Annie Gertrude Webb Porritt Papers, 1898-1976

Lucy Green Adams owns copyright to Porritt's unpublished works. Copyright to materials authored by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." Permission must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.

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Biographical Note

Annie Webb was born in Manchester, England, on May 5, 1861. Unable to attend university due to her sex, she received training as a teacher at a boarding school. She came to the U.S. in the early 1880s and found a job teaching at Miss Sarah Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. She married Edward Porritt, a political historian and journalist, in 1891. The couple had four children, Philip, Longshaw, Mary, and Marjory. Annie supported the family through teaching during the 1890s while she and her husband co-authored a history of the House of Commons. In 1901 and 1902, the family lived in England and South Africa, returning to the U.S. in 1903 and settling in Hartford, Connecticut.

Annie Porritt published articles in Outlook, the Independent, the Yale Review, American Historical Reviews, Political Science Quarterly, Forum, and many English journals. From 1910 to 1913 she was Secretary of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association and spoke frequently in public for women's suffrage. She was the author of many articles, pamphlets, and books, including Causes of the Revolt of the Women in England (1912), The Militant Suffrage Movement in England (1912), The Political Duties of Mothers (1912), and Votes and Babies (1912). With her husband, she was co-author of The Unreformed House of Commons (1903). Porritt also chaired the Birth Control Review editorial board and wrote articles for it; was Secretary of the American Birth Control League in the early 1920s to 1932; and founder of the Connecticut League for Birth Control. She died in a car accident in August 1932.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Annie Gertrude Webb Porritt Papers consist of 1.75 linear feet and primarily relate to the various organizations of which she was a member. Types of materials include correspondence, Porritt's published and unpublished writings, minutes; bulletins, printed materials such as pamphlets and brochures, newsletters, notes, and conference materials.

The bulk of the papers date from 1916 to 1932. They focus on the central topics of birth control and women's suffrage, including historical sketches of both movements; materials related to Porritt's position as secretary of the American Birth Control League and as vice-president of the Hartford League of Women Voters, circa 1920s to 1932; and articles on birth control and suffrage for the Birth Control Review. Other topics include files on the Society of Friends, the Joint Committee on Delinquent Women, and lectures on social problems and parliamentary law. Notable correspondents include Alice Stone Blackwell, Mary Ware Dennett, Stella Hanau, Margaret Sanger, and Anna Howard Shaw.

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into four series:

• I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS (1910-1976)
• II. WRITINGS (1910-1921)
• III. ORGANIZATION FILES (1906-87)
• IV. SUBJECT FILES (1898-1933)

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SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS (1910-1976) .25 linear ft.

This series provides an overview of Porritt's life. Included are a journal written by Porritt's daughter Marjory on her mother's life, a small amount of correspondence, and materials relating to Porritt's early death, including a newspaper clipping regarding her car accident and condolence letters sent to her son Longshaw.

SERIES II. WRITINGS (1910-1921) .25 linear ft.

This series contains Porritt's published and unpublished writings, as well as correspondence with various publishers, most of it in regards to her manuscript, "History of the Woman Suffrage Movement."

SERIES III. ORGANIZATION FILES (1906-87) .5 linear ft.

This series contains correspondence, conference materials, bulletins, and printed material on the many organizations Porritt was active with, most significantly the American Birth Control League, the Joint Committee on Delinquent Women, and the Connecticut League of Women Voters.

SERIES IV. SUBJECT FILES (1898-1933) .5 linear ft.

The Subject Files primarily contain printed material and some correspondence on the reform movements Porritt was active in, namely birth control and suffrage, yet including some materials on religion, education, and the reform of delinquent women. Also included are autograph lecture notes on a variety of subject about social problems and the law.

SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS

SERIES II. WRITINGS

SERIES III. ORGANIZATION FILES

SERIES IV. SUBJECTS