Dorothy North Haskins papers, 1905-1958

The Dorothy North Haskins papers house the correspondence and other materials of Dorothy North Haskins, Bryn Mawr class of 1909. The papers span the years 1905 to 1958, but the bulk of the material is from 1917 to 1923. The papers document Haskins' career as a relief worker in France, Austria, and Russia.

The collection is organized into two series: “Series I: Correspondence” and “Series II: Other Papers.”

“Series I: Correspondence” is organized into three subseries: “Outgoing, 1918-1923,” “Incoming, 1911-1950,” and “Third Party, 1914-1922.” Each subseries is arranged alphabetically. The majority of the outgoing letters are to Haskins' mother, Elizabeth Holmes North, covering the years 1919 to 1923. The second largest group of letters is to Haskins' sister, Helen Brigham North, and span 1918 to 1920. There is a small group of letters from the same time period that are addressed to other relief workers who were also Haskins' friends. Haskins' letters contain detailed descriptions of her daily relief work in France, Austria, and Russia, where she distributed food and clothing, among other activities. The incoming letters are from Haskins' friends and colleagues, describing their own work and keeping her informed about their activities. This subseries includes a number of letters from Jane Addams, who had supervised Haskins' work at Hull House; Addams thanks Haskins for her continuing support of Hull House and commends her on her relief work. The Third Party letters include a letter from Addams to Haskins' mother, Elizabeth Holmes North, regarding the Chicago Woman's Club; a few letters to North regarding Haskins' trip to Russia; and several letters, some transcripts, between Haskins' colleagues. See M.A. thesis by Judith Regueiro, "The Papers of Dorothy North: Famine Relief in Russia" (1985), for description and transcription of some letters focusing on travel to Russia.

“Series II: Other Papers” is organized into five subseries: “Accounts, Reports, and Articles, 1918-1958;” “Journals of Dorothy North Haskins, 1905-1924;” “Journal of Elizabeth Holmes North;” “Photographs, 1917-1930;” and “Other Materials, 1910-1948.” The first subseries consists of accounts, reports, and articles written by Haskins and by her colleagues about their relief work. Many of the writings were meant for publicity purposes in order to solicit funds for further relief work by the American Friends Service Committee. Some are internal notes and reports. The second subseries contains Haskins' journals from 1905 to 1924. The journals vary from commonplace books to detailed descriptions to line-a-day entries. The third subseries contains a journal by Haskins' mother, Elizabeth Holmes North, from 1915 to 1922, which consists of a few lines of notes for each day that is entered, although not all days are represented. The photographs consist of snapshots, presumably by Haskins, of scenes and people in France, Austria, and Russia, from 1917 to 1923. In addition, there are snapshots of Haskins herself, spanning the years from 1917 to the 1950s. There are also two studio portraits that belonged to Haskins' friend, Olive M. Lesley, one of historian Charles Guignebert and one of pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski. Also in this series are other materials collected by Haskins, such as her 1934 certificate of marriage, materials regarding the North Family cemetery plot, and three pins from the Foreign Service and the American Red Cross, among other items.

The American Friends Service Committee was founded in Haverford, PA in 1917 to provide relief to civilian victims of World War I. Dorothy North Haskins was part of the AFSC from the start, beginning her work in the summer of 1917. This collection provides insight into Haskins’ relief work and would be of value to anyone interested in WWI history, Quaker relief efforts, and the AFSC in particular.