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COLLECTION Identifier: 76-339--83-M8

Papers of Clare M. Tousley, 1895-1977

Overview

Correspondence, articles, poems, etc., of Clare M. Tousley, social worker and social work publicist.

Dates

  • Creation: 1895-1977

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Clare M. Tousley is held by the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. 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 linear feet (1 carton)

Collection includes biographical information, correspondence, articles, monographs, citations, photographs, poems, genealogy.

BIOGRAPHY

Clare M. Tousley was born on December 25, 1889 and received her B.A. from Oberlin College in 1911. She earned an M.A. from the School of Applied Philanthropy (later the New York School of Social Work and now the Columbia University School of Social Work) in 1917 and was awarded an honorary LL.D. by Oberlin in 1937. She began her long association with the Charity Organization Society (which became the Community Service Society in 1939) in 1913, first as social case worker, later as head of the Public Interest Department and, still later until 1956, as Assistant Director of the agency. In the 1920s and early 1930s, Tousley organized and ran Junior Month, a program designed to expose college women to social work. From 1957 to 1967 she served as Executive Director of Plays for Living of the Family Service Association of America; she had been one of its founders after a year with the American Theatre Wing as Public Interest Assistant to its President and their Community Plays. In 1970, she became Executive Director Emeritus of Family Service Association of America Plays for Living and in 1974, Tousley published her memoirs under the title Letter to Jeanie With Love.

Physical Location

Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 76-339, 77-M66 83-M8

The papers of Clare M. Tousley were given to the Schlesinger Library by Clare M. Tousley in October 1976 and May 1977.

SEPARATION RECORD

The following items have been removed from the collection and deposited in the Schlesinger Library Book Collection, 1977:

  1. Brandt, Lilian. The Charity Organization Society of the City of New York, 1882-1907. NY, [1907].
  2. Reminiscences of Herbert R. Simonds

The following items have been removed from the collection and deposited in Harvard College Library, Gifts and Exchanges, 1977:

  1. Colcord, Joanna Carver. Sea Language Comes Ashore. NY, c1945.
  2. Rich, Margaret E. A Belief in People: A History of Family Social Work, NY, c1956.

Processing Information

Preliminary inventory: July 1980

By: Sharman T. Propp

Title
Tousley, Clare M. (Clare May), 1889-1985. Papers of Clare M. Tousley, 1895-1977: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch00943

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.

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