Grace de Laguna papers

The Grace de Laguna papers house the personal material, correspondence, and book materials of Grace de Laguna, philosophy professor at Bryn Mawr and mother of renowned anthropologist, Frederica de Laguna. The collection, which dates from 1899 to 1969, holds biographical information, family history, correspondence, reprints, and typescripts.

The collection is composed of nine series: “Series I: Personal Material,” “Series II: Professional Correspondence,” “Series III: Personal Correspondence;” “Series IVa: Correspondence Between Grace and Theodore;” “Series IVb: Correspondence Between Grace and Theodore;” “Series V: Sabbatical Letters;” “Series VI: Reprints;” “Series VII: Typescripts and Professional Papers (1);” “Series VIII: Typescripts and Professional Papers (2);” “Series IX: Typescript/Loose Manuscript.”

“Series I: Personal Material” includes biographical information, family history, and documents from de Laguna’s time at Bryn Mawr. “Series II: Professional Correspondence” is comprised of de Laguna’s professional correspondence with a wide variety of correspondents. “Series III: Personal Correspondence” consists of general personal correspondence, correspondence with Jose Ferrater-Mora, and de Laguna’s four letters on death. “Series IVa: Correspondence Between Grace and Theodore” consists of correspondence between de Laguna, and her husband, Theodore de Laguna, from April 1905-September 1905. “Series IVb: Correspondence Between Grace and Theodore” consists of correspondence between de Laguna and Theodore from June 1906-June 1907. It also holds the de Laguna’s marriage certificate from September 9th, 1905, and letters of congratulations received by the de Lagunas from April-September 1905. “Series V: Sabbatical Letters” consists of letters written by de Laguna to her mother and father between the spring of 1914 and the fall of 1915 while Grace spent a year’s sabbatical in Europe with her husband Theodore and her children Wallace and Frederica. The series also includes some newspaper clippings. “Series VI: Reprints: contains reprints of N.R. Hansen and de Laguna herself. Both “Series VII: Typescripts and Professional Papers (1) and “Series VII: Typescripts and Professional Papers (2)” include hard copies of de Laguna’s articles. “Series IX: Typescript/Loose Manuscript” contains a manuscript of “The Individual and the Person.”

As president of the American Philosophical Association and founder and president of the Fullerton club, Grace de Laguna was an outspoken voice in the field of philosophy during the first half the twentieth century. Especially notable in this collection are de Laguna’s letters on death and her sabbatical correspondence written from Europe during World War I. The collection would be of interest to those interested in philosophy, early twentieth century history, and the work of Grace de Laguna.