Guide to the Rebecca Lawrence Lowrie Papers,
1909-1977
Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Biographical Note
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
| Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
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| Creator: | Lowrie, Rebecca Lawrence, 1891-1975 |
| Title: | Rebecca Lawrence Lowrie Papers |
| Dates: | 1909-1977 |
| Quantity: | 4 cubic ft (ca. 1000 items) |
| Abstract: | The bulk of the collection consists of Lowrie's manuscripts of published and unpublished book reviews, 1934-1952. Other items include correspondence relating to Vassar College, her work as a book reviewer, responses to her reviews, her health, comments on people and politics, popular culture, her dogs, and other personal issues. There is also family and biographical material, her Christmas card collection, and other items. |
| Forms of Materials: | Transcripts, manuscripts, typescripts, correspondence, photographs, and clippings. |
Biographical Note
Ella Rebecca Lawrence (1891-1975) was born in Galesburg, Illinois on December 14, 1891, the third child of George Appleton and Ella Louise Park Lawrence. Rebecca graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College in 1913 and received her M.A. in history from Radcliffe College. Having returned to Galesburg to accept a teaching position at Knox College, Rebecca met John Marshall Lowrie, a practicing attorney. The two were married on December 19, 1916.
The Lowries lived in New York City, where Mrs. Lowrie spent two years working for Macmillan Company and subsequently became a book reviewer for Harper Brothers (now Harper and Row). In addition to her regular assignments at Harper’s, she reviewed occasional books for The New Yorker and The Saturday Review of Literature . In 1928, while pursuing her literary career, Mrs. Lowrie wrote Cambric Tea, a book describing her rather lonely childhood in Galesburg. In 1931, Mrs. Lowrie resigned from Harper Brothers to accept a job as first reader for the Book-of-the-Month Club, a position she would hold until 1943.
Rebecca Lowrie served as a trustee of Vassar College from 1944 to 1952. Following her husband’s death in 1954, she moved to Chicago. After closing the Galesburg home, Mrs. Lowrie gave to Vassar a collection of over 3,000 volumes, many of which are now housed in the Special Collections Library. In 1965, Mrs. Lowrie made an outright gift to Vassar of the Elmwood Farm in Galesburg -- a tract of nearly 900 acres. To this generous gift, her will added 4,500 acres and securities valued in excess of $10 million, the largest bequest in Vassar’s history. Mrs. Lowrie requested in her will that after being held in trust for a period of 10 years, the income derived from the land be used to fund the Lucy Maynard Salmon Chair for American History to a level of $1.5 million, with the balance going to the Sarah Gibson Blanding Fund for the promotion of academic excellence at Vassar College.
For more Biographical information, see “Rebecca Lawrence Lowrie: An appreciation,” by Alan Simpson. Vassar Views, July, 1977, no. 49
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Scope and Content Note
The Rebecca Lawrence Lowrie Collection consists primarily of correspondence, typescripts, newsclippings, articles, speeches and addresses, and photographs. Also contained within the collection are a set of 22 Christmas cards designed for Rebecca Lowrie by Ralph Fletcher Seymour, a hand-written catalogue for the Park-Lawrence private library, and a scrapbook of newspaper reviews of Cambric Tea.
The bulk of the Collection consists of over 600 book reviews written by Lowrie between 1934 and 1952. Personal correspondence includes letters of general information. Contained within the Lowrie Collection are a set of 95 letters written by Rebecca Lowrie to Mary Simpson between 1963 and 1971. A set of 64 letters written by Lowrie to Eloise Ellery (1936-1956) can be found within the Eloise Ellery Collection at Vassar College. Also, a series of 27 letters from Rebecca Lowrie to Lucy Maynard Salmon written between 1912 and 1926, together with one letter from Lowrie to Mrs. Clark (1936) can be located within the Lucy Maynard Salmon Collection at Vassar.
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Access and Use
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.
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Subject Headings
Names:
- Couch, Helen.
- Foote, Barbara.
- Garnsey, Gertrude.
- Seymour, Ralph Fletcher, 1876-1966.
- Simpson, Mary.
Organizations:
- Book-of-the-Month Club.
- Harper & Brothers.
- Vassar College--Alumnae.
- Vassar College. Trustees.
Subjects:
- American literature.
- Books--Reviews.
- Christmas cards.
- Decedents' estates.
- Dogs.
- Family--New York (State)
- Lowrie family.
- Women in the book industries and trade.
Places:
- United States--Politics and government--20th century.
- United States--Social life and customs--20th century.
Document Types:
- Photoprints.
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Encoding Information
Encoded by Elizabeth Clarke, February 2007.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Rebecca Lawrence Lowrie Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Original processing date unknown. Last updated August 1998.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Barbara Foote, Mary Simpson, and the Estate of Rebecca Lawrence Lowrie.
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Series List
Series I. Correspondence (Boxes 1-2) |
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Series II. Book Reviews Written By Lowrie (Boxes 3-5) |
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Series III. Printed Material (Box 6) |
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Series IV. Unpublished Works (Box 6) |
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Series V. Legal Documents (Box 7) |
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Series VI. Lawrence - Lowrie Family (Box 7) |
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Series VII. Scrapbooks (Box 7) |
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Series VIII. Park - Lawrence Library (Box 8) |
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Series IX. Photographs (Box 8) |
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Series X. Fragments (Box 8) |
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