Skip to main content
COLLECTION Identifier: A-81: M-123

Papers of Eva Whiting White, 1900-1965

Overview

Correspondence, articles, speeches, etc., of Eva Whiting White, social worker.

Dates

  • Creation: 1900-1965

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. The majority of the collection is open for research. Scrapbooks (#33a-41) are available on on microfilm (M-123).

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Eva Whiting White 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

1.46 linear feet (3+1/2 file boxes) plus 1 oversize folder, 1 folio+ folder, 2 reels of microfilm (M-123)

This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, organizational records, clippings, other printed materials, and scrapbooks documenting Eva Whiting White's career in social work. There is virtually no material about her personal life. The material given in 1971 had been arranged by Mabel E. Houghton but was rearranged when it was integrated into the collection already in the Library.

The papers are arranged in four series: biographical material, correspondence, articles and speeches; material on Elizabeth Peabody House; papers concerning White's other social work activities; and scrapbooks.

Series I, Biographical material, correspondence, articles, and speeches, includes information about White's career in social work, clippings about her activities, correspondence, and articles and speeches by White.

Series II, Elizabeth Peabody House, includes material about White's career as headworker, 1909-1944, and the activities of the house, 1896-1967. Each folder on an Elizabeth Peabody House department includes a typescript description of its work, and other materials as indicated in the inventory.

Series III, Other social work activities, includes typescript descriptions of, and correspondence relating to, White's other social work activities and her association with Simmons College School of Social Work, the Massachusetts Homestead Commission, Community Services of Boston, the Boston Committee for Displaced Persons, and other organizations and institutions. There are also clippings and articles about the Women's Educational and Industrial Union.

Series IV, Scrapbooks, consists of the contents of eight scrapbooks: announcements, invitations, photographs, programs, fliers, clippings, pamphlets, articles, financial notes, etc., most relating to Elizabeth Peabody House or Peabody Playhouse, with some material about social work, and White's other activities.

Most of the scrapbooks were designated by dates; because these dates are not entirely accurate, they appear in the inventory in quotation marks. Three volumes began with so-called tables of contents, which were actually alphabetical indexes. These indexes indicate persons and topics covered in each scrapbook but do not serve to locate particular items. See Microfilm of Scrapbooks section for further explanation.

BIOGRAPHY

Eva Whiting was born in Webster, Mass., in 1880, daughter of Frederick Herbert and Marie Emma (Le Roy) Whiting. In 1902 she married Wesley Dunn Allen White. Having earned the first B.S. in social work from Simmons College in 1907, she pursued graduate studies in social work at the University of Wisconsin and Columbia University.

White was Headworker at Elizabeth Peabody House (EPH), 1909-1944; professor of social economy at Simmons College, 1922-1950; non-resident lecturer at Bryn Mawr College, 1917- 29; member of the Boston Board of Public Welfare, 1925-1947; director of the Americanization and Immigration Division of the Massachusetts Board of Education, 1927-1950; and president of the Women's Educational and Industrial Union of Boston, 1929-1952. She was also active in other city, state, and federal government agencies concerned with health, education, and immigration.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 24, 1440, 71-142

These papers were given to the Schlesinger Library by Eva Whiting White in October 1959, September 1967, and October 1971. The scrapbooks were dismantled in the summer of1980; they were microfilmed in 1989 as part of the Title II-C Preservation Project and the inventory was rewritten by Doreen Drury at that time.

MICROFILM OF SCRAPBOOKS

When the scrapbooks were dismantled to facilitate micro-filming, the contents were roughly sorted into three categories: clippings, photographs, and other papers. The order on the film thus only approximates the order in the original scrapbooks, which was, however, haphazard. Folders have been numbered to indicate which items were in which scrapbooks. The material in each folder has been arranged in chronological order.

Each scrapbook contained oversized clippings. The eight folders containing these large clippings were filmed at the end of the collection.

Some of the material was difficult to film: many items overlapped, much of the newsprint was brittle and no longer intact, many articles were folded, and there was some discoloration from storage in a cedar chest.

Most clippings were discarded after microfilming. Clippings not discarded after microfilming can be found in #41.

Many of the loose clippings found inside the scrapbooks were mounted by the processor to facilitate microfilming.

Dates and/or other information have been written on some items by a number of people, including Eva Whiting White. In organizing the material, the processor accepted dates added by others. Undated material was placed at the end of each folder.

Photographs from #33a-g and 34a-e were microfilmed with the Schlesinger Library's photo holdings and filed in the photograph drawer; these photographs may be seen on M-54, reels 2 and 3. Photographs from #35-40 have been filmed with the contents of the scrapbooks in which they appeared.

Any text on the reverse side of a photograph or card was filmed immediately following the photo or printed side of the card.

The pages of some items were numbered to aid the microfilmer, the proofreader, and the researcher. Dates and page numbers added by the processor appear in square brackets.

Many pages had to be filmed more than once due to the presence of folded, overlapping, and/or multiple-paged items.

The film was proofread by the filmer and/or processor and corrections made where necessary. Corrections appear at the end of reel 1.

REEL GUIDE
  1. Reel 1: #33a-g, 34a-e, 35a, 36a-d, 37a-b, 38a-b, 39a, 40a
  2. Reel 2: #33h, 34f, 35b, 36e, 37c, 38c, 39b, 40b

CONTAINER LIST

  1. Box 1: 1-17
  2. Box 2: 18-30

Processing Information

Reprocessed: November 1978

By: Joseph A. Interrante

Title
White, Eva Whiting, 1880-1974. Papers of Eva Whiting White, 1900-1965: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch00962

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.

Contact:
3 James St.
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
617-495-8540