BLACKWELL FAMILY ALICE STONE BLACKWELL GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE RA - RiRADCLIFFE COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT January Twenty-sixth 1938 Dear Mrs. Stantial: Thank you very much for your letters of January seventeenth and January twenty-fourth and for the enclosures. I am returning to you two copies of the agreement signed by the three trustees and am retaining one for my files. Miss Blackwell's signed statement about the use of the residue of the money raised for her benefit I am also filing, of course. You and Mrs. Boyer are very kind to look after the bound volumes of The Woman's Journal for Radcliffe. We shall be delighted to have them. I will see that the copy of Mrs. Catt's statement goes to the Library also. We have in the Library a copy of Lucy Stone, Pioneer and shall certainly have the play also. I do wish that we could give it under Radcliffe auspices. Sincerely yours, Ada L. Courtlock Mrs. Guy W. Stantial 20 Sewall Street Melrose, Massachusetts Ramsay Charles C. Ramsay Attorney and Counsellor at law 642 [643-644] Tremont Building 73 Tremont Street Boston, Mass. March 21, 1933 Telephone Capitol 9444 [Haymarket 3306] Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, Boston, Massachusetts, My dear Miss Blackwell: Recently, an Armenian acquaintance of mine came to my office and told me the following story: Before the Great War, an Armenian, Harry Aslan, was in your employ. He married a niece of the Armenian first above alluded to. When Mr. Aslan left Boston, he went to Kingsburg, (near Fresno), California, where he bought a farm and planted a vineyard, and also produced considerable crops of berries. He increased the value of the farm to about $50,000. Meanwhile, three sons and one daughter were born to the couple. He communicated his success as a farmer to friends in Armenia, one of whom strongly desired to migrate to California and emulate Mr. Aslan's example; but that friend had little or no money and asked Mr. Aslan for a loan with which to buy a farm near Mr. Aslan's. As he had been a chum of Mr. Aslan, the latter borrowed $4,000 from the Federal Land Bank of Berkeley, California, giving to said bank a mortgage for said amount on his farm, and lent that sum to his friend without security. Not long thereafter, Mr. Aslan died, leaving his widow and the four young children. Meanwhile, his friend paid and has to date paid nothing on said loan, either on the principal or the interest, and has been wholly indifferent to the sad situation of Mrs. Alsan and her children. In 1932, the Federal Land Bank demanded payment of the loan and threatened foreclosure of the mortgage on which no part of the principal has been or has been paid; and the interest was overdue. In some way or other, Mrs. Aslan borrowed $600, the amount of interest due in 1932. In 1933, the bank has twice threatened foreclosure. The children are too young to be of much help in conducting the farm, and moreover the financial depression has made farming very unprofitable in California, as elsewhere. Mrs. Aslan, therefore, wrote my Armenian friend, her [uncle?] asking him to assist her or seek assistance for her from others. As my friend is totally insolvent and wholly impecunious, he can do nothing for her and hence came to me. I replied that, although I [*about the Aslans*]can expect nothing whatever for my efforts in that behalf, I would take the matter under consideration. I had heard that a bill had been or would be introduced in Congress declaring a moratorium on mortgages, especially farm mortgages; but, upon investigation, I have learned that Congress has not acted upon that bill; and I have not heard that California has enacted such a measure. And the money was lost by a land bank, of course only the Federal Government could control its operations. If said government does not declare such a moratorium, I do not understand how President Roosevelt can interfere in Mrs. Aslan’s behalf. I have written the foregoing lines, in order to ask you whether my friend has given me a correct account of the late Mr. Aslan as far as you may know him and about him, and also to procure from you any helpful suggestions applying to Mrs. Aslan’s case as herein before stated. If in so doing, I am taking an unwarranted liberty, please pardon me. Although I have never been introduced to you, I feel that I know you; because I have so often seen you and have greatly enjoyed communications to the press by you, I have long been an active member of the Ford Hall Forum and the Ford Hall Folks, and other liberal organizations, and have long held such items of human relations as I believe you have long entertained and have so ably championed. Whatever I may do in in my efforts to assist Mrs. Aslan, who is an entire stranger to me, I shall do without expectation of compensation . If it is not asking too much of you, I shall appreciate an early response to this hurried letter, Should you be near my office and care to call for a conference I shall be glad to see you at an early date. I am almost always In my office at 2 p.m., except Saturdays, and sometimes in the latter days. I am in and out at other hours, but almost sure to be here at from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. But unless convenient, you must not take time to call me; although I should be happy to make your acquaintance. With great respect, I am Sincerely yours, Charles C Ramsay.Lists 139 GIBBS STREET NEWTON CENTRE MASSACHUSETTS April 13, 1941 My dear Miss Blackwell My thanks again go to you for your Easter greetings – Your card speaks with a very friendly and encouraging voice and I appreciate your kindness in including me among its recipients. I like the quotation from Sir Wilfred Grenfel especially.as it is so hard these days to be sure of what one thinks – but the necessity of doing something is upon us every day. It is comforting to meet such a brave philosophy of action. I trust the year to come will be a good one for you - and again, my thanks. Sincerely Katharine Ran[d?]Dear Miss Blackwell, I have wondered how my home came to be on your mailing list! I have enjoyed receiving your cards for the past few years. Your verse this year seems so fitting to one living down here – I refer to the first to lines in particular – "Though torrid was the Summer etc." I received a notice from the U. of Pa. Press about "Some Spanish Amer. Poets" and have just now received the copies I ordered. I am delighted with them. I must keep one for Wishing you a real Old-Fashioned MERRY CHRISTMAS and a bright and Happy New Year. Gladys C. Randolphmyself, of course and the others will be gifts to Spanish Students. I thank you for a beautiful contribution to both English and Spanish verse. It represents a real achievement. With all good wishes Gladys C. Randolph 630 N.E. 55 Street Miami 38 Florida Merry ChristmasRansom 49 High Street, Bolsover, Chesterfield, May 31st 34 Derbyshire Dear Miss Stone Blackwell, The Vineyard Gazette, with its touching little report of your life work, reached me yesterday morning. May I thank you much for sending it to me. I was very pleased to have it. It will go to the other treasures I have concerning Dr. E. Blackwell, Miss Mary Blackwell, & those I have of yourself. And, when I go to my "long rest" They will go with me. I shall, I think, feel their kindness is with me still + I shall love to think these!! This kindness, thus given for so long has made life so much happier. Than otherwise it would have been + I shall never forget. I showed the little article to a lady who knows how good the "family" have been to me. When she had read it she "I Should Just love to see that Lady's face".It must be so beautiful her lifes work must shine through it." I replied that must be true of all Dr. Blackwells people such people give you a foretaste of heaven I hope Miss Barry Blackwell is not suffering in any way [?] & that you have no bad effects of your cold. Mrs. Reed told me how pleased she & her son were to have a very pretty Easter card from Miss Barry Blackwell. I am sorry I cannot give a very good report of myself. I suppose I cannot expect it. I have outlived most of my early friends. My heart give trouble, & lately my eyes also. The dentist has not been able to help me much so far - The older I grow I feel more the loss of my dear little Hastings home & the kind friends there. I do not seem able to mix in both the new home & people. I hope it is not my fault if fault there be. It is all so very very different to What I hoped for. Still I must count my blessings With grateful thanks to you & Miss Barry Blackwell for every kindness. They have made my life happier then it would have been. & he's helped to clear away the "bitterness." I once felt over the wrongdoing of Miss Agsten Very Sincerely yours, E. B. Ransom I am not sure that I should have so written, please forgive me. I think it has helped me to so writeA. P REED, M.D. Naples, Maine "And if it please you, so; if not, why, so." Shakespeare. Should you not care for this, kindly advise me. Yours with Thanks A P Reed Naples MeMARK REEB Dear Miss Blackwell - It was extremely kind of you to send me the review of Miss Park's Lucy Stone play. I wish my conversation with you last week could have been more coherent. Just as you answered, a gentleman moved into the phone booth next to mine and apparently started to rebuild it. On my return to New York, I drove over Coy's Hill. Among others, I talked with a Mr. Day who remembered hearing Miss Stone lecture. With his General Grant beard and pronounced Yankee accent I3 properly sensitive to the associations of their home. The place had run down, and they have been obliged to rebuild the barn; but the house was unchanged. It is, I feel, in good hands. But maybe all this is something the Suffrage Association has brought to pass and you know about it already. May I offer you congratulations and best wishes for a happy birthday anniversary. Sincerely yours, Mark Reed Sept 6, 1939 White Plains, N.Y. 2 suspect he was a close prototype of the 1840-1870 farmer. The great hill has changed so little apparently. A southeasterly wind with spitting rain was sweeping across - and the valleys were veiled entirely. I could almost see an eager young woman on horseback come galloping out of the mist. Of course you know the Stove homestead changed hands two years or so back. But perhaps you would be interested that I talked with the new owners - a pleasant middle-age American couple who seemedMark Reed Box 942 White Plains N.Y. This gentleman had wished to write a play about Lucy StoneMonday, April 15, 1940 Dear Miss Blackwell, When I was about to leave [this] Boston this past weekend, I'd planned to phone you, but got lost in the rush of preparations. Thank you for your Easter Card. I expect to show my Lucy Stone radio night, [to] along with a couple of others,2 to an agent this week, and will let you know the results. I hope you are feeling fine and keeping occupied. Bernard Reines My address, temporarily, is the "Y" Sloane House, 356 W. 34th St., N.Y.C. Repertorio Americano Semanario de Cultura Hispanica Correos: Letra X San José, Costa Rica 28 de diciembre de 1927. Señorita Alicia Stone Blackwell 3 Monadnock Street, Upham's Corner Boston, Mass. U.S.A. García Monge, editor del Repertorio Americano, la saluda afectuosamente y al finalizar el año 1927, con votos muy sentidos porque el 1928 sea para usted venturoso, le da las gracias por la gentileza suya de suscribirlo a "Unity", "New Leader", y "American Appeal". Ha recibido puntualmente estos periódicos y se ha enterado, muy satisfecho, de que en los Estados Unidos hay miles de conciéncias claras que vigilan por el honor de ese gran país y que nos ayudan a defendernos de las terribles asechanzas del gobierno saxoamericano al serivcio de Wall Street. Estrecho sus dos manos amigas y quiero serle útil. Sinceramente suyo, García Monge P.D. - A Gabriela Mistral puede dirigirle sus cartas con esta dirección: 2, Rue de Montpensier Paris (1er)[*Garcia Monge*] Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association President: MRS. JEANNETTE S. FRENCH, 365 North Main Street, Pawtucket. First Vice President: MRS. A. C. D. GLADDING, 92 Keene Street, Providence. Second Vice President: MRS. SARAH M. ALDRICH, 13 Whelden Avenue, East Providence. Third Vice President: MRS. B. A. STEARNS 218 Massachusetts Avenue, Providence. Recording Secretary: MRS. A. M. JEWETT, 198 Carpenter Street, Providence. Corresponding Secretary: MRS. MARY F. W. HOMER, 162 Blackstone Boulevard, Providence. Treasurer: MRS. ANNIE E. J. HAZARD, 131 Warren Avenue, East Providence. Auditors: MRS E. C. ORMSBEE, 481 North Main Street, Providence. MISS FLORENCE GARVIN, 5 Summit Street, Pawtucket. 2 Pawtucket, R. I., March 14 1907. Dear Miss Blackwell: Your letter of the 12th reached me yesterday evening. Enclosed find list of speakers. Your father has certainly made a wonderful impression upon Mr. Burchard. That gentleman had not spoken to me this year until last Tuesday when he put himself out to have a little pleasant conversation with me. He told me that he had had a very pleasant call from your father. I do not share your father's strong belief. I think we may carry the act by the skin of our teeth. The antis appeared. There were three women one of them Mrs. Charles Warren Lippit They were accompanied to the building by four men (dudes) and they conversed in French. The hearings cannot be attended by Representatives as the House is in session or was in session and doubtless will be. This is bad. Very truly yours, Jeannette S. French[*Mrs. J. S. French*] Mass. Institute of Technology, Boston, November 22d, 1902. Dear Miss Blackwell- Thank you for printing the article about long dresses. I hope you can continue the crusade. I know you will not agree with me, but I think women have deserved all the setbacks they are getting, and I shall not register for voting so long as they are so foolish about long dresses and pockets. Very truly yours, Ellen A. RichardsEllen H. Richards Richards Pub. Co. "Smiles," a Book of Recitations for Girls. "Winks," a Book of Recitations for Boys. By Alice Lewis Richards The Author and Reader of "Home-Writ" Prose and Poetry. [*Answered Feb 28 1913*] [*[Rush]*] Cuyahoga Falls, O., Feb 25 '13 Miss Agness E. Ryan Boston, Mass. Dear Madam. Have enclosed circular sent me, thinking perhaps it was a mistake and should have been sent to Mrs. Caffun, she was one of the 35 trial subscriber I secured last summer. I expect to participate in the big national parade. Shall walk in the "Writer's Section." I have thought I should like to be one of the hundred women to sell the Journal, but suppose I can get all necessary equipments there. We shall reach Washington Sunday morning and be rested and ready for the demonstration Monday afternoon. I am looking forward to this being the real big event of my life. Oh, how I do admire the "big minded" brave women who have stormed opposition and brought about a national affair of much magnitude. Yours for freedom Alice Lewis RichardsDr. Esther L. Richards 41 West Preston Street Baltimore, Maryland 3-17-33 My dear Miss Barlow, The coveted book and photographs arrived safely, and I do thank you. Especially pleasing is the inscription you put in the front of it. How pleased my dear mother and father would be to see this book and to know you had sent it to me. I shall treasure it as among my favored possessions. I hope that with the coming of spring weather your mouth will clear up and give you less discomfort. With your general health as goodas it is a local condition like that should respond to sodium. The warm weather will soon be upon us down here. Spring comes earlier than it does in New England, but the summer is hotter and lasts longer. There is no weather like New England weather, and no spot so nice to live in. I shall never be anything but a Yankee no matter how long I live elsewhere. With every good wish and sincere and affectionate regard. Esther Loring RichardGREETINGS and BEST WISHES for CHRISTMAS AND THE NEW YEAR Your brave thoughts so well expressed make us mindful that we have often faltered and we find new courage. Ever affectionately Dorothea Whitney RichardsonDear Miss Blackwell - Your greetings through the year bring warmth into our household - Your book "Spanish-American poets" I am proud to own - and I have used many passages in meetings of our Unitarian Women's Alliance at Hartford, Conn.R NORCROSS INC. NEW YORKCONNECTICUT STATE FEDERATION AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN BRANCHES and COLLEGE CLUBS President Mrs. Carlos A. Richardson 28 Mason Drive New Britain Vice-President Mrs. Charles P. Rodenbach 56 Terrace Avenue Naugatuck Secretary-Treasurer Miss Marie E. May 102 Prospect Street New Britain COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN Education Dr. May Hall James 70 Howe Street New Haven Fellowships Mrs. Chase Going Woodhouse 751 William Street New London International Relations Miss Elizabeth G. Kane 202 Woodlawn Terrace Waterbury Publicity Mrs. Ralph C. Jones 425 Whitney Avenue New Haven Legislative Program Miss Eleanor H. Little Clapboard Hill Road Guilford My dear Miss Blackwell: Many, many times in the years that have rolled by since 1915, when I did a little work for you at the Monadnock St. apartment, and later at the Boston Equal Suffrage Association Headquarters, have I wished that I might talk with you again. I have recent group of pictures of you published in the Boston Herald, also this past summer saw a letter in the same paper from you. I have intended to call on you when I go up to Watertown to visit my family, but the time is rushed on a week-end, and there are so many plans with a family of five, I hope you will let me plan to see you definitely soon. You will see by the letter head that life gives me much to do, educationally, and in politics I find a real field for service. Last fall at Connecticut College in New London, Miss Edwina Whitney, Oberlin 1894, read a paper before our State meeting of the A.A.U.W. in commemoration of the Centennial Celebration of Oberlin. In It she mentioned your mother several times, and I know you would have been delighted at her tales of the early days of the education of women. Looking back only twenty years, however, I feel that the work we did for equal rights, has been delighted at her tales of the majority of women. They take their new freedom so lightly, consequently they are gradually losing much. Women physicians tell me that there are only six institutions in New England which permit the internship of women. I hope the A.A.U.W. Journal which you must see will publish an article on this subject soon. You lent me Kropotkin "Memoirs of a Revolutionist" which I am rereading in the light of Soviet happenings, it gives food for thought. I shall take it to you, when I go next to Boston. I often wonder what became of Sally Kitchin. So many crosscurrents in a life. But every person I have ever met it seems has left a thought to conjure with. Your influence has been great over so many thousands of lives. It must be a great satisfaction to feel the pulse of this country. to have seen so many changes, and to know that slowly but so surely mankind builds better because of unselfish efforts of men and women like yourself. with good wishes for the New Year Sincerely yours, Dorothea Whitney RichardsonDorothea W. Richardson letter sent [?] 4/38 not [?] answer father's best giving Sally Kitchen's address Co[?] State Federa- tion [? ?] of University [?]Kendallville Mar 9' 1907 Alice Stone Blackwell Boston Mass. Dear Miss Blackwell: I received the papers and thank you very much for the kindness. I will say that Miss Mary Chase of New Hampshire speaks here Monday afternoon on Womans suffrage and she is a very pleasing speaker. Mrs T.B. Perkins is pres. of the W.C.T.U. here. "The Message"- a W. C. T.U. paper is published at Anderson. Ind. Yours very sincerely Mrs. J.T. Rinehart. Mrs. J. S. Rinehart June 4 My dear Miss Blackwell, I shall be glad to correct the proof that you mention in your letter of May 31 if you will allow me to do so without charge. Sincerely yours, G. RiveraBogota, marzo 3 de 1927 Miss Alice Stone Blackwell Boston. Señorita: Mi grande y buen amigo el poeta Miguel Rasch Isla me ha mostrado las admirables traducciones que de sus sonetos ha realizado usted, en quien se aunan a un gran sentido artístico los conocimientos poliformes del castellano. Invoco para dirigirme a usted esta circunstancia, que es gratisima para los admiradores del poeta y de su inspirada traductora. Como homenaje de simpatia espiritual me permito enviarles los dos únicos libros que he publicado hasta la fecha, intitulados, respectivamente, LA VORAGINE y TIERRA de PROMISION. Del primero de ellos habló elogiosamente, en articulo memorable para mí, el señor Earle K. James en The New York Times Book Review, de 23 de enero de este año, lo que dio ocasion a que esté yo recibiendo diversas propuestas de casas americanas para traducirlo al ingles y editarlo en ese pais. Es posible que acceda a estas solicitudes, pero he de confesarle que lo esencial para mí en este asunto seria el de encontar un traductor capaz de darles brillo y realce a los episodios autóctonos de mi novela, que pueden desmerecer si se les quita el ambiente y el folklore que los caracteriza. Ojala pudiera yo ser tan afortunado como Rasch Isla en el hallazgo de un intérprete. Por lo menos me contentaria con saber que mis obras le causaron alguna emocion as us ted y se hicieron dignas de un juicio benévolo. Soy con todo aprecio affmo admirador, Josè Eustasio Rivera Calle 15. numero 63 A.Jose Eustacio Rivera