomas J. Cobden-Sanderson, Alice Hamilton, and Sidney Hillman.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into four series:
- I. Biographical Materials
- II. Correspondence
- III. Writings and Artwork
- IV. Photographs
- V. Oversize Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Ellen Gates Starr Papers were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection in 1960 by her niece, Josephine Starr, and grandniece, Angela Starr Van Patten. Johanna Doniat, a former Hull House associate, donated additional letters and articles on art, religion and bookbinding in 1966. In 1968, Mary Prentice Lillie Barrow donated a scrapbook of clippings which belonged to her mother, Frances Crane Lillie.
Processing Information
Processed by Susan Boone, 2001.
- Addams, Jane, 1860-1935
- Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America--History--Sources
- Barrington, Lois Hall
- Benedictines--United States--History--Sources
- Blaisdell, Mary Houghton, 1849-1934
- Bookbinding--History--Sources
- Cabrini, M. Frances Xavier, Saint, 1850-1917--Correspondence
- Catholic converts--United States--History--Sources
- Catholics--United States--History--20th century--Sources
- Clothing workers--Labor unions--United States--History--Sources
- Cobden-Sanderson, T.J. (Thomas James), 1840-1922
- Converse, Florence, 1871- --Correspondence
- Female friendship--United States--History--Sources
- Genealogies.
- Hillman, Sydney, 1887-1946--Correspondence
- Hull House (Chicago, Ill.)--History--Sources
- Lillie, Frank Rattray, 1870-1947--Correspondence
- MacLeish, Archibald, 1892- --Correspondence
- Photographs.
- Scudder, Vida Dutton, 1861-1954--Correspondence
- Social settlements--United States--History-Sources
- Socialism--United States--History--Sources
- Starr family
- Starr, Albert Childs, 1861-1935
- Starr, Caleb Allen, 1822-1915
- Starr, Eliza Allen, 1824-1901
- Starr, Ellen Gates
- Starr, Jeanne Josephine Stutz, 1866-1949
- Starr, Josephine
- Women bookbinders--United States--History--Sources
- Women in labor movement--United States--History--Sources
- Women social reformers--United States--History--Sources
- Women's International League for Peace and Freedom--History--Sources
- Women--Religious life--United States--History--Sources
- Works of art
- articles
- books
- correspondence
- diaries
- lectures
- van Patten, Angela Starr
- writings
Creator
- Starr, Ellen Gates (Person)
- Title
- Ellen Gates Starr papers
- Subtitle
- Finding Aid
- Author
- Susan Boone
- Date
- 2003
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Revision Statements
- 07/26/2017: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)
- 2005-09-23: mnsss64 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
- 2017-07-26T17:48:23-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository