Louise Stevens Bryant papers
Scope and Contents
The Louise Stevens Bryant Papers consist of personal and professional material. They include a typescript of Bequest from a Life (privately printed), a biography of Bryant written by her companion, Lura Beam, and excerpts from correspondence to Beam from Bryant. The collection also contains Bryant's diaries, notebooks, and professional reports concerning public health and social work issues; subject files; and correspondence, including letters from Havelock Ellis and others generated from Bryant's work negotiating the U.S. publication of Ellis's Studies in the Psychology of Sex." There is related material about Louise Stevens Bryant in the Smith College Archives. The Lura Beam Papers are housed in the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University.
Dates of Materials
- Creation: 1885-1963
Creator
- Bryant, Louise Stevens, 1885-1956 (Person)
Language of Materials
English
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
Copyright ownership of Louise Stevens Bryant's writings is unknown. Lura Beam's estate retains copyright for her biography,
Biographical / Historical
Public health specialist, editor, and publicist Louise Stevens Bryant (1885-1956) received a B.S. from Smith College in 1908 and a PhD in Medical Science from the University of Pennsylvania. She promoted dispensary development and edited a pioneer medical study and publicity program in the field of human fertility. She was associated at various times with the Russell Sage Foundation, the Girl Scouts of America, the Pennsylvania School for Social Service and Health, and the War Industries Board. She was the American representative of Havelock Ellis and wrote books and many articles on applied psychology and maternal health. She was the editor and publicist of the United Hospital Fund and National Committee on Maternal Health, New York City, from 1923 to 1937, and publicist for the American Association of University Women from 1938 to 1952. Her other interests included art, poetry, and animals. In 1909, she married Arthur Bryant, whom she divorced in 1912. Her longtime companion was Lura Beam.
Extent
10.042 linear feet (19 containers)
Abstract
Public health specialist; Editor; Publicist. Papers contain Bryant's diaries, notebooks, and professional reports concerning public health and social work issues; subject files; and correspondence from Havelock Ellis and others generated from Bryant's work arranging the U.S. publication of Ellis's Studies in the Psychology of Sex. Thre is also a typescript biography of Bryant written by her companion, Lura Beam, and excerpts from their correspondence.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into four series:
- I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
- II. PERSONAL ACTIVITIES
- III. CORRESPONDENCE
- IV. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
- BOOKS ON SHELF
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Lura Beam donated the Louise Stevens Bryant Papers to the Sophia Smith Collection in 1962.
Processing Information
Finding aid revised by Jenn Smar and Burd Schlessinger, 2006
Subject
- Ellis, Havelock, 1859-1939 (Person)
- Beam, Lura (Person)
- Bryant, Louise Stevens, 1885-1956 (Person)
Source
- Beam, Lura (Donor, Person)
Genre / Form
Topical
- Birth control -- United States
- Children -- Health and hygiene
- Eugenics -- United States
- Female friendship
- Female friendship -- United States -- 20th century
- Lesbian and queer women
- Manuscripts
- Maternal health services -- United States
- Public health
- Research
- Social service
- Social work
- Social work administration
- Women in medicine
- Women in the professions
- Title
- Louise Stevens Bryant papers
- Subtitle
- Finding Aid
- Date
- 2007
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
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)
- 2017-07-26T17:48:13-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.
- 2022-03-02: Integrated description of oversized materials
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
