Scope and Content Note
The papers of Dorothy Godfrey Wayman (1893-1975) reflect her career as journalist and author beginning in 1923 when she was suddenly left as the sole financial support of herself and three young sons. By the time she became a writer her legal name was Dorothy Godfrey, but she wrote professionally under the name of Dorothy G. Wayman and Theodate Geoffrey. She became Roman Catholic in 1939, and the influence of the church on her life and writings is reflected in the papers. The collection spans the years 1862-1971 and is organized in three series: Correspondence, Subject File, and Miscellany.
Wayman's relationship with her family is evident from letters in the Correspondence series, especially those from her brother, Vincent H. Godfrey, and sons John Godfrey, Charles B. Godfrey, and Richard Park Godfrey, who legally changed their name from Wayman to Godfrey to honor their mother's role in supporting and educating them. Other correspondence in this series and the Subject File and Miscellany is both personal and business in nature. There is correspondence with publishing companies concerning books and articles as well as correspondence from friends about personal matters, such as her exchange of letters with the musician Hazel Archibald Draper. Correspondence with Catholic clergy, including Cardinal Richard Cushing, Cardinal John J. Wright, and Father William H. McDougall, is well represented. Two Catholic institutions with which Wayman was particularly associated were College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she became the second woman in the college's history to be awarded an honorary degree, and St. Bonaventure University, Saint Bonaventure, N.Y. where she accepted a position as reference librarian.
Wayman's career as a reporter began with the Falmouth Enterprise, a weekly newspaper. The financial history of that publication during her association with it as a reporter and later managing editor is revealed in the Subject File. For her years on the Boston Globe and the Olean Times Herald there are numerous drafts and clippings of articles that range from the reporting of crimes in the Boston area such as the Sacco-Vanzetti case, to short history features focusing on topics such as the early inhabitants of western New York and Pennsylvania (the circulation area for the Olean Times Herald), little known facts about Abraham Lincoln, the underground railroad, and illustrations on postal stamps.
Unpublished writings in the papers include a biography of the New England industrialist Frederic Christopher Dumaine, identified with the management of the Amoskeag Mills of Manchester, New Hampshire, the Waltham Watch Company, the New England Steamship Company, the New Haven Railroad, and major banks and brokerage firms. The proposed book, along with Wayman's previous works on Dumaine's contemporaries–Edward Sylvester Morse, David I. Walsh, and Cardinal William O'Connell–was to complete a quadrilogy representing a century of Massachusetts history, economics, and sociology. The Subject File includes copies of Dumaine correspondence, research notes, card indexes, drafts, and galley proofs for the unpublished work.
In addition to Wayman's own writings, there are numerous writings and related material edited or ghostwritten by her. Included is material on Wings in the Night(Boston, Marshall Jones Co., 1938) by Willis S. Fitch; John Holmes at Annapolis,by Vincent H. Godfrey, in the Houghton Mifflin file; a doctoral dissertation on The System of Controlled Decentralization of the Catholic Church (Stanford University, 1960) by Joseph M. Hoc; a typescript of the journal of William A. Lewis, the cook aboard the Bowdoinon the Arctic expedition of Donald MacMillan in 1923; and numerous articles.
Documented in the collection is Wayman's involvement with the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom, a Catholic organization established to work for the rehabilitation of prisoners. Her participation in the work of the guild is documented in correspondence with prisoners such as Armand Kashmanian and Gregory Feodoroff and with others working in this area.
A lifelong interest in Japan and its people as well as other Asian countries, including Vietnam, can be seen in the Subject File. In addition to the file on China and Japan there is material on those countries in other files including those for Joseph M. Hoc. and Chuhei Matsuo.
Prior to her gift of papers to the Library of Congress, Wayman gave manuscripts concerning her biographies of Edward Sylvester Morse, Cardinal William O'Connell, and David I. Walsh, to the Peabody Museum at Harvard University, Catholic University, and Holy Cross College, respectively.