Annie Gertrude Webb Porritt Papers, 1898-1976
General International Standard for Archival Description
Sophia Smith Collection Smith College Northampton, MA
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Joanna Johnson. 2012-01-17
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Annie Gertrude Webb Porritt Papers
Creation of Annie Gertrude Webb Porritt Papers
Time of Creation of Annie Gertrude Webb Porritt Papers
Porritt, Annie Gertrude Webb
Biographical History for: Annie Gertrude Webb Porritt Papers
Biographical Note Annie Webb was born in Manchester, England, on May 5, 1861. Unable to attend university due to her sex, she received training as a teacher at a boarding school. She came to the U.S. in the early 1880s and found a job teaching at Miss Sarah Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. She married Edward Porritt, a political historian and journalist, in 1891. The couple had four children, Philip, Longshaw, Mary, and Marjory. Annie supported the family through teaching during the 1890s while she and her husband co-authored a history of the House of Commons. In 1901 and 1902, the family lived in England and South Africa, returning to the U.S. in 1903 and settling in Hartford, Connecticut. Annie Porritt published articles in Outlook, the Independent, the Yale Review, American Historical Reviews, Political Science Quarterly, Forum, and many English journals. From 1910 to 1913 she was Secretary of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association and spoke frequently in public for women's suffrage. She was the author of many articles, pamphlets, and books, including Causes of the Revolt of the Women in England (1912), The Militant Suffrage Movement in England (1912), The Political Duties of Mothers (1912), and Votes and Babies (1912). With her husband, she was co-author of The Unreformed House of Commons (1903). Porritt also chaired the Birth Control Review editorial board and wrote articles for it; was Secretary of the American Birth Control League in the early 1920s to 1932; and founder of the Connecticut League for Birth Control. She died in a car accident in August 1932.
The Annie Gertrude Webb Porritt Papers were donated by her daughter Marjory Porritt Bield Blackall to the Sophia Smith Collection beginning in 1976.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Annie Gertrude Webb Porritt Papers consist of 1.75 linear feet and primarily relate to the various organizations of which she was a member. Types of materials include correspondence, Porritt's published and unpublished writings, minutes; bulletins, printed materials such as pamphlets and brochures, newsletters, notes, and conference materials. The bulk of the papers date from 1916 to 1932. They focus on the central topics of birth control and women's suffrage, including historical sketches of both movements; materials related to Porritt's position as secretary of the American Birth Control League and as vice-president of the Hartford League of Women Voters, circa 1920s to 1932; and articles on birth control and suffrage for the Birth Control Review. Other topics include files on the Society of Friends, the Joint Committee on Delinquent Women, and lectures on social problems and parliamentary law. Notable correspondents include Alice Stone Blackwell, Mary Ware Dennett, Stella Hanau, Margaret Sanger, and Anna Howard Shaw.
The Papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection without any additional restrictions.
Lucy Green Adams owns copyright to Porritt's unpublished works. Copyright to materials authored by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." Permission must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Related materials in the Sophia Smith Collection include two pamphlets by Porritt in the Women's Rights Collection (pamphlets on microfiche), and a copy of Porritt's book Woman Suffrage: History, Arguments, Results in the Suffrage Collection and the History of Women microfilm series, available in the SSC and Neilson Library at Smith College. Several of Porritt's other books are available in Neilson Library.
Processed by Joanna Johnson (intern), 2011.
Birth control -- Law and legislation -- United States -- History -- Sources
lcsh
Women journalists -- United States -- Biography -- Sources
Journalists -- United States -- Biography -- Sources
Women -- Suffrage -- Great Britain -- History -- Sources
Women -- Suffrage -- United States -- History -- Sources
Blackwell, Alice Stone, 1857-1950 -- Correspondence
lcnaf
Sanger, Margaret, 1879-1966 -- Correspondence
Shaw, Anna Howard, 1847-1919 -- Correspondence
Porritt, Annie Gertrude Webb, 1861-
Dennett, Mary Ware, 1872-1947 -- Correspondence
Hanau, Stella, 1890-1972 -- Correspondence
American Birth Control League -- History -- Sources
National American Woman Suffrage Association -- History -- Sources
League of Women Voters of Connecticut -- History -- Sources
Birth Control Review -- History
series
SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS (1910-1976)
This series provides an overview of Porritt's life. Included are a journal written by Porritt's daughter Marjory on her mother's life, a small amount of correspondence, and materials relating to Porritt's early death, including a newspaper clipping regarding her car accident and condolence letters sent to her son Longshaw.
SERIES II. WRITINGS (1910-1921)
This series contains Porritt's published and unpublished writings, as well as correspondence with various publishers, most of it in regards to her manuscript, "History of the Woman Suffrage Movement."
SERIES III. ORGANIZATION FILES (1906-87)
This series contains correspondence, conference materials, bulletins, and printed material on the many organizations Porritt was active with, most significantly the American Birth Control League, the Joint Committee on Delinquent Women, and the Connecticut League of Women Voters.
SERIES IV. SUBJECT FILES (1898-1933)
The Subject Files primarily contain printed material and some correspondence on the reform movements Porritt was active in, namely birth control and suffrage, yet including some materials on religion, education, and the reform of delinquent women. Also included are autograph lecture notes on a variety of subject about social problems and the law.
SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
Contents
"The Story of Annie G. Porritt as told by her daughter Marjory Bield Blackall": narrative (21 pp.), genealogical notes, and photographs, 1976
Photograph, clipping, and biographical sketch, 1932, n.d.
Correspondence
General, 1921-32
From children, 1910-17, n.d.
Condolence letters to Longshaw Porritt on Annie G. Porritt's death, 1932
SERIES II. WRITINGS
Published articles
"Woman as a Metonymy," The Independent, June 16, 1910
"When I Was Young," The Independent, June 25, 1921
"The Militant Suffrage Movement in England," n.d.
Unpublished
"Slurred History: Professor McElroy and the Bond Issue of 1895," by R. Ogilby and A.G. Porritt: typescripts, n.d.
"History of the Woman Suffrage Movement": typescript and correspondence, 1916-18, n.d.
SERIES III. ORGANIZATION FILES
American Birth Control League
Minutes, 1923-32
Correspondence with Stella Hanau re: Birth Control Review, 1930-32
Printed materials, 1923-27, n.d.
Miscellaneous materials, 1932, n.d.
Connecticut State Farm for Women
Correspondence, 1917-1925
Notes on cases and programs, 1923, n.d.
Joint Committee on Delinquent Women: bulletins and program statements, 1924, n.d.
Printed materials, 1921-29, n.d.
Connecticut State Traveler's Aid Association: printed materials, n.d.
League of Women Voters
Connecticut
Correspondence: A.G. Porritt, 1931-32, n.d.
Form letters, 1930-32, n.d.
Printed materials: The Woman Voter's Bulletin, 1923-32, n.d.
Conference materials, program, and handbook, n.d.
Minutes, committee reports, bulletins, proposed constitution, guide for League members, and publication lists, 1928-31, n.d.
Program suggestions, n.d.
Questionnaires, n.d.
Miscellaneous materials, including printed material not published by the League, 1931, n.d.
National: printed materials, 1925-32, n.d.
National American Woman Suffrage Association: correspondence re: disagreement with the Congressional Union (inc. letter from Anna Howard Shaw), 1914
Society of Friends: British and U.S. pamphlets, and printed materials, 1906-31
SERIES IV. SUBJECTS
Birth Control
Margaret Sanger, 1928-30
General, 1924-32, n.d.
Printed materials, 1928-33, n.d.
Cummins-Vaile Bill, including newsletter of the National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control, signed by Margaret Sanger; 1924-31
Pamphlets and brochures, 1916-29
Miscellaneous materials, 1929-30, n.d.
Prison reform programs: programs and printed materials, n.d.
Notes on various subjects: manuscript and typescript
A-Bn.d.
C-Dn.d.
E-Gn.d.
Great Britainn.d.
H-Mn.d.
N-Pn.d.
Q-Rn.d.
Sn.d.
Suffragen.d.
T-Zn.d.
Miscellaneousn.d.