Overview
Scrapbooks of Mary Bryant Cheever, Radcliffe College Class of 1941.
Dates
- Creation: 1926-1984
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the scrapbooks created by Mary Bryant Cheever 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
4.96 linear feet (4 cartons, 1 folio box)This collection consists of 16 scrapbooks of clippings, programs, photographs and letters illustrating family, local and world events (1926-1984). They describe the life of a debutante in Boston society (1934-1937) who followed the expected pattern of public service through the Junior League and the Vincent Club combined with a social life of dances, dinners, and teas. They document her college years; her work for the government in Washington, D.C.; her marriage and life as a volunteer worker and faculty wife in Pittsburgh (1961-1982) and Cambridge (1956-1961, 1982-1984), and family travel in Europe and vacations Down-East and in Wareham, Machusetts.
BIOGRAPHY
Mary (May) Luce Bryant was born in Milton, Massachusetts, in 1916, the daughter of Lincoln Bryant and Rose Standish Bryant. She graduated from Milton Academy in 1934, and received her A.B. from Radcliffe in 1941.
In 1941, Cheever worked in Washington, DC as a research analyst in military intelligence. In 1945, she returned to her Milton home and worked at Little, Brown, and Co. as an assistant to the editors.
In 1956, Cheever married Daniel S. Cheever '39, a widower with three young children, who was then lecturer in the Department of Government at Harvard.
In 1961, her husband accepted a Professorship at the University of Pittsburgh in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. The Cheevers moved to Pittsburgh and they remained there until 1982. They joined the United Nations Association of Pittsburgh where Daniel S. Cheever served on the Board and Cheever became President. Cheever also served as Director of the United Nations Association of USA (1973-1979).
Cheever's volunteer activities included service as Director of the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association (1963-1966); President of the Radcliffe Club of Western Pennsylvania; one of the two first women to serve as Director of the Harvard Alumni Association; trustee of the First Unitarian Church in Pittsburgh; and President of the University Women's Association of Pittsburgh. Mary Bryant Cheever was named Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania by Governor Thornburgh in 1980 for her leadership in civic organizations and with Daniel S. Cheever received the David Glick Award of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh in 1982.
The Cheevers returned to Cambridge in 1982 when Daniel S. Cheever accepted a professorship at Boston University. Since 1983 Cheever has been volunteer archivist at the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College and choir member and member of the Archives and Music Committees of the Arlington Street Unitarian and Universalist Church.
The Cheevers have travelled extensively in Great Britain, Europe, the USSR, China, Yucatan, and Galapagos, as well as in the United States.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number: R93-25
This collection was given to the Archives by Mary Bryant Cheever in September 1993.
CONTAINER LIST
- Carton 1: 1v-6v
- Carton 2: 7v-10v
- Carton 3: 11v-16v
- Carton 4: 17v-20v
- Folio Box 5: 21v
Processing Information
Processed: January 1995
By: Isabelle Bland Dry '35, May Bryant Cheever '41 Barbara Kravitz '52
Subject
- Radcliffe College. Alumnae Association (Organization)
- Radcliffe College. Class of 1941 (Organization)
- Title
- Cheever, Mary Bryant, 1916-1998. Scrapbooks of Mary Bryant Cheever, 1926-1984: A Finding Aid
- Author
- Radcliffe College Archives, Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- sch01056
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.