Vida Dutton Scudder Papers, 1883-1979
General International Standard for Archival Description
Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Laura Cutter. 2003-06-12
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Vida Dutton Scudder Papers
Creation of Vida Dutton Scudder Papers
Time of Creation of Vida Dutton Scudder Papers
Scudder, Vida Dutton, 1861-1954
Biographical History for: Vida Dutton Scudder Papers
Biographical Note Vida Dutton Scudder, 1884 Vida Scudder was born in India on December 15, 1861, the only child of Harriet Louisa (Dutton) and David Coit Scudder. She and her mother returned to Boston following the death of her father, although she spent much of her childhood traveling in Europe. She attended Boston private secondary schools, and graduated from Smith College in 1884. While doing postgraduate work at Oxford University, where she attended lectures by John Ruskin, Scudder developed the beginnings of social awareness that were to guide her through the rest of her life. She taught in the English Department of Wellesley College from 1887 to 1927, where she was often in conflict with the administration over her socialist activities. In 1887, Scudder along with colleagues from Bryn Mawr, Smith, and Vassar, began plans for the College Settlements Association and in 1889 the first settlement house opened on Rivington St. in New York City. Beginning in 1893 and for the next twenty years she was a primary administrator of Denison House in Boston. In 1889, Scudder became a charter member of the Brotherhood of the Carpenter, a worker's organization, and also began working in the Christian Social Union, the purpose of which was to implement Christian principles in bringing "relief to the social and economic disorder of society." Beginning in 1889, she was a member of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, a religious organization that gave her long-term strength and support. In 1911, she co-founded the Episcopal Church Socialist League and joined the Socialist Party, and in 1919, she organized the Church League for Industrial Democracy. Although Scudder supported Woodrow Wilson's decision to enter World War I, in the postwar years she moved towards pacifism. She joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation in 1923 and the same year gave a series of lectures at a meeting of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in Prague. She was a delegate to the Boston Central Labor Union and was active in organizing the Women's Trade Union League. After her retirement from Wellesley in 1928, Scudder went on to become a leading scholar of Franciscan history. In 1930, she became the first dean of the Summer School of Christian Ethics at Wellesley, and in 1931, she lectured weekly at the New School for Social Research in New York. Scudder authored sixteen books, including her autobiography On Journey, as well as many scholarly articles on political, literary, and religious topics. In 1919, Florence Converse joined her household and remained until Scudder's death on October 9, 1954.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Vida Dutton Scudder Papers consist of .75 linear feet of printed material, writings, photographs, and correspondence. Most of the correspondence consists of letters to Margaret Storrs Grierson, Smith College Archivist and Director of the Sophia Smith Collection. Since the majority of Scudder's papers were destroyed at her own request, the journals contained in this collection are of particular interest. They include her College Settlement [Association] notebook, which contains meeting notes, as well as general and personal notes; six journals containing the original draft of her autobiography as well as personal reflections; and three handwritten essays. In addition there are clippings and articles by and about Scudder in numerous publications, and four of her books.
Social settlements--Massachusetts--Boston--History--Sources
lcsh
Socialism, Christian--United States--History--Sources
Women in Christianity--United States--History--19th century--Sources
Women in Christianity--United States--History--20th century--Sources
Women in the labor movement--Massachusetts--History--Sources
Women social reformers--United States--History--Sources
lcnaf
College Settlement Association--History--Sources
Denison House (Boston, Mass.)--History--Sources
Smith College--Students--History--Sources
Wellesley College--Faculty--History--Sources
series
SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
This series contains articles and newspaper clippings about Scudder, her College Settlement notebook and her journals, and photographs of Scudder and her room in Dewey House at Smith College. Audiocassettes of Dr. Frances M. Young speaking about Scudder at the Adelynrood Retreat and Conference Center are also included.
SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE
This series consists primarily of correspondence with Margaret Storrs Grierson, in which Scudder discusses the possibility of donating her personal papers to Smith College's nascent women's history collection. Also of interest is correspondence re: religion and theology between Scudder and Father Hastings Smyth. There are also a few letters to and from others, pertaining mainly to Scudder's fellow alumnae from the Smith College Class of 1884.
SERIES III. WRITINGS
This series is the most extensive in the collection and contains articles and books written by Scudder throughout her life. It contains essays written for Smith College classes, and pieces published in the Andover Review, the Atlantic Monthly, the Yale Review, and many other publications. Scudder was deeply religious and this is evident in all of her writings, spirituality serving both as a topic in and of itself and as a springboard for her moral and social convictions.
"Early Days at Denison House" (photocopy),n.d.
Photographs1883, n.d.
Articles and clippings1912-79
Young, Dr. Francis M. re: Vida D. Scudder: audiocassettes1987
College Settlement notebook1908
Incoming: Keyes, Amy Garst1935
Smyth, Father Hastings1941-48
Grierson, Margaret Storrs1945-53
Others1884, 1923-44, n.d.
Essays and poem1884, n.d.
Play: Mitsu-Yu-Nissi or the Japanese Wedding1887
Articles
Andover Review1887-1892
Atlantic Monthly1883-1931 and Yale Review1914-21
Other publications1884-1948
Books
The Church and the Hour: Papers of a Socialist Churchwoman (first edition)1917
Letters to Her Companions, by Emily Malbone Morgan (edited by Vida Dutton Scudder)1944
A Listener in Babel (first edition)1903
My Quest for Reality (first edition)1952
On Journey(first edition) 1937
ReviewMay 1937
The Privilege of Age: Essays Secular and Spiritual (first edition) 1939