Ethel M. and Nancy E. Reed Papers,
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The collection is comprised of papers from Ethel M. Reed and daughter, Nancy E. Reed.
Ethel's papers contain her writings and family documents. The bulk of her writings are diaries which span 1893-1968 and record daily activities as well as an unpublished manuscript that is an account of her childhood in California. The family documents include school certificates and degrees, property deeds, and obituaries. Some of the family documents and photographs included in this collection date back to the Civil War and even earlier.
Nancy's papers contain her artwork and photographic materials including travel photographs from a trip to France in the late 1940s and several scrapbooks compiled by Nancy containing many pictures (although many of them undated) that span multiple decades and depict her life in Claremont. Nancy's artwork includes pencil sketches, pen drawings, pastels, and paintings. She also wrote and illustrated short picture books, some of which are included in the collection.
Dates
- Creation: 1811-1975
Creator
- Reed, Ethel M. (Creator, Person)
- Reed, Nancy E. (Creator, Person)
Language of materials
Most materials are in English; a small amount of material is in French.
Access
This collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.
Biography
Ethel M. Reed was born in New York on November 11, 1883 and moved to Claremont, California in 1885. She lived there until her death on July 11, 1968. She was a homemaker, never married, and was involved in the community and the Claremont Colleges.
Ethel's adopted daughter, Nancy E. Reed, was born January 8, 1923, attended Pomona College and graduated in 1944 with a degree in chemistry. She worked for the War Department during World War II and as a development chemist for Aerojet-General in Azusa, California. She traveled to France as a visiting scholar from 1946 to 1949. She died on December 2, 1994 in Claremont.
Extent
5 Linear Feet (3 shoeboxes, 4 document boxes, 1 oversized box)
Abstract
This collection is comprised of the writings, artwork, and memorabilia of Ethel M. Reed and her adopted daughter, Nancy E. Reed. These two women lived in Claremont, California for most of the twentieth century. Ethel was a homemaker and Nancy worked as a chemist. In addition, Ethel wrote diaries for most of her life and wrote an unpublished account of her childhood in Claremont, and Nancy drew, painted, wrote and illustrated short picture books, and created scrapbooks. Nancy's scrapbooks include photographs of her time in France and pictures of the people she knew and places she visited. The family documents in this collection include school certificates and property deeds.
Organization and Arrangement
This collection has been organized into the following series and subseries:
Physical location
Please consult repository.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Steven Koblik, executor of Reed estate, 1985.
Accruals
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Processing Information
Processed by Tamara Savage in Spring 2015 in the Claremont Center for Engagement with Primary Sources (CCEPS), with assistance from Lisa Crane. Overall, the collection is in good condition. Some very old pieces are fragile and brittle. Photographs and scrapbook pages were placed in mylar sleeves. These materials have been sorted by creator, and then by medium (folders of pencil sketches, pen drawing, pastel drawings, etc.). The loose photographs have largely maintained their original grouping and notations.
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Ethel M. and Nancy E. Reed papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Tamara Savage, CCEPS Fellow, Spring 2015
- Date
- © 2015
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the 01 - Special Collections & Archives, The Claremont Colleges Library Repository
800 North Dartmouth Ave
Claremont CA 91711 United States
Email: specialcollections@claremont.edu