The Women's Guild of Arts was founded in England in 1907 by textile designer and jeweller May Morris, and grew to about 60 members. The organization offered female artists an alternative to the Art Workers' Guild, the artists' association established in 1884 to encourage excellence in the fine and applied arts, and from which women were excluded until the 1960s. 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.

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.

Collection comprises a letter written by the United States Senator from Ohio Warren G. Harding to the suffragist Harriet Taylor Upton regarding support for women's suffrage. Harding responds to a telegram from Upton asking him to use his influence on Ohio State Senator U.G. Murrell in support of women's voting rights. Harding replies that he is "reluctant" to advise Murrell on the matter because of his previous experience with Murrell while Harding was a member of the Ohio General Assembly.

The collection consists of a single autograph typescript letter on Senator Warren G. Harding's United States Senate letterhead dated 1917 February 11. Senator Harding writes to suffragist Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton of Warren, Ohio, "I beg to acknowledge your telegram of February 4. By reason of my former experience as a member of the Senate of Ohio General Assembly, I would be reluctant to advise Senator Murrell of Clinton County as to his ultimate action on the suffrage matter." Murrell was a member of the Ohio General Assembly. By 1917, Senator Harding was prepared to vote in the affirmative on the issue of women's suffrage. Harriet Upton was was hoping to leverage his influence to generate similar support in their home state of Ohio.

The collection consists of five typescript letters, one photocopied Encyclopedia Britannica article regarding Sackville-West's book "Aphara Behn" in the "Representative Women" series, along with a poem. The first letter, one page addressed to Sackville-West, dated 1953 May 22, signed "A. Purvis," discusses the birthplace and date of Aphra Behn. A photocopy of the Encyclopedia Britannica article on Behn is included. A typescript note dated 18 July, 1961, signed V. Sackville-West on Sissinghurst letterhead, was written in response to a letter from Sylvia Haymon about Aphra Behn, and Sackville-West's article on Behn in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Included are copies of three letters, all dated 1961, sent to Sylvia Haymon, two to Sackville-West, and one to Miss J. Parfitt, Acting Editor of the Women's Page of The Times in London. The topics of the undated, one-page "Diary-Poem" have to do with Sackville-West's loss of her given name upon her marriage to Harold Nicolson in 1913, and the loss of Knole, her family's estate in Kent, in 1928 because of patriarchal inheritance laws.

The collection consists of five typescript letters, one photocopied Encyclopedia Britannica article regarding Sackville-West's book "Afara Behn" in the "Representative Women" series, along with a poem. The first letter, one page addressed to Sackville-West, dated 1953 May 22, signed "A. Purvis," discusses the birthplace and date of Aphra Behn. A photocopy of the Encyclopedia Britannica article on Behn is included. A typescript note dated 18 July, 1961, signed V. Sackville-West on Sissinghurst letterhead, was written in response to a letter from Sylvia Haymon about Aphra Behn, and Sackville-West's article on Behn in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Included are copies of three letters, all dated 1961, sent to Sylvia Haymon, two to Sackville-West, and one to Miss J. Parfitt, Acting Editor of the Women's Page of The Times in London. The topics of the undated, one-page "Diary-Poem" have to do with Sackville-West's loss of her given name upon her marriage to Harold Nicolson in 1913, and the loss of Knole, her family's estate in Kent, in 1928 because of patriarchal inheritance laws.

Writing desk at which one would stand, designed and owned by Virginia Woolf. The sloping top of the desk features a central panel in two pieces, with hinges at the top. The panel lifts to reveal a storage compartment underneath. Two drawers are located below the storage area, one on each side of the desk. There are metal pulls on each drawer. The left-hand drawer pull surrounds a flower medalion; the medalion on the right-hand drawer is missing. The drawers and desk top each feature a metal lock, but no keys are present. Quentin Bell painted the figure of Cleo holding a trumpet on the top of the desk. He painted the rest of the desk, except the back, in grays with black accents. There are random spatters of paint present on all surfaces.

Writing desk at which one would stand, designed and owned by Virginia Woolf. The sloping top of the desk features a central panel in two pieces, with hinges at the top. The panel lifts to reveal a storage compartment underneath.Two drawers are located below the storage area, one on each side of the desk. There are metal pulls on each drawer. The left-hand drawer pull surrounds a flower medalion; the medalion on the right-hand drawer is missing. The drawers and desk top each feature a metal lock, but no keys are present. Quentin Bell painted the figure of Cleo holding a trumpet on the top of the desk. He painted the rest of the desk, except the back, in grays with black accents. There are random spatters of paint present on all surfaces.

Vera Brittain was an English writer and pacifist activist best known for her World War I memoir Testament of Youth. The Vera Brittain letter to critia and editor John Middleton Murry concerns matters relating to the publishing and financing of Murry's literary, socialist, and pacifist magazine The Adelphi. Brittain also writes of her pacifism as it relates to concerns about nuclear warfare in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

Consists of a single typescript letter from Brittain to the critic and editor John Middleton Murry dated September 13, 1946. Single-page, with text on front and back written on letterhead reading "2 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea S.W.3." Brittain comments on the revival of Murry's The Adelphi, and on strategies to finance such literary magazines. The second part of the letter discusses her opinions on methods of pacifist activism, particuarly as related to nuclear war. The postscript discusses the forthcoming publication of John Hersey's 1946 book Hiroshima. She comments, "If only the world could read it, the 'next war' would move much further off." It is signed "Vera."

Thomas Smith was a resident of the burrough of Norfolk, Va. 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.

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.

Dame Sybil Thorndike was a distinguished British actress best known for her work on stage. In this letter to the actress and playwright Elizabeth Robins, Thorndike thanks her for the gift of some heather from Yorkshire. She also sends her regards and thanks to "Lady Bell" for her support. The letter is addressed to Robins at Rounton Grange, the North Yorkshire estate which was the family home of the writer Florence Bell ("Lady Bell"). Bell and Robins were close friends and collaborators. Thorndike refers to a play; at the time of this letter, she was in rehearsals for the 1922-23 London production of Shelley's The Cenci at the New Theater, directed by her husband, Lewis Casson. This letter connecting three key female figures of the London stage is evidence of the strong support network these women formed in a male-dominated arena.

The collection consists of a single autograph typescript letter from Sybil Thorndike to Elizabeth Robins at Rounton Grange, Northallerton in North Yorkshire. In the letter, Thorndike thanks Robins for sending her a piece of heather from Rounton Grange. Thorndike writes, "I am sure it is going to bring us luck, and I love having something from Rounton on my dressing table. How lovely to think of you up there among the peacocks and the glorious moors! I really think the play is going to be a success." The letter is signed "yours affectionately, Sybil" with a manuscript postscript asking Robins to give her love to Lady Bell, and to thank Lady Bell for her support. The letter is composed on Thorndike's own letterhead stationery, "Miss Sybil Thorndike" at the address of the New Theater, London and listing her husband, Lewis Casson, as Director. The play in production Thorndike refers to is Shelley's The Cenci, in which she played the lead, Beatrice. With stamped, postmarked envelope.

Susan P. Parrott was a widow who probably resided in Maine during the mid-nineteenth century. Collection comprises an handmade account book with paper covers (35 pages, some blank, with an additional 5 leaves excised) maintained by Susan P. Parrott from 1839-1846, mainly to track her payments to at least 30 women she hired to work for her from one day to several months at a time. It is not clear in what capacity she hired the women, although one, Martha Brackett, was a seamstress.

Collection comprises an handmade account book with paper covers (35 pages, some blank, with an additional 5 leaves excised) maintained by Susan P. Parrott from 1839-1846, mainly to track her payments to at least 30 women she hired to work for her from one day to several months at a time. It is not clear in what capacity she hired the women, although one, Martha Brackett, was a seamstress. A few entries are accompanied by notes on the women: Martha White was African American, and on 1842 July 1, Parrott noted that she engaged Bridget(t) O'Boyle "to stay two months from this date--and to behave herself better." Other payments were recorded for tobacco, cider, gin, pills, medicine, bonnets, dresses, corsets, slippers, ribbons and a lace collar, cloth, gloves, crockery, and letters. Parrott also recorded cash entries.

New York County's Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery was the court of criminal jurisdiction, especially for crimes punishable by life imprisonment or death. Collection comprises a manuscript summons from the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery in New York City dated 1785 May 31 for Doctor Charles M. McKnight, James J. Beekman, Sarah Conolly (Conoly), and Ann McClean (McClain) to serve as witnesses the following day against the African American prisoner Hannah, who was indicted for "Murder of a Bastard Child."

Collection comprises a manuscript summons from the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery in New York City dated 1785 May 31 for Doctor Charles M. McKnight, James J. Beekman, Sarah Conolly (Conoly), and Ann McClean (McClain) to serve as witnesses the following day against the African American prisoner Hannah, who was indicted for "Murder of a Bastard Child."

Sophia Foord was a 19th century teacher in Massachusetts who was involved with the abolitionist, utopian socialist, and feminist movements. The Sophia Foord letter to Robert Adams mainly concerns the Northampton Association of Education and Industry, a utopian socialist community.

Three-page letter from Sophia Foord of Northampton, MA to Robert Adams of Pawtucket, RI regarding the Northampton Association of Education and Industry. Abolitionists Lydia Maria Child and William Lloyd Garrison are also mentioned, as is the Underground Railroad. A section is missing from the top of the first leaf, affecting text on the second page.

The Sarah Orne Jewett letters consist of two pieces of correspondence written by the author to an editor, Mr. Sawyer, and to Lucy Coffin. Sarah Orne Jewett was a well-known 19th century author whose fiction is set in her native rural Maine. In the first letter, Jewett declines to send Mr. Sawyer anything to print in the first issue of his magazine, as she has been ill and busy, and doesn't want to write something in a hurry, although she wishes him well with his new publication. The second is a condolence letter to Lucy Coffin of Newbury, Massachusetts on the loss of her father. The Coffins were a prominent Massachusetts family.

Collection consists of two autograph manuscript letters written by Sarah Orne Jewett. The first is addressed to a Mr. Sawyer, the editor of a new journal, declining to send him anything to print in his first issue, as she has been ill and doesn't wish to write something in a hurry. She sends him "hearty good wishes for the success of his magazine," asks him to send her a prospectus, and "suppose[s] that, like all editors, you have more verses than you wish to print." The letter is on a single sheet of folded paper with writing on three pages dated 1877 June 15 and written from South Berwick, [Maine]. The second letter is a sympathy note written on mourning stationery and addressed to Miss [Lucy] Coffin dated 26 December, but lacking a year. A Boston address appears at the top. Jewett expresses sympathy for the loss of Miss Coffin's father from both her and her companion Mrs. Field, and reminisces about a day they had spent together in Newburyport. Jewett references John Greenleaf Whittier, who was a student of Lucy's cousin Joseph while at Dartmouth College. The Coffin Family was prominent in New England and lived in Newbury, Massachusetts for many generations.

Collection comprises a letter from the 19th century writer and editor Sarah J. Hale to the prominent Philadelphia publisher Mathew Carey thanking him for his contribution to Hale's charity benefiting Boston seamen.

The collection consists of a single signed autograph letter with text on one side from Sarah J. Hale to the Philadelphia publisher Mathew Carey. Hale thanks Carey for his subscription to her charity, the Seaman's Aid Society and Mariner's House of Boston for the year 1822-1823. Hale also inquires about local interest in a Philadelphia organization that teaches needlework as a means of economic empowerment to poor women.

Collection comprises a diary (49 pages) Sarah Ewing maintained in ink, focusing on the domestic abuse she suffered from her husband, including verbal and physical abuse. One entry also records her husband's arrest for an assault that took place outside the home. By the end of the diary, Sarah has left her husband in fear for her safety, taking with her the baby. After visiting the house in order to retrieve more clothing, she ends the diary with a note that she is not a thief, "I had never in my life before removed or taken away from H.H. [Haydon House] any articles of clothing or jewelry of any sort." Marginal notes made by an unidentified writer in pencil indicate that the diary may have been used in legal or other proceedings on her behalf.

Sarah Brown Capron was born in Lanesboro, Massachusetts, in 1828, the daughter of Henry Brown Hooker and Martha (Chickering) Hooker. The family subsequently moved to Falmouth, Massachusetts. Sarah graduated from Wheaton Seminary, and married William Capron on October 1, 1856. Over the course of their marriage, the Caprons had 3 children. On November 24, 1856, the Caprons sailed to Ceylon, India, as missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission. Arriving in Madras in March of 1857, they labored in Tirupuvanum and Mana Madura for the next sixteen years. Collection comprises a copy of a letter (10 pages) written by Sarah B. Capron in Mana Madura, India, to unidentified recipients on 1865 December 26 and 28.

Collection comprises a copy of a letter (10 pages) written by Sarah B. Capron in Mana Madura, India, to unidentified recipients on 1865 December 26 and 28. Sarah was in southern India, with her two daughters, practicing medicine and treating residents of the town, although her medical training was minimal. She stated that "more knowledge of medical services would save me a vast amount of care.... when I go to America, I must have some Hospital experience & practice, somehow" (page 1). She then narrated a typical day for her, telling of the various patients she treated, including a man with stomach pain, a woman with knee pain, a young boy who was gored by a cow, a man with ear discharge, a woman with eye pain, children with dysentery, a beggar with sores, and an infant with lung congestion.

Collection comprises a letter Stokes wrote to dramatist Benjamin Butler Davenport regarding her plan to attend his play "The Silent Assertion" with her husband. Includes enclosure.

Rebecca West was a British writer and critic. The Rebecca West note consists of a single autograph manuscript note to an unknown correspondent reading, "With Miss Rebecca West's compliments." On letterhead stationery: 15, Orchard Court. Portman Square.W.1., Welbeck 3606.

The collection consists of a single autograph manuscript note to an unknown recipient which reads, "With Miss Rebecca West's compliments." On letterhead stationery: 15, Orchard Court. Portman Square.W.1., Welbeck 3606.

The Pankhurst family included English political activists and leaders of British women's suffrage movement, Emmeline (1858-1928) and her daughters, Christabel (1880-1958), and Estelle Sylvia (1882-1960). Collection includes letters by Emmeline, Christabel, and Sylvia Pankhurst, as well as photographs of them.

Collection includes letters by Emmeline, Christabel, and Sylvia Pankhurst, as well as photographs of them. Topics in the letters include women's suffrage, opinions of Emmeline in the United States, and Sylvia's running of newspapers, including the Worker's Dreadnought. There is also an autograph for Christabel. Images include photo postcards of Emmeline and Christabel, an albumen photograph of Emmeline and another unidentified woman breaking the flag at Lincoln's Inn House at Christmas Sale (1912), and a silver gelatin photograph of Sylvia attending a luncheon in her honor in Cincinnati.

Collection comprises a single autograph manuscript note dated 1963 with a Paris return address from the conductor and composer Nadia Boulanger to her friend "R.I." Boulanger inquires after his recent illness and encourages him to carry on his work in the future. The note's recipient is likely the composer Robert Irving.

The collection consists of a single autograph manuscript note (dated 1963 October 6) from the French composer and conductor Nadia Boulanger to a sick friend identified as "R.I." It's likely that the recipient was the conductor Robert Irving. Boulanger inquires as to what advice he's received from his doctors, and mentions her own recent illness. She says that her faith has "brought moral relief to the physical suffering." She asks after his plans and hopes for the future, "in spite of all that makes regular work so difficult." Boulanger writes her address at the bottom of the note: 35 Rue Ballu, Paris IX.

Mary "May" Morris was an English artisan, embroidery designer, jeweller, socialist, and editor. Collection comprises letters, an article, a few photographs, and several drawings. There are 16 letters and notes, dated 1909-1931, addressed to "Ada," who was Ada Culmer, the companion/caregiver for May Morris' sister, Jenny. Fifteen of these items were written by May, with one by Jenny. Subjects range from personal matters to Kelmscott business, including May’s editing of her father’s collected works. Much of the content centers on mutual friends and relatives (with a focus on Jenny's ill health); several letters also mention foreign travel. The article, "Mrs. William Morris," The Athenaeum, 1914 Feb. 7, contains the author's memories of Jane Morris, following her death. There is an albumen photograph (4.25 x 5.75-inches) by Ernest Hall of Oxford, showing May Morris at work on one of her tapestries at Kelmscott, as well as a developing out paper copy by Haines of London of a 1905 Carter and Co. photograph (6 x 4.25-inches) of Jane, May, and Jenny Morris, with Ada Culmer. In addition, there is a reproduction of a photograph of Kelmscott manor. Includes three undated reproductions of portraits of female figures.

Collection comprises letters, an article, a few photographs, and several drawings. There are 16 letters and notes, dated 1909-1931, addressed to "Ada," who was Ada Culmer, the companion/caregiver for May Morris' sister, Jenny. Fifteen of these items were written by May, with one by Jenny. Subjects range from personal matters to Kelmscott business, including May’s editing of her father’s collected works. Much of the content centers on mutual friends and relatives (with a focus on Jenny's ill health); several letters also mention foreign travel. The article, "Mrs. William Morris," The Athenaeum, 1914 Feb. 7, contains the author's memories of Jane Morris, following her death. There is an albumen photograph (4.25 x 5.75-inches) by Ernest Hall of Oxford, showing May Morris at work on one of her tapestries at Kelmscott, as well as a developing out paper copy by Haines of London of a 1905 Carter and Co. photograph (6 x 4.25-inches) of Jane, May, and Jenny Morris, with Ada Culmer. In addition, there is a reproduction of a photograph of Kelmscott manor. Includes three undated reproductions of portraits of female figures.

May Byron was a prolific British author best known for her children's books including a series of biographies and abridgements of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. In this letter, she responds to Rev. Edwin J. Matthews' request for the most important life lesson she's learned and for a list of her publications. Byron responds that she couldn't possibly sum up her life's experiences into one lesson, and that she can't provide a list of her publications because she's lost track of them. She does note that most of her children's books are still in print and have "been going on selling for some 20 years."

Collection consists of a single autograph manuscript letter written by May Byron to Reverend Edwin J. Matthews. Byron's return address is "c/o British Weekly" and Matthews' address is "The Rectory, Calstone, Calne, Wiltshire." Matthews had written to ask Byron, "the one lesson which has been most impressed upon me by my life's experiences." Byron replies, "These experiences have been so wide, so varied, and in several respects so unique that I could not possibly sum up their results in one lesson." Matthews had also asked Byron for a list of her writings, and she replies that she's unable to do so because she's lost track of them. She states that both the British Museum and the Library of Congress had asked her for a similar list, and she was unable to help them, in part because of her use of pseudonyms, and also because of her many years' work as a journalist. She concludes by stating that most all her writings are currently out of print, except for her children's books, "which have been going on selling for some 20 years."