This collection is made up of letters that Evelyn and Jan Thompson wrote to their family in Brookline, Massachusetts, from 1930-1936. Evelyn's letters comprise the bulk of the collection. From September 1930-July 1931, she described her travels in England, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and discussed her life in Paris, France, where she attended school. Evelyn also wrote about her experiences at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, from November 1931-May 1935, and about her daily life in Washington, D.C., from November 1935-May 1936. While in Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., Evelyn shared news of her studies, her social activities, and her work for the United States Department of Agriculture. She mentioned her intent to marry David Riesman, and some of her later correspondence contains brief references to politics, communism, and current events. Evelyn also wrote while traveling in New England and Arizona; her letter of July 8, 1935, encloses several small snapshot photographs of buildings in Rouen, France.
Jan Thompson wrote 4 letters while visiting Bermuda in the fall of 1935. She described many aspects of her travels, including a meal featuring "strange slabs of meat. hippopotamus or elephant probably" (September 20, [1935]). Her letters include ink sketches of bathers on beaches, Bermuda scenery, horse-drawn carriages, and a woman attempting to remove a large spider from a window curtain. Additional correspondence from Jan to her parents is scattered throughout the collection. The Thompson letters include postcards, official correspondence from Bryn Mawr officials, and telegrams.
Maurice de Kay Thompson and his wife, Lilian Hastings, lived with their children Janice, Evelyn Hastings, and Clare in Brookline, Massachusetts, in the early 20th century. Evelyn Hastings Thompson was born on February 14, 1912. After graduating from the Winsor School in Boston, Massachusetts, she spent a year in Paris, France. In 1931, she matriculated at Bryn Mawr College, from which she graduated in 1935. Thompson then moved to Washington, D.C., where she edited a publication of the United States Department of Agriculture. In July 1936, she married David Riesman (1909-2002), a lawyer, a college professor, and the author of The Lonely Crowd (1950). They had four children: Lucy, Jennie, Michael, and Paul. Evelyn Thompson Riesman died on February 7, 1998.
