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Julia Ward Howe Papers

A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress


Prepared by John Connell
Revised by Patrick Kerwin and Lia Apodaca

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/xmlcommon/lcseal.jpg

Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

2005

Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html

Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division, 2009

Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms009026


Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Selected Search Terms

Personal Names

Organizations

Subjects

Locations

Occupations

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Processing History:

Transfers:

Copyright Status:

Access and Restrictions

Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement of the Papers

Container List


Collection Summary

Title: Julia Ward Howe Papers
Span Dates: 1845-1917
ID No.: MSS26609
Creator: Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910
Extent: 200 items; 5 containers; 2 linear feet
Language: Collection material in English
Repository: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Abstract: Author and reformer. Chiefly speeches and writings, with correspondence, notes, and printed matter pertaining to education, immigration, prison reform, race relations, religion, and women's rights.

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.

Personal Names

Channing, W. H. (William Henry), 1810-1884--Correspondence.
Howe family.
Howe family--Correspondence.
Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910.
Lieber, Francis, 1800-1872--Correspondence.

Organizations

World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition (1884-1885 : New Orleans, La.)

Subjects

Education--United States.
Exhibitions--Louisiana--New Orleans.
Prisons--United States.
Race relations.
Religion.
Social reformers--United States.
Women's rights.

Locations

United States--Emigration and immigration.

Occupations

Authors.
Reformers.

Administrative Information

Provenance:

The papers of Julia Ward Howe, author and reformer, were given to the Library of Congress by her daughter, Maud Howe Elliott, and by Mary Lieber, 1937-1950.

Processing History:

The papers of Julia Ward Howe were arranged and described in 1979. The finding aid was revised in 2005.

Transfers:

Musical scores have been transferred to the Library's Music Division where they are identified as part of these papers.

Copyright Status:

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Julia Ward Howe is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Access and Restrictions

The papers of Julia Ward Howe are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Julia Ward Howe Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

Date

Event

1819, May 27Born, New York, N. Y.
1843Married Samuel Gridley Howe (died 1876)
1843-1844Toured Europe with her husband
1852-1853Wrote articles for the Free Soil journal, The Commonwealth
1854Published anonymously Passion-Flowers. Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields
1857Published The World's Own. Boston: Ticknor and Fields
Published Words for the Hour. Boston: Ticknor and Fields
1859Visited Cuba
1860Published A Trip to Cuba. Boston: Ticknor and Fields
1861Wrote "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" to the rhythm of "John Brown's Body;" published in Atlantic Monthly, Feb. 1862
1864Edited The Boatswain's Whistle in Boston
1866Published Later Lyrics. Boston: J. E. Tilton
1867Toured Europe
1868Published From the Oak to the Olive. Boston: Lee & Shepard
Elected president of the New England Woman Suffrage Association
1869Delivered suffrage addresses to a committee of the Massachusetts legislature and to the American Woman Suffrage Association convention in Cleveland, Ohio
1870Wrote "An Appeal to Womanhood Throughout the World" to promote peace
Delivered her first sermon from a pulpit, Harrisburg, Pa.
Elected president of New England Woman's Club
1871Chosen president, American Branch of the Woman's International Peace Association
1872-1879Edited with others The Woman's Journal
1873Organized the Woman's Liberal Christian Union, Boston, Mass., for women preachers
Joined the Association for the Advancement of Women
1874Published Sex and Education. Boston: Roberts Brothers
1876Published Memoir of Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe. Boston: Printed by A. J. Wright
1877-1879Toured Europe and the Middle East
1881Published Modern Society. Boston: Roberts Brothers
1883Published Margaret Fuller (Marchesa Ossoli). Boston: Roberts Brothers.
1884-1885President, Department of Woman's Work of the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans, La.
1888Lectured across the American West
1891Proposed that citizenship tests be given for new immigrant voters, Association for the Advancement of Women convention, Grand Rapids, Mich.
1895Published Is Polite Society Polite? Boston: Lamson, Wolffe
1898Published From Sunset Ridge. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin
1899Published Reminiscences, 1819-1899. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin
1907First woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters
1910, Oct. 17Died, Newport, R. I.

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) span the years 1845-1917 and consist of correspondence, speeches and writings, and miscellany. The collection documents Howe's activities in behalf of causes and organizations ranging from an international peace appeal to women to the dedication of a new building at the Framingham Normal School. Her letters and writings reflect the reactions of a reformer and her associates to the events and developments of the late nineteenth century.

The correspondence file, consisting of letters sent and received from 1861 to1917, includes letters from Howe's family, a letter from the Unitarian minister W. H. Channing, and a letter from Howe to the political scientist Francis Lieber. The largest amount of correspondence concerns Howe's role as director of the woman's department at the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, 1884-1885. A letter to her daughter, Maud Howe Elliott, from A. J. Bloor of the United States Sanitary Commission concerns his association with Howe during the Civil War.

The speeches and writings include sermons, lectures, articles, two notebooks, two plays, and a volume of poetry. Although sermons based on Bible verses predominate, there are also a large number of lectures on philosophical themes and other topics including women's rights, education of African Americans in the South, European immigration, and prison reform. The notebooks contain Howe's thoughts on theological and ethical matters. The playsin the collection are "The Parlor Macbeth" and a typescript copy of "Hippolytus" written by Howe about 1859-1860 at the request of Edwin Booth, who later declined to produce it. "Poems in Memory of Harry," written in 1845-1846 by Howe to express her grief over her brother's death five years earlier, was given by her to Francis Lieber, who added some notes at the end of the volume.

Also included are notes, fragments, and printed matter. The notes are mostly undated and untitled and consist of minutes of meetings, fragments of speeches, and personal reflections. Among the printed matter are a copy of Howe's "Appeal to Womanhood throughout the World," in French, and an autographed copy of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," published on her seventieth birthday. In her later years, Howe frequently copied this poem for friends and acquaintances, and some of these copies are to be found in various repositories, including the Music Division of the Library of Congress.

Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.


Container List

ContainerContents
BOX 1Correspondence, 1861-1917, undated
BOX 1Notes and fragments, 1871, 1888, undated
BOX 1Printed matter, 1870-1910, undated
BOX 1Speeches and writings
BOX 1"Abide in Me...," undated
BOX 1Address before the Free Religious Association, undated
BOX 1"Address, Framingham Normal School," Framingham, Mass., undated
BOX 1"Address in a Prison," undated
BOX 1Address on Christianity, undated
BOX 1Address on religion considered as the essential expression of relations between God and man, including draft of letter to Miss Chapin, 1873, undated
BOX 1Address to a women's organization, undated
BOX 1Address to the Association for the Advancement of Women, [1893]
BOX 1"Address to the Brooklyn, Conn., Parish," undated
BOX 1Address to the League of Reform, New York, N.Y., undated
BOX 1Address to the Unitarian Convention, Saragoga, N.Y., undated
BOX 1Address to the Universalist Mission, [1904]
BOX 1"Advantages & Disadvantages of a State Church," [1900?]
BOX 1"After the Fire, a Still Small Voice," undated
BOX 1"And God Saw Everything...," [1907]
BOX 1"And He Opened the Book...," undated
BOX 1"And I Know That...," undated
BOX 1"And I Say Also...," undated
BOX 1"And Yet He Left...," undated
BOX 1"And You Hath He Quickened...," undated
BOX 1"Behold I create...," undated
BOX 1"Behold Peter...," undated
BOX 2"Blessed Are They That Mourn...," undated
BOX 2[Brook farm], undated
BOX 2"Clouds & Darkness...," undated
BOX 2"Culture," undated
(2 folders)
BOX 2"The Dear Lord Said: 'Feed My Lambs,'" undated
BOX 2[A Dip into the South], 1898
BOX 2"Distinctions between Philosophy and Religion," undated
BOX 2"The Dominion of the Church," undated
BOX 2"Doubt and Belief," address to the Radical Club, undated
BOX 2"An Early Paper," undated
BOX 2[Education], [1904]
BOX 2"Emerson Centennial: Human Progress in the 19th Century," 1903
BOX 2"Ethical Office of the Drama," [1902]
BOX 2"For He Knew What...," undated
BOX 2"For I Have Given You...," undated
BOX 2"For If the Trumpet...," undated
BOX 2[For Quincy Mansion School], [1901, 1905]
BOX 3"For the Fasion of This World...," undated
BOX 3"For the Things Seen...," undated
BOX 3"Freely Ye Have Received...," undated
BOX 3"The Glory That Shall Be Revealed," undated
BOX 3"God Hath Not Left...," undated
BOX 3"Great God! What Are We...," undated
BOX 3"The Halfness of Nature," 1875
(2 folders)
BOX 3"Hippolytus," playscript, undated
BOX 3"I Am Come...," undated
BOX 3"I Am the Light...," undated
BOX 3"I Began My Ethical Studies...," notebook, 1890
BOX 3"I Have Overcome...," [1872?]
BOX 3"I Will Arise...," 1895
BOX 3[Immortality], undated
BOX 3"Is Not the Life...," undated
(2 copies; copies vary)
BOX 3"The Kingdom of Heaven...," [1872?]
BOX 3"The Liberty Wherewith...," including letters from G. H. Norcross and Thomas Dana, 1871, undated
BOX 3"Life Under Three Aspects," 1884
BOX 4"Moral Trigonometry, III," undated
BOX 4"Moving forces," part of a series of philosophical papers on limitations, undated
BOX 4"My Mind Often Occupies...," undated
BOX 4"My Tears Have Been...," 1903
BOX 4"Not Servants, but Friends," undated
BOX 4"Now That Our Gospel...," undated
BOX 4[The old and new in education], [1890?]
BOX 4[On Louisa Alcott], address to Colonial Dames, undated
BOX 4"Optimism and Pessimism...," undated
BOX 4"The Parlor Macbeth," undated
BOX 4[Patriotism in American literature], undated
BOX 4"Poems in Memory of Harry," with notes at end of the volume by Francis Lieber, [1845-1846]
BOX 4"Polarity, II," undated
BOX 4"The Practical Uses of Philosophy," undated
BOX 5"Progress of the Liberal Movement in Religoin," 1900
BOX 5"Proteus," undated
BOX 5"Racial Problems in Europe," undated
BOX 5"Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Author," [1903]
BOX 5"Religious Power," undated
BOX 5[Rest], [1893]
BOX 5Sermon on the continuity of divine providence, undated
BOX 5[Society], published under the title The Salon in America, undated
BOX 5"Solitude & Religion," undated
BOX 5Theological notebook, undated
BOX 5"These Things Write I...," undated
BOX 5Untitled, undated
BOX 5"The Uses of Victory," undated
BOX 5"What Is the Kingdom of Heaven?" [1872?]
BOX 5"What Shall It Profit...," undated
BOX 5"The Wise Woman...," 1889


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