Arthur H. and Esther Willits Thomas Correspondence, 1888-1945

Series I consists of Arthur H. Thomas’ letters to Esther E. Willits from 1891 to 1899 about daily life, his work, and their courtship and marriage. Many of his 1893 letters concern the Chicago Columbian Exposition. Series II is Esther Willits Thomas’ letters to Arthur H. Thomas. The bulk of these letters are from 1891 to 1899, and they are about work, school, friends, and courtship and marriage. This series also contains letters from the summers of 1918, and 1924 through 1927, which Esther Thomas spent in in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The letters are about domestic life. Series III is made up of other Arthur H. Thomas correspondence. Series III, subseries I consists of both sides of Arthur H. Thomas and Joseph E. Trimble’s 1891 to 1896 correspondence. Trimble was Thomas’ cousin, and the letters concern mutual friends and family, as well as Trimble’s ill health. This subseries also includes two letters from Esther Willits to Joseph Trimble about Westtown alumni business. Series III, subseries II includes other Arthur H. Thomas correspondence. Series IV consists of other Esther Willits Thomas correspondence. Notable correspondents include J. Henry Bartlett, Esther Thomas’ cousin, who wrote about family news, and Christopher Morley, who wrote about burying Esther Thomas’ parents in the Haverford Friends Meeting Burial Ground. Series V contains other materials, such as invitations to weddings (Quaker and non-Quaker), parties, and commencements for the Thomases. Series V also includes a few early twentieth century annual reports for the Association for Promoting College Education for Women, and the notes of the Temporary Advisory Committee of the Educational Committee from 1912 to 1920.