Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson Papers, 1903-1940
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
Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson Papers
Creation of Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson Papers
Time of Creation of Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson Papers
Seton-Thompson, Grace Gallatin
Biographical History for: Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson Papers
Biographical Note Flyer for the First International Book Exhibit assembled for the International Conclave of Women Writers, 1933 Grace Gallatin was born in Sacramento, California on January 28, 1872. In 1888 she began writing articles for San Francisco newspapers under the pen name of Dorothy Dodge, and in 1892 graduated from Packer Collegiate Institute, in Brooklyn, NY. She married Ernest Thompson Seton in 1896, a founder of the Boy Scouts of America. Their daughter Ann (known as 'Anya') was born in 1904. Active for women's rights, Grace Seton served as vice president and president of the Connecticut Woman's Suffrage Association (1910-20), was president of Pen and Brush (1898-1939), and with her husband, helped to organize the Girl Pioneers (later the Camp Fire Girls) in 1910. During World War I, she organized and directed a women's motor unit to aid soldiers in France. She was President of the National League of Pen Women from 1926 to 1928 and from 1930 to 1932. She helped organize an international conference of women writers at the Century of Progress Exposition in 1933 and arranged an exhibit of 3,000 books by women, which later became the core of the Biblioteca Femina at Northwestern University. In the 1920s and 1930s Seton visited Japan, China, Indochina, Hawaii, Egypt and Latin American and later wrote books about her travels, including A Woman Tenderfoot (1900) and A Woman Tenderfoot in Egypt (1923), Chinese Lanterns (1924), Yes, Lady Saheb (1925). Seton divorced in 1935. In the 1940s she followed Yogananda, traveling to his ashrams. She died in Palm Beach, Florida, March 19, 1959.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The collection includes biographical articles and clippings, correspondence, published writings and typescripts, memorabilia, notes, photographs, and organization files. Correspondence (1903-40) pertains to her travels, publications, and involvement in feminist and social organizations. Organizational files include minutes, agendas and reports relating to the International Council of Women (1915-26),the National Council of Women, and the Montessori Education Association of New York. Her work for the International Writers Conclave (Chicago, 1933) brought occasional correspondence from women authors around the world. Typescripts of articles and addresses including an essay on Chinese medicine and information on Dr. Mary Stone, medical missionary, China (n.d.). Material related to her world travels includes writings, correspondence, travel literature, maps and notes. Individuals represented include May Wright Sewall, Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, Lena Madesin Phillips, and Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin.
Feminists--United States--History--20th century
lcsh
Women authors, American--20th century--Sources
Women hunters--History--20th century--Sources
Women travelers--History--20th century--Sources
Boyle, Kay, 1902-
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Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins, 1852-1930
Phillips, Lena Madesin
Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith, 1856-1923
International Council of Women--History--Sources
Montessori Educational Association
National Council of Women of the United States--History--Sources
National American Woman Suffrage Association--History--Sources
Indonesia--Description and travel--Sources
West (U.S.)--Description and travel--Sources
Biographical Materials
Contents
Newspaper clippings, 1933-40
Writings and speeches, n.d.
Memorabilia, 1932-40, n.d.
Famous American Authors: Writer's Conclave, 1933
International Council of Women: Book exhibit, 1933
Correspondence, 1931-33
Photographs, 1933, n.d.
Suffrage
Biblioteca Femina, 1933-83
Czecho-Slovak Benefit, 1940
International Council of Women: Writer's Conclave, 1934
International Council of Women, Paris, 1934
Montessori Educational Association, 1915-16
National Council of Women, United States, 1931-35
Suffrage: general, 1915
Travel
Maps, n.d.
Travel brochures, 1930
Travel reports and pamphlets, 1929
Asia Magazine--Dutch East Indies Number, 1923
Australia (Cromer, Spiritualist literature), 1928
British Isles, 1938
China: clippings and notes, 1929-31
England and Paris, 1932
Far East: clippings, memorabilia and notes, 1930-31
Hawaii, 1930
Java, Sumatra, Singapore and Bali, 1930
Books on Shelf
Woman Tenderfoot in Egypt, 1923