Overview
Correspondence, photographs, speeches, etc., of Thyra E. Pedersen, teacher and nurse.
Dates
- Creation: 1923-1974
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Thyra E. Pedersen 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 contains Thyra E. Pedersen's letters from Asia, speeches read at various nursing conventions, published articles and correspondence relating to domiciliary facilities for women veterans.
BIOGRAPHY
Thyra Elizabeth Pedersen, daughter of Lars Pederson, was born April 17, 1888, in Waupaca, Wisconsin. She spent two years, 1923-1925, traveling around the world and teaching at the Union Girls' School in Hangchow, China and Sgaw Karen High School in Bassein, Burma. She returned to the United States in 1925 and resumed her work as Assistant Director of the Nursing Service of the United States Veterans Administration, a post she held until 1943. As a Rehabilitation Officer for the American Legion, 1947-1950, she was Chief Nurse at the Veterans Administration Facilities at American Lake, Washington and St. Cloud, Minnesota. Between 1939 and 1954, she actively opposed the Veterans of Foreign Wars ruling barring women from membership. In 1972, she initiated an investigation into discrimination against women veterans in Veterans Administration domiciliary facilities. She was also a member of the Disabled American Veterans. Thyra E. Pederson died August 10, 1980.
Physical Location
Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers: 274, 849, 74-180
The papers of Thyra E. Pedersen were deposited with the Schlesinger Library by Thyra E. Pedersen in March 1961, January 1965, and July 1974.
Processing Information
Processed: May 1976
By: Pamela G. Seavey
Genre / Form
Geographic
- Asia--Description and travel
- Asia--Social life and customs
- Burma--Description and travel
- China--Description and travel
Topical
Subject
- United States. Veterans Administration (Organization)
- Title
- Pedersen, Thyra E., 1888-1980. Papers of Thyra E. Pedersen, 1923-1974: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- sch00847
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.