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Inventory of the May Walden Papers, 1870-1972,bulk 1892-1959
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Lisa Janssen, 2003. ©2001. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
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Creator |
Walden, May, 1865-1960 |
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Title |
May Walden Papers |
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Dates |
1870-1972, |
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Dates |
bulk 1892-1959 |
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Extent |
3 cubic ft. (8 boxes) |
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Abstract |
Abstract: Collection of May Walden, wife of Socialist publisher Charles H. Kerr from 1892 to 1904, consisting of letters, diaries, literary manuscripts, account books, clippings, photographs, memorabilia, as well as publications relating to the Socialist movement. Included in the papers are items relating to May Walden's daughter, Katharine Kerr Moore. |
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Language |
Materials are in English. |
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Repository |
Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
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Collection Call Number |
Midwest MS Walden M |
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Collection Stack Location |
3a 43 1 |
May Walden Papers, Midwest Manuscript Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Gift of May Walden, ca. 1959; Katharine Kerr Moore, 1974-1975.
Amy Nyholm, 1968; Cynthia S. Wall, 1989; Virginia H. Smith, 2001.
This inventory was created with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this inventory do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The May Walden Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).
The May Walden Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
Chicago and Florida Socialist Party activist writer and speaker, author of pamphlets, articles and speeches on women's rights and social causes.
Lilly May Walden grew up in North Carolina and Metamora, Illinois, and by 1891 she was working in Chicago in the U.S. Pension Office. Once settled in Chicago she met and married Charles Hope Kerr, publisher first of Unity, organ of the Western Unitarian conference, and later the monthly New Occasions, the International Socialist Review and many other Socialist and liberal books and pamphlets. The couple was divorced in 1904, at which time May Walden Kerr dropped her married name and lived the rest of her long life as May Walden.
As the wife of a Socialist publisher, May Walden developed passionate interests in the causes of the party and together the Kerrs moved in a circle of leftist writers and speakers, which included Clarence Darrow and Eugene Debs. After her divorce Walden continued to write and publish on such topics as women's rights, social injustices and political issues. For a few years she traveled, stumping for the Socialist Party, becoming popular as a speaker among women's groups.
In 1913, May Walden moved with her mother Elizabeth to Avon Park, Florida, where she lived until her death in 1960. She was survived by her only child, Katharine Kerr Moore, with whom she vigorously corresponded for nearly fifty years.
Correspondence, writings, photographs, etc. of May Walden and Katharine Kerr Moore.
Half of the collection consists of correspondence, primarily incoming, the bulk of which is letters to May Walden from her daughter, Katharine Kerr Moore. Moore's letters to her mother give a detailed picture of domestic life during the Great Depression of the thirties. Some of the letters included in Walden's papers are addressed to Charles H. Kerr relating to the publishing house he founded, Charles H. Kerr & Co. The outgoing correspondence is almost entirely letters from May Weldon to Katharine Kerr Moore. The rest of the collection consists of manuscript notes and short pieces, small notebooks and mementos, numerous newspaper clippings, diaries, account books, and photographs. Included are a few miscellaneous items relating to Katharine Kerr Moore
Narrative descriptions of the subject matter, types of materials, and arrangement of each series are available through the Organization section of the finding aid.
Papers are organized in the following series:
Incoming and outgoing letters are predominantly between May Walden and her daughter Katharine Kerr Moore, dealing with personal and familial concerns. There is a scattering of letters addressed to Charles Hope Kerr and a number of letters to May Walden which relate to her Socialist Party activities. Although among the correspondents are several well-known people, most of them sent brief notes and/or signed form letters relating to the Socialist movement. Among these are notes from Theodore Dreiser, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edward Everett Hale, Alan Lomax, Eleanor Roosevelt and Margaret Chase Smith. Letters of more interest to Charles Kerr include two from William Jennings Bryan (1897, 1901), one from James Russell Lowell (1884) and one from Frank W. Taussig (1900). There are also letters to May Walden from Clarence Darrow (undated), Helen Keller (1954), and Margaret Sanger (1921).
Arranged alphabetically.
Diaries, notebooks, miscellaneous notes for speeches, and articles for publication. Includes "The Story of the Drinking Cup," a sanitary collapsible cup used as a novelty for the 1912 political campaign of Eugene V. Debs, and two cups. Also, one of her booklets published by Charles H. Kerr & Co. entitled "Socialism and the Home."
Arranged alphabetically.
Small collection of photographs, including May and Charles H. Kerr and Katharine Kerr Moore and her children. Also, images of Eugene Debs, Jack London (in a group photo of part of Jacob Coxey's Army) and three Socialist activists, 1900-1908.
Arranged alphabetically.
Account books and an assortment of printed materials including newspaper clippings, Socialist Party publications, and mementos relating to Walden's life in Florida. Also, publications of the Sacco and Vanzetti Defense Committee and the Sacco and Vanzetti National League and a chart on Indian affairs published by Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin).
Arranged alphabetically.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1884-1957 |
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| Incoming and outgoing letters are predominantly between May Walden and her daughter Katharine Kerr Moore, dealing with personal and familial concerns. There is a scattering of letters addressed to Charles Hope Kerr and a number of letters to May Walden which relate to her Socialist Party activities. Although among the correspondents are several well-known people, most of them sent brief notes and/or signed form letters relating to the Socialist movement. Among these are notes from Theodore Dreiser, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edward Everett Hale, Alan Lomax, Eleanor Roosevelt and Margaret Chase Smith. Letters of more interest to Charles Kerr include two from William Jennings Bryan (1897, 1901), one from James Russell Lowell (1884) and one from Frank W. Taussig (1900). There are also letters to May Walden from Clarence Darrow (undated), Helen Keller (1954), and Margaret Sanger (1921). | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1-60 | Anderson, Alice - Moore, J. Howard | |||||||||
| 2 | 61-74 | Moore, Katharine Kerr, 1904-1929 | |||||||||
| 3 | 75-95 | Moore, Katharine Kerr - Progressive woman, 1930-1940 | |||||||||
| 4 | 96-144 | Reynolds, Katharine - Zeh, Nellie | |||||||||
Series 2: Works, ca. 1870-1956, bulk 1891-1956 |
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| Diaries, notebooks, miscellaneous notes for speeches, and articles for publication. Includes "The Story of the Drinking Cup," a sanitary collapsible cup used as a novelty for the 1912 political campaign of Eugene V. Debs, and two cups. Also, one of her booklets published by Charles H. Kerr & Co. entitled "Socialism and the Home." | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 5 | 145-150 | Diaries, 1913-1956 | |||||||||
| 6 | 151 | "An Answer to the Question, 'What Shall We do about Birth Control?' " | |||||||||
| 6 | 152 | "Anticipate the Best Women" | |||||||||
| 6 | 153 | "Can a Naughty Child Be Made Good While It Is Asleep?" | |||||||||
| 6 | 154 | Excerpts and clippings | |||||||||
| 6 | 155 | Haldeman-Julius Publications | |||||||||
| 6 | 156 | "How come?" | |||||||||
| 6 | 157 | "Lesson IV" | |||||||||
| 6 | 158 | "Modern Literature of Florida" | |||||||||
| 6 | 159 | Notebook | |||||||||
| 6 | 160 | Notes, 1909 | |||||||||
| 6 | 161 | Notes of the ancestry of Charles H. Kerr | |||||||||
| 6 | 162 | "Russian Composers" | |||||||||
| 6 | 163 | "September 3, 1891" (autobiographical notes) | |||||||||
| 6 | 164 | "Socialism and the Home" | |||||||||
| 6 | 165 | Speech before the Avon Park, Florida Women's Club, 1926 | |||||||||
| 6 | 166 | "The Story of Captain Roth" | |||||||||
| 6 | 167 | "Story of Metamora's First Band" | |||||||||
| 6 | 168 | "The Story of the Drinking Cup" [four folders: 168, 168a-c], 1912 | |||||||||
| 6 | 169 | "Story of the Progressive Woman" | |||||||||
| 6 | 170 | "Termite Men Here Again!" | |||||||||
| 6 | 171 | Untitled (on Book Week) | |||||||||
| 6 | 172 | Untitled (on opera) | |||||||||
| 6 | 173 | Untitled (on preparedness for war) | |||||||||
| 6 | 174 | "Votes for Women" | |||||||||
| 6 | 175 | "William H. Russell..." | |||||||||
| 6 | 176 | "With Apologies to Longfelllow" | |||||||||
Series 3: Photographs, ca. 1890-1944 |
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| Small collection of photographs, including May and Charles H. Kerr and Katharine Kerr Moore and her children. Also, images of Eugene Debs, Jack London (in a group photo of part of Jacob Coxey's Army) and three Socialist activists, 1900-1908. | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 7 | 177 | Debs, Eugene Victor | |||||||||
| 7 | 178 | Kerr, Charles Hope | |||||||||
| 7 | 179 | London, Jack (with Coxey's Army) | |||||||||
| 7 | 180 | Miscellaneous non-family | |||||||||
| 7 | 181 | Moore, Katharine Kerr and Family | |||||||||
| 7 | 182 | Socialists Max Hayes, Robert Howe, Seymour Stedman | |||||||||
| 7 | 183 | Untermann, Ernest | |||||||||
| 7 | 184 | Walden, Althea | |||||||||
| 7 | 185 | Walden, Delinzo A. | |||||||||
| 7 | 186 | Walden, May | |||||||||
Series 4: Miscellaneous |
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| Account books and an assortment of printed materials including newspaper clippings, Socialist Party publications, and mementos relating to Walden's life in Florida. Also, publications of the Sacco and Vanzetti Defense Committee and the Sacco and Vanzetti National League and a chart on Indian affairs published by Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin). | |||||||||||
| Arranged alphabetically. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 8 | 187 | Account Books, 1892-1952 1892-1952 | |||||||||
| 8 | 188 | Address Book, Receipts | |||||||||
| 8 | 189 | Diplomas | |||||||||
| 8 | 190 | Florida Material | |||||||||
| 8 | 191 | Institute Notebook | |||||||||
| 8 | 192 | Mementos | |||||||||
| 8 | 193 | National American Woman Suffrage Association | |||||||||
| 8 | 194 | Newspaper Clippings, part 1 | |||||||||
| 8 | 195 | Newspaper Clippings, part 2 | |||||||||
| 8 | 196 | Passport (Walden's grandfather) | |||||||||
| 8 | 197 | Sacco and Vanzetti Defense Committee | |||||||||
| 8 | 198 | Sacco and Vanzetti National League | |||||||||
| 8 | 199 | Socialist Party Notebook | |||||||||
| 8 | 200 | Socialist Party Printed Material | |||||||||
| 8 | 201 | Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin): Indian study | |||||||||