Papers of Florence Luscomb, 1856-2001

The Luscomb papers are comprised largely of material from the many organizations in which Luscomb was involved, although they also include family and personal papers. The bulk of the collection is in series III. Additional materials received in 2015-2016 (accession numbers 2015-M140, 2015-M184, and 2016-M40) were added to the collection in February 2017. These materials are housed in Series IV (#426-460m). An audio recording of Luscomb's memorial service (#461at) was added to Series IV in November 2022. All other files remain in the same order.

Folder #201 is CLOSED as noted in the inventory, and has been temporarily removed from the collection.

Although no one subject is thoroughly documented here, the collection provides an overview of the myriad of activities and organizations in which a radical "progressive" was involved throughout the twentieth century. There is little material pertaining to Luscomb's emotional or private life, in part because she was immersed in her causes: her friends were fellow activists, their social gatherings were meetings, and they communicated by phone or in person, rarely through letters.

Many of Luscomb's pre-1959 papers (some pertaining to suffrage and her political candidacies, as well as some correspondence) are in the Luscomb series in the Woman's Rights Collection.

Series I, Personal and family, #1-114. The personal papers include personal documents (membership cards, appointment books, etc.), biographical and autobiographical material (including taped interviews), photographs of Luscomb, some MIT material, awards and honors, and records re: housing, travel, and finances. Other photographs of Luscomb may be found throughout the collection. Further information on Luscomb's international travel may be found in Series III.

Family papers include a diary of Luscomb's great-grandmother, and papers of her mother and brother. Most noteworthy is the correspondence between Luscomb and her mother (#89-96), Hannah Skinner (Knox) Luscomb, who is referred to in the collection by the initials she used: HSL.

Series II, Correspondence, #115-184. The correspondence in this series relates to both Luscomb's private and public life; letters to and from friends are rarely without social commentary. Most letters are to Luscomb; letters from her are mainly to Hannah Skinner Luscomb, Laurence Todd, or Walter O'Brien and family. For the later years there are drafts written on the backs of papers pertaining to her activities. There is also correspondence in Series III, arranged by the issue or organization to which it pertains.

Much of the correspondence (#115-132) is arranged chronologically, covering the 1910s-70s. Letters from relatively well-known people or those particularly important in Luscomb's life appear in alphabetical order following the chronological sequence. As noted in the inventory, the alphabetical section also contains obituaries and photographs.

Series III, Social and political activism, #185-425, is arranged in seven subseries, each of which contains pamphlets, flyers, leaflets, Luscomb's notes for speeches, speeches by Luscomb and others, writings by Luscomb and others, correspondence, clippings, notes, brochures, and photographs; some also contain membership lists, mailing lists, financial records, and minutes from organizations, and Luscomb's journals. Carbon copies of quotations, articles, letters, etc. indicate that Luscomb often distributed such materials to friends because they provided information not available in the mainstream press. Luscomb's writings (including articles, speeches, notes for speeches, and pamphlets) were dispersed in this series according to the subject matter or the group for which they were written.

Many leaflets and pamphlets throughout the collection may have been written by Luscomb, but only those marked "by Luscomb" are included in the following list of folders containing writings (including articles, speeches, notes for speeches, and pamphlets) by Luscomb: #8-9, 11, 40, 185-89, 193, 206, 212-14, 217-19, 221, 225, 227, 236, 239-41, 244-45, 256-57, 259, 262-63, 266, 269f+, 272-73, 275, 277, 279, 281-83, 291, 295, 310, 322, 328, 330-33, 342, 347, 351, 356-57, 360, 362-65, 367-68, 370, 375, 379-80, 384-85, 387, 395, 403-04, 409.

IIIA, General, #185-203, contains miscellaneous and unidentified subjects. Some mailing lists are in this subseries because they are not identified or because Luscomb reused the same lists for a variety of causes; others are with the records of specific organizations or causes. Folder headings in quotation marks were used either by a previous processor or by Luscomb herself. Folders for which original restrictions have expired were added to the collection in November 2009.

IIIB, Women, #204-228, covers Luscomb's suffrage activities, including the diary of her 1911 trip to the International Woman Suffrage Alliance Conference, and her involvement in the women's movement of the 1970s, in the form mainly of speaking engagements and honors. Some material pertaining to women and women's issues appears in the other subseries of Series III; see cross-references on page 20.

IIIC, Electoral politics, #229-244, includes material from Luscomb's own four political candidacies, about the Progressive Party from 1947 to 1956, and from other candidacies Luscomb supported.

IIID, Race relations, #245-255, provides an overview of Luscomb's interests in this area but little substantial documentation of her activities. Only records from the Boston Scottsboro Defense Committee are fairly complete.

IIIE, Labor, #256-273, consists of union material (some of which Luscomb may have written) and other material documenting her support for labor and for the issues organized labor faced, particularly in the mid twentieth century.

IIIF, Peace and International Affairs, #274-378, is arranged by region or event, and then chronologically. More general organizations and activities, and those with little material, are arranged chronologically (#351-378). There is little pertaining to Women's International League for Peace and Feedom (WILPF).

IIIG, Civil liberties and democracy, #379-423, consists mostly of material regarding the anti-"communist" investigations of Luscomb and others in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts (CLUM) and other Massachusetts activities are also covered. There are five folders (#419-423) of papers that appear to have belonged to Edwin B. Goodell, Jr.; there is no indication as to why they are here.

Series IV, Addenda, #426-461at, was received from Joy Harvey, Julia O'Brien-Merrill, and Barbara Brown between 2015 and 2016, and contains writings, speeches, correspondence (mostly from the 1970s), etc. Only a sampling of fundraising appeals was kept. Also included is correspondence of Walter O'Brien towards the end of Luscomb's life and after her death.