Miscellaneous manuscripts collection
Scope and Contents
The Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection consists of biographical sketches, correspondence, diaries, genealogies, photographs, photograph albums, memoirs, memorabilia, postcards, scrapbooks, and travel journals dating from 1814 to 1987. This material documents various aspects of the daily lives and activities of women from diverse backgrounds. This collection is made up of individual items or groups of items that are too small to stand on their own as separate collections, but are otherwise unrelated.
About half of the collection dates from the nineteenth century and consists primarily of correspondence, diaries, and unpublished memoirs from unknown, or little known, women. Also included are a few letters from well-known figures such as Susan B. Anthony, Alice Stone Blackwell, Alice Morse Earle, Edward Everett Hale, Julia Ward Howe, and Frances Willard; a photo of Harriet Beecher Stowe; and autographed quotations by William Lloyd Garrison, Isabella Beecher Hooker, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
The twentieth century material is more varied. In addition to correspondence, diaries and memoirs, it includes many photographs (both loose and in albums), some genealogical material, and other miscellaneous memorabilia. Well-known figures represented in the correspondence include Booker T. Washington and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. The letters of Ellen Downes, a Naval secretary, written from Japan, Washington D.C., and Moscow between 1937 and 1948, are accompanied by photos and are very descriptive. A family photo album belonging to a woman identified only as "Gertrude" contains many interesting photographs, including some of Native Americans and some of cross-dressed women, taken in California, Albuquerque, and Canada, circa 1905 to 1913.
Dates of Materials
- Creation: 1814 - 2005
Creator
- Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections.
Conditions Governing Use
Materials in this collection may be governed by copyright. 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. 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.
Extent
6.063 linear feet (12 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection documents various aspects of the daily lives and activities of both famous and unknown women from diverse backgrounds. Materials include biographical sketches, correspondence, diaries, genealogies, photographs, memoirs, memorabilia, scrapbooks, and travel journals. A few well-known figures represented in the correspondence include Susan B. Anthony, Alice Stone Blackwell, Edward Hale, Julia Ward Howe, Frances Willard, Booker T. Washington, and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Also included is a photo of Harriet Beecher Stowe; and autographed quotations by William Lloyd Garrison, Isabella Beecher Hooker, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Multiple donors have contributed to this collection.
Additions to the Collection
Periodic additions are expected.
Processing Information
Finding aid revised 2010. Introductory text by Kate Weigand.
Subject
- Earle, Alice Morse, 1851-1911 (Person)
- Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906 -- correspondence (Person)
- Blackwell, Alice Stone, 1857-1950 (Person)
- Hale, Edward Everett, 1822-1909 -- correspondence (Person)
- Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910 -- correspondence (Person)
- Willard, Frances Elizabeth, 1839-1898 -- correspondence (Person)
- Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915 -- correspondence (Person)
- Chiang, May-ling Soong, 1897-2003 -- correspondence (Person)
- Paige, Virginia (Person)
- Waller, Martha S. (Person)
- Wilson, Leila Fosburgh (Person)
- Blanchard, Dallas (Person)
- Title
- Miscellaneous manuscripts collection
- Subtitle
- Finding Aid
- Date
- 2003
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- 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: mnsss147 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
- 2017-07-26T17:48:11-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
