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Alice Fordyce papers

 Collection
Identifier: SSC-MS-00272

Scope and Contents

The Alice Fordyce Papers include personal correspondence, organization records, speeches, and an audio recording of an interview conducted by Sophia Smith Collection Director Susan Grigg in 1991. The collection focuses primarily on Fordyce's volunteer work and membership in such organizations as The American Museum in Britain, the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the National Association for Southern Poor, the John E. Fogarty International Center Advisory Board, and the American Impact Center. Files for these organizations include general mailings, direct correspondence, mailing lists, fiscal reports, press releases and clippings. There are also files pertaining to Dr. Robert Newman of the Beth Israel Medical Center and methadone treatment, as well as a file on an exchange trip between U.S. and Chinese scientists in 1977.

Dates of Materials

  • Creation: 1967-1991

Creator

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

The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to Alice Fordyce's unpublished works; however, copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators.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 Alice Fordyce, 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 / Historical

Alice Woodard Fordyce was born in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1905. She was the sister of Mary Lasker and graduated from Smith College in 1928 after spending her junior year in France studying at the University of Grenoble and the Sorbonne. She married architect Allmon Grant Fordyce in 1939 and they had one son, James Woodard Fordyce. Alice Fordyce's first job after graduating was as Assistant Director of Fashion Publicity at Lord and Taylor. In 1933 she became Assistant Director of Public Relations for the Rockefeller Center, a position she would hold until 1940. Fordyce was additionally involved in a number of medical and social organizations. She was Executive Vice President of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation and organized the annual Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards. She also served on a number of advisory boards and committees such as the information committee of the American Cancer Society, the National Organization for Rare Diseases as well as committees for the New York Health and Planning Advisory Committee, the National Council on Drugs and the American Museum in Britain. Fordyce was also a high-ranking member of the National Association for the Southern Poor and the American Impact Foundation. She was a founding member of the National Museum for Women in the Arts. Alice Fordyce died in 1992 in New York City.

Extent

1.313 linear feet (3 containers)

Abstract

Foundation executive; Philanthropist; Public relations specialist. Papers include personal correspondence, organization records, speeches, and an interview. The collection focuses on Fordyce's volunteer and philanthropic work with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, the American Cancer Society, the National Organization for Rare Disorders, and others.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Alice Fordyce donated her Papers to the Sophia Smith Collection in 1991.

Processing Information

Preliminary Processing done by Annie-Sage Whitehurst, Fraenkel intern, 2009.

Subject

Source

Title
Alice Fordyce papers
Subtitle
Finding Aid
Date
2006
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)
  • 2009-07-30: Finding aid revised after further processing by Annie-Sage Whitehurst, July 2009
  • 2017-07-26T17:48:17-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.

Repository Details

Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository

Contact:
Neilson Library
7 Neilson Drive
Northampton MA 01063