Anna Melissa Graves Papers
Scope and Contents
The papers of Graves consist mostly of correspondence from friends around the world. The letters, approximately half of which are from women, touch on family life in Syria, work and family conditions in China from the 1920s through the 1950s, and educational life in South America. Many of the letters describe war time and post war conditions in France and Germany. The issues of race and educational aspirations also are topics of many letters. Some of the better known correspondents include Henri Barbusse, Camille Drevet, Barthelemy (Bart) de Ligt, Carlo Sforza, Gertrude Baer, Angelica Balabanoff, Victor Gollancz, B.W. Huebsch, Hans Kohn, Rosika Schwimmer, Henrietta Szold, Frank Tannenbaum, Bertram Wolfe, Gabriela Mistral, Marie Rolland, and Bertrand Russell. Part of this correspondence has been published in four volumes: Benvenuto Cellini had no Prejudice Against Bronze; Both Deeper Than and Above the Melee; But the Twain Do Meet; and The Far East is Not Very Far. A box of correspondence was received in 2013 and added to the end of the collection.
Dates
- Creation: 1919-1953
Creator
- Addams, Jane, 1860-1935 (Correspondent, Person)
- Albizu Campos, Pedro, 1891-1965 (Correspondent, Person)
- Angell, Norman, 1874-1967 (Correspondent, Person)
- Balabanoff, Angelica, 1878-1965 (Correspondent, Person)
- Balch, Emily Greene, 1867-1961 (Correspondent, Person)
- Brockway, Fenner, 1888-1988 (Correspondent, Person)
- Brown, A. Barratt (Correspondent, Person)
- Buck, Pearl S. (Pearl Sydenstricker), 1892-1973 (Correspondent, Person)
- Catt, Carrie Chapman, 1859-1947 (Correspondent, Person)
- Clark, Roderic Kendall (Correspondent, Person)
- Cunard, Nancy, 1896-1965 (Correspondent, Person)
- Drevet, Camille (Correspondent, Person)
- Goicochea, E. J. (Correspondent, Person)
- Grimes, Louis Arthur, 1883- (Correspondent, Person)
- Hartmann, George W. (George Wilfried), 1904-1955 (Correspondent, Person)
- Holmes, John Haynes, 1879-1964 (Correspondent, Person)
- Kaufman, Abraham (Correspondent, Person)
- Kohn, Hans, 1891-1971 (Correspondent, Person)
- Lévy, Blancy (Correspondent, Person)
- Ligt, Bart de, 1883-1938 (Correspondent, Person)
- Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis), 1880-1956 (Correspondent, Person)
- Morgan, Angela (Correspondent, Person)
- Nearing, Scott, 1883-1983 (Correspondent, Person)
- Reynolds, Reginald, 1905-1958 (Correspondent, Person)
- Romero James, Concha (Correspondent, Person)
- Royden, A. Maude (Agnes Maude), 1876-1956 (Correspondent, Person)
- Russell, Bertrand, 1872-1970 (Correspondent, Person)
- Sánchez, Luis Alberto, 1900-1994 (Correspondent, Person)
- Sidgwick, Ethel, 1877-1970 (Correspondent, Person)
- Thomas, Evan W. (Evan Welling), 1890-1974 (Correspondent, Person)
- Thomas, Norman, 1884-1968 (Correspondent, Person)
- Vasconcellos, J. Leite de (José Leite), 1858-1941 (Correspondent, Person)
- Wolfe, Bertram David, 1896-1977 (Correspondent, Person)
- Woods, Amy (Correspondent, Person)
Language of Materials
Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Physical Access Note
All or part of this collection is stored off-site. Contact Swarthmore College Peace Collection staff at peacecollection@swarthmore.edu at least two weeks in advance of visit to request boxes.
Conditions Governing Use
None.
Biographical Note
Anna Melissa Graves (1875-1964), was a writer, teacher, world traveler, and internationalist. From the 1920s to the 1940s Graves traveled through Africa, Central and South America, China, Europe, and the Middle East. She taught school in many of these places and maintained a voluminous correspondence with the teachers, acquaintances, and former students she met on her travels. Graves was an active member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. While living in Geneva she acted as a consultative member for the WILPF on the League of Nations Liberia Commission. This Commission attempted to settle the dispute between the Liberian government and the Firestone Rubber Company. Interested in promoting understanding between peoples of different countries, Graves published four collections of the correspondence she received from all over the world. The issue of racial and ethnic prejudice was an important one for Graves and her books reflect this concern.
Extent
8.5 linear ft. (8.5 linear ft.)
Abstract
Anna Melissa Graves was a writer, teacher, world traveler, and internationalist. From the 1920s to the 1940s Graves traveled through Africa, Central and South America, China, Europe, and the Middle East. She taught school in many of these places and maintained a voluminous correspondence with the teachers, acquaintances, and former students she met on her travels.
Other Finding Aids
For the catalog record for this collection and to find materials on similar topics, search the library's online catalog.
Custodial History
The Swarthmore College Peace Collection is the official repository for these papers.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Anna Melissa Graves, 1942-1945, 1953; accession 2013-065.
Existence and Location of Copies
This collection is available on microfilm (reels 74.1-74.14). Microfilm is available on-site by appointment and through interlibrary loan from the Swarthmore College Peace Collection.
Separated Materials
Books removed to the Book Collection
Bibliographic References
Bibliographic References
Legal Status
Copyright may have been transferred to the Swarthmore College Peace Collection or may have been retained by the creators/authors (or their descendents), in this collection, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Please contact the SCPC Curator for further information.
Processing Information
Processed by SCPC staff; finding aid updated by Wendy E. Chmielewski, July 2012; edited by Anne M. Yoder, Archivist, March 2016.
Source
- Graves, Anna Melissa, 1875-1964 (Person)
Subject
- Baer, Gertrude (Person)
- Barbusse, Henri, 1873-1935 (Person)
- Huebsch, B. W. (Benjamin W.), 1876-1964 (Person)
- Rolland, Marie Romain (Person)
- Schwimmer, Rosika, 1877-1948 (Person)
- Sforza, Carlo, conte, 1872-1952 (Person)
- Graves, Anna Melissa, 1875-1964 (Person)
- Haya de la Torre, Víctor Raúl, 1895-1979 (Person)
- Partido Aprista Peruano (Organization)
Geographic
Topical
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2018: The file list was standardized in Summer 2017 by Mary Olesnavich in preparation for importing into ArchivesSpace. Tessa Chambers added the notes in Fall 2017.
Find It at the Library
Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting repoductions from Swarthmore College Peace Collection Library
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Swarthmore 19081-1399 USA US
610-328-8557
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