Overview
Correspondence, scrapbook, photographs, etc., of David Frederick Babson, private during World War I and Harvard class of 1925.
Dates
- Creation: 1903-1984
Creator
- Babson, David Frederick, 1896-1971 (Person)
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by David Frederick Babson is held by the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
.42 linear feet (1 file box)The collection consists mainly of letters to David Frederick Babson in France from his sisters, his mother, and others. "Dear family" letters from his sisters are also included. The letters relate the writers' day-to-day activities and provide information regarding life and attitudes towards the war in Massachusetts and Kentucky. A patriotic scrapbook, compiled by Helen Hatch Babson and sent to Babson for Christmas in 1917, contains clippings and other materials concerning life in the United States during the war. Also included are Helen Hatch Babson's reminiscences of her days at Pine Mountain Settlement School, written in about 1979, and essays by Helen Hatch Babson re: Pine Mountain Settlement School and the New England Moral Reform Society's Talitha Cumi Home for unmarried mothers in Jamaica Plain, Mass.
BIOGRAPHY
David Frederick Babson was born in Rockport (Pigeon Cove), Massachusetts, on November 27, 1896, the third child and only son of Frederick Babson (1868-1912) and Ella M. (Bailey) Babson (1867-1946). Babson served as a private in the 104th United States Infantry in France during 1917-1918. During that period, his younger sister, Helen Hatch Babson (1899-1984) worked as a housemother at Pine Mountain Settlement School, Harlan County, Kentucky. Naomi Lane Babson (1895-1985) was an elementary school teacher at Glastonbury, Connecticut, and Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Dorothy (Babson) Rikert (1894-1965) lived in Mount Hermon, Massachusetts, with her husband, Carroll, and their son, Carroll, Jr. After the war, Babson entered Harvard College with the Class of 1925; he died in Wolcott, Connecticut, on April 12, 1971.
For further information on the Babson family, see the genealogy compiled by Catherine Finney-MacDougal and published by Eaton Press (Watertown, Mass.) in 1978.
Physical Location
Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers: 84-M193, 84-M205, 85-M273, 85-M287, 86-M31, 86-M149
The papers of David F. Babson were given to the Schlesinger library in November 1984 and December 1985 by David F. Babson, Jr., and in February and August 1986 by David Frederick Babson, Jr. and Frances Burford, David Frederick Babson's niece.
Processing Information
Processed: January 1985
By: Michael G. McDonald
Geographic
Topical
Creator
- Babson, David Frederick, 1896-1971 (Person)
- Title
- Babson, David Frederick, 1896-1971. Papers of David Frederick Babson, 1903-1984: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- sch00432
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.