Lydia Maria Child papers, 1829-1879

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 theAtlantic Monthlyand the Boston Travellerconcerning Child's writings that were submitted for publication.

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.