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COLLECTION Identifier: 1574

Papers of Jeannette Augustus Marks, 1938-1959

Overview

Official files, correspondence, and printed material of the New York State branch of the National Woman's Party collected by Jeannette Augustus Marks, writer, lecturer, educator, and feminist.

Dates

  • Creation: 1938-1959

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Jeannette Augustus Marks 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

3 linear feet (3 cartons)

This collection consists of the official files, correspondence, and printed material of the New York State branch of the National Woman's Party (NWP). It documents Marks' reactivation of the branch, its relations with the National Woman's Party National Council and the New York City branch; problems of funding; and lobbying efforts, both in New York State and with the federal government, on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The papers from 1946-1947 cover the controversy in the National Woman's Party over its political goals and the consequent schism when, on January 11, 1947, a splinter group (led by Caroline Lexow Babcock, Olive Hurlburt, Laura Berrien, Doris Stevens, Anna Wiley, Gertrude Crocker, Dorothy Granger and Alma Lutz) held a national convention and elected a new executive council to replace the "old guard," represented by Alice Paul and Anita Pollitzer. On January 26, 1947, the new group sued the old so as to validate this election. Marks did not play a central role in the controversy, but she corresponded with the dissidents and favored their bid for control because she supported the national drive for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment; Paul's group favored redirection of National Woman's Party funds into the World Woman's Party and an international campaign for women's equal rights. Folder titles and arrangement in the National Woman's Party correspondence are largely Marks'.

Related material on the controversy is found in the following Schlesinger Library collections: Babcock/Hurlburt (A-117), Laura M. Berrien (A B533), and Katharine A. Norris (A-38).

BIOGRAPHY

Jeannette Marks, writer, lecturer, educator, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, August 16, 1875, daughter of William Dennis and Jeannette Holmes (Colwell) Marks. She earned her A.B. in 1900 and M.A. in 1903 from Wellesley College. She was professor of English Literature at Mount Holyoke College, 1901-1939, and founder, (1928) and director, (1928-1941), of its Laboratory Theatre. Marks was a member of the National Woman's Party and chairman of the New York State branch, 1942-1947, succeeding Edna Capewell. Marks' permanent residence was at Westport, New York; during the period covered by these papers she lived there with Mary Woolley, former professor at Wellesley College and President Emerita of Mount Holyoke College.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession number: 1574

This collection was deposited at the Schlesinger Library in April 1969 by Wellesley College and placed on permanent loan in November 1982.

CONTAINER LIST

  1. Carton 1: 1a-64
  2. Carton 2: 65-132
  3. Carton 3: 133-192

Processing Information

Preliminary inventory: December 1982

By: Jane Knowles

Title
Marks, Jeannette Augustus, 1875-1964. Papers of Jeannette Augustus Marks, 1938-1959: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch00718

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.

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