Overview
Diaries, correspondence, etc., of Elsie Miriam Paine, Radcliffe College Class of 1904.
Dates
- Creation: 1900-1948
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Elsie Miriam Paine 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
2.09 linear feet (5 file boxes)Elsie Miriam Paine's collection consists of 26 personal diaries covering student years at Radcliffe (1900-1904) and subsequent employment as Assistant to the Radcliffe Secretary, 1904-1910 and Dean's Assistant, 1910-1922.
Her diaries trace the growth of college beginning in the days when the first dormitory (Bertram) was being built and the Radcliffe library grew to own 17,000 volumes. She gives impressions of college life, family and church affairs, Cambridge and Boston.
The collection also includes a writing, "45 years in the Cambridge Congregational Church School 1903-1948," as well as letters, programs, alumnae material and a description of Mary Coes' death (1913).
BIOGRAPHY
Elsie Miriam Paine attended Girls Latin School in Boston and graduated in 1900. She attended Radcliffe College as an undergraduate 1900-1904 and as a graduate student in 1911/12 and 1918/19. In 1925-1927, she took 2 courses in accounting at Northeastern University. She worked from 1904-1922 at Radcliffe College as Assistant to the Secretary, 1904-1912, and as Dean's Assistant, 1910-1922. In 1922 she became Secretary to the Director of Athletics, Harvard Athletic Association and from 1928-1948, when she retired, she was in charge of the Accounting Office at Harvard Athletic Association.
Her volunteer activities included being Secretary of the Boston branch of the AAUW and teaching Sunday School at the First Church, Congregational, Cambridge. During the Second World War she was cited by the American Red Cross for her service. Her interest in Radcliffe is shown by the fact that she was Class Agent for her class for many years. She was a Cambridge resident for most of her 93 years.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number: R80-I
Transferred from Schlesinger Library Collection number A-40, January 1980.
Related Material:
There is related material at the Schlesinger Library; see Papers of Elsie Miriam Paine, 1904-1972 (SC 5.).
CONTAINER LIST
- Box 1: 1-8v
- Box 2: 9v-13v
- Box 3: 14v-19v
- Box 4: 20v-25v
- Box 5: 26v-30v
Processing Information
Processed: January 1980
By: Bonnie Bergland Bracker
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
Subject
- Agassiz, Elizabeth Cabot Cary, 1822-1907 (Person)
- Higginson, Henry Lee, 1834-1919 (Person)
- Irwin, Agnes, 1841-1914 (Person)
- Title
- Paine, Elsie Miriam. Additional papers of Elsie Miriam Paine, 1900-1948: 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
- sch00778
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.