- Scope and Content:
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Collection contains primarily correspondence and printed materials. There are also three unidentified and undated black-and-white photographs, along with a few items representing the Livingston family, including a genealogy developed by Helen Thomas Blackwell. The correspondence contains mostly routine letters to from other family members to Alice Stone Blackwell, Anna M. Blackwell, Elizabeth Blackwell, Emma Blackwell, Helen Blackwell, Henry B. Blackwell, and Lucy Stone. There are also several postcards mailed to the Woman's Journal regarding subscriptions, address changes and other matters related to publication, or the editor's business acquaintances. There are several printed materials written by Blackwell authors, including "Philosophy of Re-Incarnation" by Anna Blackwell, and "Medicine & Morality," "Scientific Method in Biology," and “Erroneous Method in Medical Education" by Elizabeth Blackwell. However, the series primarily features printed items that were maintained in the Blackwell family library. Also contains a corrected typescript (1940s) of Ishbel Ross' Life of Elizabeth Blackwell along with notes from 1958 on the Elizabeth Blackwell award at Smith College.
- Biographical / Historical:
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Samuel Blackwell, a sugar refiner and lay preacher, emigrated to the United States from England in 1832, with his wife Hannah (Lane), eight children, and a governess. Their youngest child was born in New York City; they moved to Newark, N.J., then to Cincinnati, Ohio. Of the nine children, three are represented in this collection, Anna Blackwell, the poet, translator, and journalist; Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910), the pioneering physician; and Henry B. Blackwell (1825-1909), an editor, journalist, and businessman. Also represented is his wife, suffragist Lucy Stone, and their daughter, Alice Stone Blackwell. In addition, there are materials from Lucy's niece, Emma Stone Lawrence, who eventually married George Washington Blackwell, another of the nine children of Samuel and Hannah Blackwell. There are items from their daughter, Anna M. Blackwell, who went on to marry Charles Belden, librarian of the Massachusetts State Library, in 1908, as well as from Helen Thomas Blackwell, who married Anna’s brother, Howard.
- Acquisition Information:
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The Blackwell Family Papers, 1845-1976 and undated, were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2017.
- Processing information:
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Processed by Alice Poffinberger, September 2015.
Accessions described in this collection guide: 2015-0050-LUBMSS123, 2015-0050-LUBMSS124, 2015-0050-LUBMSS125, 2015-0050-LUBMSS126, 2015-0050-LUBMSS490, 2015-0050-LUBMSS491, 2015-0050-LUBMSS492, 2015-0050-LUBMSS493, 2015-0050-LUBMSS494, 2015-0050-LUBMSS532, 2015-0050-LUBMSS533, 2015-0050-LUBMSS533, 2015-0050-LUBMSS535, 2015-0050-LUBMSS537, 2015-0050-LUBMSS538, 2015-0050-LUBMSS539, 2015-0050-LUBMSS540, 2015-0050-LUBMSS541, 2015-0050-LUBMSS542, 2015-0050-LUBMSS543, 2015-0050-LUBMSS544, 2015-0050-LUBMSS545, and main 7065.
- Arrangement:
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Arranged into the following series: Correspondence, Photographs, Livingston family papers, Printed Materials, and Manuscripts.
- Rules or Conventions:
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Describing Archives: A Content Standard
