Papers of Cora Brooks, 1769-2009 (inclusive), 1950-2009 (bulk)

This collection documents Brooks's personal and professional life. The collection consists primarily of letters from her father, children, siblings, friends, fellow activists, and fellow poets. Also included are Brooks's correspondence with her mother; scrapbooks, many of which include clippings and correspondence regarding Brooks's arrests for civil disobedience; diaries; photographs; poems and other writings; notes on Brooks's experiences teaching at various schools; appointment books; and material related to Brooks's participation in the New York Herald Tribune's forum for high school students. The collection also includes material related to the hotline for battered women which Brooks helped found in Chelsea, Vermont.

Brooks kept most of her correspondence in envelopes in letter boxes arranged alphabetically. The date ranges of these boxes frequently overlapped and some correspondents appeared under more than one letter. Some letters were unsigned or signed only with a first name; thus, it was not always possible to determine the last names of the writers. The processor removed the letters from the boxes and attempted to maintain Brooks's arrangement while creating one long alphabetical run of correspondence, as well as a shorter chronological arrangement of letters that were found loose. Correspondents for whom a significant amount of correspondence existed were given their own folders; these include Brooks's parents and siblings. Most folder headings were created by the archivist. Those created by Brooks appear in quotation marks.

Series I, Biographical and personal, 1769-1919 (scattered), 1950-2009 (#1.1-6.8, 43FB.1v-43FB.2v, FD.1-FD.3), includes court documents for two of Brooks's arrests for civil disobedience; notes she took on several trials and peace protests; correspondence regarding her desire to register to vote without taking the Vermont Freeman's Oath; a scrapbook regarding the "Chelsea Seven" (of whom Brooks was one), who were arrested for protesting the draft at a Vermont post office; a scrapbook including arrest notices for Brooks and articles and correspondence regarding the Vietnam War; and Brooks's notes regarding the Women's Pentagon Action Protest March in November 1980. The series also includes appointment books; articles about Brooks; autobiographical writings by her; diaries, including descriptions of her arrests of peace protests and a diary kept when she was eighteen and living abroad; school report cards and faculty reports on her performance at Sarah Lawrence college; material related to her involvement in the New York Herald Tribune's forum for international high school students; drawings and paintings by Brooks; letters and documents related to the Brooks and Vail families; and three dismantled scrapbooks of correspondence and writings by and about Brooks, including her description of her first arrest. The series is arranged alphabetically.

Series II, Correspondence, 1950-2009 (#6.9-39.5, F+D.1, OD.1), consists almost entirely of letters received by Brooks. Little outgoing correspondence is included. Correspondents include her parents, husband, children, siblings, students and former students, fellow poets, activists, lovers, friends, and New York Herald Tribune Youth Forum delegates. Brooks's correspondence with her mother reflects their often conflicted relationship: her mother had difficulty accepting Brooks's life choices, particularly her decision to end her marriage. Brooks, in turn, was upset by her mother's attitude. Despite this, the two corresponded frequently. Donald Metz's letters touch on the collapse of their relationship; these letters also address childcare issues and his pride in their children. Brooks's father frequently described meals he ate, films he saw, and his relationships with his cats in his letters, while other correspondents sent poems, commented on poems Brooks wrote, and discussed life events, with many thanking Brooks for help she had provided them. The series is arranged with alphabetical correspondence appearing first, followed by chronological correspondence.

Series III, Professional, 1973-2009 (#39.6-42.8, FD.4, F+D.2), documents Brooks's professional life. The series includes articles about Chelsea Help for Battered Women; the organization's articles of association and by-laws; printed material regarding domestic abuse and programs for male batterers; guidelines, blank intake and assistance forms, grant applications, and feedback by Lynn Heglund, director of the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women, on a draft grant application. The series also contains material related to Brooks's teaching career. This consists of Brooks's accounts of her experiences working at various schools; advertisements and flyers for her writing workshops; anthologies of poems written by her students, with one including a poem written by her under a pseudonym; teaching contracts; evaluations of Brooks and letters of recommendation for her. The series also includes a brief essay describing Brooks's interactions with a magazine editor who raped her; flyers announcing poetry readings by Brooks; drafts of a novel, essays, and stories, including the essay "Lessons from a Protester's Life"; published and unpublished poems; and a dismantled scrapbook of letters to the editor. The series is arranged alphabetically.

Series IV, Photographs, ca.1943-2009, n.d. (#PD.1-PD.17), includes images of Brooks alone as an adult and as a small child with her siblings. A photograph of her senior high school class, on a trip to Washington, DC, is also included, as well as photographs of her property in Chelsea, Vermont, and photographs of family and friends (some taken by Brooks). The series also contains a dismantled album consisting primarily of photographs taken by Brooks, with captions for individual photographs and an explanatory note regarding the entire album. Images in the album include Max Abramovitz, Anita Zeltner Brooks Abramovitz, Grace Paley, and a protest at the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant. The album includes two photographs of Brooks, one labeled as taken "by the man who raped me." Negatives of the protest at Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant Station are also included. The series is arranged chronologically. Most of the photographs in this collection are or will be digitized and available online.