Nawsa General Correspondence Holden Cadge S. [*CS Holden 206 Sanford Building*] 752 North Main St. Attleboro, Mass. Nov. 1. 1921 Darling Old Enemy A letter was due from me to you and your very funny postal card brought it to a crisis. You are scheduled for our club meeting of Nov. 15. The meetings come at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. This is not an official notice but a personal one. The morning trains leave Boston for Attleboro at 7.39 & 11.00 oclock. The first one I am sure you will not want to take Will you take the eleven o'clock & come to [?] house for lunch? Dr. Holden will meet you at the station. There may be a later train but the eleven o'clock would give you time to eat & rest & do a little chatting. Could you be induced to come up here after the meeting & stay over night? Think it over & let me know. Hoping to hear soon affectionately Cadge Attleboro. March 7. 1883. My Dear Alice I suppose you and your folks are resting now somewhat since the suffrage bill has been settled for the time being. When I think of your disappointment I am sorry but other considerations make me glad that the bill was lost. I suppose your Father will not get a bust of Thomas Jefferson this month. I don't believe Peter or Paul found persecution fun & I don't believe you would if your interest in the Suffrage business were anything but theoretical. The Martha's Vineyard house may do but we can't decide anything without much letter writing or a meeting. I don't want Have you seen Lizzie or Helen since I left Boston. I had a letter from Lizzie soon after reaching home. She had been hunting for me as I had been for her & we had just missed each other. I have no news of the girls to write as I have seen only the Clarke girls since leaving your house. I started for Hattie's twice last week but was prevented to invite the girls out here until the weather moderates somewhat for some of our sleeping rooms are not heated & a pneumonia or two would not add to the enjoyment of the occasion but I don't want to wait so long for your visit here. Can't you come to Attleboro next week. Come Wednesday afternoon (a week from today) after the Journal is off your hands for that week at least and stay as long as you can. You can bring books to review & editorials to write while I am in Prov. & when I am at home we will lark it. You know I go to Prov. only three times a week now so you can work while I am away & play while I am at home & we will visit the girls & Mrs Holman, Mrs Mackey, Mrs. Barrows & any body or nobody, just as you please. Father says "Tell Alice I want to see her" & Mother may act the echo. This house won't seem like home until the girls have been in it. I am going to ask Hattie to spend next Sunday here & perhaps she & some of the other girls will come out while you are here. Now don't make a stingey little visit but stay just as long as your duties & inclination permit. I shall watch every mail until your reply comes saying what train you will take from Boston. If some other day would suit you better, say so. I have no doubt your Acrehurst [?] address was a perfect failure. Whatever you undertake generally is. Hope you found His Reverence the parson well. I think you will like our house. It is said to be the prettiest in town soo I don't venture to tell any one how much I prefer the old one but I should be accused of hypocricy. Mother & May seem to like it but Father & I are homesick, he especially when the wind is N.W. for then it blows a gale down one flue of one chimney so he can have no open each time fr. getting there but like the man who was going to N.Y on Monday or Tuesday D. V. but on Wednesday any how, I am going to Hattie's tomorrow any how. Remember me to your folks & let me see you next week if you can & will. Your darling Dakthaty. C.E.S. [*Cadge Sanford Holden*] fire in his office or to go to bed by. One saving feature, however, is that some of our furniture (most of it, in fact) is not bran new & shows some highly respectable rags & tatters for which I am very grateful. An entire new house newly furnished would tempt me to invite in a menagerie to supper. That reminds me that the Mattapan panther is said to have turned his toes towards Bear Croft. What if he should eat the old black cat who used to sleep all night in the brick oven & yell all day. May is at present in raptures over a canary which Mrs. Holman gave her yesterday. It has had a cold & won't sing for a few weeks. Father says he shall strangle it when it does. She has named it Sammy. MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice, Last Saturday was Hattie's 79th birthday and Margery invited Alice (your namesake) and me to lunch at her house, surprising Hattie. Margery's husband came in to lunch and one of her two boys was there, a fine-looking blond boy of 16. Hattie was looking rather shadowy, just recovering from a severe cold. It was wintry without but cheerful within. At such a time we especially miss you. We had a good lunch, pleasant conversation conversation and reached home again over the snowy ground before dark. Such meetings are among the choice pleasures of life. Thank you for your Christmas card. I was counting on it. I read the opening stanza before noticing the initials of the author and wondered where you found something so appropriate. Like Walter Scott, when you wanted some lines expressing a given sentiment and could not find them else where, nothing daunted, you knew where to look for them. Didn't he label his "Old Ballard"? We are having a slight snowstorm this morning. It is beautiful MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS but a little is enough. I do not like the cold any more than you do. I have recently had a lame hand, lame from rheumatism, and spent two weeks with Alice. She lives in the town, about a mile from me. I am [not] now able to take care of myself and am at home. My children and grandchildren are a delight to me, life is full of many interests. I know we would agree in many, if not all, [in] of our opinions as to the war and other public matters. Doubtless, like me, you listen to the radio and wonder how past generations got along without it – that and the telephone. The automobile, too. I still drive mine when my hand is not lame. My mind still recurs to the meeting at Margerie's and always with regret that you could not have been there. Write me a few words when you are in the mood for it. There is nothing like an old friend. But I am forgetting – you are my enemy. Cadge Jan. 24. My much-loved ancient Enemy! Altho' I have been remiss in writing I know you have not forgotten my existence because I received your Christmas greeting. I was sure you would send them out, I knew your unquenchable spirit My long silence has not been entirely without justification. Last March the Evil One got his claws into in the form of form of hardening of the arteries and since that time I have been decidedly hors du combat but now after weeks in the hospital and at Alice's house am once more at home with a competent housekeeper-nurse and am able to do many things for myself. Now to change the subject. Some weeks ago, Hattie's daughter, Margery Emerson called here with her daughter, Margaret and Margaret's two children, a boy of 2½ years and a girl 1½ yrs., two as lovely children as any one could wish to see. Margaret is the one who had serious mental trouble. She is now much better and with her children has joined her husband in Colorado where he is stationed in some military capacity. Margery's two fine boys are studyin one at Tech. in Boston and the other at a similar school in Worcester. I voted in the State election last Dec. under the absentee voting law for invalids. Our old Bearcroft friend, Sam Holman, was influential in getting that law passed. His wife had been an active woman. suffrage worker and had become an invalid but she did not live to vote under the absentee law. I was much pleased and not at all surprised with notices of your birthday in the newspapers. The pictures, too, were good especially the one which showed you sitting under your mother's portrait. (which was excellent of her. My four grand children were at home for Xmas vacation and have now returned to school. Charles (a veteran!) is at Harvard. He is still in the Naval reserve. John is at a military school at Manlius N.Y. His ebulient spirits seemed to need that kind of training. H is a lovely and lovable young boy. Mary is at school in Pa, and Ruth at Grinnell, Iowa. My children are as usual. How fortunate I am in having them so near me. How much I would like to see you. We could doubtless find something to argue about. Do you remember remember our endless debates as we used to walk across the Common? And on one occasion our argument with fists at Tech. and how sheepishly we retreated when a prof. appeared! Well I wont remind you of any more of our egregious deeds. If Pres. Marsh had known you would not (perhaps) received your doctorate. Well goodby my dear one. Cadge January eight MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice It was a real pleasure to receive your Christmas card with its indorsement. I was looking for it and hoping it would come. Hattie and Margery called now some weeks ago, soon after the hurricane. They came in a fine new auto, which was a gift from Hattie to Margery, stopping here on their way from Providence to Diamond Hill where Margery has a summer camp. They were going to see what harm the hurricane had done there. I have not heard from Hattie since except a Christmas card but she has probably gone to spend Christmas with Eunice in Brooklyn, as usual. How I would like to hear you fulminate on present world conditions. I imagine that for once we would be in accord. Before the advent of Hitler, who would have supposed that we would abhor [and] anyone more than we did Mussolini! Do you favor the fire-eater Capt. Eden or the pacific Chamberlain? I favor the latter but you were always more bellicose than I. I hope you admire our Mr. Hull and the work he is accomplishing. Do you have some-one read to you? Has that some-one read to you Nora Waln's serial appearing in the "Atlantic" giving her personal experiences in Nazi Germany? Also do you hear every Thursday evening at 9.30 over WBZ the "Town Meeting of the air" program? It is the most interesting program on the radio to me. I'm asking a lot of questions. I always like to know your opinions because I know you have good reasons for holding them, altho' I am far from always agreeing with you. My children and grandchildren are well and happy. They [*Cadge Holden*] are enjoying the skating and longing for snow. The hurricane damage in Attleboro was great in the way of destroying trees and chimneys, blowing off shingles and garage doors and blinds. I lost two great elms, one 98 years old, and the other 135, we counted the rings. All the other trees were injured more or less seriously but that of course was nothing compared to the [trag] tragic loss of life along the sea shores. Goodby, old dear, may your troubles grow less! Your enemy, as ever Cadge Dec. 29. MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice A great disappointment! I cannot go to the play on May 9. Hattie and I had arranged to go together by auto, driven in by a friend and as far as I know, Hattie will go altho' I cannot. Alice, your name-sake, has to go to the hospital for an operation (fortunately a slight one) and I am to take charge of her household and children. I did not realize how much I had looked forward to May 9 until I found that I could not go. I shall have you and the play in my mind all that evening and when I can shall call at Hattie's and ask her to tell me about it. With great disappointment, your chief enemy Cadge Friday morning. MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice I have today sent the quotation from Prof. Bowne to Hattie with an explanation of the matter – as far as I comprehend Prof. B's position. I long ago worked out the same position for myself. However, I think the position could be stated in simpler terms and thus reached a larger of persons. Perhaps an instance of his rather peculiar phraseology may amuse you. Lulie was absent from class one day and I read to her Prof. B's dictation for that day. I came to the sentence "The scientist posits atoms" I said "I must have made a mistake there. He must have said de-posits atoms! And so Lulie recited it in class next day + I remember how amused the Prof. looked as he corrected her + how I wondered whether or not I ought not to [rise] rise and declare that the mistake was mine. Oh those were the days! You, like me, must be rejoicing in the war news altho like me, you shudder at the awfulness of it all. Do you remember your Macaulay as well as you do your Scott? How can man die better than facing fearful odds For the ashes of his [f] fathers and the temples of his gods? Well, good luck and write again to your old - enemy. C. P.S. Bill Alice's husbant heard over the short wave a broadcaster from Germany intimate that there were questionable connections between Mrs. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill! [*Attleboro Sun Oct 24 1947*] MRS. CAROLINE HOLDEN EXPIRES Mrs. Caroline Eleanor Holden, widow of Dr. Charles S. Holden, passed away at her home, 752 North Main st., yesterday afternoon at the age of 89 years. Mrs. Holden was the daughter of the late Dr. Edward and Olive (Thompson) Sanford, and was born in this city on June 20, 1858. She made Attleboro her home throughout her long life and was keenly interested in the development of this city. Dr. Holden died July 3, 1932. As a little girl, Mrs. Holden remembered sitting on the steps of the Cong'l church and seeing a trainload of soldiers pass through Attleboro during the last year of the Civil War. Active and mentally alert, she maintained a keen interest in home, community and world affairs. Her account of the days between the Civil War and the 1890's was especially interesting and she gave reminiscences of this period several times before women's organizations and other bodies, after she had passed her 80th birthday. One of her chief interests was the public library, of which she served as trustee for many years. When Maj. Horton called a public meeting to take steps for a public library, maintained by subscriptions, she was one of the group attending. Her love of books survived during her life, in spite of what she called "intolerably stupid" volumes of the 1940's. Anthony Trollope was her favorite author, his stories of the English country-side never being bettered, she would say. Mrs. Holden joined the board of trustees of the public library in 1892, served through 1894 and was named again in 1922, upon the resignation of her husband. Mrs. Holden was a graduate of the class of 1881, the first class to leave Boston university, and was a life-long friend of Alice tSone Blackwell, well-known suffragist. The deceased was a member of the Attleboro Round Table, and served as its second president from 1897 to 1899 and again from 1914 - 1915. She was a member of Pilgrim Unitarian church during its existence, served as trustee of the Attleboro public library and was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the city. Two children survive: Mrs. William M. Stobbs and John S. Holden. She also leaves four grandchildren: Mary and Charles Stobbs and John S. jr., and Ruth Holden, two nephews and several cousins. A daughter, Ruth oHlden, volunteered as a nurse in World War 1 and gave her life in heroic sacrifice to her profession while serving in Russia. The funeral will be held at the Stone chapel, Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, Rev. Russell B. Richardson, minister of the Second Cong'l church, officiating. Interment will be in the family lot in Woodlawn cemetery. [*Oct. 27 1947*] MRS. CAROLINE HOLDEN BURIED The funeral service for Mrs. Caroline Sanford Holden was held at the Stone chapel yesterday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, with relatives and friends in attendance, including delegations from the Attleboro Round Table and Attleboro Public Library trustees. Rev. Russell B. Richardson, minister of the Second Cong'l church, officiated. The bearers were Thomas D. Winder, Harvey E. Clap, Raymond Horton, Samuel M. Holman, Harry Carpenter and Dr. Frederick V. Murphy. Interment took place in the family lot in Woodlawn cemetery. "LUCY STONE"—At the Copley, Tuesday, May 9, the Massachusetts division of the Federal Theater will present Maud Wood Park's play, "Lucy Stone," based on the story of Alice Stone Blackwell of the life of her illustrious mother. Lucy Stone stands as one of the most potent factors in achieving national ratification of women's suffrage. Such other thinkers who championed her cause, as William Lloyd Garrison, Horace Greeley, Susan B. Anthony and Mary Livermore, figure in the play. The production will continue for an engagement of two weeks. Cast selections will be announced later. HOLDEN, ATTLEBORO "LITTLE FELLOW," ADDS NEW BIG BATCH OF U.S. ORDERS TO BOOKS John Holden, who late last year converted his small, Attleboro screw machine products plant into a munitions shop when he got a $590,000 contract for primer bodies, is continuing to confound bigger corporate rivals by snagging munitions contracts from them. So far, he has obtained, on a bid basis, this business from the Government, in this order: $ 30,000 contract for primer bodies. $590,000 contract for primer bodies. $100,000 contract for primer heads. $ 70,000 contract for primer heads. $700,000 contract for primer bodies. This makes a total of $1,490,000 worth of business, all of which, with the exception of the first $30,000 order, was contracted in the last eight months. The most recent order, $700,000 worth of primer bodies, was just awarded by the Boston Ordnance office and has not yet cleared Washington. (Primer bodies and heads are detonating devices used in explosive shells and are, largely, screw machine products.) HAS EXPANDED To handle this influx of business, Holden has had to spread out. To the 40x50 building which his Automatic Machine Products Co. formerly occupied, he has tacked on an addition of 4300 feet which gives him about three times more space. And whereas he formerly employed six or seven men, he now has a force of about 60 on two shifts, half of them girls and women. "Girls," Holden explained to a reporter, "are better than men for certain types of work, such as putting screws in the primer tubes and for inspecting. Not only are they more accurate but they are faster, too." This conversation took place outside the shop. Attempts to carry it on inside proved futile because of the din and the lack of space—the cubbyhole Holden used for an office was occupied by two hard-working girl clerks. Every nook and cranny was occupied by a clacking machine or by bench rows of girls. According to the schedule Holden outlined, he will have all the present $1,490,000 munitions orders filled by next May. The reporter was curious about that $590,000 order he landed last November, the one which cost him a couple of sleepless nights while he figured specifications and which he landed by a pell-mell drive to Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, N.J., where he arrived just in time to submit his bid and take the contract right out from under the noses of the representatives of two large corporations. "I'm keeping my deliveries within a week on that contract," Holden said. Wasn't he having any worries about getting brass, the material of which the primers are made? "I had the foresight," he explained, "to order deliveries at a rate of about one and one-half times my need, and this has given me sufficient backlog to prevent any production tieups due to shipping difficulties encountered by the brass manufacturer." How much was the expansion of the plant setting him back? "The final cost should be under $25,000," he said. "I am trying to have this met through amortization provisions provided by the Government for defense expansion. MACHINES FASTER "I have bought or leased seven screw machines and two special machines, one of which reams both ends of the primer shell and the other of which taps both ends." Holden explained that these special machines were better and faster than the screw machines—they turn out 1000 primer bodies an hour against 800 by the screw machines— and are easier to get because no priority is required. Then why didn't he get all special machines? "Well," he said, "there will be an end to this war some time and I have to think about the future. For that future these screw machines can be adapted to different needs, but the special machines will probably be of no use beyond their present task." Holden said that he is finding competition for munitions contracts getting keener. When he landed his initial big order last November, the one for $590,000, his bid was 5½ cents per body or shell against 7 cents by one of his rivals and 9¾ cents by the other. Now, he said, the bids are "quite close." He explained that he has had to advance his about 10 per cent due to increased production costs. Spanish War Veterans Editor of UNITY: Americans have fought on both sides in the Spanish war, and fought on each side with full conviction of the justice of their cause. Now there is talk of punishing those who are straggling homeward. But chivalry, even misjudged chivalry, is not a crime. Long ago a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning told of a visit made by an Italian lady to the hospital, to pay her thanks to the wounded soldiers, who had fought for the freedom of Italy. She rendered her highest homage to a wounded Piedmontese: Each of the heroes around us fought for his land and his line, But thou has fought for a stranger, in hate of a wrong not thine. Happy are all free peoples, too strong to be dispossessed But blessed are those among nations that dare to be strong for the rest. The Americans returning from Spain, on whichever side they fought, should be dealt with leniently. ALICE STONE BLACKWELL. Cambridge, Mass. Unity, February 6, 1939 UNITY Monday, February 7, 1938 Against Cutting Relief Editor of UNITY: Cutting down relief means condemning many human beings to starve. Current events often recall a few lines from Arthur High Clough's modern version of the Ten Commandments. "Thou shalt not kill—but needst not strive Officiously to keep alive. "Thou shalt not covet—but tradition Approves all forms of competition." ALICE STONE BLACKWELL. Cambridge, Mass. [*H*] 57 EAST 78 STREET NEW YORK 21, N. Y. Dec. 29th Dear Miss Blackwell, Thank you for your letter telling me how to find a copy of your "Some Spanish American Poets. I have sent for the book and soon hope to own it. I already have your mothers "Lucy Stone'; a thrilling book and one which influenced me very much in my thinking on feminism. How very important it is that we keep the story of those women who were such a living force and still are, in our books which are still in print and obtainable and on our library shelves. We who believe in women's contribution to social history must do all we can to obtain recognition of her place in history. I do hope the project at Radcliffe may grow speedily for there is such need in the world today for information on the function of women in the past in the home and outside of the home in all her various fields. Endless subjects for students to work upon, and a press to reprint the vast number of out of print books is another need. It's difficult to wait isn't it when you are convinced of a need so great. Sincerely Mariam Holden. [*H*] Mrs. Charles S. Holden 752 North Main Street Attleboro, Massachusetts Dear Alice I have been ungrateful enough not to have acknowledged your Easter greeting. I had been looking for it and hoping for it and when it came said to myself "I knew it would come." The moisture and low temperature have made the grass and foliage green and luxuriant - so much so as to be almost smothering but very acceptable after our severe winter. I am doing little in my flower garden this season, my customary gardener is in the army and it is almost impossible to get another. John and Alice have a large vegetable garden on my land and John's man who cares for it also cuts my grass. My 13-year old grandson, John far the venturesome youngster is my garden assistant. John also has some sheep up here – only 3 at present but others are coming & John Jr. is the shephard. Several of my neighbors also are keeping sheep and all have vegetable gardens. My shrubs have been – and are – more beautiful than ever before. MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS I have not seen Hattie since we called on you last March and have heard from her only once. She is not a voluminous correspondent. She cannot do much physically and misses the automobile rides which it used to be possible to take – a bus is a poor substitute for an auto. Perhaps you know she belongs to a contract bridge club. She says the game is as difficult to learn as a foreign language. As for me – I can learn a foreign language but am stupid stupid at any game but Hattie is good at all things. Her grandchildren are unusually enterprising and capable. My family are all well, have got through the severe winter without serious difficulty. School was unusually wearing. The High school began at 8.15 wartime which meant that the pupils leaft home before sunrise in sub-zero weather. Most of the girls wore slacks but many went bare-legged. How interesting and horrible MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS and hope-ful, also, the world is. How well named Willkie's book is – One World! How did we ever get along in the last war without the radio! The last "Bostonia" contained a picture of 20 Beacon St. Apparently the University still owns it. Those were fine old days. How we enjoyed them! How little we remember of what we learned. there – learned from books – I speak for myself, perhaps you remember it all but there were other things to learn there than lessons from books and some friendships made there. Write me if only a few lines sometime before long. I didn't think much of the reminiscences of professors given in the last "Boston i am" but I did laugh over the extract from Prof. Kimpton's prayer. Your inveterate enemy C.S.H. June 7 [*Dec 30 1937*] MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear child It was a pleasure to receive your Christmas greeting, as usual. I was looking for it and hoping it would come. After Hattie and I called on you I received a note from her and just before Christmas a card. She usually spends Christmas with Eunice in Brookline. Near as we are, only 12 or 13 miles apart we seldom meet. We are both of us busy and also the inertia of age doubtless has something to do with it. This letter is too long. I am waiting to hear that your eyesight is beginning to improve. As ever, your enemy Cadge Dec. 30 Do you listen to the radio? Do you listen to the programs of the "Town Meeting of the Air" every Thursday evening? I find them interesting and instructive. Also I usually listen to Boake Carter. I find him very depressing but probably what he says is true and once in a very long time he says something good about somebody. I would like to hear you express your views of Pres. Roosevelt. I don't know what your father would think of him and his policies but I know my father's hair would stand on end. Everything I was taught in my youth, politicically, is now questioned and derided. I wonder [so?] what sort of MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS a world my grandchildren will find when they grow up. However at present they are young and beautiful and good with no thought of the morrow. They have revelled in skating and sliding this past week. They all do well in school and dance and play the piano. Alice's daughter Mary, aged 12, is a good singer and plays the piano well, has really a musical gift worth cultivating. Perhaps you will be interested in the experience of a young friend of mine, a boy of 17 or 18 years. He has decided to be a minister. His mother, a widow, is sending him through college, with considerable finalcial difficulty. They are very devout Baptists of the strictest sort and very fine people. He entered Boston University Liberal Arts school last autumn and already has received instruction (indirectly of course) which is disturbing his preconceived religious beliefs. I am following his course with great interest. He is a bright boy and I am wondering how he will reconcile his beliefs–religious and intellectual. I will enclose a copy of a quiz recently given his class in Anthropology. The members of the class could take the quiz and hand it in to the prof. or not, as they pleased. I do not recall that we had any class called "anthropology". Anthropology, First day of class. 1. How do you account for man? 2 How do you account for Biblical stories of creation? 3 Do you think there is a God? 4 What is your conception of the nature of God? (appearance, disposition) 5 What is the relation of God to man? 6 What makes an act right or wrong? 7 Should we do right? If so, why? 8 Are religion and science antagonistic or incompatible or what? Same quiz to be given at end of year. MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 753 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice A day or so ago I received from you a type written copy of the citation conferring your degree. You were not correct in thinging your memory had played the false for I had already a copy from you – written by hand. I can send the spare copy to Margery. I have not heard from Margery since the letters I forwarded to you. The disease from which her daughter Nancy is suffering is a disease of the glands and is likely to lead to very serious results. I hope you are no overwhelmed by the heat, and that you have enough to eat altho' it may not be just what you would choose. We are all as usual here. With much love Cadge July 9 [*Cadge*] MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice A long silence but not due to forgetfulness. It was a real pleasure to get your Christmas card. Just about the time it came the Evil One slung a germ at me and for several weeks I spent most of my time in bed– nothing worse than a severe cold. I spent the time at Alice's home. She takes me in on the rare occasions when I am not able to fend for myself. At the same time Alice's boy Charles was in bed with a cold and she herself was not well so I took a nurse along with me to look after the lot of us, so I felt I was not increasing Alice's burdens. We were all only slightly ill. I think the nurse spent most of her time taking notes written in French (classic French probably) between Charlie and me and doing cross-word puzzles with him. We are all well once more and I have returned home again. The fields are white and glistening and were it not for the telephone and radio I should be isolated. I think I wrote you that I was MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS on a program committee of my woman's club to discuss the question "Is the World growing better. I maintained that it was, in spite of the war and I think I made out a pretty good case. Anyway we had a lively meeting and all enjoyed it. Do you remember, approximately, anyway, when the law was passed making mothers guardians of their children on equal terms with the fathers? Last Tuesday Alice and I took lunch with Hattie's daughter Margery in honor of Hattie's birthday. Hattie's heart trouble has improved. She seemed quite herself. She cannot do much in the way of stair or hill-climbing and in May is to move into a large apartment hotel not far from where she lives now. There there is an elevator and by pressing various buttons she can obtain many convenient services. There is also a restaurant in the hotel. Two congenial friends live there also so she seems comfortably provided for and Margery keeps close watch over her. She does not know what she will do this summer. Providence and Margery's summer MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS home are dangerously exposed to air raids. Margery's husband and her two beautiful boys were at the lunch. The older boy will enter Harvard in the spring. The younger daughter is at the Michigan State University, the older daugher is lately married and is in the Canal Zone with her husband, a geologist. So we had a fine time. Of course we spoke of you and wished you could be with us. Alice's boy Charles aged 15 is one of a group who observe the comings and goings of airplanes, &c – in a voluntary military service. He goes to the observation tower two afternoons a week. They have telephone and field glasses. He is deeply interested and I think it was been a good thing for him, giving him a feeling that he is doing something for his country. What an amazing world!! Cadge Thursday morning Write to me before long. Be a better correspondent than I am MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice Altho' I wrote to you so recently, I feel moved to write again. Yesterday Hattie and her daughter Margery called. To my grief, I found that Hattie had not been well and was in a serious condition physically. I never like to pass on bad news but I know how interested you are in Hattie. When she and I went to So. Carolina together two years or so ago, she spoke of some heart trouble but not as anything at all serious. But it was become worse. She now has a companion – house keeper with her. Margery of course is keeping close watch over her. Hattie told me some time ago that she dreaded the time when she could not live alone. Of course she may improve greatly. There was no chance for private conversation with Margery. We had a pleasant time together. Looked over old photographs and talked over old times, our friends and families. Did I write to you that I am on the program of my club for a "panel discussion" with three associates on "Is the World improving"? If you have any valuable thoughts on MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS the subject, do send them along. It does not come until January. How I wish you were where I could sharpen my claws (mental claws) on you! Since I wrote last my adventurous young grandson has had another of his many escapes. He was thrown off his bicycle in a collision with an automobile but as usual he escaped serious injury, got some bruises and was quite shaken nervously and the auto. driver was nearly prosprated with horror. I am reading an interesting book "War without Violence," about Gandhi & his doctrines. Goodby, you dear old villain. Cadge Thursday morning. Attleboro, June 11, 1880. Dear Old Darling As you already perceive I am in a sentimental frame of mind. Cause – inspection of portraits of members of '80. Isn't Laura a lovely old dear – Mr. French's mouth shows his character – Georgie's eyes show hers. To me who knows Miss Putnam her whole face speaks too. Mr. Pettingil looks the sulky good natured old bear he really is. Oh dear it almost makes me homesick. How is your cold & your tansy tea? Haven't you nearly forgotten & I will not expect you. One thing I hate about vacation – watching the mails & being disappointed if I receive no letter. June 12. I put in this tail end of the letter this morning. Last evening I went to the concert & got home at midnight. I saw Hattie & Alice & Annie Budling, Louis Snow the existence of 20 Beacon St. Does it seem as if you ever did such a thing as mount wearily up to No. 18 & haze '82? I have been there twice since commencement, saw various Deans Profs & students – but not you. I left your French books with Lulu as she was to see Hattie before I would. She (Lulu) went to Providence Tuesday & returns Monday. This evening I am going to the promenade concert at Brown University, Providence. I may see some of the girls. What have you been reading? I have read one book the closing sentence of which would make your hair stand on end. You shall have it at the farm this summer. If you want some fine ideas on marriage read Black's "Daughter of Heth." Millionaires are nothing to it. My dear, if your health permits can't you plan a spree for some day this month? We will avoid slums[?] if you wish but we can visit the college, the Natural History [?] the art museum sit in the public gardens & talk. – Father has just invited me to ride with him so you must excuse me for a short time. – Some morning or afternoon let us go & call on Laura. You set a day convenient to yourself & I will be ready. I hope nothing has or will happen Mrs. Snow & numerous other friends & former classmates. My sister was there also. I could invite my friends into John's room to rest when they were tired promenading which was very nice. What do you think of Prof. B's "Evidence"? Father says his thesis is flippant, not serious enough for the subject. What a funny match bet. Georgie Turnsend & Mr. Turner. Wasn't it too bad the invitations to Gov. Claflin's came so late? C.E.S. happen to prevent your going to Bearcrofts with us. After our visit there you must come & make me a visit. Mother & I are depending on it. How is your Mother? Much better I hope & not worrying about our trip next month. After various interruptions I continue my letter. May has just come from Nortin[?] to stay over Sunday with a mournful story of a girl from the school who has been expelled from the Seminary for going out riding after retiring bell with the riding master. The riding master has resigned. I am going to Boston Monday if nothing happens. I shall be at the college at 12.30. If you are there you will see me, but do not put yourself out to be there. Dear Alice The Bearcroft poem is not where I can lay my hand on it but I think it is among my papers somewhere. Miss Elizabeth Blanding and her brother were the owners of the house at Bearcroft where we spent those happy days together. While we were there the brother and wife were absent but Miss Blanding remained there. I have no recollection of beans we could have a rendevouz. I'm always so glad to hear from you! Goodby my lovely old enemy. Cadge March 4 [*Holden*] but can easily imagine that she cooked some for us. She was a fine woman – jolly, very pious, a veteran teacher, kindergarten, public and Sunday school. What innocent and ignorant and upright little critters we were in those long past days before atom bombs and unimagined cruelties! My darling grandson is still on the Pacific coast and my other darlings are away at school. Young John Holden, aged 16, is hoping in some way to get into some military motorcycle corps. Your namesake and I are planning to spend a week, or less, in Bermuda, flying from Baltimore March 23 but we are not sure of our reservations. Hattie's grand daughter, Margaret, who was in the asylum for the insane was much better at Christmas time and expected home for the day. I have not heard since that time. Do you remember our class picnic at Nantasket and that we wrote our names on clam shells? Hattie's daughter, Margery, found Hattie's shell among her possessions. I have my shell before me as I write. It bears the date May 31, 1879. I remember that we so seriously injured the window curtains (shades) that Miss Blanding invited us to replace them – we did so. Wouldn't it be grand if C.S. Holden Dear Alice Your letter reached me yesterday and I am forwarding it this afternoon to Hattie. It was indeed a pity that Hattie and I could not be at the reunion. B.K. is better. His trouble is arthritis and he had a bad attack last week. It has troubled him for about 6 mos. but in spite of ups & downs is on the whole better. All the spring I have wanted to get you and Hattie to come out here but have not dared to undertake it, his condition has been so uncertain but if he continues to improve I shall attempt it in the autumn. I wonder how Ella looks after 50 years. Goodby, dear old Scamp Cadge Wednesday afternoon Rev. Dr. Willis P. Odell The Rev. Dr. Willis Patterson Odell, 75, former chaplain of the New Hampshire Legislature and former superintendent of Methodist churches in the Boston district, died yesterday at the New England Deaconess Hospital. Born in Laconia, N. H., on Dec. 14, 1855, son of Joseph L. and Abbie (Swain) Odell, he graduated in 1880 from Boston University, receiving the degree of doctor of divinity from Allegheny in 1895, and Ph. D. from B. U. the following year. He held pastorates at Cliftondale, Salem, Malden, Brookline, Buffalo, New York city and Germantown, Pa. During recent years his home has been at Chester, N. H. He was a Mason, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a Boston University trustee, a trustee of Tilton school, vice-president of the National Bank at Lakeport, N. H., and a member of the New Hampshire grange. [* Dec 1937*] CSH 752 North Main Street Attleboro, Massachusetts Dear Alice Your letter reached me yesterday afternoon. I will not treat you to any "Polyana" stuff but will readily admit that a "serious misfortune" has befallen you. Dr. Greenwood, as an honorable professional man, would not deceive you by holding out a false hope. It's easy to counsel patience but knowing you as I do I am sure your head is "bloody but unbowed." [*Cadge Holden*] I will quote to you something from the Atlantic (I think it was the Atlantic) someone who said "Reading rots the brain, a person should think." I often find myself meditating upon the past & wondering why this & why that & have come to understand many things which once puzzled me. Meanwhile you can still write & I shall watch the Herald mail-bag for telling shots. Spare your eyesight but let me know any change for better or worse. I will send your letter to Hattie. I have not heard from her recently. Goodby my dear Cadge Saturday morning [*H*] Mrs. Charles S. Holden 752 North Main Street Attleboro, Massachusetts Dear Alice This is just a note to say "good morning." I was glad to see you the other day and find out that you were no worse. I mean of course physically, as to being worse morally – words fail me! When warmer and sunnier days come, which will doubtless be soon, I shall (or will) imagine you sitting in a comfortable comfortable chair on your porch. It always astonishes me to find how much better I feel when it becomes warmer enough to sit out of doors, how much less like the flies who come crawling out in the spring. You must have enjoyed the article in the recent "Bostonia" about Prof. Bowne. I did not realize in our college days how great a man he was, altho' I admired him. Hattie wrote about a possible auto. trip into Virginia with Eunice. Goodby old rascal and villain, may we meet again before long. Cadge April 28. [*Cadge Sanford Holden Rec'd June 19, 1937*] Mrs. Charles S. Holden 752 North Main Street Attleboro, Massachusetts Dear Villain Your letter contained good news in that it said you were better. I'm sorry your outings are not of a more delightful character than visits to a dentist. A "talk-fest" at your house, apparently, is the sort of rendezvous we must aim at just now. When you have finished your visits to the dentist, if you will send me several dates on which you would be willing that Hattie and I should give ourselves the pleasure of calling upon you (admire my modesty) I will arrange with Hattie and let you know and of course it will an immaterial feast, not a physical one. I don't know Hattie's plans for the summer, she may be going out of town soon and if so we may have to defer our rendezvous until the end of the summer. We have had a beautiful spring out in the country, very MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS luxurient foliage. I hope you have found your porch comfortable. I had an enjoyment recently which I wish you could have shared – an out-door performance of "Midsummer Night's Dream", in a natural amphitheater in the woods at Sandwich, the stage being a reproduction of the Shakespearean stage – a raised platform with a roof but no sides or back & no scenery or accessories – immensely superior – in my mind – to the elaborate film version. Well, goodby, it good news anyway that you are better. As to your apartment being filled with papers, they are your papers and your home and anyone who doesn't like it, can keep away but if you are in it, Hattie and I won't mind the papers. You dear charming old ruffian. Cadge Thursday morning MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice Thank you for the good story about John Brown's sons and the Chinamen. It reminds me of something which you have doubtless forgotten. Long ago, probably in our freshman year, a group of were singing "John Brown's Body" in the idiotic manner of omitting the last word of first line everytime we sang it until the whole of the first line was omitted. (this is not a clear description but probably you understand. You would not sing it because it was disrespectful to the memory of John Brown. I think we never sang it again. ("So shines a good deed etc.") I have sent the letter along to Hattie. Hattie tells me, as she may have told you, the Middletown University is to give her daughter Eunice an A.M. for her service to education. This is a beautiful storm but I hope the snow will disappear rapidly, it makes difficult driving. Goodby, dear enemy Cadge Monday morning [*C.S. Holden*] [*Cadge*] CSH 752 North Main Street Attleboro, Massachusetts Dear Child Ever since our call on you a line of [Macaulay's] Scott has run through my mind "Upon his eyrie Nods the erne." You do not nod but you are a species of erne and you live in an eyrie. You must have a glorious view from your windows in all seasons and weathers. I do not recall that you are particularly fond of the out-of-doors, yet it comes to me as I write that you were fond of the view from your old home in Dorchester. After leaving you Hattie and I called on Alice Hersey, then on Hattie's grand daughter at Radcliffe but she was not in. Then we rode into Boston and left Hattie at the Back Bay station and then I returned to Attleboro. Hattie had to wait only 15 minutes for a train, an express, which got her home earlier than if she had accepted my request to take her to Providence. I smiled over your letter in the Herald quoting Mrs. Po[?]. Goodby, heres to another rendezvous. Cadge Nov. 1. [*Jan 11, 1943*] Dear Alice As Christmas approached, I asked myself whether or not the customary greeting would come from Alice and told myself it would! You see I was right – as I always was in the old days when you and I had so much to discuss and always took opposite sides. I liked all the sentiments on the card, especially that one signed "A.S.B.". Of course you sent a card to Hattie, too. I you soon, telling me you are doing well. As ever your old enemy Cadge Sunday morning Jan. 10. (2 had card from her with a note. She seems to be in better health than she was a while ago and delights in her grand children, who are unusually interesting young persons, as might be expected from their ancestry. Altho' she is not far away, gasoline restrictions, cold weather and, I imagine, the inertia of advancing years prevent me from seeing her but when warm weather comes once more I mean to see her. I often wonder how you are getting along and especially whether or not you are keeping reasonably warm. We have had some ferocious weather but can endure anything required (3 by the war. I don't need to say anything about the war, I know we agree there on all essential points but how much I should enjoy hearing your opinion on some subjects such as – for instance the mystery of Darlan, India and [Dand] Gandhi, is he a lunatic or a saint etc. Fortunately my family are all busy and well, young and old. I would I could do more. For the sake of the lesson it teaches, I will tell you of a dream I had some time ago. I dreamed that it was my duty to feed a horse. I went to the barn to do so and there in the stall with the horse, who looked thin and hungry, was a cow with sharp and branching horns. I greatly dislike a horned creature and wondered whether or not I would be brave enough to go into the stall but before I decided the question, I awoke. The dream was doubtless caused by the letter you wrote to the "Boston Herald" telling how your mother used to milk cows and did so the day you were born. So you should be careful what you write. Hoping for a letter from MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice Thank you for your suggestion concerning mobilization of ear-drums. I have to see my eye- & ear specialist about new glasses and will ask him about it. My ears trouble me only slightly at present but I don't want the trouble to increase. "March of the centuries" my occulist called it and seemed to imply that nothing could be done. I distinctly remember the photo. of the five girls wearing aprons. My copy is put away somewhere among my souvenirs. One of the boys in our class (I do not remember who) teased Hattie or Lulie about wearing an apron and we all came to the rescue. Oh the gay old days of long ago. I can still blush to think of some of our escapades – the steps of the Institute for instance. Hattie's daughter Margery suggests that Hattie and I go to some sunny warm spot (if such can be found) and sit in the sun for two weeks or so and recover from our disabilities but I cannot do so being in the midst of spring repairs, house-painting etc. Hattie is recovering but gains strength MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS slowly. I have really no cause for complaint, at my age still attending to my own affairs and driving my automoble here & there. I inclose a clipping which you have, however, probably seen. How I would like to see the play. If Hattie and I were in prime condition I would try to arrange to go. Do you ever hear now a days from Ella Abbott? Ella was always interesting and amusing. Do you ever sit and "ruminate? Let me suggest a subject for meditation. I am interested in educational matters on account of my grandchildren. The question is (two questions). 1. What, of what you know, do you know from having learned it at school? 2 What is the chief purpose of schooling – learning of facts or training the mind? Alice, your namesake, has been for a series of years, and still is, a member of the school committee and we have many discussions. Goodby a dear olde Enemy. We'll have a rendezvous some time. Cadge Monday morning MRS. CHARLES S. HOLDEN 752 NORTH MAIN STREET ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS Dear Alice In your last letter you wrote that your tongue was in good trim. Would I were within sound of it! I need to hear a blast from someone whose powers of vituperation exceed mine. Hitler, Musoline, Stalin! What a triumverate! At least Stalin (so far) practices his deviltries in his own country. There were times when some patriot would have liquidated all three. Let's try to think of something [*Cadge*] more cheerful. Alice (your namesake) read in the Herald what escaped my note – that Kerensky called on you. I was glad he did himself that honor. Fine weather seems to be approaching and Hattie and I will try to call on you but not without notifying you in advance. She is busy with private teaching. Isn't she remarkable ! The only time I feel at all "set-up" is when I think of some of those who are willing to call me "friend". Well – good-by Cadge March 19 THE EVENING BULLETIN, PROVIDENCE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1935 11 Photo: Famous Feminist and Classmates in Reunion Miss Alice Stone Blackwell of Boston, suffragist and daughter of Lucy Stone in the centre, with Mrs. Harriet P. Fuller of this city on the left, and Mrs. Charles S. Holden of Attleboro, Mass., three of the four surviving women members of the class of 1881 at Boston University, had luncheon this noon at Mrs. Fuller's home, 111 Everett avenue, to renew college memories. Article: Noted Suffragist Assails Expenditures by Roosevelt Alice Stone Blackwell, Here for Reunion, Calls President's Spending "Beyond All Reason." —Interested in World Peace Turning her attention from the rights of women who, she said, "can look out for themselves now," Miss Alice Stone Blackwell, famous suffragist and daughter of Lucy Stone, in Providence today, said that she is devoting her energies the the "unpopular side of many subjects." Principal among these listed President Roosevelt's expenditures which, she said, "are beyond all reason." "I honor his good intentions," Miss Blackwell said, "but I never have believed in efforts to create prosperity by creating scarcity as he is doing in trying to induce people to produce less goods." Miss Blackwell also decried the Administration's naval and military expenditures, "which are far beyond what they have ever been before." Opposes Garner. "And then he wants Garner to be his running mate again," the feminist commented. "I have always been mindful of the fact that the slightest accident would remove Roosevelt from the Presidency, and that then Garner would be our leader," she commented. The fact that she always has been an ardent dry is another reason why she is opposed to Roosevelt's policies. International peace and the program of the Civil Liberties Union are other causes in which Miss Blackwell is now interested. Miss Blackwell came to Providence from her home in Boston today to attend an informal reunion of three of the four surviving women members of the class of 1881 in Boston University, at a luncheon at the home of Mrs. Harriet P. Fuller, 111 Everett avenue. Mrs. Fuller and Mrs. Charles S. Holden are the other two alumnae of this institution at the gathering. Visits Miss Yates Also She also called on her old friend, Miss Elizabeth Upham Yates at Miss Yates's home on Blackstone boulevard this afternoon. At 78, Miss Blackwell's sense of humor and keen intellect are still undimmed. While her appearances on the lecture platform are few these days, she said her present joy and avocation was to "write letters to the editors of newspapers on unpopular subjects." Referring to the position of women today, Miss Blackwell said that "of course they have been put back economically by the depression and that they have not fared as well as the men. If they had the gumption to get together they could do something about it, but the trouble is they are all too much interested in other things to do anything about it." Had Good Time There was talk of the time when these college cronies holding their reunion today used to go down to the old Blackwell homestead in Dorchester, Mass., while Lucy Stone, who in married life was Mrs. Blackwell, was out campaigning for suffrage and her daughter, Alice, could have the freedom of the house to entertain her friends. They used to take the train from Boston to Dorchester and there the Blackwell coachman would meet them and drive them to the house behind prancing horses. It was a fine old home with a view out over the Boston harbor and with large grounds full of fruit trees. Sometimes the girls would have the boys from college down for a party of an evening. Yes, even though they were champions of equal rights for women they by no means scorned male society. They had a good time, too, though dancing was never engaged in. They played games, such as anagrams. Mrs. Fuller remember the first time that she met Alice's mother, founder of the Lucy Stone League, when she went down to the Dorchester home. Miss Stone was sitting by the fireside darning her husband's underwear! That she was a woman with homely housewifely virtues at the same time that she was barnstorming across the country demanding radical privileges for her sex, was proved in another way. Mrs. Fuller recalled one letter that came from Miss Stone during one of those houseparties in the cherry season. "The cherries are ripe," Miss Stone wrote to her daughter, Alice, "Have the coachman pick then and the maid can them." Joined in Debates Alice Stone Blackwell in college evidenced those characteristics, it was recalled today, which later were to carry her on in her mother's footsteps. She was a good debater, Mrs. Fuller says, and appeared fearlessly on college debating platforms at a time when few, if any, women had dared to think of such a thing. And even while she was carrying on her college work she helped her mother in editing and publishing the Woman's Journal. Mrs. Holden's father had a country place called Bearcroft near Attleboro and here too the college girls and their friends met during and after college. There were nine of them in the group and they called themselves the "Bearcroft Nine". Next year the group was increased to 15 whereupon they changed their name to the "Bearcroft 9 plus 6". Miss Blackwell left college to succeed her father and mother as editor-in-chief of the famous Woman's Journal until 1917 when that publication was consolidated with the Woman Voter and the Headquarters News Letter, and became known as The Woman Citizen, of which she was the contributing editor. As secretary of the National American Woman's Suffrage Association for about 20 years, and as president of the New England and Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association she fought valiantly for the rights which are women's today. And she became widely known for her writings, lecturing, editing and translations from the Armenian, Spanish and Russian, her scholarship attributing to the intellectual ability of the college women of her day, few though they were in number. Overcame Barrier Mrs. Fuller too became outstanding in this State intellectually. Even before her college days she had shattered educational barriers when by special dispensation she was admitted to the classical department of the old Providence high school in the former Supreme court building at the juncture of Angell and Waterman streets. Graduating from Boston University with honors and a Phi Beta Kappa key she returned to the Providence schools where she made Latin and Greek living subjects to pupils in the Classical high school for nearly 40 years. She retired from that position in 1931, having reached the legal retirement age. Pardonable pride in feminine achievement which have justified the claims which these women pioneers made for their sex, was part of the reminiscences of this trio today. The only relevant text on this page is a few lines that were cut off from the previous page, which I added to complete the article on the Blackwell, Fuller and Holden gathering in Providence. Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.