Anna E. Dickinson Papers
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (1842-1932) span the period 1859-1951, but are chiefly concentrated in the years 1859-1911. The collection consists of Family Correspondence, General Correspondence, Speeches and Writings File, Legal File, and a Miscellany series including financial papers, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and research notes of Giraud Chester, Dickinson's biographer. There are also a small Addition and an Oversize series.
Anna Dickinson's papers treat all aspects of her life and include correspondence with the men and women of her circle throughout the country. Although Dickinson did not make copies of most of her letters, she obtained many of the letters she wrote while on national lecture tours to Mary Dickinson, her mother, and Susan Dickinson, her journalist sister. The correspondence described her travel itineraries, her impressions, and her joys and misgivings. They show the reactions of a person whose plays and performances, including A Crown of Thorns and The Test of Honor , were not well received. By 1900 she was estranged from her sister Susan, formerly her closest friend and housemate, and had outlived most of her associates. As recorded in the legal file and in her scrapbooks, she intiated several lawsuits between 1895 and 1901 as a result of her confinement at the State Hospital for the Insane in Danville, Pennsylvania. Other topics include the elections of 1872 and 1888, the Republican Party, psychiatric hospital and her confinement to the State Hospital for the Insane, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and education.
The Speeches and Writings File, contains several of Dickinson's earliest speeches and stage manuscripts. Those not present are often documented by newspaper clippings and scrapbooks. A notebook in the Legal File records her experiences at the State Hospital for the Insane. Only obituaries and a few financial papers relate to her final two decades.
Correspondents include William B. Allison, Susan B. Anthony, Samuel Bowles, Noah Brooks, Benjamin F. Butler, Fanny Davenport, Frederick Douglass, Ellen Everett, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Wendell Phillips, Samuel C. Pomeroy, Whitelaw Reid, Carl Schurz, Theodore Tilton, Mark Twain, Charles Dudley Warner, and John Greenleaf Whittier.
Dates
- Creation: 1859-1951
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1859-1911
Language of Materials
Collection material in English
Access and Restrictions
The papers of Anna E. Dickinson are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Anna E. Dickinson is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
Biographical Note
Biographical Note
- 1842, Oct. 28
- Born, Philadelphia, Pa.
- 1859 - 1860
- Taught school
- 1861
- Delivered her first full-length lecture, Concert Hall, Philadelphia, Pa..
- Employee, United States Mint, Philadelphia, Pa.
- 1862
- Spoke in New England at invitation of William Lloyd Garrison
- 1863
- Campaigned for the Republican Party in Middle Atlantic states and New England
- 1865 - 1875
- National lyceum movement lecturer
- 1868
- Published What Answer? (Boston: Ticknor and Fields. 301pp.)
- 1869
- Traveled to California on the transcontinental railroad
- 1872
- Campaigned for Horace Greeley for president
- 1876
- Debut at New Globe Theatre, Boston, Mass.
- 1879
- Published A Ragged Register of People, Places and Opinions (New York: Harper & Brothers. 286pp.)
- 1888
- Campaigned for the Republican Party in the Midwest
- 1891
- Committed to State Hospital for the Insane, Danville, Pa.
- 1895 - 1901
- Waged libel suits against authorities responsible for her commitment to a hospital for the insane
- 1895 - 1932
- Lived with George and Sallie Ackley, Goshen, N.Y.
- 1932, Oct. 22
- Died, Goshen, N.Y.
Extent
10,000 items
29 containers
2 oversize
12.4 linear feet
25 microfilm reels
Abstract
Lecturer, reformer, actor, and author. Correspondence, speeches, writings, plays, legal files, financial papers, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and printed material relating to Dickinson's activities on behalf of abolition and women's rights and suffrage and to her career in the theater.
Organization of the Papers
The collection is arranged in seven series:
Catalog Record
Acquisition Information
The papers of Anna E. Dickinson, lecturer, reformer, actor, and author, were given to the Library of Congress in 1933 by Dickinson's estate. Additions to the papers were given in 1955 by Giraud Chester and by an unidentified donor, 1955-1958. A gift from James Harvey Young was received in 1984 and 2004.
Microfilm
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on twenty-five reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition as available.
Online Content
The Anna E. Dickinson Papers are available on the Library of Congress website at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000081. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the online edition as available. A transcription dataset from the Anna E. Dickinson Papers is available online at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/gdcdatasets.2023527888.
Transfers
Some photographic prints and negatives have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress where they are identified as part of these papers.
Processing History
The papers of Anna E. Dickinson were processed in 1979 by Allan Teichroew and additions were incorporated in 1985 by David Mathisen and 2011 by Patrick Kerwin, Lia Apodaca, and Tammi L. Taylor. When the collection was rehoused in 2003, the organization of the material remained unchanged. Although the finding aid and container list were revised to indicate the current container numbers, the numbers noted in the microfilm edition reflect the original housing. The finding aid was updated in 2024 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
Source
- Dickinson, Anna E. (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932 (Creator, Person)
Subject
- Allison, William B. (William Boyd), 1829-1908--Correspondence. (Person)
- Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906--Correspondence. (Person)
- Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887--Correspondence. (Person)
- Bowles, Samuel, 1826-1878--Correspondence. (Person)
- Brooks, Noah, 1830-1903--Correspondence. (Person)
- Butler, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1818-1893--Correspondence. (Person)
- Chester, Giraud, 1922- Embattled maiden; the life of Anna Dickinson. 1951. (Person)
- Davenport, Fanny, 1850-1898--Correspondence. (Person)
- Dickinson family--Correspondence. (Family)
- Dickinson, Anna E. (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932. (Person)
- Dickinson, Mary--Correspondence. (Person)
- Dickinson, Susan--Correspondence. (Person)
- Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895--Correspondence. (Person)
- Everett, Ellen--Correspondence. (Person)
- Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879--Correspondence. (Person)
- Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872. (Person)
- Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 1823-1911--Correspondence. (Person)
- Hooker, Isabella Beecher, 1822-1907--Correspondence. (Person)
- Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884--Correspondence. (Person)
- Pomeroy, S. C. (Samuel Clarke), 1816-1891--Correspondence. (Person)
- Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912--Correspondence. (Person)
- Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906--Correspondence. (Person)
- Tilton, Theodore, 1835-1907--Correspondence. (Person)
- Twain, Mark, 1835-1910--Correspondence. (Person)
- Warner, Charles Dudley, 1829-1900--Correspondence. (Person)
- Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892--Correspondence. (Person)
- Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) (Organization)
- State Hospital for the Insane (Danville, Pa.) (Organization)
Geographic
Occupation
Topical
- Antislavery movements--United States.
- Education--United States.
- Elections--United States--1872.
- Elections--United States--1888.
- Mentally ill--Commitment and detention--United States.
- Presidents--United States--Election--1872.
- Presidents--United States--Election--1888.
- Psychiatric hospitals--Pennsylvania--Danville.
- Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
- Slavery--United States.
- Theater--United States.
- Women's rights--United States.
- Women--Suffrage--United States.
Uniform Title
- Title
- Anna E. Dickinson Papers
- Subtitle
- A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress
- Author
- Prepared by Manuscript Division staff
- Date
- 2024
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Part of the Manuscript Division Repository
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