Contents
Collection Overview
Biographical Note
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Organization of the Collection
Search Terms
Correspondence
1990-1996
Writings
1990-2001
Research Material
1864-1865, circa 1900-circa 1997
Publications
1882, 1934-1995
Oral History Material
1951-1955, 1989-1994
Photographs
1990, 1992, 1995
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Ruth Backes Papers, 1864-1865, 1882, ca.1900-2001
Finding Aid
Finding aid prepared by Patricia J. Albright.
© 2006
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Creator:
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Backes, Ruth, 1918- |
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Title:
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Ruth Backes Papers |
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Dates:
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1864-1865, 1882, circa 1900-2001 |
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Dates:
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1934-2001 |
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Abstract:
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Backes, Ruth Emerson, 1918-; Psychologist, teacher, and consultant. Papers consist of correspondence, writings, research material, publications, oral history material, and photographs relating to her research for a biography of social reformer and government official Frances Perkins, a 1902 graduate of Mount Holyoke College. Includes photocopies of letters and writings by Perkins.
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Extent:
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12 boxes, 39 volumes(9 linear ft.) |
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Language:
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English |
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Identification:
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MS 0769 |
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Location:
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LD 7082.18 Perkins |
Ruth Backes, a consultant, professor and psychologist, was born in Mount Vernon, New York on August 25, 1918 to Harriett Crofut Emerson and Robert Stewart Emerson. She graduated from New Rochelle High School (1935) and New York University (1939). She later earned a M.Ed. (1978) and Ed.D. (1985) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Massachusetts. She married Frederick Tregonning Backes and had three children. Backes worked in the fields of mental health, human services and education, both as a volunteer and professional, all of her adult life. Her professional life included nine years with the Young Women's Christian Association of the U.S.A. and the United Service Organization (U.S.) (Baltimore, Maryland, New Haven, Connecticut, and Newfoundland, Canada); ten years with the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Yale University (Meriden and New Haven, Connecticut); and six years as a part-time faculty member at Antioch/New England Graduate School (Keene, New Hampshire). For more than twenty years she had a small private practice in Amherst, Massachusetts, assisting mid-life working women with family, self-esteem, and employment issues. This work triggered her interest in researching the life of Frances Perkins, United States Secretary of Labor in the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the first woman to hold a position in a presidential cabinet. Backes began her research concerning Perkins in 1991 and completed it in 2000. During that period, she was a Visiting Research Scholar at the Center for Research on Women at Wellesley College (1991-1993) and a Research Associate at the Five College Women's Studies Research Center at Mount Holyoke College (1993-1994). Backes served as a member and board member of many community and professional organizations and as a consultant to numerous hospitals, mental health centers and schools. She was a founding member of the National Committee for Mental Health Education. Her publications include many journal, magazine, and newspaper articles as well as a 1989 book about bookstores in Amherst, Massachusetts.
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The Ruth Backes Papers consist of correspondence, writings, research material, publications, oral history material, and photographs. Most of the material in the collection dates from 1934-2001 and relates to Backes's research for a biography of Frances Perkins. Correspondence (1990-1996) includes letters that she exchanged with Perkins' grandson, Tomlin Coggeshall, and letters to and from Allan David Bloom, Maurice F. Neufeld, and others who knew Perkins. Other letters concern talks that she gave about Perkins. Writings (1990-2001) contain a personal journal that Backes kept during the course of her research as well as her book proposals and drafts, a bibliography of her sources, the texts of her talks about Perkins, and a chronology that she prepared of Perkins' life. Research Material (1864-1865, circa 1900-1997) concerns both Perkins' personal life and her professional activities, particularly her service as United States Secretary of Labor from 1933-1945. Most of this series consist of photocopies of original documents that are in the collections of Columbia University, the Library of Congress, Cornell University, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, and other repositories. These items include copies of correspondence, articles, speeches, and reports written by Perkins between circa 1926-1965 concerning topics such as unemployment insurance, labor laws, women and children in the workplace, and occupational and industrial diseases. Of particular note are copies of her annual reports as Secretary of Labor, 1933/34-1944/45, and her Report to the President on Ten Years' Achievements in Labor and Social Improvements, 1943. Other documents in this series relate to Perkins' family, childhood, and education. Publications in the collection chiefly consist of books dating from 1934-1995 that Backes collected during her research. Most of these items concern Perkins, Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the New Deal, or labor-related issues. Oral History Material (1951-1955, 1989-1994) contains lists, notes, correspondence, excerpts, and typed transcripts relating to oral history interviews conducted by Backes. Allan David Bloom, Alice Hanson Cook, Trude W. Lash, Carol Riegelman Lubin, Maurice F. Neufeld, Peter A. Poole, Richard Strassberg, and Perkins' daughter, Susanna Coggeshall, were among the individuals whom Backes interviewed. This series also contains an incomplete copy of the typed transcript of the Reminscences of Frances Perkins, based on oral history interviews conducted by Dean Albertson for the Columbia Oral History Research Office between 1951-1955. In addition, Backes's detailed notes concerning these interviews are part of this series. Rounding out the collection are photographs dating from 1990, 1992, and 1995 that were taken at The Brick House, Perkins' former home in Newcastle, Maine. These photographs are of Backes, Tomlin Coggeshall, and the house and grounds.
Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents
This collection is organized into six series:
The correspondence, writings, research material, and photographs are arranged chronologically. Publications are arranged alphabetically by author. Oral history interviews are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the person interviewed.
Return to the Table of Contents
Correspondence
1990-1996
Box
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Folder
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| 1 |
1 |
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Grant-in-Aid Program
1990-1992
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F. Howe and others
1990-1993
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3 |
F. Howe and others
1990-1993
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With Tomlin Coggeshall
1990-1995
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5 |
Frances Perkins at Cornell
1991-1992
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6 |
Related to FP matters
1991-1996
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7 |
Related to FP matters
1991-1996
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Writings
1990-2001
Box
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Folder
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| 1 |
8 |
Journal
1990-1991
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12 |
Journal
1995-1996, 1999, 2001
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Box
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Folder
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| 2 |
1 |
Bibliography
circa 1990-1996
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2 |
Bibliography
circa 1990-1996
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3 |
Chronology
circa 1990-1996
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Assessments of Frances Perkins
circa 1990-1996
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Notes and jottings
circa 1990-1996
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Book proposals and tables of contents
circa 1990-1996
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7 |
Prologues, synopses, notes
circa 1990-1996
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8 |
Early chapter drafts
circa 1990-1996
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9 |
Drafts of chapters
circa 1990-1996
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10 |
Drafts of seamens strike chapters
circa 1990-1996
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11 |
Drafts of seamen's strike chapters
circa 1990-1996
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12 |
Drafts of seamen's strike chapters
circa 1990-1996
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Box
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Folder
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| 3 |
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More drafts of seamen's strike
circa 1990-1996
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2 |
More drafts of seamen's strike
circa 1990-1996
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3 |
Chapter 8 - Longshoremen's strike
circa 1990-1996
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4 |
Chapter 8 - Longshoremen's strike
circa 1990-1996
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5 |
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
circa 1990-1996
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6 |
Chapters 5, 6
circa 1990-1996
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7 |
Chapters 7, 8
circa 1990-1996
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8 |
Chapter 9-2 parts
circa 1990-1996
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9 |
Talks 1, 2, 3
1991-1992
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10 |
Talks 4, 5, 6
1992, 1994
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11 |
Talks 7, 8, 9
1994-1995
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12 |
Talks 10, 11, 12
1995-1997
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Research Material
1864-1865, circa 1900-circa 1997
Box
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Folder
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| 4 |
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Addresses of contacts
circa 1990-circa 1996
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2 |
All Saints Convent
circa 1994-1995
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3 |
Annual Reports by Perkins as Secretary of Labor
1933/34-194243
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4 |
Annual Reports by Perkins as Secretary of Labor
and her ten-year report
1943/44-1944/451943
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Articles by Perkins
1926-1934, circa 1936
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Articles by Perkins
1939-1941, 1943, 1965
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Biography writing
circa 1982-1995
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Biography writing
circa 1982-1995
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9 |
Butler Dearden Collection and other Worcester, Mass. material
circa 1900, 1916, circa 1947-circa 1994
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Church of the Resurrection
circa 1968-circa 1997
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11 |
Columbia University: holdings on Perkins
circa 1990-1991
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12 |
Columbia University: copies of and notes about Perkins' correspondence
1910, 1927, 1931, 1932, 1938-1945, 1991-1992
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Box
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Folder
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1 |
Cornell University: research notes and copies of portions of Perkins' lectures
1957-1965, 1991
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2 |
Cornell University: publications, notes, and recollections
circa 1965-1995
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3 |
Critiques of Backes's work
circa 1993-circa 1995
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Department of Labor: research notes, publications, and Perkins postage stamps
circa 1980-1995
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Early years: family histories, Worcester, Lincoln Academy, genealogy
1864, 1865, circa 1900, circa 1948-circa 1996
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Early years: family histories, Worcester, Lincoln Academy, genealogy
1864, 1865, circa 1900, circa 1948-circa 1996
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Excerpts from Al Smith by Matthew Josephson, and Frances Perkins by Lillian Mohr
1969, 1979
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Excerpts from All For One by Rose Schneiderman, and clippings
1934, 1967, 1969, 1995-1996
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Excerpts and notes from readings: Susan Ware, Thomas Eliot, Richard
O'Connor and others
circa 1949-circa 1996
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Excerpts from readings, articles, clippings, notes, and copy of letter about Perkins
1933-1934, circa 1980-1996
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Excerpts from readings, articles, clippings, notes, and copy of letter about Perkins
1933-1934, circa 1980-1996
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Box
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Folder
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Harvard Law School Library: research notes and copies of Charles
Wyzanski, Jr., Perkins, and C. C. Burlingame correspondence and documents
1934-1949, 1984, 1991
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2 |
Impeachment of Perkins, her rebuttal, and dismissal of charges
1939, circa 1951-1955, circa 1990-1996
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3 |
International Labor Organization: copy of Perkins' speech, notes, clippings, and excerpts from Social Justice for Women
1923, 1990-1996
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Library of Congress: Maurice F. Neufeld Papers
1956-1965, 1976, 1991
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Library of Congress: Maurice F. Neufeld Papers
1956-1965, 1976, 1991
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Longshoremen's strike: Columbia Oral History excerpts and other material
1934-1937, circa 1951-1955, 1970, 1990-circa 1991
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Longshoremen's strike: Columbia Oral History excerpts and other material
1934-1937, circa 1951-1955, 1970, 1990-circa 1991
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Longshoremen's strike: notes, articles, excerpts, and other material
1934-1942, 1964, 1970, 1977, 1990-circa 1991
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9 |
Longshoremen's strike: report of the National Longshoremen's Board, clippings, notes, and other material
1927, 1934-circa 1942, circa 1990-circa 1996
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10 |
Longshoremen's strike: report of the National Longshoremen's Board, clippings, notes, and other material
1950, circa 1990-circa 1996
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Mount Holyoke College: notes, excerpts, and drafts
1971, circa 1990-circa 1996
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Mount Holyoke College: notes, excerpts, and drafts
1940, circa 1990-circa 1996
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Mount Holyoke College: notes, excerpts, and drafts
1940, circa 1990-circa 1996
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Box
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Folder
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Mount Holyoke College: Student papers about Perkins
1992, 1996
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2 |
National Archives: research notes and copies of correspondence
1933, circa 1936, 1990
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3 |
New England Labor Association meeting
1994, 1995
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4 |
Newspaper clippings, articles, and notes
1910, 1927-circa 1935, circa 1976-circa 1993
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Quotations of Perkins
1934, 1946, circa 1951-circa 1955
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Radcliffe College Conference on Biography Writing
1979, 1983, 1989-1990
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Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY: research notes and copies of letters by and to Perkins
1933-1945, 1990
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Schlessinger Library: research notes
1990
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9 |
Speeches by Perkins
1929-1936
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Speeches by Perkins
1937-1939, 1944
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Publications
1882, 1934-1995
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Bernstein, Irving. The lean years: a history of the American worker 1902-1933
1960
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Brecher, Jeremy. Strike!
1972
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Burns, James MacGregor. Roosevelt: the lion and the fox
1956
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Burns, James MacGregor. Roosevelt: the soldier of freedom
1970
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Cantarow, Ellen, and others. Moving the mountain: women working for social change
1980
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Challenge feminist biography: writing the lives of American women, ed. by Sara Alpern and others
1992
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Colman, Penny. A woman unafraid: the achievements of Frances Perkins
1993
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Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt (Volume One 1884-1933)
1992
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Cushman, David Quimby. The history of ancient Sheepscot and Newcastle
1882
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Davis, Kenneth S. FDR: The New York years 1928-1933
1985
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Dulles, Foster Rhea. Labor in America: a history
1955
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Ewen, Elizabeth. Immigrant women in the land of dollars: life and culture on the Lower East Side, 1890-1925
1985
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Foner, Philip S. Women and the American labor movement: from World War I to the present
1980
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Gersuny, Carl. Work hazards and industrial conflict
1981
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Hoff-Wilson, Joan and Lightman, Marjorie, eds. Without precedent: the life and career of Eleanor Roosevelt
1984
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Ickes, Harold L. The secret diary of Harold L. Ickes: the first thousand days
1953
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Kendall, Elaine. Peculiar institutions: an informal history of the Seven Sister colleges
1976
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Lash, Joseph P. Eleanor and Franklin
1971
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Lash, Joseph P. Eleanor: the years alone
1972
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Martin, George. Madam Secretary, Frances Perkins
1976
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Mohr, Lillian Holmen. Frances Perkins: that woman in FDR's cabinet
1979
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Montgomery, David. Workers' control in America
1979
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Mount Holyoke College. The centenary of Mount Holyoke College
1937
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National Labor Relations Board. A guide to basic law and procedures under the National Labor Relations Act
1978
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Observer, Unofficial. The New Dealers
1934
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Perkins, Frances. The Roosevelt I knew
1946
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Perry, Elisabeth Israels. Belle Moskowitz: feminine politics and the exercise of power in the age of Alfred E. Smith
1987
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Roosevelt, Eleanor. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Hyde Park: personal recollections of Eleanor Roosevelt
1949
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Roosevelt, Eleanor. This I remember
1949
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Roosevelt, Elliott and James Brough.1973. The Roosevelts of Hyde Park: an untold story
1973
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Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The coming of the New Deal
1958
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Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The coming of the New Deal. (American Heritage Library ed.)
1988
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Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The imperial presidency
1973
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Showalter, Elaine, ed. These modern women: autobiographical essays from the twenties
1989
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Sklar, Kathryn Kish. Florence Kelley and the nation's work: the rise of women's political culture, 1830-1900
1995
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Watkins, T.H. The great depression: America in the 1930s
1993
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Wertheimer, Barbara Mayer. We were there: the story of working women in America
1977.
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Work in America. Report of a Special Task Force to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
1973
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Writing lives: feminist biography and autobiography
1992
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Oral History Material
1951-1955, 1989-1994
Box
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Folder
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1 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: introduction and tables of contents
1951-1955
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2 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: index to Book I
1951-1955
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3 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: index to Book II
1951-1955
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4 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: index to Book III
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: index to Book IV
1951-1955
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6 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: index to Book V
1951-1955
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7 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: index to Book VI
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: index to Book VII
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book I, pp.1-75
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book I, pp.76-150
1951-1955
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11 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book I, pp.151-225
1951-1955
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12 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book I, pp.226-300
1951-1955
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13 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book I, pp.301-375
1951-1955
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14 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book I, pp.376-444
1951-1955
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15 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.1-75
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.76-150
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.151-225
1951-1955
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Box
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Folder
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.226-300
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.301-375
1951-1955
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3 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.376-450
1951-1955
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4 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.451-525
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.526-600
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.601-675
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book II, pp.676-731
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book III, pp.1-75
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book III, pp.76-150
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book III, pp.151-225
1951-1955
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11 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book III, pp.226-300
1951-1955
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Box
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Folder
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book III, pp.301-375
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book III, pp.376-450
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book III, pp.451-525
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book III, pp.526-600
1951-1955
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Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book III, pp.570-654
1951-1955
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6 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book IV, pp.1-125 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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7 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book IV, pp.126-302 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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8 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book IV, pp.303-457 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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9 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book IV, pp.458-563 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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10 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book V, pp.1-100 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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11 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book V, pp.101-217 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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Box
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Folder
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| 11 |
1 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book V, pp.218-427 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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2 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book V, pp.428-578 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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3 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book VI, pp.16-200 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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4 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book VI, pp.200-329 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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5 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book VI, pp.330-541 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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6 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book VII, pp.6-345 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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7 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book VII, pp.346-492 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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8 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book VII, pp.493-646 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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9 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Book VII, pp.647-911 (incomplete)
1951-1955
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Box
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Folder
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| 12 |
1 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Excerpts from and notes concerning
1989-circa 1990
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2 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Excerpts from and notes concerning
1989-circa 1990
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3 |
Reminiscences of Frances Perkins: Excerpts from and notes concerning
1989-circa 1990
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4 |
Oral history interviews: lists, notes, article
1990-1994
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5 |
Oral history interview of Allan David Bloom
1992
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6 |
Oral history interview of Douglas Butler
1991
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7 |
Oral history interviews of Susanna Coggeshall (Perkins' daughter)
1990-1992
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8 |
Oral history interview of Guy Cohen
1991
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9 |
Oral history interview of Alice Hanson Cook
1991
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10 |
Oral history interview of Trude W. Lash
1990
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11 |
Oral history interview of Carol Riegelman Lubin
1991
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12 |
Oral history interview of Maurice F. Neufeld
1991
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13 |
Oral history interview of Peter A. Poole concerning his grandmother, Margaret Van Dyne Poole
1994
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14 |
Oral history interview of Gerard Denis Reilly
1991
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15 |
Oral history interview of Richard Strassberg
circa 1991
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Photographs
1990, 1992, 1995
Box
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Folder
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| 12 |
16 |
Photographs of Backes, Tomlin Coggeshall, and the house and ground at
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the Brick House, Perkins' home in Newcastle, Maine
1990, 1992, 1995
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