Fosdick family papers
Scope and Contents
The Fosdick Family Papers consist of correspondence, clippings, geneaology, memorabilia, photographs, printed material, scrapbooks, and writings by and about Florence Whitney Fosdick, Elinor Fosdick Downs, and Dorothy Emerson Fosdick. There is a small amount of genealogical and biographical information concerning a number of other Fosdick family members, notably Harry E. Fosdick. The Florence Whitney Fosdick materials consist of correspondence, photos, clippings, etc. The Elinor F. Downs materials consist of a scrapbook and correspondence about her childhood plus materials about her medical and public health career, marriage, and slides, notes and copies of her 1961 study of Arab refugees; autobigraphical essays, writings and illustrations for scientific and archaeological studies, and photograph albums and scrapbooks pertaining to her public health, archaeological and adventure travels are also included. Dorothy Fosdick materials consist of biographical information plus 13 photographs and albums documenting her childhood, family events and celebrations, trips, and professional activities, circa 1915-1990s.
Dates of Materials
- 1890 - 2006
Creator
- Fosdick, Florence (Person)
- Fosdick, Elinor (Person)
- Fosdick, Dorothy (1913-1997) (Person)
- Fosdick, Harry Emerson, 1878-1969--Correspondence (Person)
- Fosdick family (Family)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections.
Conditions Governing Use
To the extent that she owns copyright, Downs has assigned the copyright in her works to Smith College; however, copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For instances which may regard materials in the collection not created by Downs, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.
Biographical Note
Florence Whitney Fosdick: graduated Smith 1900, married Harry Emerson Fosdick 1904. They had two daughters, Elinor and Dorothy. Elinor Fosdick Downs: graduated Smith 1933, Johns Hopkins 1937 (also attended Harvard Medical School and Columbia); Pediatrician, school physician, medical officer for maternal and Child Health Section, World Health Organization, 1941-51; Staff Director, American Public Heath Association, 1958-67, Pediatrician at Babies Hospital, Columbia, 1958-77; Administrator at Columbia School of Public Health, 1974 and various teaching positions at Columbia. Married Mr. Downs. Dorothy Emerson Fosdick: graduated Smith 1934, PhD Columbia; taught sociology and political theory at Smith; 1942-64 worked for State Department, planning, for United Nations, worked with Adlai Stevenson, legal aide to Senator Henry Jackson.
Extent
14.084 linear feet (14 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection contains the personal and professional papers of Florence Whitney Fosdick, Elinor Fosdick Downs, and Dorothy Emerson Fosdick. There is a small amount of genealogical and biographical information concerning a number of other Fosdick family members, notably Harry E. Fosdick. The Elinor F. Downs materials contain materials about her medical and public health career; her 1961 study of Arab refugees; writings and illustrations for scientific and archaeological studies; and photograph albums and scrapbooks pertaining to her public health, archaeological and adventure travels.
Arrangement
This collection has been added to over time in multiple "accessions." An accession is a group of materials received from the same source at approximately the same time. Note that in most cases, container numbers start over at 1 with each new accession.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection was given as a gift to Smith Special Collections by Elinor Fosdick Downs between 1996 and 2006.
Processing Information
Starting in September 2022, Smith College Special Collections will be renumbering many boxes to eliminate duplicate numbers within collections in order to improve researcher experience. A full crosswalk of old to new numbers is available.
- Children -- Health and hygiene
- Downs, Elinor Fosdick
- Family -- United States -- 20th century
- Fosdick family
- Fosdick, Dorothy (1913-1997)
- Fosdick, Elinor
- Fosdick, Harry Emerson, 1878-1969
- Fosdick, Harry Emerson, 1878-1969--Correspondence
- Genealogies.
- Jackson, Henry M. (Henry Martin), 1912-1983
- Pediatricians -- United States
- Pediatrics -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- United States
- Slides
- Smith College -- Students
- United Nations -- Officials and employees, American
- United States. Dept. of State--Officials and employees
- Women in STEM
- Women in medicine
- Writings
- clippings
- correspondence
- memorabilia
- photographs
- scrapbooks
Source
- Downs, Elinor Fosdick (Person)
- Title
- Finding aid to the Fosdick family papers
- Status
- Legacy Finding Aid (Updated)
- Author
- Madison White
- Date
- 2018
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2017-07-26T17:48:24-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.
- 2018-10-11: Updated to conform to DACS
- 2019-04-19: Added accession 97S-49.
- 2021-07-09: Content description added from accession inventory
- 2021-07-26: Added detail from donor-provided inventory to 2006-S-0066
- 2021-08-13: Added content description from accession inventory
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
