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Emma Biddlecom Sweet papers

 Collection
Identifier: A.S97

Biographical / Historical note

Emma Biddlecom Sweet (1862-1951) was a distant cousin of Susan B. Anthony and intermittently served as her secretary from approximately 1895 to1906. She also held various executive positions in the Political Equality Club, Rochester, NY, and its successor, the Woman Suffrage Party of Monroe County, Inc. In 1896, she accompanied Susan B. Anthony to California to work on the campaign to add a suffrage amendment to the state's constitution. Here she met Carrie Chapman Catt who became a personal friend.

Scope and Contents

The Emma Biddlecom Sweet Papers includes correspondence from her friend, Carrie Chapman Catt, as well as other correspondents, including Lucy E. Anthony, Mary S. Anthony, Susan B. Anthony, Mary T. L. Gannett, William Channing Gannett, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Maud Nathan, Rush Rhees, Anna Howard Shaw and Booker T. Washington. Many of the letters are in connection with a lecture series sponsored by the Political Equality Club. Other material in the collection consists of manuscript and printed records of the national and local suffrage movement and photographs. Suffrage pamphlets that were also part of the collection are now cataloged and shelved with the Department's book collection. Also found in the collection are personal legal papers, financial records, and photographs related to Emma B. Sweet, her family, and her husband Fred G. Sweet, who was an employee of the City of Rochester.

Creator

Dates

  • Creation: 1808-1951

Language of Materials

English

Extent

5 box(es)

Access

The Emma Biddlecom Sweet Papers is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books, Special Collections & Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.

Use

In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

From the Estate of Mrs. Emma B. Sweet, February 18, 1952 and April 7, 1952. Emma B. Sweet also donated material related to the woman’s rights movement to the First Unitarian Church and those materials can be found in the First Unitarian Church Papers.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, item date], Emma Biddlecom Sweet Papers, A.S97, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Title
Emma Biddlecom Sweet papers
Author
Finding aid prepared by Rare Books and Special Collections staff
Date
undated
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Library Details

Part of the Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation Library

Contact:
Rochester NY 14627-0055 USA