Papers of Jean Elizabeth Wolfe, 1865-1997 (inclusive), 1980-1996 (bulk)

The papers of Jean Wolfe include correspondence, photographs, clippings, diaries, home movies, and notes relating to her family history, girls camps, her psychological and medical issues, and her professional work as a physical education instructor and a medical illustrator.

Jean Wolfe began her correspondence with the Schlesinger Library in 1992, when she was contacted to see if she would participate in an oral history describing her life as a lesbian in the early-mid 20th century. Although never officially interviewed, Wolfe sent in two preliminary audiocassette tapes describing her early years. Those tapes were not accessioned, but transcribed by the library and returned. In 1996 she compiled one carton of carefully annotated materials that covered the first thirty years of her life and sent it to the Schlesinger with ten accompanying audiocassette tapes to be accessioned. After Wolfe's death in May 1997, her local church, in accordance with her will, packed up her remaining records and sent them to the Schlesinger. Many of these records also contain extensive annotations by Wolfe, but were found loose and unsorted often in untitled or illegible folders. The ten audiocassette tapes from the first accession (T-267.37 -- T-267.46), the earlier tapes (T.267.34 -- T.267.36), and their transcript (#6.1) are closed until January 1, 2018. Folder titles were created by the archivist, with annotations by Wolfe included in quotes.

Series I, BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL, 1867-1996 (#1.1-7.12, FD.1-FD.4, 16F+B.1-16F+B.2, PD.1-PD.14sl, PD.32f+-PD.33o, T-267.1 -- T-267.46, MP-69.1 -- MP-69.4, Mem.1), includes address books, collected autographs, awards, birth certificate, last will and testament, notes, a hand-carved pipe, paintings on canvas, yearbooks, and home movies. This series also includes records from time Wolfe spent at Pendle Hill, a Quaker residential study center based on the spiritual and social principles of the Religious Society of Friends, located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania. Folders are arranged alphabetically by topic.

Series II, FAMILY, 1865-1977 (#7.13-10.1, PD.15-PD.21, PD.34f+-PD.35f), includes diaries, photographs, clippings, wedding invitations, and funeral registries relating to Wolfe's parents (Arthur and Ethel Wolfe), her maternal grandparents (David and Katie Harper), and her paternal grandparents (George and Ida Wolfe). Folders are arranged alphabetically by family last name.

Series III, CAMPS, 1938-1996 (#10.2-10.10, PD.22-PD.28, MP-69.5 -- MP-69.8), includes photographs, newsletters, home movies, and correspondence from several girls' camps in the New England and mid-Atlantic regions including Blazing Trails Camp (Denmark, Maine), Silver Lake Camp (Hawkeye, New York), and Camp Eagle Island (Upper Saranac Lake, New York). Folders are arranged alphabetically by camp name.

Series IV, PROFESSIONAL, 1948-1993 (#10.11-11.10, FD.5, F+D.1, PD.29sl-PD.31, PD.36f+, MP-69.9 -- MP-69.10), includes illustrations, brochures, clippings, and correspondence related to Wolfe's career as a medical illustrator specializing in eye surgery at the Scheie Eye Institute at the University of Pennsylvania (1960-1985). This series also includes programs, bulletins, yearbook, home movies, and correspondence relating to Wolfe's early career as a physical education instructor (1947-1952). Folders are arranged alphabetically first by profession, then by topic.

Series V, MEDICAL AND LEGAL, 1970-1997 (#11.11-15.17, T-267.47 -- T-267.72), includes diary-like notes and writings, correspondence with psychiatrists and medical doctors, and correspondence and records from a lawsuit Wolfe filed against the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. This series also includes letters Wolfe wrote to her internist, Dr. Anna-Marie Chirico (1925-2007), a faculty member at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. It was not until after Chirico's retirement in 1987 that Wolfe began writing deeply intense letters to her. Diagnosed with depression and even hospitalized on several occasions, Wolfe attempted to work out her emotional distress through writing letters (called "emotional writings" throughout finding aid) or talking on audiocassette tapes meant for her doctor. In the 1990s, Wolfe realized these letters would be invaluable for writing an autobiography and asked Chirico to return them, which she did. Folders are arranged alphabetically by topic.

Some of the photographs in this collection are or will be cataloged in VIA, Harvard University's Visual Information Access database. Others, referred to as "uncataloged" photographs, are not of sufficient research interest to warrant cataloging and are simply treated as part of the documents they accompany; they are marked on the back with an asterisk in square brackets [*].