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COLLECTION Identifier: WRC 62-64af; M-133, reel D4

Papers of Margaret Foley in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1911-1924

Overview

Clippings, correspondence, photographs, etc., of Margaret Foley, suffragist. These papers are part of the Woman's Rights Collection.

Dates

  • Creation: 1911-1924

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. ORIGINALS CLOSED. USE MICROFILM. REQUEST AS: M-133, reel D4.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Margaret Foley 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 folders (2 folders, 1 folio folder, 1 photograph folder)

This series consists of clippings, correspondence, flyers, and photographs, documenting Margaret Foley's tours, speeches, and tactics while she was working for the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association and suffrage organizations in Ohio, Nevada, Montana, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, 1911-1918.

BIOGRAPHY

Margaret Foley was born on March 19, 1875, in Dorchester, Mass. A member of the Hat Trimmers' Union, Foley was on the board of the Boston Women's Trade Union League (BWTUL). She was employed by the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) from 1906 to 1915 as a speaker and manager of organization work. After making open-air suffrage speaking tours across Massachusetts, in 1911 Foley attended the International Woman Suffrage Alliance convention in Stockholm and spent a month in London studying English suffrage tactics. Between 1912 and 1918 Foley traveled to other states to help local suffrage organizations campaign in critical referenda and elections.

In addition to her suffrage work, Foley was a Trustee for Children in the Children's Institutions Department, 1913-1920, and deputy commissioner of the Child Welfare Division in the Institutions Department, 1920-1926, both for the City of Boston. Foley never married and probably lived with her long-time friend Helen Elizabeth Goodnow for many years.

Physical Location

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

Immediate Source of Acquisition

These papers of Margaret Foley fill four folders of the Woman's Rights Collection, which was given to Radcliffe College in August 1943 and formed the nucleus of the Women's Archives, later the Schlesinger Library. The material in this series was prepared for microfilming in October 1990 by Kim Brookes. It was microfilmed as part of a Schlesinger Library/University Publications of America project.

Related Material:

This material forms part of the Schlesinger Library's Woman's rights collection, 1853-1958 (WRC).

There is related material at the Schlesinger Library; see Margaret Foley papers, 1847-1968 (MC 404); Papers of Margaret Foley and Helen Elizabeth Goodnow, 1882-1965 (MC 405); and and Margaret Foley Additional papers, 1900-1974 (MC 840).

Title
Foley, Margaret, 1875-1957. Papers of Margaret Foley in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1911-1924: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch01019

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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