Jane Garrett papers
Scope and Contents
Since Garrett is an Episcopal priest and has been very active in church politics, these materials offer valuable insight into the inner workings of the church; the broader social, political and cultural aspects of these issues are also well-documented. Approximately half of this collection consists of files pertaining to homosexuality and same- sex marriage, notably the struggle within the Episcopal Church to come to terms with these issues. The other half consists of files pertaining to authors with whom Garrett worked in her capacity as an editor at Alfred A. Knopf. Most of the authors are noted U.S. historians, and these files may be of interest for what they reveal about the author/editor relationship. There is also a small amount of material from her work with the Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns on AIDS in Kuala Lumpur, and documents and photographs of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
Dates of Materials
- Creation: 1938 - 2003
Creator
- Garrett, Jane (Person)
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use with the following restrictions on access:
At the direction of the donor, portions of the collection related to authors other than Garrett are closed until 2034, 2044, and 2054. These portions are noted at the subseries level.
Conditions Governing Use
The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to the unpublished works by the creator of this collection. Copyright to materials created by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. Permission must be obtained to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Biographical / Historical
Jane Garrett earned her B.A. in history from the University of Delaware in 1957. From 1975 to 1978, she was enrolled in the Diocesan Studies Program at the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, and during the 1978-79 academic year she studied at the Hartford Seminary. She returned to Vermont in 1979 and studied Clinical Pastoral Education for a year at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont. Middlebury College awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in Letters 1997, and in 2000 the University of Delaware awarded her a Medal of Distinction. From 1957 to 1968, Garrett was employed at the Boston Athenaeum, first in the Acquisitions Department and then as Assistant to the Director. While employed at the Athenaeum, and prior to being hired by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., she also worked as an editor for the New York Historical Society (1966 to 1967). From 1967 to 1973, she was Editor and Special Assistant to Alfred A. Knopf; she worked as an Editor full-time from 1974 to 1996, when she was promoted to Senior Editor. Garrett has specialized in working with noted authors of U.S. history, many of whom have won Pulitzer Prizes and other awards for books that she helped bring to press. Concurrent to pursuing her career at Knopf, Garrett has continued to be involved in the Episcopal Church; she was ordained as a Deacon in 1980 and as a Priest in 1981. She has been active in church politics, especially with regard to its attitudes toward and stated positions on homosexuality and same-sex unions.
Extent
15.896 linear feet (16 containers)
Abstract
Priest; Editor. Approximately half of collection consists of files pertaining to homosexuality and same-sex marriage, notably the struggle within the Episcopal Church to come to terms with these issues. The other half pertains to authors with whom Garrett worked in her capacity as an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, moslty noted U.S. historians. There is also a small amount of material from her work with the Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns on AIDS in Kuala Lumpur, and documents and photographs of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). NOTE: There is no container list online for this finding aid. You may contact the Sophia Smith Collection if you want one sent to you.
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.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
As a preservation measure, researchers must use digital copies of audiovisual materials in this collection. Please consult with Special Collections staff or email specialcollections@smith.edu to request the creation of and access to digital copies.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Jane Garrett, 2004 and 2011.
Processing Information
Between September 2022 and February 2023, Smith College Special Collections renumbered many boxes to eliminate duplicate numbers within collections in order to improve researcher experience. The following changes were made in this collection: Accession 2011-S-0055, Box 1 renumbered as Box 16
Subject
- Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (Organization)
- Garrett, Jane (Person)
Source
- Garrett, Jane (Donor, Person)
Genre / Form
- Books
- Computer media
- Electronic mail
- Essays
- Memorandums
- Pamphlets
- Resumes
- Reviews
- Speeches.
- Typescripts
- articles
- clippings
- correspondence
- photographs
Topical
- Audiotapes
- Episcopal church -- Clergy -- 20th century
- Homosexuality -- Religious aspects -- Christianity
- Lesbian community
- Ordination of women -- Episcopal church
- Publishers and publishing
- Same-sex marriage -- Moral and ethical aspects -- United States
- Women and religion
- Women clergy -- United States
- Women publishers -- United States
- Title
- Finding aid to the Jane Garrett papers
- Status
- Legacy Finding Aid (Updated)
- Author
- Scott Biddle
- 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)
- 2017-07-26T17:48:17-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.
- 2020-04-29: Added accessions 2004-S-0005 and 2011-S-0055, updated dates
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
