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COLLECTION Identifier: WRC 37-43; M-133, reel A1

Papers of Carrie Chapman Catt in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1904-1947

Overview

Biographical material, sketches, letters, writings, etc., of Carrie Chapman Catt, leader in the woman suffrage and international peace movements. These papers are part of the Woman's Rights Collection.

Dates

  • Creation: 1904-1947

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. ORIGINALS CLOSED. USE MICROFILM. REQUEST AS: M-133, reel A1.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Carrie Chapman Catt 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

9 folders (7 folders, 1 folio+ folder, 1 photograph folder)

Collection includes biographical material, including sketches by Maud Wood Park and Mary Gray Peck, letters and writings of Carrie Chapman Catt, clippings, etc. Many of the documents have "Catt" followed by a number pencilled in the upper right hand corner; the origin and meaning of these numbers are unknown.

BIOGRAPHY

Carrie Chapman Catt, an active suffragist and peace leader, was born in Iowa, joined the Iowa Suffrage Association in 1887, and attended the first convention of the newly organized National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890 as an Iowa delegate. She became chairman of NAWSA's Organization Committee in 1895 and thereafter worked for suffrage both nationally and internationally. Catt served two terms as NAWSA president (1900-1904, 1915-1947), and was president of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (1902-1923), and honorary president of the League of Women Voters from its founding in 1919 until her death. She joined Jane Addams in founding the Woman's Peace Party in 1915 and organized the Committee on the Cause and Cure of War (which met annually from 1925 to 1939), serving as its chairman until 1932. For additional biographical information, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (Cambridge, Mass., 1971), which includes a list of additional sources.

Physical Location

Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These papers of Carrie Chapman Catt fill nine folders of the Woman's Rights Collection, which was given to Radcliffe College in August 1943 and formed the nucleus of the Women's Archives, later the Schlesinger Library. The material in these folders was prepared for microfilming in June 1989 by Jane E. Ward. It was microfilmed as part of a Schlesinger Library/University Publications of America project.

Related Material:

This material forms part of the Schlesinger Library's Woman's rights collection, 1853-1958 (WRC).

There is related material at the Schlesinger Library; see Papers, 1848-1950 (M-27); Papers of Carrie Chapman Catt, 1898-1947 (A/C368; M-133); Papers of Carrie Chapman Catt in the Mary Earhart Dillon Collection, 1904-1946 (A-68, Series I; M-133); Letter of Carrie Chapman Catt, 1945 (A/C36); Letter of Carrie Chapman Catt, 1939 (A/C368a).

Title
Catt, Carrie Chapman, 1859-1947. Papers of Carrie Chapman Catt in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1904-1947: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch01016

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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