Anthony-Avery papers
Scope and Contents
The Anthony - Avery collection consists mainly of the correspondence between Susan Brownell Anthony and Rachel Foster Avery. The correspondence dates between the years 1882 to 1908, with the greatest number of letters having been written in 1887, 1897 and 1898. Most of the letters were written by Susan B. Anthony to Rachel F. Avery (161): there are also 36 retained carbons of Mrs. Avery's letters to Miss Anthony. Other women active in the suffrage movement who are represented in the collection by correspondence to either Miss Anthony or Mrs. Avery are: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt, May Eliza Wright Sewall, Harriet Taylor Upton, Isabel Howland, Lillie Devereux Blake, Anna Howard Shaw, Lucretia Longshore Blankenburg, Elizabeth Blackwell, and Mary Garrett Hay. A chronological list of all the correspondence is included in this register.
As corresponding secretary of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Mrs. Avery played an integral part in all the plans and problems of that organization. The correspondence to and from her, therefore, reflects many facets of the suffrage movement including the plans for the 40th (1888) and 50th (1898) anniversary celebrations of the beginning of the women's suffrage movement: the strategies for adding women's suffrage amendments to the constitution of various states: the problems of winning converts to the cause and raising money: the writing of Miss Anthony's biography and the personal relationship between Susan B. Anthony and Rachel Foster Avery.
Creator
- Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906 (Person)
- Avery, Rachel Foster, 1858-1919 (Person)
Dates
- Creation: 1882 - circa 1915
Language of Materials
English
Extent
4 box(es)
Access
The Anthony-Avery 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
The collection of Avery family papers was purchased at Charles B. Hamilton auction of February 3, 1972, sale no.55, item 41, with funds provided by an anonymous donor.
Scanning services donated by Kodak Alaris.
Preferred Citation
[Item title, item date], Anthony-Avery Papers, D.16, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Accruals
Accruals added in 2014 (Box 3) acquired from members of the Cleborne Family (descendants of Rachel Foster Avery) through a combined gift / purchase agreement, and separately also by purchase from the American Eagle Auction and Appraisal Company and the Super Auction in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
General
Transcriptions of selected letters in Box 3 can be found below and were completed by University of Rochester students in the fall of 2014, as part of a Women's Studies class: Women, Activism and Social Change, taught by Angela Clark-Taylor. The transcription were then edited and completed by former Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation Department staff member, Mary Huth.
Subject
- Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906 (Person)
- Avery, Rachel Foster, 1858-1919 (Person)
- Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 1815-1902 (Person)
- Catt, Carrie Chapman, 1859-1947 (Person)
- Sewall, May Wright, 1844-1920 (Person)
- Upton, Harriet Taylor (Person)
- Shaw, Anna Howard, 1847-1919 (Person)
- Howland, Isabel, 1859-1942 (Person)
- National American Woman Suffrage Association (Organization)
- Title
- Anthony-Avery 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
Revision Statements
- August 2022: This finding aid was revised in August 2022 to clarify arrangement and formatting; the physical arrangement of the materials was not changed.
Library Details
Part of the Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation Library
