Jean S. Lindsay papers
Biographical / Historical note
Jean Sampson Lindsay was born in 1942 at Park Avenue Hospital in Rochester, New York. Her parents, Alexander Millar Lindsay III and Jean Adaline Sampson, had two other children, Alexander Millar Lindsay IV and James Courter Lindsay. As a child, Lindsay lived in Buffalo, New York, where her father was a test pilot at the Curtis Wright Corporation; Reno, Nevada, where her father later worked; Penfield, New York, where her grandfather Luther Courter Sampson owned a farm; and Ormond Beach, Florida, where her great-grandfather Alexander Millar Lindsay had built a house called Rowallan. She attended high school in Brighton, New York, before moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for her father’s health. In 1958, she entered Rogers Hall, a boarding school in Lowell, Massachusetts, from which she graduated.
Lindsay attended Skidmore College for two years, leaving after the death of her father in 1964. She graduated from the University of Rochester in 1968, with a major in art history and a minor in English. She earned her master’s in English from the University of Rochester in 1976 and her master’s in library science from the School of Library and Information Science at SUNY Geneseo in 1980.
A collector and dealer of rare books, Lindsay started a business called Ayrshire Books, named after the county in Scotland where her great-grandfather Lindsay was born. She was also a leader of the Now Nameless Bibliophiles group in Rochester and served on the board of the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries. She was a docent and lecturer at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, presenting on Victorian architecture and other topics.
From 1980 to 1982, Lindsay worked for Dr. James Sibley Watson Jr. and Nancy Prince Watson as archivist and curator of a collection of papers in their home at 6 Sibley Place in Rochester. This collection, now at the New York Public Library (James Sibley Watson/The Dial Papers), contained a wealth of material relating to the Dial magazine. Founded in the 1840s as a Transcendentalist publication, the Dial became a vehicle for Modernist literature and art in the 1920s under the ownership of Dr. Watson and Scofield Thayer. Lindsay’s work at the Watson Archives culminated in her creation of a Checklist of the Dial Papers.
After completing her project with the Watsons, Lindsay held positions at the Rochester Public Library, the Harvard University Archives, and the Library of Congress. While living in Alexandria, Virginia, she worked with various associations, helping them to set up libraries. She then worked at the Wyeth pharmaceutical company in Philadelphia, where her mother and stepfather lived, for ten years until her retirement. Lindsay focused on regulatory affairs and information technology at Wyeth, and she facilitated the company’s development of a database for correspondence and other information. While living in Philadelphia, she took courses in law and clinical studies at Temple University. Lindsay has lived in Geneseo, New York, since 2003.
Scope and Contents
The Jean S. Lindsay Papers contain three series: Career, Community, and Family Papers. Series I: Career includes typescripts, manuscripts, correspondence, research, notes, and photographs relating, with only a few exceptions, to Lindsay’s work at the Watson Archives (1980-1982). Series II: Community consists chiefly of correspondence and notes for the Now Nameless Bibliophiles group and a small amount of material relating to the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries (1980s). Series III: Family papers contains photographs, diaries, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and research relating primarily to Jean S. Lindsay’s paternal ancestors (the Lindsay, Hatch, and Curtice families) and her maternal ancestors (the Courter and Sampson families). More detailed description is included at the series level.
Creator
- Lindsay, Jean Sampson, 1942- (Person)
Dates
- Creation: 1850s-2000s
Language of Materials
English
Extent
4.25 linear feet (14 boxes, 6 volumes)
Access
The Jean S. Lindsay papers are open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books, Special Collections, and 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
Gift of Jean S. Lindsay, 1981, with subsequent accruals.
Preferred Citation
[Item title, item date], Jean S. Lindsay Papers, D.191, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Genre / Form
Geographic
Occupation
Uniform Title
Separated Materials
The following publications were separated from the manuscript collection and are available as cataloged materials. Please see the library's online catalog for call numbers and details:
Barnes, Djuna. Nightwood. Introduction by T. S. Eliot. New York: New Directions, 1937.
Butler-Thwing, Francis Wendell. First Fruits. 1914.
Campbell, Thomas. Complete Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, with a Memoir of His Life. Boston: Phillips, Sampson, 1855.
Fenollosa, Mary McNeil. The Dragon Painter. Illustrated by Gertrude McDaniel. Boston: Little, Brown, 1906.
Fletcher, Beaumont. Richard Wilson, R. A. London: Walter Scott, 1908.
Ford, Helen T. Will It Be? Boston: Loring, 1877.
Geldhardt, Mrs. Mary Leigh; or, Purpose in Life. London: Frederick Warne, n.d.
Grey of Fallodon, Edward, Viscount. Fallodon Papers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1926.
Huckel, Oliver. Parsifal: A Mystical Drama by Richard Wagner Retold in the Spirit of the Bayreuth Interpretation by Oliver Huckel. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1903.
James, Paul. And Then What? New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1931.
Morgan, Angela. Utterance and Other Poems. New York: Baker and Taylor, 1916.
Parson, Donald. Grass Flowers. Boston: John W. Luce, 1936.
Paterson, James. Reminiscences of “Auld Ayr.” Edinburgh: James Stillie, 1864.
Ramsden, Guendolen, Lady. A Smile within a Tear and Other Fairy Stories. London: Hutchinson, 1897.
Ruskin, John. The Poetry of Architecture: Cottage, Villa, etc. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1881.
Sibley, James. History of the Sibley Family. n.d.
Smith, D. Murray. Round the World: A Story of Travel Compiled from the Narrative of Ida Pfeiffer. London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1868.
Watson, Hildegarde Lasell. The Edge of the Woods: A Memoir. 1979.
Weguelin, H. W. Carnations and Picotees for Garden and Exhibition, with a Chapter Concerning Pinks. London: George Newnes, 1900.
Subject
- Lindsay, Jean Sampson, 1942- (Person)
- Watson, James S. (James Sibley), 1894-1982 (Person)
- Title
- Jean S. Lindsay papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Esther Arnold
- Date
- January 2017
- 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