ContentsContainer List Chester Alan Arthur II Papers, 1874-1937 Myra Fithian Andrews Arthur Papers, 1882-1935 Ellen Arthur Pinkerton Papers, 1879-1914 Chester Alan Arthur III Papers, 1853-1972 Malvina Ann Arthur Haynesworth Papers, 1853-1869 William A. Arthur, Jr., Papers, 1853-1914 Andrews Family Papers, 1903-1957 |
Arthur Family PapersA Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of CongressPrepared by Philip Avillo2011
Biographical NoteChester Alan Arthur II
Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Content NoteThe papers of the Arthur family span the years 1817 to 1972, with the bulk of the items concentrated in the period 1874-1972. Although the collection consists largely of the papers of Chester Alan Arthur II (1864-1937) and Chester Alan Arthur III (1901-1972), it includes papers of President Chester Alan Arthur's sister, Malvina Ann Arthur Haynesworth; his brother, William A. Arthur, Jr.; Chester Alan Arthur II's first wife, Myra Fithian Andrews; his sister, Ellen Arthur Pinkerton; Chester Alan Arthur III's first wife, Charlotte Wilson Arthur, and his second wife, Esther Murphy Strachey Arthur. Other members of the Arthur Andrews, and Fifthian families are also represented in the collection. The papers are organized in ten series: Chester Alan Arthur II Papers, Myra Fithian Andrews Arthur Papers, Ellen Arthur Pinkerton Papers, Chester Alan Arthur III Papers, Malvina Ann Arthur Haynesworth Papers, William A. Arthur, Jr., Papers, Andrews Family Papers, Fithian Family Papers, Miscellany, and Oversize. After the death of Chester Alan Arthur (1829-1886), Chester Alan Arthur II withdrew from Columbia University School of Law and sailed for Europe where he remained for over a decade. His papers for this period reveal his interest in women, horses, and cuisine. His correspondence abounds with letters from female admirers, and his diaries, scrapbooks, and general correspondence disclose his frequent participation in driving horse-drawn coaches through the French countryside. In 1897, Alan ("A-lan," pronounced as in "plan"), as he liked to be called, unsuccessfully sought appointment as United States ambassador to the Netherlands. His marriage in 1900 to Myra Fithian Andrews raised his family's hopes that he would now choose a vocation or a profession, but he preferred to live on income from investments. He belonged to clubs in England, France, New York, California, and Colorado and mingled with the social elite of two continents. He maintained a home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where for several years he was the major stockholder in a company owning the Trinchera Estate, a 250,000 acre ranch. The company cut timber, raised cattle, mined for gold, and established a game park reserve for the preservation of bison, elk, antelope, and other rare game animals. Chester Alan Arthur III was more interested in social and political causes than in elegant living. During the 1920s, as his correspondence documents, he joined the Irish Republican Movement. For four years, in Ireland, Paris, and New York, he contributed his services. During the years 1931-1934, under the adopted ancestral name of Gavin Arthur, he organized in the dunes near Pismo Beach, California, a commune devoted to art and literature. He founded a magazine entitled Dune Forum, designed to establish communication between the intellectuals and the masses; six issues of Dune Forum were published. In 1934, he joined the Utopian Society of America, and for several years thereafter he worked in its behalf. His correspondence for this period includes letters from Upton Sinclair and Herbert Agar. In the late 1930's Arthur became interested in party politics. In 1940, he accepted the post of secretary of the Democratic State Central Committee of California, but in 1941, convinced that the party had betrayed his principles, he resigned. According to autobiographical manuscripts in the papers, he served in the United States Army and the merchant marine during World War II. After the war, he lived in New York City, where he sold books, tutored, and drew unemployment compensation. In 1949 he went to California and for a time found employment as a teacher-counselor in the state prison at San Quentin. During the 1950s he sustained himself by selling newspapers on the streets of San Francisco. Feeling handicapped by his lack of a formal education, he earned a bachelor's degree at San Francisco State College. Ultimately he became a freelance writer, a professional astrologer, and a student of the occult and of sexology. Throughout his life, Arthur cultivated a wide variety of people, including political leaders, writers, entertainers, sexologists, and social misfits and outcasts. He was married successively to Charlotte Wilson, a dancer who was also a writer; Esther Murphy Strachey, an expatriate intellectual, the sister of Gerald Murphy, who had formerly been married to John Strachey, a leader of the British Labor Party; and, in his last years, to Ellen Janson, a longtime friend who had helped him launch Dune Forum. He wrote poetry and fiction for which he apparently found no market and began philosophical and historical works that he never completed. In 1962, he published The Circle of Sex, a study of male and female sexuality; in 1966, he published a revised and enlarged edition. Portions of the manuscript of the book and four containers of other writings are in his papers. Return to the Table of Contents Selected Search TermsPeople
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Return to the Table of Contents Arrangement of the PapersThis collection is arranged in ten series:
Return to the Table of Contents Container ListChester Alan Arthur II Papers, 1874-1937Diaries, 1887-1913Arranged chronologically. 1887-1890 (3 folders)1891-1913 (5 folders)Family Correspondence, 1877-1937Arranged chronologically by month. 1877-Sept. 1897 (6 folders)Oct. 1897-Oct. 1907 (7 folders)Nov. 1907-Dec. 19111912-1937, undated (7 folders)General Correspondence, 1874-1935Arranged chronologically by month. 1874-Dec. 1893 (6 folders)Jan. 1894-Feb. 1898 (4 folders)Mar. 1898-1907 (6 folders)1908-1914 (4 folders)Jan. 1915-1935 (5 folders)Undated (4 folders)Financial Papers, 1882-1937Arranged chronologically by year. 1882-1905 (3 folders)1906-1937, undated (4 folders)MiscellanyArranged by type of material. Address booksCalling cardsFragments (2 folders)(1 folders)Invitations (3 folders)Legal papersListsMenusNewspaper clippingsNotebooksPolitical materialProgramsRelated correspondenceTravels and itinerariesWritingsMyra Fithian Andrews Arthur Papers, 1882-1935Diaries, 1902-1935Arranged chronologically. 1902-1916 (5 folders)1917-1927 (5 folders)1928-1935 (4 folders)Family Correspondence, 1891-1935Arranged chronologically by month. 1891-June 1911 (5 folders)July 1911-1919 (5 folders)1920-June 1923 (4 folders)July 1923-June 1928 (4 folders)July 1928-1931 (4 folders)1932-1935, undated (4 folders)General Correspondence, 1882-1935Arranged chronologically by month. Apr. 1882-1919 (5 folders)1920-1930 (6 folders)1931-1935, undated (3 folders)MiscellanyAddress books. Address booksEllen Arthur Pinkerton Papers, 1879-1914Family correspondence. Arranged chronologically by month. Family correspondence.Chester Alan Arthur III Papers, 1853-1972Diaries, 1900-1966Arranged chronologically by decade. 1900-1929 (3 folders)1930-1966 (3 folders)Family Correspondence, 1904-1971Arranged chronologically by month. Nov. 1904-1925 (5 folders)1926-1937 (5 folders)1938-1971, undated (5 folders)General Correspondence, 1909-1972Arranged chronologically by month. June 1909-1922 (5 folders)1923-Sept. 1926 (4 folders)Oct. 1926-1929 (4 folders)1930-Dec. 1933 (4 folders)Jan. 1934-1935 (4 folders)1936-1937 (4 folders)Jan.-June 1939 (4 folders)July 1939-1942 (5 folders)Jan. 1943-1946 (4 folders)1947-1959 (4 folders)1960-1963 (5 folders)1964-1966 (3 folders)1967-1969 (3 folders)1970-1972, undated (4 folders)Undated (4 folder)Politics, 1936-1942Primarily correspondence. Arranged chronologically by month. 1936-1942, undated (2 folders)Charlotte Wilson Arthur, 1921-1966Correspondence and writings. Correspondence arranged chronologically by month. Correspondence, 1920-1966, undated (3 folders)WritingsEsther Murphy Arthur, 1924-1961Correspondence and cancelled checks. Correspondence arranged chronologically by month Correspondence, 1929-1961, undated (4 folders)Canceled checks, 1924-1929Edith L. DeSavary, 1924-1962Correspondence. Arranged chronologically by month. Correspondence, 1946-1962, undated (2 folders)Writings, 1916-1972Arranged chronologically with major titles alphabetically at end. Chronological file1916-1930s (3 folders)1940s-1970s (5 folders)Undated (3 folders)Alphabetical file"Aspirations at Thirty"AstrologyThe Circle of Sex"Full Circle" (3 folders)(1 folder)"Notes on Freedom"Poetry"Priscilla" (2 folders)FragmentsMiscellany, 1853-1972Arranged by type of material. Address books (3 folders)AstrologyBooks, The Voice of the Silence and the New TestamentCalling cardsCorrespondence (copies), President Chester A. Arthur (2 folders)Correspondence related to Chester Alan Arthur III1922-1970UndatedDrawingsFinancial papers, 1930-1971Fragments1912-1972 (3 folders)Undated (5 folders)Greeting cards (3 folders)Invitations and announcementsLegal papersList of dates copied from notebook coursesMemorabilia, Ireland, 1920sNewspaper clippings (3 folders)(2 folders)Notes relating to "Full Circle"Pamphlets, The Circle of Sex"People I Have Known"Programs (1 folder)(4 folders)Reeves, Thomas C., manuscript copies of articlesSan Quentin prison, San Quentin, Calif.Typescript of Ellen Herndon Arthur correspondence, 1877-1879Writings by others (4 folders)Copies of family letters and notes, 1853-1933 (2 folders)How a British Subject Became President of the United States (1884), by A. P. Hinman (heavily annotated)Malvina Ann Arthur Haynesworth Papers, 1853-1869Diaries. Arranged chronologically. Diaries, originals and typescripts18531869 (2 copies)William A. Arthur, Jr., Papers, 1853-1914Diaries, correspondence, military papers, and miscellany. Arranged by type of material and chronologically therein. Diaries, 1858-1881 (4 folders)Correspondence1853-1914 (2 folders)Copies (1843-1917)Military papers, 1862-1891 (2 folders)Miscellany (2 folders)Andrews Family Papers, 1903-1957Correspondence and miscellany, including writings of Loring Andrews. Correspondence arranged chronologically. CorrespondenceMiscellanyFithian Family Papers, 1882-1960Correspondence. Arranged chronologically Correspondence, 1882-1960, undated (3 folders)Miscellany, 1817-1967Printed matter and scrapbooks. Arranged by type of material. Printed matterBooks (4 folders)Books and journals (2 folders)BooksPostcards, clippings, and related items removed from notebook coversScrapbooksChester Alan Arthur II1876-1883, undated1886-1957Andrews, Loring, 1930Arthur, Alan Arthur, III1897-1916, coaching clippings19561960-1961Connolly, R. B., 1856Oversize, 1817-1971Account book, guest book, literary notes, scrapbooks, and miscellaneous oversize material relating mainly to Chester Alan Arthur, II. Arranged by type of material Account book, 1817-1846, with literary notes by Chester Alan Arthur III, 1965-1967Guestbook, Myra Arthur, 1910-1969Scrapbooks, Chester Alan Arthur III1960-1971, undatedUndatedReturn to the Table of Contents |
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