Search Results
Hannah Mather request to Edward Hutchinson, 1758 0.1 Linear Feet — 1 item
Collection comprises a request written by Hannah Hutchinson Matter on 3 April 1858 to Edward Hutchinson, asking him to fulfill the pecuniary bequest made to her by his father and to give the sum (4 pounds) to her son, Samuel Mather, Junior. The back of the request contains Samuel's note, dated 3 May 1858, stating that he received the money.
Martha Maxwell photographs and clipping, 1875-1877 and undated 0.2 Linear Feet
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell letter to Ellen Nussey, [1855] July 27 0.1 Linear Feet — 1 item
Collection contains a letter Elizabeth Gaskell wrote to Ellen Nussey on [1855] July 27 regarding her work on her biography of Charlotte Brontë, and making arrangements to meet with Nussey to review any letters "which you may think it right to entrust me with." She refers to having already reviewed letters held by Mr. Nichols, Brontë's husband, but never mentions Brontë by name.
Thomas Smith deed of manumission, 1803 July 19 1.0 Linear Foot — 1 item
Deed of manumission of "negro Sue," more commonly known as Susannah Mallory, former property of Charles King Mallory, of Elizabeth City County, [Va.?], by Thomas Smith in the Court of Norfolk County, Va., on 1803 July 19. In the document Smith makes it clear that the sixty dollars he paid for her purchase from Charles King Mallory was advanced entirely by Sue and that he acted only as her "Friendly agent" in the matter, with no interest in holding her as a slave. The deed is witnessed by Richard Henry Lee and R. C. Archer.
Mary J. Scarlett letters and broadside, 1845-1864 and undated 1.01 Linear Feet — 8 items
Collection contains seven letters (22 pages) M. J. Scarlett wrote between 1845-1864. Two letters were addressed to her sister, Elizabeth (1845, 1849), and five to her niece (1858, 1860, 1863, 1864). In the letters she discussed details of her life at the time, from the teaching of students to the choosing of proper fabric for sewing a dress, making a comfortable sitting room, or studying public health and hygiene. She also mentioned many family matters. She commented on her hopes for the abolition of slavery and the infighting among abolitionists at a recent national meeting, and noted her puzzlement that those Quakers who would quickly speak as abolitionists would not also speak up on issues of faith within the Society of Friends. During the Civil War, she described the effect of the draft in Philadelphia, recorded the general concern that the Army of the Potomac needed to be successful, and pointed to camps nearby as well as to funerals passing. Collection also includes an undated broadside for "An Introductory Lecture to a Course on Physiology" to be delivered by Scarlett. Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collections (Duke University), the Lisa Unger Baskin Collection, and the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.
J. Nevett Steele and Mary Murray deed of manumission, 1846 December 4 1.0 Linear Foot — 1 item
Collection comprises a deed of manumission for a "negro woman slave named Sophy and a negro girl named Sarah and a negro boy named Henry, children of said Sophy," former property of Sarah E. Murray of Anne Arundel County, Md., and then assigned to J. Nevett Steele of Baltimore, Maryland. The deed was signed and sealed by J. Nevett Steele and the administrator of Sarah E. Murray's personal estate, Mary Murray, then recorded in the [Howard?] District of Anne Arundel County on 1846 December 4. The deed was witnessed by Abner Neal and T.[Thomas] Hanson Belt. Sophy was 37 years old, Sarah was 13 years old, and Henry was 10 years old at the time.
I sell the shadow to support the substance : Sojourner Truth, [1864] 1 photograph — print on card mount ; mount 17 x 11 cm.
"Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1864 by Sojourner Truth in the clerk's office of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan."--Verso of card mount.
Women's Guild of Arts records, 1902-1949 and undated 0.2 Linear Feet — 88 items
Collection comprises primarily 81 letters from 29 members of the Women's Guild of Arts between 1902 and 1949. There are 7 additional documents, including draft resolutions, certificates, lists, and notes. Three letters predate the founding of the organization in 1907. The primary topic of the letters is the crisis within the Guild regarding its women-only status, an argument regarding how restrictive the Guild should be. Pamela Colman Smith wrote to May Morris (22 January 1913) that the reason she joined the Guild was that it made a point of asking its members not to exhibit at women-only shows, as it lowered the standard of work and that the Guild was never intended to be a purely woman's affair. Other letters on the subject come from Evelyn de Morgan, Feodora Gleichen, and Ethel Sandell. Gleichen's letter was circulated to members, and the collection contains a list of those who agreed with her; several letters are marked up to indicate a position on the matter. There is also a draft resolution welcoming any move to widen the scope of the Guild "such as stimulating and interesting lectures not only from our own members but from men and women outside....It is with this in view that we supported the resolution passed at the recent Annual Meeting, inviting as Honorary Associates a few people with whose work we are in sympathy..." (22 January 1913). Other topics in the letters include the role of the president, exhibitions, lectures, and the work of the organization, along with the William Morris Centenary Commemoration in 1934.
Women's Social and Political Union scrapbook, 1908-1917, undated 0.9 Linear Feet
Collection comprises materials relating to the women's suffrage movement in the United States and United Kingdom, including pins, medallions, buttons, textiles, card sets, stamps, photographs, and printed materials and ephemera. The majority of the collection's items express pro-women's suffrage sentiments. Organizations present include the Woman's Peace Party, Catholic Women's Suffrage Society, Women's Freedom League, National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, Cymeric Suffrage Union, Men's League for Women's Suffrage, Women's Social and Political Union (W.S.P.U.), Women's Christian Temperance Union, and the Woman's Suffrage National Aid Corps. Examples of messages conveyed include: "Votes for Women," "Vote No on Women's Suffrage," "Women's Equality. Women's Lives." Some items include portraits of women suffragists, including Susan B. Anthony and Inez Milholland. Several items reference voting to repeal the 19th amendment. Also includes three sets of "Panko or Votes for Women: The Great Card Game Suffragists v. Anti-Suffragists," published in 1909 by Peter Gurney with illustrations by E.T. Reed, from Punch magazine. Postcards and photographs include both caricatures and real-photo images of suffragists, suffragettes, and their allies, as well as items mocking or opposing the woman's suffrage movement. The collection contains some 1910s banners, scarves, and sashes in yellow and white, and others in green and purple fabric, with text reading "Votes for Women"; there are also a variety of printed handbills, handouts, fliers, and ephemeral materials circulated and distributed to the public for suffrage campaigns in different states, including Massachusetts, New York, and Maine.
Collection consists of a set of seven mounted photographs, apparently intended for exhibition, and a set of five pro-choice pamphlets created by the Abortion Rights Association of New York (later known as Abortion Rights Association, Inc.). The photographs include coroner's office photographs of deceased women following self-inflicted abortions; morgue photographs of infanticides; equipment and tools used in self-inflicted abortions; and fetuses in utero, one with deformed brain. Author of the included captions is unknown. The pamphlets, written to assist New York physicians and practioners implementing the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling, address women's rights to clinical abortions, abortion laws, counseling and guidance on policies, and references to New York abortion clinics and practitioners.
Elizabeth Cary Agassiz letter to Dr. Thomas Hill and photograph, 1886 0.1 Linear Feet — 2 items
Collection comprises an autograph, signed letter Elizabeth Cary Agassiz wrote to Dr. Thomas Hill on January 20 [1886] regarding his article on her husband published in the Unitarian Review in December 1885. She notes that she was unable to follow his entire argument, "for the kingdoms of geometry are closed to me. But in reading it I am nonetheless conscious of a law which binds all things together...." Also includes a printed photograph of her.
Helen Paterson Allingham papers, 1868-1916, 2015 3.6 Linear Feet — 4 boxes — 11 items
Collection primarily includes four sketchbooks by Allingham, but also contains four letters, a carte de visite, and two exhibit labels. The four sketchbooks date from 1868-1916, and feature sketches and drawings made in graphite, watercolor, and pen and ink. Subjects are varied, and include English cottages and buildings, architectural features, sailboats and coastal scenes, figures, landscapes, and botanical items.
The letters, dated 1881-1882 and undated, include three written by Allingham. There is one to Marcus B. Huish regarding her painting, The Tea Party, which she reports is incomplete, but she plans to finish before it is exhibited. There is a letter to a friend to whom she sends autographs, then describes her country place and garden, along with her 4-month-old son. Another letter focuses on the difficulty of finding unfurnished rooms. The final letter in the collection is written by Andrew Halliday to Dr. Watkins, regarding Allingham's address. There is also a carte-de-visite of English women's rights activist Emily Faithfull, with her signature, along with two modern exhibit labels on Allingham.
American Women's Voluntary Services enamel pin, 1940s 0.1 Linear Feet — 1 item
Susan B. Anthony collection, 1870-1900 0.1 Linear Feet — 13 items
Collection comprises seven letters from Susan B. Anthony to various correspondents, one postcard written to her, a printed item, and a letter by S. J. S. Holden that mentions Anthony, Stanton, and the 1874 National Woman Suffrage Association (N.W.S.A.) convention. In June 1870, Anthony wrote two letters to Edwin A. Studwell, who became her business manager, regarding payment for lectures in which she participated with Elizabeth Cady Stanton; her need to sell her serial, The Revolution, and plans for its continued success; competition with suffragists in Boston; her life insurance policies; and her general need for ready funds. There is also a Dec. 1873 letter from Anthony to Judge Henry R. Selden requesting copy for his argument made on Anthony's behalf regarding the Rights of Women in the U.S. District Court of New York, to be published in time for the upcoming N.W.S.A. convention. The postscript to this letter was written upon a flyer for a mass meeting of the New York Woman's Suffrage Society. Collection includes a copy of the final, printed version of Selden's argument, "Rights of women under the late constitutional amendments."
In 1894, Anthony wrote two letters to a suffragist concerning problems in Kansas; she wished to identify the Republican, Progressive, or other person responsible for "stirring things up," for the Republicans failed to include suffrage in their platform. On 1900 April 24, Anthony wrote to Rachel [Foster Avery?] regarding several publications in process, including forms for letters to the national conventions of the prohibition, Populist, Democratic, and Republican parties; a "memorial;" an appeal to the Ecumenical Council; along with other work to be shared by the suffrage leadership. A letter from Anthony 1900 July 22 was written to an unnamed suffragist who likely requested an autograph, "Yes indeed--you shall have my pen tracks--not only--but also my wish that you both believe in work for the protection of women in the crowning right of citizenship--the right to vote--and so help to hasten the day when ours shall be a true republic in practice as it now is in theory."
Collection also includes a postcard written to Anthony from Mary L. Lathrop in Jackson, [Miss.?] in 1874 regarding Lathrop's inability to send more money following Anthony's successful speaking engagement there; the money went toward advertising for the event. Another letter, from S. J. S. Holden to Rachel [Foster Avery?], in 1874 describes attendance at the N.W.S.A. convention, the speeches of Anthony and Elizabeth Cay Stanton, and other pastimes in Washington, D.C. Several of the letters in the collection are written on N.W.S.A. or National-American Woman Suffrage Association letterhead; Anthony's 1894 letters are stamped with the ownership mark of the Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington library. Collection includes dealer transcriptions for two of Anthony's letters.
Elizabeth Arden letter to Mrs. Hyatt, 1926 June 26 0.1 Linear Feet — 1 item
The collection consists of a single autograph typescript letter dated 1926 June 26 written by Elizabeth Arden to a Mrs. Hyatt, who had contacted her for advice after hearing her speak on the radio. Arden writes, "I know that where one is a busy housewife and has many duties in a country home, it is hard to get rest and relaxation. Perhaps you are of the naturally alert, quick, nervous type and use up a lot of energy everyday." Arden advises her to "get a little rest period at least once a day and relax in a quiet room or take a soothing, warm bath and a little nap," as well as to eat a healthy diet. She goes on to recommend products in her Venetian Preparations line that will soothe chapped hands, and encloses her booklet "The Quest of the Beautiful." On letterhead stationery from 673 Fifth Avenue embossed with the Venetian trademark.
Fox and Backhouse family papers, 1673-1930s 1 Linear Foot
The collection consists of correspondence, writings, and other ephemeral materials relating to the Fox and Backhouse families, along with materials relating to nineteenth century Quaker communities and families in England. The bulk of the collection is correspondence between different members of the Backhouse family, including Jonathan and Hannah Chapman Backhouse, their son Edmund Backhouse and his wife Juliet Fox, and their grandson Jonathan Edmund (Jed) Backhouse. Caroline Fox is also a routine correspondant. The letters discuss family news, personal activities and travel, religious sentiments.
There are two excerpts of diaries which appear to be by different authors and may relate to Hannah Chapman Backhouse's travels to the United States in the 1830s, or to another family member's travels in Europe or the Middle East. The handwriting of these pages is challenging and the excerpts are unattributed and appear to be undated, so more research would be helpful.
Also present in the collection are some writings, including essays and poetry, typically spiritual or relating to prayer, as well as some honorifics for Edmund Backhouse and a copy of his obituary. There are some manuscript riddles, some watercolors, and some sketches of scenes and still lifes. The collection also includes some ceremonial documents, including a letter from the Society of Friends declaring support for Hannah and Jonathan Backhouse's travels to the United States.
Anna Letitia Barbauld and William Allen poems, 1823 August 23-30 0.1 Linear Feet — 1 item
Collection consists of a single piece of paper (20 x 12.5 cm) with an autograph manuscript poem by Anna Letitia Barbauld on the front and a poem called "Follow Me" by William Allen on the back. Barbauld's poem reads as follows: Born to the weighty honours of a name/Whose deeds of mercy England's shores proclaim/Yet know, you may inherit lands or pelf/But must, for praise - for love, be good yourself. It's signed A.L. Barbauld and dated August 23rd 1823. The verso contains a two-stanza autograph manuscript devotional poem by William Allen titled "Follow Me." It is signed Stoke Newington 30 of 8th month 1823. Barbauld and Allen were both educators and abolitionists who lived in Stoke Newington at the time of this writing. These poems are evidence that they had at least an epistolary friendship.
Lisa Unger Baskin Collection of Photographs, circa 1860-1960s, bulk 1860-1910 4.5 Linear Feet — 8 boxes — 514 items — Dimensions are given in item-level entries in centimeters and are approximate. The great majority are standard cartes-de-visite and cabinet card sizes, with more modern prints ranging from 4x6 to 8x10 inches; the largest items, few in number, measure approximately 10x12 up to 11x15 inches. — The majority of the items in this visual collection take the form of 19th century albumen cartes-de-visite and cabinet cards mounted on card stock. As the 19th century wanes, gelatin silver prints, most also mounted, become more common. There are a handful of cased images, stereographic cards, a few tintypes, several platinum prints, and photo-mechanical images in the form of single prints and postcards. Many of the albumen portraits are hand-tinted and card mounts are often ornately decorated, while others are roughly trimmed and spare in detail. Color pigments are chiefly found in hand-tinted photographs or in mechanical prints.
Collection consists of 514 photographic items, almost all single black-and-white prints, in a variety of formats typical for the 19th and early 20th centuries: largely albumen, with some gelatin silver prints, a few tintypes, daguerreotypes, glass plates, and one cyanotype. There are also some mechanical prints such as Woodburytypes and half-tone prints, and groups of commercially produced postcards, collectible cards, and stereographs. Color images are chiefly limited to hand-tinted images and mechanical prints.
Roughly three-quarters of the images were taken by women photographers operating or managing studios in all regions of the United States, with a smaller number in England, Sweden, Canada, and a few other countries; some were well-known but the majority were small business operators in smaller cities and towns. Whenever possible, a brief photographer's biography is included with the image entry.
The majority of the images are studio portraits of mostly unidentified North American men, women, children, and families, with a slight focus on New England. Roughly 40 images are portraits of African American or mixed-race individuals young and old, with a few groups of people of color. There are several ethnographic images of northern African women and a few scenes from Southeast Asia.
In addition to portraiture, the collection offers images of women artists, authors, nurses, teachers, and students who appear in early images of graduation and sports teams. Women and girls in boarding house and hotel rooms, at home, on bicycles, at work in factories, large and small offices, mines, and hospitals, wearing uniforms, brandishing guns and tools, and enjoying leisure activities. One hand-sewn booklet of photographs appears to show scenes from a training school for African American women. Also present are many portraits of female actors, entertainers, and wealthy women. There are very few musicians. Of interest are several photographs of light-skinned enslaved children distributed as abolitionist propaganda.
The cataloger transcribed titles and dates when present and indicated the source location; in the absence of a title, the cataloger devised descriptive titles. The great majority of dates are approximate and are based on the format, biographies, geneaologies, and clothing styles. Much information was derived from history of photography websites and photographer indexes, especially the website Langdon's List of 19th & Early 20th Century Photographers.