Leaders of Social Reform in 18th,
19th, and 20th Century America
Grant From the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission
 |
| Elizabeth
Blackwell, ca. 1850-1860.* |
|
|
BOSTON,
Mass.— January 29, 2013—The
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at
the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study today announces the launch of a new Blackwell
Family digitization project supported by a grant from the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) (Link: http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2013/nr13-24.html). The $150,000 grant funds a
two-year project (http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/awards/awards-11-12.html) to digitize five Blackwell
Family collections, which span from 1784 to 1981 and detail the activities of
members of the Blackwell family, who were leaders in abolition, prohibition, healthcare,
women’s suffrage, and education.
“We are
grateful to receive this grant from the NHPRC to digitize our archival collections
of the Blackwell Family, who were leaders of historical importance in the social
reform movements of the 18th to 20th century. This digitization project helps
bring the library’s holdings on the lives and work of women in America to
researchers and the public in new online formats,” said Marilyn Dunn, executive
director of the Schlesinger Library and librarian of the Radcliffe Institute.
The
grant enables the Schlesinger Library to digitize 189,074 pages of the Blackwell
Family collection, featuring correspondence, diaries, financial records,
photographs, drawings, writings, and other papers of four generations of the US
branch of the family, assembled by George Washington Blackwell and his
descendants.
The
collection records travel, professional work, and civic and reform activities of
the members of the close-knit family. Among the most well-known members are Elizabeth
(1821–1910), the first woman to earn a medical degree, and her sister Emily
(1826–1910), also among the first woman doctors. Both women fought for public
health reform and equal education and medical training for women. Their brother
Henry Browne Blackwell (1825–1909), his wife, Lucy Stone (1818–1893), and their
daughter Alice Stone Blackwell (1857–1950) are known for their leadership roles
in the abolition, women’s suffrage, and prohibition movements. Their
sister-in-law Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825–1921), wife of Samuel Charles
Blackwell (1823–1901), was the first woman ordained as a minister in the United
States and an active speaker on behalf of abolition, women’s rights, and
prohibition.
The
Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute will invest an additional
$150,000 to meet the cost of the project, “Those Extraordinary Blackwells:
Leaders of Social Reform in 19th and 20th Century America.” The scheduled
completion of the digitization project is June 2015.
About the Radcliffe Institute for
Advanced Study
The
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University is dedicated to
creating and sharing transformative ideas across the arts, humanities,
sciences, and social sciences. The Fellowship Program annually supports the
work of 50 leading artists and scholars. Academic Ventures fosters
collaborative research projects and sponsors lectures and conferences that engage
scholars with the public. The Schlesinger Library documents the lives of
American women of the past and present for the future, furthering the
Institute’s commitment to women, gender, and society. Learn more about the
people and programs of the Radcliffe Institute at www.radcliffe.harvard.edu.
* Image: Courtesy of the Schlesinger Library,
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
Contact:
Karla
Strobel
617-495-8608
karla_strobel@radcliffe.harvard.edu
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