Papers of Madeleine Parker Grant, 1910-1972 (inclusive), 1959-1972 (bulk)
Overview
Correspondence, biographical material, photographs, etc., of Madeleine P. Grant, professor and biographer of Alice Hamilton, pioneer industrial toxicologist.
Dates
- Creation: 1910-1972
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1959-1972
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Madeleine Parker Grant as well as 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
.21 linear feet ((1/2 file box) plus 1 oversize folder, 1 photograph folder)This collection contains Madeleine Parker Grant's correspondence with Alice and Margaret Hamilton, associates of Connecticut College (which had in 1962 named a new dormitory for Edith and Alice Hamilton), and numerous others, primarily about Alice Hamilton's life and health, and about the research for and publication of the book. Included are photographs of Alice Hamilton and others, articles by and about Alice Hamilton, and reviews of the biography.
The correspondence is arranged chronologically, according to the date of the earliest letter in each. It thus begins with the general biographical research Grant undertook as she started the project. The articles by Alice Hamilton (#13) differ in significant ways from those of the same titles in the Schlesinger Library's Alice Hamilton Papers (A-22). Grant's research notes on Hamilton papers in other libraries, as well as printed materials on industrial toxins, were removed.
BIOGRAPHY
A teacher of biology and zoology, Madeleine Parker Grant was born in Boston on March 1, 1895. The daughter of George Babson Grant and Ellen Henry (Parker) Grant, Grant received her B.S. from Simmons College (1916), and her M.A. (1924) and Ph.D. (1932) in biology from Radcliffe College. She taught at the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers, the Hudson Shore Labor School, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole (Mass.) before joining the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College, where she spent most of her career. In addition to scholarly books and articles in her field, Madeleine Parker Grant wrote several books for young adults, including Wonder World of Microbes (Whittlesey House, 1956) and a biography of Louis Pasteur.
In 1959 Grant began a study of Dr. Alice Hamilton, pioneer industrial toxicologist. As she explained in a letter of 27 September 1959 to Frances Perkins, Dr. Grant planned "an unpretentious account of this beloved woman for high school and college freshmen"; although "not a student of labor nor the social settlement," she added, she had through Perkins and others come "to know about the labor movement.... Here at Sarah Lawrence College, I have tried to show the social importance of biology. This explains my interest in Dr. Hamilton...." In researching the biography, Grant worked closely with Alice Hamilton and her sister Margaret Hamilton. Alice Hamilton: Pioneer Doctor in Industrial Medicine was published in 1967 by Abelard-Schuman, although earlier negotiations had been with McGraw-Hill.
Physical Location
Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers: 83-M176, 84-M121
The papers of Madeleine Parker Grant were given to the Schlesinger Library after her death, in August 1983 and July 1984, via Barbara Sicherman.
SEPARATION RECORD
The following items have been removed from the collection and donated to the University of Michigan in July 1984:
- Photographs of medical school, University of Michigan
The following items have been removed from the collection and donated to the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle in January 1988
- Negatives of Hull House
The following items have been removed from the collection:
- Madeleine Parker Grant research notes for Alice Hamilton biography; medical reprints by others
INDEX OF SELECTED CORRESPONDENTS
The numbers refer to folders.
- Ballard, Russell 10
- Bowditch, Manfred 1
- Drinker, Philip 1, 9
- Frye, Helene 4
- Grasso, Ella 7
- Griffith, Helen 9
- Hamilton, Allen 3
- Howe, Helen 1
- Jonas, Rose Tuholske 8
- Mayers, May R., M.D. 9
- Morrisson, Mary 7, 9
- Paull, Rose 8
- Perkins, Frances 1
- Reid, Doris Fielding 7, 8, 11
- Renshaw, Anne Mohnkern 8
- Reynolds, Ellen 7
- Spiegelberg, Eldora 8
- Swope, Gerard, Jr. 1
- Warren, Constance 9
- Weeks, Edward Augustus, Jr. 11
Processing Information
Processed: January 1988
By: Katherine Kraft
Subject
- Addams, Jane, 1860-1935 (Person)
- Hamilton, Alice , 1869-1970 (Person)
- Title
- Grant, Madeleine P. (Madeleine Parker), 1895-1981. Papers of Madeleine Parker Grant, 1910-1972 (inclusive), 1959-1972 (bulk): A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- Sponsor
- This collection was processed with funds provided by Clara G. Schiffer.
- EAD ID
- sch00603
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.