Miriam Usher Chrisman Papers

A noted scholar of the social impact of the German Reformation, Miriam Usher Chrisman was born in Ithaca, New York, on May 20, 1920. With degrees from Smith College, American University, and Yale, she served for over thirty years on the faculty of the Department of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, becoming a well-loved professor and treasured mentor to a generation of students.

From birth, Chrisman seemed destined for a career in academia. Chrisman's roots in the intellectual elite of Massachusetts ran deep -- an ancestor Hezekiah Usher, imported the press and type with which John Eliot's Indian Bible was printed -- and her father, Abbott Payson Usher, was a distinguished economic historian at Cornell and later Harvard. Graduating magna cum laude with an A.B. from Smith College (1941) shortly before the onset of the Second World War, Chrisman's plans for an academic career were delayed. After marrying Don Chrisman, a medical student at Harvard, on November 29, 1943, Miriam took a series of jobs with the federal government in Washington, D.C., while Don served on active duty with the Navy aboard the Gleaves-class destroyer, U.S.S. Baldwin in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

At the end of the war, the Chrismans returned home to Massachusetts and settled in Northampton, where Donald began a practice in orthopedics at Cooley Dickinson Hospital while Miriam resumed her studies. After earning graduate degrees in education (Smith College, 1948) and economics (American University), she studied history at Yale (MA,1959, and PhD, 1962), completing her dissertation, "Church and city in Strasbourg, 1480-1548: A study of the stages of the Reformation," in 1962, just prior to joining the History Department at UMass Amherst.

During her long career, Chrisman became a leading authority on the social history of the German Reformation, the city of Strasbourg forming the intellectual locus of much of her work. The first of her seven books, Strasbourg and the Reform (1967), was quickly recognized as a landmark in its field, balancing an understanding of both high and low culture with an appreciation for the impact of the Reformation on the lives of the non-elite. In later works such as Lay Culture, Learned Culture: Books and Social Change in Strasbourg, 1480-1599 (1982) and Conflicting Visions of Reform: German Lay Propaganda Pamphlets, 1519-30 (1996), Chrisman explored the impact of print culture in German cities during the early Reformation, again with an eye on social movements and the common people. An avid world traveler, her several research trips to Strasbourg influenced her life in other ways: her experiences there and in other locations abroad led her husband, Donald, to embark on a second career in archaeology upon his retirement from medicine.

Widely recognized for her scholarship, Chrisman was awarded the Prix d'honneur by the Societe des Amis de Vieux Strasbourg, the Wilbur Cross Medal from Yale University, and received an honorary doctor of humane letters from Valparaiso University. She was twice awarded the UMass Chancellor's Medal, first as a Distinguished Faculty Lecturer in 1985 and again in 2000 for her support of the Du Bois Library. In her honor, the Society for Reformation Research established the Miriam U. Chrisman Travel Fellowship, which provides grants of $1500 every other year to support advanced graduate students in conducting research abroad. Chrisman formally retired in 1985, but continued to teach for almost a decade more.

Donald Chrisman died in 2002, with Miriam following on November 17, 2008. They are survived by two sons, Nicholas Ramsey Chrisman and David Abbott Chrisman.

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The Chrisman collection details the life of an affluent, well-educated, New England woman, Miriam Usher Chrisman. Beginning in the late 1930s while Chrisman was in her late teens, the collection contains extensive personal and (to a lesser degree) professional correspondence throughout her life. Of particular note are a dense series of courtship letters written during the Second World War mixing a budding romance with information from the front lines in Europe. A series of meticulous continuous account books, beginning in 1944 and stretching through the 1990s, outline the daily aspects of wartime life, along with the complexities facing a new bride in arranging the domestic sphere of her new life.

Chrisman was unusually well-traveled, as illustrated in a copious series of notes, itineraries, and receipts from both professional and personal trips. The three major research trips to Strasbourg are particularly well documented, augmented by extensive personal correspondence during that trip with her two sons. In its most recent years, the collection focuses on Chrisman's personal life, with ample correspondence demonstrating a rich, cherished relationship with her grandchildren. Overall, Chrisman comes across as a highly organized, detail-oriented person who spent significant time planning and organizing her life.

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Series 1. Correspondence 1878-2008 73 folders (1.5 linear feet)

Series 1 contains extensive correspondence between Chrisman and the people she held close throughout her lifetime. Beginning with a letter from Donald Chrisman's mother in 1878, this series spans Miriam Chrisman's entire life, beginning during Chrisman's college years at Smith (roughly 1937 to 1941) and ending with several letters from a niece in 2008. The earliest letters detail Chrisman's daily experiences in college and her involvement with the American Friends Service Committee in Northampton.

Of particular note are the courtship, engagement, and newlywed letters between Miriam and her husband, Donald Chrisman. Not only do these letters reveal the couple's feelings for one another, they offer a glimpse into the conventions of courtship and marriage in World War Two-era America, even to the details of how they planned to arrange the furniture in their new home. Their letters after the wedding are equally interesting, written while Donald was deployed on the destroyer, U.S.S. Baldwin, off the European coast. This extensive correspondence hints at the feelings of thousands of wartime couples, and offers a perspective on censorship issues of the day -- many of Donald's letters were modified by the United States government to ensure they revealed nothing sensitive -- all while providing insight into the experiences of husband in the theatre of conflict and wife on the home front. Of special note is a Donald's long and unusually detailed letter written by Donald regarding his experiences on D-Day, outlined hour-by-hour, and a letter reflecting on Donald's experiences at Yalta.

After the war, the focus of Chrisman's correspondence returns to her educational pursuits, from discussing her fears at writing her first thesis to letters to her publisher for her second book. There is extensive correspondence with her two sons, Abbott and Nick, from their childhood days at boarding school and camp to their collegiate years and early adulthood. Also of note is Chrisman's correspondence home during three research trips to Strasbourg: rather remarkably, each trip resulted in a new book on the German Reformation. Finally, this series contains some correspondence between Don and his parents in his earlier years, including his acceptance into Harvard Medical School.

Series 2. Travel 1938-2001 23 folders

A rambling record of Chrisman's world travels, series two begins with detailed notes of museum trips around the Mediterranean in 1952, and continues for almost five decades, including a round-the-world trip in 1972, an early visit to the newly opened Peoples Republic of China in 1982, travel to Russia in 1985, and the Spice Route in 1985. The series also contains a wonderfully detailed diary of a summer-long trip to France.

The series is arranged chronologically.

Series 3. Family 1930-2008 20 folders

Series three is a somewhat scattered collection of family memorabilia from the Chrismans' lives. Several folders of postcards and Christmas cards, mostly undated, join a small number of professional and community honors, such as an award for volunteer service from the University of Massachusetts Library and newspaper clippings of Don Chrisman's achievements. The series includes an autobiography written by Don in 1935 as well as an audio cassette of Don's father's memories of post-Civil War politics in Missouri. A large portion of the series consists of home publications and artwork made by her grandchildren. One of the most fascinating items in this series is a folder of Christmas Lists, with corresponding receipts, from 1991 through 2000.

Series 4. Account books 1944-1995 43 folders

Series four consists of a continuous set of household account books from 1944 through 1985 kept by Miriam Chrisman and her husband, Don. Beginning in 1944, these accounts detail annual household budgets, rent or mortgage payments, taxes including some years' W2 forms, food, clothing, entertainment, travel, and education expenses among others. In addition to tracking daily costs, Ms. Chrisman detailed the items needed to set up a household after their marriage in extensive, meticulous lists within many of the earlier account books. She also kept detailed size, item, and cost information for both her and her husband's clothing for many years. There is limited information as well on the costs associated with operating her husband's medical practice.

As with nearly every aspect of this collection, Chrisman proves herself once again to be a highly organized, meticulous individual through the consistency and detail of these account books. As their professional lives advance, their movement into the upper middle class can be tracked by extensive line item details regarding luxury expenditures, charitable giving, and professional development costs.

Series 1. Correspondence 1878-2008 1.5 linear feet

Correspondence: Miriam Chrisman notes 1878

Correspondence: Travels in France and Spain 1927

Correspondence: Father to Miriam and Eunice 1929

Correspondence: Don Chrisman 1932

Correspondence: To Miriam 1935

Correspondence 1936

Correspondence 1937

Correspondence: Miriam to her family; AFSE 1938

Correspondence: College: Miriam and Family 1939

Correspondence 1940

Correspondence: College: Miriam and Family; Courtship 1941

Correspondence: Courtship 1942

Correspondence: Engagement 1943 January

Correspondence 1943 February

Correspondence 1943 March-April

Correspondence 1943 May-July

Correspondence: Charleston Naval Yard, Casablanca I [August-September 25], Casablanca II [October 15-November 24] 1943 August-October

Correspondence: The Wedding 1943 November- December

Correspondence 1944 January-March

Correspondence: Lead up to D-day 1944 April-May

Correspondence: D-day 1944 June

Read a transcript of Donald's letter describing D-day

Correspondence 1944 June-July

Correspondence 1944 August

Correspondence 1944 September

Correspondence 1944 October-December

Correspondence: Yalta, Washington 1945-1946

Correspondence 1948

Correspondence 1949

Correspondence 1950

Correspondence 1951-1955

Correspondence: From Father; Miriam Chrisman's professional/academic advancements 1956-1960

Correspondence 1961

Correspondence 1962

Correspondence: Abbott, Cottonwood Gulch, Pasquany, photos 1963

Correspondence: Strasbourg 1964 May-August

Correspondence 1964 September-December

Correspondence: Choate 1965

Correspondence 1966

Correspondence 1967

Correspondence 1968

Correspondence: Strasbourg 1969

Correspondence 1970 January-February

Correspondence 1970 March

Correspondence 1970 April-May

Correspondence 1970 June-August

Correspondence 1970 September-December

Correspondence 1971 January-August

Correspondence 1971 September

Correspondence 1971 October

Correspondence 1971 November-December

Correspondence 1972

Correspondence: Strasbourg 1973

Correspondence: Strasbourg 1975

Correspondence 1976

Correspondence 1977

Correspondence 1978

Correspondence 1979

Correspondence 1980

Correspondence 1981

Correspondence: Strasbourg 1983 February

Correspondence: Grandchildren 1988-1990

Correspondence 1992

Correspondence 1993

Correspondence: Abbott 1994

Correspondence 1995

Correspondence 1996

Correspondence 1997

Correspondence 1998

Correspondence 2004

Correspondence: Arlene 2005

Correspondence 2006

Correspondence 2007

Correspondence 2008

Series 2. Travel 1938-2001 23 folders

Correspondence: Don Chrisman 1938-1954

Travel: Turkey, Crete, Greece, Palermo, Naples, Paris 1952

Travel: Three Mile 1955-1958

Travel: World tour preparations 1971

Travel: World tour, part 1 1972

Travel: World tour, part 2 1972

Travel: World tour, part 3 1972

Travel: China, part 1 1982

Travel: China, part 2 1982

Travel: Russia 1985

Travel: Indonesia 1986

Travel: Spice Route 1986

Travel: Spain 1987

Travel: Pacific Northwest 1989

Travel: Strasbourg 1990

Travel: Florence 1997

Travel: Southwest 1998

Travel: Saint Barths 2000

Travel: Tucson 2001

Travel Diary: Scotland, London, Brussels, Italy

Travel Diary: France

Travel: Notes on the British Museum

Travel: Passports 1964

Series 3. Family 1930-2008 20 folders

Family: Alfred Mainzer Postcards 2006-2008

Family: Christmas Lists 1972-2000

Family: Christmas and other Cards

Family: The Chronicles of Simon De Montfort

Family: Don Chrisman in the News 1991-1996

Family: Don Chrisman's Autobiography 1935

Family: Don Chrisman's Official Matters 1942-1943

Family: Ellen Thompson Weiss: Memories of Growing up at Brushwood 1930-1937

Family: Gocky Newsletter and Letters from Lindsey

Family: Gramps Chrisman Oral History [Listen]

Family: Grandchildren, Part 1

Family: Grandchildren, Part 2

Family: Library Award 2000

Family: Nick's School in France

Family: Notes on Archiving Papers

Family: Notes for Career Day

Family: Obituary of Miriam's Father 1947

Famly: The Peasant's Alphabet

Family: Photograph Cards

Family: St. John's Church Bulletin 1992

Series 4. Account books 1944-1995 43 folders

Accounts 1944

Accounts 1945-1946

Accounts 1947

Accounts 1948

Accounts 1949

Office 1949

Accounts 1950

Accounts 1951

Accounts 1952

Accounts 1953

Accounts 1954

Accounts 1955

Accounts 1956

Accounts 1957

Accounts 1958

Accounts 1959

Accounts 1960

Accounts 1961

Accounts 1962

Accounts 1963

Accounts 1964

Accounts 1965

Accounts 1966

Accounts 1967

Accounts 1968

Accounts 1969

Accounts 1970

Accounts 1971

Accounts 1972

Accounts 1973

Accounts 1974

Accounts 1975

Accounts 1976

Accounts 1977

Accounts 1978

Accounts 1979

Accounts 1980

Accounts 1981

Accounts 1982

Accounts 1983

Accounts 1984

Accounts 1985

Account Books 1993-1995

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