The following boxes are located offsite: 2-11. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, subject files, photographs and memorabilia. There is correspondence with Australian librarians, government officials, and U.S. information services officers; manuscripts of her articles, addresses, reports and procedural manuals; Australian library publications and other printed materails. In addition there are some general correspondence files and a few files relating to Wessells' career in the United States, including the New York Public Library, the Victory Book Campaign (1943), the American Library Association and its International Relations Round Table. The cataloged correspondence consists of one letter each from Louis Adamic, Pearl S. Buck, Henry Seidel Canby, Marion Ponsonby Gause Canby, and Daniel A. Poling.
This collection is arranged in 4 series: Series I: Correspondence; Series II: Subject Files; Series III: Printed Materials; Series IV: Photographs.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
The following boxes are located offsite: 2-11. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
This collection has no restrictions.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Helen E. Wessells papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Pearl S. Buck letter is on: microfilm.
Papers: Source of acquisition--Wessells, Helen. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--1984.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Papers Processed BRC/RL 08/--/85.
2020-04-10 PDF replaced with full finding aid (JR)
Librarian (Columbia School of Library Service, 1926); Librarian at NYPL Port Richmond branc, 1929-1941; information consultant and cultural officer in Australia for the U.S. Office of War Information during World War II, 1943-1947; and a director of Asian libraries for the U.S. Information Service, 1948-1951. Wessells was one of a number of librarians whose mission was to foster domestic understanding for America's war effort in allied and neutral nations. She contributed to library development in Australia and later was a planner and spokesperson for the American model of library service in Asia.