Overview
Drafts of fictional works, poems, and plays, lectures, radio scripts, correspondence, etc., of Lorine Pruette, psychologist, writer, lecturer, and feminist.
Dates
- Creation: 1915-1974
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Lorine Pruette as well as copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
1.67 linear feet (4 file boxes) plus 6 photograph folders, part of reel of microfilm (M-100)The papers of Lorine Pruette provide only a sketchy outline of her professional life. From vitae, job applications, bibliographies, and newspaper clippings one can put together a chronology of her activities during college and after; there is no documentation of her work as a psychologist, though her articles indicate her interests and points of view.
While there are copies of published articles, lectures, and radio scripts, the bulk of the collection consists of drafts of fictional works (#22-182). The writings are arranged alphabetically and also include poems and playlets. The publishing status is usually unclear and only a few articles are dated.
The correspondence (#5-7) covers the years 1924-1974 in a very scattered way, giving hints about friendships, problems in writing and publishing, trips taken, and so on. There is also some information as to dates and publication status of Pruette's writings. Included are autographed notes from Louis Ferdinand and Kira, Prince and Princess of Prussia, Alfred Stieglitz, and Ayn Rand (#6-7).
The papers give only a little information about Pruette's family and personal life. Correspondence and vitae offer some clues and, in notes about her fiction, Pruette implies that many of the incidents were based on actual events. This is especially true of "My Life Among the Doctors" and "The Times of Theeny Trail." The photographs are primarily of Pruette, with a few of her parents, sister, brother, and friends.
Pruette spent much of her life traveling, lecturing, and writing. Among her many articles and books are Woman and Leisure; G. Stanley Hall, A Biography of a Mind; Saint in Ivory; Women Workers Through the Depression; School for Love; and The Parent and the Happy Child.
BIOGRAPHY
Lorine Livingston Pruette, psychologist, writer and lecturer, was born November 3, 1896, in Millersburg, Tennessee, the daughter of Oscar Davis and Eula (Miller) Pruette. She grew up in Chattanooga and attended Chattanooga High School, graduating in 1915. She received a B.S. degree from the University of Chattanooga (1918), an M.A. from Clark University (1920), and a Ph.D. from Columbia University (1924), with a dissertation entitled Women and Leisure, A Study of Social Waste.
An early feminist, as seen in her writing, Pruette kept her maiden name after her marriage to Douglas Fryer in 1920. Pruette and Fryer collaborated on several studies and articles before their divorce in 1932.
Before and after graduation from Columbia University Pruette taught sociology and psychology at various schools, including Smith College (1922-1923), University of Utah (1923-1924), and New York University (1926-1927), and was a research psychologist at R. H. Macy and Company (1925-1926) and consulting psychologist for the Graduate School of New York University (1928-1933).
Pruette then held editorial positions with the American Woman's Association (1934-1935), the Commission on Human Relations, Progressive Education Association (1936-1940), National Bureau for Economic Research (1941-1943), and the Office of War Information (1943-1944). She joined the staff of New York Medical College in 1954, but most of her counseling was done in private practice, both in New York City and in Tennessee.
Pruette died in December 1976.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers: 74-149, 75-96, 77-M107
The papers of Lorine Pruette were given to the Schlesinger Library in June 1974 and April 1975 by Lorine Pruette, and in July 1977 by her brother F. Miller Pruette.
SEPARATION RECORD
The following items have been removed from the collection, July 1980:
- Carbon copies of stories and articles by Lorine Pruette (about 2/3 of a file carton).
- Emma B. Miles, The Spirit of the Mountains. N.Y., James Pott and Co., 1905. photocopy.
- Personal time pattern of Marilyn Held
CONTAINER LIST
- Box 1: 1-21
- Box 2: 22-75
- Box 3: 76-120
- Box 4: 121-185
INDEX OF SELECTED CORRESPONDENTS
A selective index of writers of letters. Information about individuals is not indexed; nor are subjects. The numbers refer to folders.
- Aisen, Gladys Gill - 5
- Anderson, Kenneth N. - 6
- Avrutis, John - 7
- Backlund, Ralph - 6
- Barrett, Harold E. - 6
- Berman, Susan K. - 7
- Best, Marshall A. - 5
- Blais, George R. - 7
- Blood, Jane A. - 6
- Bourne, Geoffrey H. - 7
- Cabell, James Branch - 5
- Cleland, Ruth - 6
- Cotton, Dorothy Whyte - 7
- Cowley, Malcolm - 6
- Curry, J. C. - 5
- Cuthburt, Margaret - 5
- Dashiell, Alfred S. - 6
- Dell, Floyd - 5
- Frazier, Almeda McRee - 7
- Friend, Fred E. - 7
- Fuller, Mary Margaret - 6
- Gilbreth, Lillian M. - 5
- Gluck, Sherna - 7
- Hamilton, Edith - 171
- Hoopes, John R. - 6
- Johnson, Robert L. - 6
- Jostrow, Joseph - 5
- Kahn, E. J., Jr. - 6
- Kira, Princess of Prussia (autograph) - 5
- Latham, H. S. - 5
- Levitt, Kathleen - 7
- Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (autograph) - 5
- Luthin, Herbert W. - 6
- Malley, Kathleen - 7
- Mavrogordatou, Sophia Delta - 6
- Mencken, Henry Louis - 45
- Meredith, Scott - 7
- Ochs, Martin S. - 6
- O'Neill, William L. - 7
- Orton, Dwayne - 6
- Patrick, Ted - 6
- Peters, Iva L. - 5
- Pruette, Lorine - 6, 7
- Rand, Ayn (autograph) - 6
- Riols, Eileen - 6
- Roberts, C. B. - 6
- Rossi, Alice S. - 7
- Schmalhausen, Samuel - 5
- Snyder, Ralph E. - 4
- Sopkin, Charles - 6
- Stannard, Una - 7
- Stieglitz, Alfred (autograph) - 5
- Terman, Lewis M. - 4
- Walker, Robert Sparks - 6
- Wallis, Wilson D. - 5
- Whiting, Frances - 5
Processing Information
Processed: July 1980
By: Madeleine Bagwell Perez
Genre / Form
Topical
Subject
- Rossi, Alice S., 1922-2009 (Person)
- Title
- Pruette, Lorine, 1896-1976. Papers of Lorine Pruette, 1915-1974: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- Sponsor
- The collection was processed under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (RC-0051-79-1260).
- EAD ID
- sch00863
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.