Lucy Monroe Calhoun family photographs and papers, 1886-1993 and undated, bulk 1911-1933

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Summary

Creator:
Calhoun, Lucy Monroe, 1865-1950
Abstract:
The Lucy Monroe Calhoun family photographs and papers contains loose photographs, a photograph album, Lucy Monroe Calhoun's writings and papers, along with Monroe family papers. The photographs include 740 loose black-and-white photographs, generally developing-out paper or gelatin sliver prints, as well as 7 negatives, and one slide, all featuring images of Lucy's residences, locations in a and around Peking (Beijing), and locations elsewhere in China, Cambodia, Japan, and the Philippines between 1910 and 1932. A subset of 15 photographs contains images captured during the Peking riots of 1912. The photograph album (60 pages) contains 94 albumen prints featuring images taken during the Calhoun party's travel between China and the United States in 1911, via Siberia. The Lucy Monroe Calhoun papers series features primarily Calhoun's writings, including her 276-page memoir of her life in China (1910-1936), five typescript articles on China, as well as her letters to family members, commercial postcards, and printed material. The Monroe family papers include mainly writing by family members, from letters to autobiographical and biographical pieces, along with some photographs, postcards, and a few newspaper clippings. There are also extensive letters written by Polly Root Collier and Henry Stanton Monroe, Lucy Monroe Calhoun's niece and nephew, both of whom wrote letters to family members during their stays in China. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts.
Extent:
6.3 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.11103

Background

Scope and content:

The Lucy Monroe Calhoun family photographs and papers contains loose photographs, a photograph album, Lucy Monroe Calhoun's writings and papers, along with Monroe family papers. The photographs include 740 loose black-and-white photographs, generally developing-out paper or gelatin sliver prints, as well as 7 negatives, and one slide, all featuring images of Lucy's residences, locations in a and around Peking (Beijing), and locations elsewhere in China, Cambodia, Japan, and the Philippines between 1910 and 1932. A subset of 15 photographs contains images captured during the Peking riots of 1912. The photograph album (60 pages) contains 94 albumen prints featuring images taken during the Calhoun party's travel between China and the United States in 1911, via Siberia. The Lucy Monroe Calhoun papers series features primarily Calhoun's writings, including her 276-page memoir of her life in China (1910-1936), five typescript articles on China, as well as her letters to family members, commercial postcards, and printed material. The Monroe family papers include mainly writing by family members, from letters to autobiographical and biographical pieces, along with some photographs, postcards, and a few newspaper clippings. There are also extensive letters written by Polly Root Collier and Henry Stanton Monroe, Lucy Monroe Calhoun's niece and nephew, both of whom wrote letters to family members during their stays in China. Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts.

Biographical / historical:

Lucy Monroe Calhoun was born in 1865 to Henry Stanton Monroe and Martha Mitchell; she was the sister of poet and editor Harriet (Stone) Monroe. She became a freelance art critic for Chicago and national newspapers, and served as an editorial reader for the Herbert S. Stone publishing company (1898-1905). In 1904, she married William James Calhoun, who was appointed U.S. minister to China by William Howard Taft, a position he held from 1909-1913. Following her husband's death in 1916, Calhoun served in with the American Red Cross in France. In the 1920s Calhoun returned to China, established her home in an ancient temple, collected art, and became the unofficial "First Lady" of the diplomatic corps in Peking. She remained there until the Japanese occupation of Peking in 1937. She returned to the United States in 1941, and died in Chicago in 1950, at age 85.

Acquisition information:
The Lucy Monroe Calhoun family photographs and papers, 1886-1973 and undated, bulk 1911-1933 were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2014-2016.
Processing information:

Processed by Alice Poffinberger, November 2016

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2014-0114, 2015-0085, 2016-0294

Arrangement:

Organized into the following series: Photographs, Photograph album, Lucy Monroe Calhoun papers, and Monroe family papers.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Lucy Monroe Calhoun family photographs and papers, 1886-1973 and undated, bulk 1911-1933, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.