Collections

This collection contains incoming correspondence and other items related to Elsie F. Weil of Chicago, Illinois, and New York City, including many passionate letters from Weil's close friend Gertrude Emerson, who wrote about her foreign travels, life in New York City, and her deep bond with Elsie. Other friends and, to a lesser extent, family members, wrote to Elsie about their daily and social lives in New York City, Chicago, and Boston. Additional materials include two of Elsie's diaries, articles written by Elsie F. Weil and Gertrude Emerson, and ephemera.

This collection (1.5 linear feet) contains incoming correspondence and other items related to Elsie F. Weil of Chicago, Illinois, and New York City, including many letters from Weil's close friend and fellow writer Gertrude Emerson. Other friends and family members wrote to Elsie about their daily and social lives in New York City, Chicago, and Boston. Additional materials include two of Elsie's diaries, articles written by Elsie F. Weil and Gertrude Emerson, and ephemera.

The bulk of the collection is comprised of Elsie F. Weil's incoming correspondence. The first group of items consists of letters that Elsie's father Jacob, brother Leo, and mother Pauline sent to her from 1897-1907. Jacob and Leo Weil offered advice, and Pauline Weil provided family news from Chicago while Elsie lived in Lafayette, Indiana, around 1904. In 1913, Elsie received letters about her career as a writer, often mentioning specific articles. Additional professional correspondence appears throughout the collection.

Gertrude Emerson began writing to Elsie Weil in January 1914, and remained Weil's primary correspondent through the early 1920s. Her early letters pertain to her life in Winnetka, Illinois, where she taught at the Girton School. Emerson encouraged Weil to pursue a career in writing, discussed her own work, and shared news of her family. In the spring of 1914, she described a trip to New York City. During their periods of separation, Emerson expressed her desire to reunite with Weil and proposed plans for their shared future. Her letters include passionate declarations of her love for Weil and her devotion to their friendship, and she often referred to her desire to hold Weil, offering a birthday kiss in her letter postmarked April 26, 1915. She also spoke of her wish to travel around the world, though her mother prohibited transatlantic travel in 1915 on account of the growing threat from German submarines ([May 7, 1915]).

Weil and Emerson traveled together to Korea, Japan, and China in 1915 and 1916, and the collection includes a series of typed letters that Weil addressed to an unspecified group in early 1916. She described their travels between locations, shared observations about local cultures, and reported on their daily activities. A newspaper article about their trip, printed in Japanese, is filed in with the correspondence (December 15, 1915, 3 copies). Weil later received letters and postcards from acquaintances in Asia, particularly in late 1916. Gino Merchiorri, a soldier, wrote two letters to Weil about his experiences in the United States Army during World War I.

Gertrude Emerson moved to New York City in late 1916 after being hired by Asia magazine, and often wrote to Weil, who remained in Chicago, about her life there. She commented on her social life and her friends, who included the writer Ernestine Evans and the naturalist William Beebe. In 1919, she traveled to British Guiana (present-day Guyana), stopping shortly, mid-voyage in the Virgin Islands and Barbados. Before her arrival in South America, she described her sea travel and the Caribbean cities and islands she visited. While in Guyana, Emerson described the scenery and everyday life, particularly with regard to Indian "coolie" workers and their culture. After her return to New York City that fall, she discussed her social life, Elsie's articles for Asia, and their shared New York apartment.

Emerson wrote another series of travel letters while visiting Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and India in 1920 and Mexico in 1924. While in India, she met with Mohandas Gandhi and commented on Indian politics. Though she consistently voiced her love for Weil throughout her correspondence, other topics came to dominate her correspondence. By the mid-1920s, Emerson had fallen in love with a man named Kim, whom she considered marrying. Some of her later letters, including several undated items, are written on long sheets of thin, illustrated paper. Other illustrated items include a brief typed essay with a watercolor depiction of a Flemish portrait (enclosed with her letter of February 9, 1914) and a sketch of the view outside of her window in Winnetka (undated).

Elsie Weil received smaller groups of letters from other friends from the mid-1910s to mid-1920s, including Rose Wilder Lane, who described her life in Mansfield, Missouri, in the late summer and early fall of 1919. She shared her fondness for the scenery of the Ozarks, discussed her career as a writer, and told anecdotes about her experiences. She later wrote about travels in Europe and her life in Paris, France, where she briefly described international relations between the Allied powers just after World War I. She also commented on female involvement in political issues. Blix Leonard of Boston, Massachusetts, and Elmer Stanley Hader of New York City frequently illustrated their letters; some of their sketches and drawings are humorous and cartoonish. Weil also corresponded with Kenneth Durant and Ernestine Evans. Some of Weil's New York correspondents expressed their support for the Bolshevik Revolution in 1919.

The collection includes 3 diaries. The first, which has the title "My Trip Abroad" and "Elsie F. Weil" stamped in gold on its front cover, was intended for use during a trip abroad; Weil used it only to record the name of her ship, the SS Manchuria, and the date of her departure, September 19, 1922. The other two diaries contain brief entries respecting Weil's daily activities for 1920 and 1925, with some significant gaps between entries. These diaries often refer to Weil's social acquaintances, including Gertrude Emerson, "Rose," and others.

The collection's 6 photographic prints include 3 views of Gertrude Emerson on horseback and 1 of Emerson posing outdoors. The other pictures show an unidentified man posing outdoors in a suit and a Buddha statue in a Tokyo temple.

Additional items include magazine and newspaper articles by Gertrude Emerson, Elsie F. Weil, and Ernestine Evans, largely concerning travel to Asia; instructions related to creating flower arrangements; and unused bookplates belonging to Elsie F. Weil, bearing an Asian-style illustration of boats on water. Other visual materials include picture postcards from East Asian countries and a series of postcards from Wisconsin. The final items are a Christmas card and an advertisement once inserted in a newspaper.

The Henry Alverson Franck papers document the life and writings of Franck, a prolific travel writer and "self-proclaimed vagabond," and his wife Rachel Latta Franck. Both Henry and Rachel Franck wrote extensively about their travels around the world, and both published several books cataloging their journeys. The collection spans 1899-1986 contains correspondence, manuscripts, drafts, lectures, journals, diaries, photographs, negatives, slides, postcards, scrapbooks, and other ephemera related to their travels and writing projects. There are also two folders of material from the Franck's daughter Katherine Franck Huettner.

The collection is divided into 16 series: Correspondence; Manuscripts and Drafts; Lectures, Talks, and Tours; Harry Alverson Franck; Rachel Latta Franck; Katherine Franck Huettner; Journals, Diaries, and Datebooks; Photographs; Negatives; Slides; Photograph Albums; Family Photograph Albums; Postcards; Ephemera; Clippings; and Scrapbooks. Researchers should note that the Franck's published books are cataloged separately.

The Correspondence series consists of 2 linear feet of material sorted by year and date, as well as other subseries by sender. Most of the correspondence is comprised of outgoing letters written by Rachel to members of her family, including Rachel's parents, her brother William Latta Jr., her sisters Katherine and Mary, and her former governess Aunt Gerty. Rachel's oldest sister, Margaret, kept all letters that she received and those are therefore not part of the collection. Rachel burned all of the letters she and Harry had written to each other during World War I. Other correspondents include Alfred Brown (Century Co.), Schuyler Jones, Edward Risley, José Nasr, Nehmé Simon, Elias Awad, and others. Occasionally, incoming correspondence can be found on the reverse of outgoing letters, which the Francks most likely did to conserve paper. There are some unidentified envelops, which do not have corresponding letters.

There are also letter concerning lectures and invitations/honorary memberships to travel organizations for Franck. Some photographs are included in the correspondence although not all have a letter to go along with them. 1931-some letters are from Romania and in the respective language. There are also photocopies of letters from the Franck children to their grandfather.

Certain correspondence was separated by the Francks. These letters have been filed into separate folders by correspondent. Frank Daughtry was interested in writing about HAF. The Harts were family friends from Guyana. Stan Hutton was also interested in writing about HAF. Hayes Perkins was a wild animal keeper from Hearst's San Simeon. Jack Townsend was a World War I ambulance driver and later became an Anglican Bishop. Guy de Villepion was a champion swimmer. His correspondence includes a book inscribed to HAF, some letters and postcards, and photographs. Finally, Yale in China was an organization making a film series on China and asked RLF for permission to use some of HAF's slides. Nancy Roth Remington exchanged most of the letters with RLF in 1975-1977. The project was not completed to the Franck family's knowledge.

Manuscripts and Drafts: There are manuscript materials from both HAF and RLF. The HAF materials include articles, books, notes and ideas, lectures, letters, and a category titled "Other" that includes his thesis, which was published by the Chicago Tribune in 1903. Some of the materials have been published, but most have not. The RLF materials include books, articles, plays, short stories, and fragments.

Articles: The collection includes both published and unpublished articles.

Books: There are multiple drafts for some books. Correspondence for the books can be double-sided with multiple dates and has been placed with the book instead of with the correspondence series. The book "Down with Africa" has two versions, one by HAF and one that was being worked on with RLF—neither were finished.

Notes and Ideas: This section includes bits and pieces, unfinished works, and some materials.

Other: "Wandering unskilled laborers..." was his thesis, which was published afterward by Chicago Tribune for $15.00.

Lectures, Talks, and Tours: The lectures are mostly from cruises done after the second World War. This series includes some drafts of the lectures, slide lists, and programs for the cruises.

Harry Alverson Franck: This series contains copyright information, financial papers, and military papers of HAF. Of interest is HAF's military ID card in passes folder which has the wrong date of birth.

Rachel Latta Franck: This series holds her manuscripts and drafts as well as some financial information. Her autobiography had a packet of materials, mostly letters, which she had complied. Some of these are duplicated in photocopies folders of the correspondence section. The order of the correspondence has been kept intact. Other memorabilia has been placed at the end of the series. There are some journal pages interspersed.

Katherine Franck Huettner: This series contains a manuscript written by KFH. Included in the folder of Notes on the Family is one page titled "Pat's Diary --- New Hope to Amarillo, 1943" There are also copies of letters concerning the Somerset Maugham case with an explanation.

Journals, Diaries, and Datebooks – These are sorted chronologically. The South American are separated and numbered according to HAF's schema. Unfortunately, #65 is stuck to #32, 33, and 34—which are also stuck together.

Photographs: Many of the loose photographs are album duplicates. Those that were specifically labeled as such remained separated. Folders were created based on labels handwritten onto small packages of photographs. The photographs are sorted by geographical location, books and articles, World War I, family and friends, and other photographers.

Slides: 1001 Glass slides, 5 aluminum boxes of 35mm slides. All glass slides were organized and labeled by the Francks, an order which we have kept intact. Also included with this slides is a slide projector. The box for projector also holds two smaller boxes of slides which are assumed to be from the Alaska trip.

Negatives: 13,399 (composed of sheet negatives, roll films, and glass negatives) Some of these are nitrate negatives, and are stored in a climate-controlled unit at Buhr in the Conservation Department. Of the total number of slides, 1,538 are in poor condition. Most of these were taken in China or South America.

Postcards: There are over 200 postcards sorted geographically and topically. Only blank postcards are included in postcard series, those with writing/postmarks are placed chronologically within correspondence.

Ephemera: The ephemera is sorted chronologically and includes announcements and invitations, awards, menus and other ship ephemera, passes and tickets, receipts, and other. The Other category includes a variety of different materials ranging from cards to paper pennants, most of which are souvenir materials from the different countries.

Clippings: The clippings are sorted chronologically and include one review in rhyme by HAF, some articles written by HAF, and some articles in foreign language. Most are about books, lectures, HAF, RLF, and the family. One scrapbook of clippings was donated disbound which has been kept together instead of interfiling.

Scrapbooks: The scrapbooks contain various pieces of ephemera such as clippings, transportation tickets, posters, notices, etc.

Photographs and negatives in boxes 9-11 and 24-28 and glass slides in boxes 12-22. Box 23 contains a slide projector. Printed material in boxes 2 and 29 (published books have been cataloged separately).

This collection is made up of approximately 160 items related to the Hillard family and Low family of New York and Boston, including correspondence, documents, photographs, poetry, ephemera, and pamphlets. Family members wrote around one-third of the approximately 110 letters and typescripts, as well as 35 pages from a letter book, while living and working in China in the mid-1800s. Other letters and additional materials concern the families' social and business lives in New York and Massachusetts throughout the 19th century. The families were related by marriage.

This collection contains approximately 155 items related to the Hillard family and Low family of New York and Boston, including correspondence, documents, photographs, poetry, ephemera, and pamphlets. Family members wrote around one-third of the approximately 110 letters and typescripts, as well as 35 pages from a letter book, while living and working in China in the mid-1800s. Other letters and additional material concern the families' social and business lives in New York and Massachusetts throughout the 19th century. The families were related by marriage.

The Correspondence series contains the following subseries: Manuscript Correspondence, Edward Low Letter Book, and Low Family Typescripts.

The Manuscript Correspondence subseries contains around 100 items related to the Hillard and Low families. "Caroline," a friend of Harriet Low, wrote letters to Harriet in New York City from Macau, China, in 1834 and 1835. Caroline commented on aspects of her life abroad, such as William Napier's arrival from Great Britain and the difficulty of having goods shipped from the United States. Other early correspondence includes personal letters between members of the Low family, who often wrote from Boston about family news and their social lives.

Francis (Frank) A. Hillard wrote 25 letters to his parents and siblings between June 1844 and July 1846, including 2 while traveling onboard the ship Honqua and 23 while living in Canton (now Guangzhou) and Macau, China. He described many aspects of his everyday life and of his career as a merchant, and provided detailed accounts of scenery, people, customs, and local news. He also commented on his experiences as a foreigner living abroad. After returning to the United States and settling in Brooklyn, New York, he corresponded with his brother Oliver, to whom he wrote approximately 30 letters between 1847 and 1853. Frank discussed his mercantile career and social life, which included interactions with members of the Delano family. The bulk of the correspondence ends in 1853.

Abiel Abbot Low wrote 4 letters to his wife Ellen on June 12, 1841, and from June 28, 1845-August 21, 1845. In his first letter, he described his travels in northern New York along the Erie Canal. Low's letter of June 28, 1845, pertains to his transatlantic voyage to Manchester, England, on the Great Western: he discussed his fellow passengers, his leisure activities on the ship, and his reunion with his sister Harriet and her children. The final 2 items (August 16, 1845, and August 21, 1845) concern Low's life in New York City after his return from England; he provided news of acquaintances and briefly mentioned the possibility of war with Mexico.

The subseries contains a letter Frank received from his brother Oliver, who provided news of United States politics (June 9, 1846), a letter from a girl named Hattie to her mother that mentions a sermon by a "Mr. Longfellow" [1864?], and a letter and membership card from the New York State Woman Suffrage Association sent to Mary Loines (September 21, 1895).

The Edward Low Letter Book is comprised of 35-pages of retained copies of letters that Low wrote to various family members, including William Henry and Abiel Abbot, while living in Macau, China, from May to September 1842. He discussed his life and work in China, as well as the Chinese economy and current events.

A group of Low Family Typescripts contains 12 letters exchanged by members of the Low family between 1829 and 1841, accompanied by a table of contents and a letter about the original material, dated 1935. The location of the original letters is unknown. Harriett Low wrote the first 9 letters between 1829 and 1834, while traveling in the Pacific and living in Macau, China. She told her mother and sister of her life onboard steamships and about her loneliness, caused by separation from her family in the United States. The remaining 11 letters include items by Frank and William Henry Low concerning their travels to China and around the Pacific region. They also commented on financial affairs.

The Documents series has 2 subseries: Legal and Financial Documents (5 items) and Passports (2 items). Included are an indenture between John Hillard, Harriet Low, and Seth Low (November 1, 1836); 4 receipts (August 1894-March 9, 1896, and undated); and passports for John Hillard (1842) and George Stillman Hillard (1859). Each passport is housed in a leather wallet.

The Photographs series contains 3 cartes-de-visite of Samuel Stillman and Rebecca Allen Stillman, as well as 3 card photographs of George Stillman Hillard.

Poetry and Other Writings (10 items) are comprised of 3 small poems, including one Francis A. Hillard wrote for his brother Oliver; 1 long poem entitled "The Tale" (27 pages); a preface and notes concerning the preparation of a work on the Low family papers; 3 loose pages and 1 packet of notes; and a 2-page prose draft.

The Genealogy series holds a 25-page document with genealogical information about the Hillard family and associated families.

Printed Items are divided into 3 subseries. Printed Ephemera (4 items) includes an illustrated envelope for the company Fritz and Dean, a business card for John B. Hillard, an image of George S. Hillard, and a bookplate for items bequeathed to the Massachusetts Historical Society by James Savage. The Currency (13 items) was all issued in North America between 1770 and 1780. Three of the four published Pamphlets were written by George Stillman Hillard between 1843 and 1852. The final pamphlet is a copy of "A Clipper Ship and Her Commander" (1924).

The papers contains letters, maps, travel books, a scrapbook, a journal, and a certificate.

Reuben H. Morley Collection, 1898-1905, and undated (.75 cubic foot in 2 boxes) contains letters, maps, travel books, a scrapbook, a journal, and a certificate. The papers are organized by size and alphabetically. Materials are in English, Spanish, Tagalog, German, and Chinese. Most of the collection consists of letters by Reuben Morley, written while he was in the Philippians. These letters mostly relate to Morley’s work as Provisional Secretary-Treasurer. One of the letters was sent to the future American president William Howard Taft who was then Civil Governor of the Philippines. There is also a certificate, signed by Taft, that certifies Morley as the Provisional Secretary-Treasurer in the Philippines. There is a letter Morley wrote to a family named Sweeny that details Morley’s observations of the Fourth of July in the Philippines. The collection also contains a memorial pamphlet made a year after Morley’s disappearance that contains details of the time before and after his disappearance and Morley’s last few letters while he was in Northern China. There are also maps that were owned by Morley. One map, notated in handwriting by Morley documents his trip from Europe to Asia. There are also a few maps of Chinese cities that he visited. The miscellaneous folder contains receipts to a hotel in China, a journal in Spanish, and a Chinese paper that is a good luck fortune. There is also a Scrapbook that contains newspaper clippings on the Spanish-American War with notes written by Morley. This scrapbook also contains racist comments Morley felt towards Filipinos. Similar notes are also written in some of his letters. The scrapbook contains a telegram from Reuben’s uncle, George W. Morley, noting that Reuben was drafted. The Stowage Plan, a pictorial ship manifest, for the SS Kawachi Maru contains 6 paper copies of what was an oversized acidic paper that was withdrawn because of its damaged condition. This drawing may have been used in a report, as a teaching tool of global shipping and lading, or as vessel manifest.