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Finding aid in repository
This collection is arranged into two series.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
The Lydia Maria Child Papers consist primarily of letters written by Child to friends and professional acquaintances. The letters address her involvement in the abolitionist movement, her writing career, her religion, and personal relationships. In addition to the various correspondences, two poems are included in this collection, as well as manuscript writings by Child. This collection contains two photographs of Child.
Together with other letters by Child from the Park Benjamin, Sydney Howard Gay, Jay Family, and John H. Payne collections, the letters in folders 1 and 2 may also be accessed on microfilm under call number "MS Coll Child.".
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Lydia Maria Child papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
All letters in folders 1 and 2 are also available on microfilm. The microfilm is stored onsite in RBML under call number "MS Coll Child.".
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Curator of Manuscripts/University Archivist, Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML). The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Source of acquisition--Albert M. Baer. Method of acquisition--Gift of; Date of acquisition--1974.
Lydia Maria Child was born Lydia Maria Francis in Medford, Massachusetts in February, 1802. Francis was born into an abolitionist family and was greatly influenced by her brother, Convers, who would later become a Unitarian Clergyman. After the death of her mother in 1814, Child moved to Maine to live with her sister and began teaching in Gardiner in 1819. While living in Maine, Child became increasingly interested in Native Americans and visited many nearby settlements. Child began actively writing shortly after returning to Massachusetts to live with her brother. She published her first novel, Hobomok, in 1824, at the age of 22. The story depicted the relationship between a girl from New England and a Native American. Although the book was published anonymously, Child would later gain fame as the author of
Child continued to have a vibrant writing career throughout her life; she was the pioneer of many writing forms, such as historical fiction, children's literature, and women's literature. In 1826, she founded
Following her marriage to journalist and fellow abolitionist, David Lee Child, in 1828, Child and her husband became acquainted with William Lloyd Garrison, who greatly influenced their devotion to abolitionism. With her husband, Child established the
Papers processed by Robyn Hjermstad.
Finding aid written by Robyn Hjermstad June 2010.
Lydia Maria Child Letters, Pennsylvania State University.
Collection is processed to folder level.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
This series contains the correspondence, writings, and poems of Lydia Maria Child.
This series is comprised of both personal and professional letters written by Child to her peers. Most of the personal correspondences located in folder 1 are about planning or recalling recent visits to friends, though there are letters regarding Child's spirituality, the death of her husband, David Lee Child, as well as a letter about her brother and his influence on her writing. The professional letters in folder 2 include many passionate letters written by Child regarding the anti-slavery movement in the United States. Letters to George Curtis, William Lloyd Garrison, and Robert F. Walcott are also located in folder 2. The letters frequently mention the sociopolitical issues surrounding slavery, and the activities of Child and her contemporaries in response to those issues. One letter, from Josiah Quincy, addresses Child's request for the erection of a statue of lawyer and abolitionist Charles Sumner. Additionally, a letter written by Child requesting copies of the "emancipation tract" is located in folder 2. In addition to letters regarding the anti-slavery movement are notes to the editors of the
Together with other letters by Child from the Park Benjamin, Sydney Howard Gay, Jay Family, and John H. Payne collections, the letters in folders 1 and 2 may also be accessed on microfilm under call number "MS Coll Child."
Subseries II contains writings and poems written by Child. There are two poems in folder 4; titles include "The Dandy Poet's Appeal" (circa 1829), and "A Yankee Soldier's Song" (1863). Folder 3 contains some of Child's writings, including a manuscript about slavery and abolition in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1862. Folder 3 also contains a handwritten program for the Annual Subscription Anniversary for the American Anti-Slavery Society. There are two quotations, or maxims, as well as a journal entry about Adolf Arnstein, a German mystic from the 14th century.
There are two photographs in folder 5 of Lydia Maria Child, both portraits, one of her at age 63 and one at age 65.