Papers of Helen Morton, ca.1860-1992 (inclusive), 1914-1991 (bulk)

The papers of Helen Morton include correspondence, notes, reports, travel diaries, appointment books, printed materials, clippings, photographs, and one audiocassette of an interview with Morton. The bulk of material relates to Morton's activities with Christian groups, including the World Council of Churches, World Student Christian Federation, and the Young Women's Christian Association, as well as urban renewal organizations and settlement houses in Boston. Morton found an outlet for her interest in racial and social justice, group action, and social service through her affiliations with the settlement movement and ecumenical organizations. Morton built a stronger connection to religious life and its values through her work with international and national Christian groups and she helped foster this appreciation among others, especially students.

Morton may have arranged many of her papers later in life by decade or activity prior to their arrival at the Schlesinger Library, in preparation for writing her memoir, Highlights: 80 Years Worth Living. There are also drafts of memoir chapters throughout the collection. Original folder titles have been maintained; titles in brackets were created by the archivist.

Series I, PERSONAL, 1897-1990 (#1.1-8.8), includes correspondence with friends and colleagues, personal writings, Radcliffe graduate course notes, travel diaries, and appointment books. Correspondence includes information about Morton's work with the church and the South End neighborhood in Boston; references to organizations she was involved with, including the World Council of Churches and Emergency Tenants Council; personal greetings; Christmas cards; updates from friends; and invitations. Diaries (#3.5-3.9) relate to trips taken by Morton and her mother. Diary/appointment books (#3.10-6.3) contain mostly brief entries regarding appointments or activities, including work, travel, doctor visits, dinner with friends, etc. Newspaper clippings (#7.6-7.8), were collected by Morton and arranged by subject. Subjects include the church; elderly services; people involved in religious and settlement work; arts, primarily in Boston; and political, both national and local. Series is arranged alphabetically.

Series II, PROFESSIONAL AND VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES, 1918-1992 (#8.9-30.5) contains materials related to Morton's volunteer and salaried work in organizations, committees, and at conferences, as well as other professional activities associated with community outreach for the church, settlement work, and urban development. Types of materials include notes and speaking notes; correspondence; reports; writings, including draft chapters for her autobiography; printed materials and conference programs. Morton's community activities, her settlement work, and her involvement in Christian organizations were all closely connected. Because of this there is some overlap within and between each subseries. The range of topics is often noted in the folder descriptions.

Subseries A, Religious and international activities, 1920-1987 (#8.9-21.10), contains materials related to Morton's work with national and international Christian organizations, her international settlement and social work activities, and conferences. There are notes, printed materials, reports, writings, clippings, and correspondence related to her work and activities with the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF), the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Comité inter-mouvements auprès des évacués (CIMADE), the World Council of Churches, and the University Christian Movement. Within the papers Morton often uses "Student Christian Movement" interchangeably with "University Christian Movement." In 1967 the Student Christian Movement officially changed its name to the University Christian Movement in New England. Among the international conferences that Morton attended were the Mexico seminar to foster understanding between Mexico and the United States, which was organized by the Committee on Cultural Relations with Latin America (1930) and numerous settlement house conferences throughout Europe (1920s-1930s). This subseries also includes notes and printed materials related to Morton's international travel to Egypt, Africa, India, and Japan. See series III for Morton's scrapbook related to her Young Women's Christian Association-sponsored trip to Japan (1963).

This subseries also includes chronological binders (disassembled) of Morton's life (#9.1-11.1). This material, now housed in folders, contain correspondence, notes, printed materials, writings, clippings, etc., related to Morton's activities and organized by Morton in a loosely chronological order. While the bulk of this material contains content related to Morton's religious and international activities, the binders also contain materials related to her community work in Boston. This overlap is generally noted in the folder descriptions. Of note are correspondence and other materials related to Morton's adoption of a child during her time working with CIMADE in Calais, France. Morton worked with CIMADE right after World War II where she met an orphaned teenager Jacques Marcq and adopted him, eventually bringing him back to the United States. She adopted Marcq as a single woman and referred to him as her godson. Related correspondence in this subseries reveal their relationship and the trajectory of his life, including his time in the United States military during the Korean War and his own family. See also Series I for correspondence and a clipping related to Marcq (#2.4, 7.7). This subseries is arranged alphabetically.

Subseries B, Community work in Massachusetts, 1918-1992 (#22.1-30.5), includes meeting and planning materials, printed materials, correspondence, notes, and clippings related to Morton's social work efforts with organizations fostering community development and urban renewal, mostly in the South End of Boston. Included are correspondence, worksheets, long-range planning committee report, meeting minutes, and interview transcripts related to her work with the United South End Settlements (USES); meeting minutes, member lists, and officer reports for the 1917 Sewing Circle/Junior League of Boston; interview transcript with Morton, printed materials, and notes for the Boston Volunteer Service Bureau, Voluntary Action Center; and fund raising letters, correspondence, financial information, and reports for the St. Stephen's Legal Assistance Fund. Of note are files related to Inquilinos Boricuas En Accion (IBA) formerly called the Emergency Tenants Council (ETC), of which Morton was an active member. This was a neighborhood development organization which operated in a mostly Puerto Rican section of Boston's South End. From 1951 to 1980, Morton was a property owner on a part of the land which ETC developed into a housing project, particularly the ETC Elderly Turnkey Tower on 80 West Dedham Street, which provided additional housing for the elderly in the early 1970s. This subseries is arranged alphabetically.

Series III, PHOTOGRAPHS AND AUDIOCASSETTE, ca.1860-1986 (#PD.1-PD.8, T-545.1), includes photographs of Morton and her parents, brother, extended family, and friends and a scrapbook from the YWCA-sponsored trip to Japan in 1963, which contains photographs, clippings, postcards, and other printed materials. There are also photographs removed from Series I and II, which range in subject from personal and professional travel to the individuals Morton met through her community work in the South End. Also included in this series is an audiocassette of an interview with Morton (1986). This subseries is arranged by format.

Most of the photographs in this collection are or will be digitized and available online.