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Marie Mattingly Meloney Collection on Marie Curie, circa 1890-1962, bulk circa 1920-1934

Summary Information

Abstract

The bulk of the collection deals with Marie Curie's travels in the United States in 1921 and 1929, as a result of Marie Mattingly Meloney's fundraising campaigns to purchase radium for Curie's experiments. It includes correspondence with, photographs of, and manuscripts and printed material by and about Marie Curie. There is also an academic cap worn by Marie Curie while accepting honorary degrees in the United States, and a watch given to Meloney by Curie.

At a Glance

Call No.: MS#0865
Bib ID 4079097 View CLIO record
Creator(s) Meloney, Marie Mattingly, 1883-1943
Title Marie Mattingly Meloney Collection on Marie Curie, circa 1890-1962, bulk circa 1920-1934
Physical Description 3.5 linear feet (8 manuscript boxes)
Language(s) Material is primarily in English and French, with a few publications in Polish.
Access 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.

This collection is located on-site.

This collection has no restrictions.

Arrangement

Arrangement

Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged by category. This collection is arranged into five series.

Description

Summary

The collection was assembled by the journalist and editor Marie Mattingly Meloney, who led fundraising campaigns in the 1920s to purchase radium for Marie Curie to continue her experiments. The correspondence is largely devoted to Meloney's fundraising campaigns, and details of the arrangements for Curie to visit the United States to solicit funds in person. The collection also includes photographs of Marie Curie and the Curie family, many of which were taken during Curie's 1921 and 1929 visits to the United States, and some of which are signed. There are many documents and manuscripts concerning Marie Curie and her work; printed materials by and about Marie Curie; and one box (with list) of reprints and articles by Curie's daughter and son-in-law Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Finally, the collection includes an academic cap worn by Marie Curie while accepting honorary degrees in the United States, and a watch given to Meloney by Curie.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

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.

This collection is located on-site.

This collection has no restrictions.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies 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.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Marie Mattingly Meloney Collection on Marie Curie; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Related Materials

Marie Mattingly Meloney Papers, 1891-1943: Personal papers of Marie Mattingly Meloney, primarily documenting her career as a magazine editor. Includes extensive correspondence with prominent writers, political figures, and academics.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Existence and Location of Copies

Selected components of the collection are also available on microfilm.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--Meloney, William Brown. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--12/27/1956. Accession number--M-56-12-27.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 08/--/1989.

This collection was formerly known as the Meloney, William Brown - Curie Papers, or the Meloney - Curie Papers. The collection title was changed in October 2019 to better reflect the identity of its creator, and to comply with DACS rules. At the same time, an EAD finding aid with a full collection inventory was created, and other descriptive notes were added or revised for DACS compliance.

Columbia University radiation safety officers tested the pocket watch, academic cap, and "Impressions of America" manuscript for residual radiation on October 23, 2019 and confirmed that handling the items does not pose any risk.

Revision Description

2019-10-15 Collection record revised to comply with DACS rules, and EAD finding aid generated. CLB

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Heading "CUL Archives:"
"Portal"
"CUL Collections:"
"CLIO"
"Nat'l / Int'l Archives:"
"ArchivedGRID"
Agreements Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Biographies (literary works) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Essays Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Interviews Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Invitations Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Memorandums Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Photographs Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Postage stamps Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Programs (documents) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Receipts (financial records) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Speeches (documents) Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Visiting cards Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID

Subject

Heading "CUL Archives:"
"Portal"
"CUL Collections:"
"CLIO"
"Nat'l / Int'l Archives:"
"ArchivedGRID"
Brisbane, Arthur, 1864-1936 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Chemistry -- Research -- France Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Chemists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Curie, Eve, 1904-2007 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Curie, Marie, 1867-1934 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Fund raising -- United States Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Joliot-Curie, Frédéric Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Joliot-Curie, Irène, 1897-1956 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Journalists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Jusserand, J. J (Jean Jules), 1855-1932 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Meloney, Marie Mattingly, 1883-1943 Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Physicists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Scientists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Women chemists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Women journalists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Women physicists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID
Women scientists Portal CLIO ArchiveGRID

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

Marie Mattingly Meloney (1883-1943) was a journalist and magazine editor who led fundraising campaigns to purchase radium for Marie Curie in the 1920s. She was granted an interview with Curie in 1920, after being appointed editor of The Delineator. Upon learning that Curie's laboratory lacked the financial resources to purchase radium—an element Curie herself had discovered in 1898—which Curie needed to continue her experiments, Meloney promised to help.

Meloney traveled to Washington, D.C. with Curie in 1921, where President Harding presented Curie with the gram of radium purchased by the "women of America." She accompanied Curie on her second trip to the United States in 1929, during which President Hoover presented Curie with an additional gram of radium. Meloney also wrote an introduction to the English version of Marie Curie's biography of her husband, Pierre Curie.

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Series I: Cataloged correspondence, 1920-1943



Box 1 Folder 1 Brisbane, Arthur, 1921 March 14


Box 1 Folder 2 Brooks, Harlow, 1925 July 23


Box 1 Folder 3-4 Carnegie, Louise W., 1930 January 23, February 6, 2 folders


Box 1 Folder 5 Coolidge, Calvin, 1921 March 31


Box 1 Folder 6-39 Curie, Ève, circa 1922-1943 January 1, undated, 34 folders


Box 1 Folder 40-187 Curie, Marie, 1921 January 31-1934 March 4, undated, 148 folders



Box 2 Folder 1-5 Dluska, B., 1929 September 22-1933 May 19, 5 folders


Box 2 Folder 6 Eliot, Charles W., 1923 December 18


Box 2 Folder 7 Farrand, Livingston, 1923 December 29


Box 2 Folder 8 Ilona, V., 1923 May 29


Box 2 Folder 9 Harding, Florence Kling, 1924 January 15


Box 2 Folder 10-67 Joliot-Curie, Irène, 1921 June 6-1943 March 14, 58 folders


Box 2 Folder 68 Meloney, Marie Mattingly (to Mrs. C. N. Chipman), 1921 May 22


Box 2 Folder 69 Meloney, Marie Mattingly (to Charles W. Eliot), 1920 December 24


Box 2 Folder 70 Meloney, Marie Mattingly (to Mrs. S. L. Quimby), 1922 March 27


Box 2 Folder 71 Jusserand, Elise, 1924 January 4


Box 2 Folder 72-74 Jusserand, Jean Jules, 1922 May 15-1929 June 10, 3 folders


Box 2 Folder 75 Kellogg, Charlotte Hoffman, 1921 April 4


Box 2 Folder 76-99 Meloney, Marie Mattingly (to Marie Curie), 1921 October 12-1931 July 21, 24 folders


Box 2 Folder 100 Mayo, William J., 1923 December 20


Box 2 Folder 101 Mead, Elsie, 1929 September 8


Box 2 Folder 102 Morgan, Anne, 1923 December 24


Box 2 Folder 103 Radium Institute of Warsaw, 1929 December 30


Box 2 Folder 104-105 Roche, 1921 January 8, 28, 2 folders


Box 2 Folder 106 U.S. Bureau of Standards, 1921 June 22


Box 2 Folder 107 Envelope to Marie Mattingly Meloney (letter not received), 1932 May 31

Series II: Cataloged manuscripts, 1921-1934, undated



Box 3 Folder 1-2 Marie Curie, Address of acceptance of a gram of radium from the women of America, 1921 May 22, 2 folders


Box 3 Folder 3 Marie Curie, Address of acceptance of a gram of radium from President Hoover, 1929


Box 3 Folder 4-5 Marie Curie, Address on her departure from the United States, 1929, 2 folders


Box 3 Folder 6 Marie Curie, "The American Gift" (three versions), circa 1926


Box 3 Folder 7 Marie Curie, typescript of an article on Radium, with corrections in her hand, undated, First page missing.


Box 3 Folder 8-18 Marie Curie, Autobiography, undated, 11 folders

Multiple versions: one in French; another in English, intended for serial publication. English version with corrections in Curie's hand.


Box 3 Folder 19 Marie Curie, "The Curie Radium Institute of Paris", undated


Box 3 Folder 20 Marie Curie, draft of a speech on the International Committee of Intellectual Cooperation (League of Nations), undated



Box 8 Folder 1 Marie Curie, "Impressions of America" manuscript, undated, With annotations and suggested changes in the hand of William B. Meloney, Sr.



Box 3 Folder 21 Marie Curie, "Impressions of America" typescript, undated

Manuscript copy available in Box 8.


Box 3 Folder 22 Marie Curie, biographical sketch of Irène Curie, undated


Box 3 Folder 23 Marie Curie, "The Life of Pierre Curie", undated


Box 3 Folder 24 Marie Curie, talk given at Vassar College, undated


Box 3 Folder 25 Marie Curie, Memorandum to Madame Curie for the press, undated


Box 3 Folder 26 Marie Curie, various handwritten notes, undated


Box 3 Folder 27-28 Marie Curie, "Note sur L'Institut du Radium et la Fondation Curie, Leur situation actuelle, leur avenir, leurs besoins", undated, 2 folders

Includes a typed English translation.


Box 3 Folder 29-30 Marie Curie, "Pierre Curie", undated, 2 folders


Box 3 Folder 31 Marie Curie, Preface of "Pierre Curie," with introduction by Marie M. Meloney, undated, Galley proofs.


Box 3 Folder 32 Marie Curie, Statement regarding disposition of the gram of Radium after Marie Curie's death, 1934 March 25


Box 3 Folder 33 Announcement of American Association of University Women welcome ceremony for Marie Curie, 1921 April

Series III: Arranged materials, circa 1905-1949, undated


Subseries III.1: Photographs, circa 1905-1949, undated



Box 4 Folder 1 Photographs related to Marie Curie, undated, 16 photographs


Box 4 Folder 2 Signed photographs of Marie Curie, 1929, 1932, undated, 6 photographs


Box 4 Folder 3 Group photographs including Marie Curie, undated, 26 photographs


Box 4 Folder 4 Photographs of laboratories and Radium production, undated, 13 photographs


Box 4 Folder 5-9 Photographs of Marie Curie, circa 1920s, 5 folders


Box 4 Folder 10 Photographs of Marie Curie at various ages, undated, 14 photographs


Box 4 Folder 11 Photograph of Marie Curie and Herbert Hoover, 1929

Signed by Herbert Hoover.


Box 4 Folder 12 Photographs of Marie Curie statue in Poland and medallion, undated


Box 4 Folder 13 Photographs of Marie Curie with others, circa 1910s-1930s

Includes one photograph of Marie Mattingly Meloney with Marie, Irène, and Ève Curie



Box 7 Folder 1 Oversized photographs of Marie Curie, 1929, One signed by Marie Curie.



Box 4 Folder 14 Photographs of Ève Curie, undated


Box 4 Folder 15 Photographs of Irène and Ève Curie, circa 1905, 1915


Box 4 Folder 16 Photographs of Irène Joliot-Curie, circa 1920s-1940s


Box 4 Folder 17 Photographs of Pierre Curie, undated


Box 4 Folder 18 Photographs of Marie Curie's mother and father, undated


Box 4 Folder 19 Photograph of Marie and Pierre Curie's watch, undated

Watch is in Box 8 of the collection.


Subseries III.2: Manuscripts and printed material, 1912-1937, undated


Box 4 Folder 20 Papers and correspondence relating to the purchase of mesothorium for Madame Curie, 1921


Box 4 Folder 21 Papers and correspondence relating to the gift of Radium to Madame Curie, 1921, 1926


Box 4 Folder 22 Agreement between the Executive Committee of Women of the Marie Curie Radium Fund and Madame Marie Curie, 1921 May 19


Box 4 Folder 23 Agreement between the Marie Curie Radium Fund and the Equitable Trust Company of New York, 1921 October 5


Box 4 Folder 24 Declaration of Trust by the Equitable Trust Company of New York for the Benefit of Mme. Curie, circa 1921


Box 4 Folder 25 Documents relating to the Marie Curie Trust, 1934 August-December


Box 4 Folder 26 "Conférences Nobel" printed pamphlet, signed by Marie Curie, 1912


Box 4 Folder 27 Cards signed by Marie Curie, to be used by Mrs. Marie Mattingly Meloney in thanking Mme. Curie's friends, 1921 July


Box 4 Folder 28 Receipts for registered mail, signed by Marie Curie, 1922 February 8, October 7


Box 4 Folder 29 Envelopes addressed by Marie Curie, 1924, 1926, undated


Box 4 Folder 30 List of degrees and honors conferred on Madame Curie, circa 1921


Box 4 Folder 31 Programs, invitations, and other material from events honoring Marie Curie, circa 1921, 1929


Box 4 Folder 32 Three cards headed "Faculté des Sciences de Paris" and signed by Marie Curie, undated


Box 4 Folder 33 Four calling cards and one signature (clipped from a letter) by Marie Curie, undated


Box 4 Folder 34 Leaves gathered at Mont Blanc by Marie Curie, 1933


Box 4 Folder 35 Documents relating to the naming of "Curie Street," New York City, 1935


Box 4 Folder 36 Polish postage stamps issued in honor of Marie Curie, undated


Box 4 Folder 37 Marie Mattingly Meloney, "That Millions Shall Not Die!", 1921 April


Box 4 Folder 38 Marie Mattingly Meloney, "The 100,000 Dollar Thimbleful", 1921 June


Box 4 Folder 39 Marie Mattingly Meloney, Introduction to "The Life Story of Pierre Curie", undated, Galley proofs


Box 4 Folder 40 Marie Mattingly Meloney, "Madame Curie and Radium", undated


Box 4 Folder 41 Marie Mattingly Meloney, untitled manuscript beginning "On a late afternoon in the early winter…", undated


Box 4 Folder 42 Francis Carter Wood, "Marie Curie and Her Services to Humanity", undated


Box 4 Folder 43 Francis Carter Wood, "Radium and Humanity", undated


Box 4 Folder 44 Miscellaneous materials: bills, receipts, news clippings, and correspondence related to Marie Curie, circa 1921-1937, undated



Box 7 Folder 2 Photocopies of letters form Marie Curie to Marie Mattingly Meloney, 1962

Series IV: Printed materials, 1898-1936, undated


Subseries IV.1: Materials by Marie Curie, 1898-1926, undated



Box 5 Folder 1 Sur les Rayonnements des Corps Radioactifs, extract from unidentified sources, undated


Box 5 Folder 2 Les Radio-elements et leur Classification, extract from unidentified source, undated


Box 5 Folder 3 Propriétés Magnétiques des Aciers Trempés, extract from the Bulletin of the Société d'Encouragement pour L'Industrie Nationale, 1898 January


Box 5 Folder 4 Recherches sur les Substances Radioactives, Deuxième édition, Revue et corrigée. Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1904


Box 5 Folder 5 Les Théories Modernes relatives à l'Électricité et à la Matière. Paris, Éditions de la Revue Politique et Littéraire (Revue Bleue) et de la Revue Scientifique., 1906 November 5


Box 5 Folder 6 Sur le poids atomique du radium., 1907 August 19


Box 5 Folder 7 Sur le poids atomique du Radium. Extract from Le Radium, Journal de Physique., 1907 October


Box 5 Folder 8 Action de la pesanteur sur le dépôt de la racioactivité induite. Extract from Le Radium, Journal de Physique., 1907 November 5


Box 5 Folder 9 Action sur l'émenation du radium sur les solutions des sels de cuivre. Extract from Le Radium, Journal de Physique., 1908 August 20


Box 5 Folder 10 Dosage du radium par la mesure de l'émanation dégagée. Extract from Le Radium, Journal de Physique., 1910 March


Box 5 Folder 11 Sur la mesure de la constante de l'émanation du radium. Extract from Le Radium, Journal de Physique., 1910 February 14


Box 5 Folder 12 Sur le polonium. Extract from Le Radium, Journal de Physique. Co-authored with A. Debierne., 1910 February


Box 5 Folder 13 La Radioactivité. In Revue Scientifique, no. 19., 1910 November 5


Box 5 Folder 14 Two extracts from Le Radium, Journal de Physique: Sur la variation avec le temps de l'activité de quelques substances radioactives, and Sur la distribution des intervalles d'émission des particules α du polonium., 1911 September


Box 5 Folder 15 Conférences Nobel pamphlet. Extract from Revue du Mois, t. XIII no. 73, 1912

Contains Pierre Curie's 1903 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, and Marie Curie's 1911 Nobel Prize acceptance speech.


Box 5 Folder 16 Sur le rayonnement du radium à la température de l'hydrogène liquide. Extract from Le Radium, Journal de Physique. Co-authored with M. Kamerlinghe Onnes., 1913 June


Box 5 Folder 17 Les Radio-Éléments et leur Applications pamphlet. Paris: Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, 1920


Box 5 Folder 18 The Discovery of Radium. Address by Madame M. Curie at Vassar College, 1921 May 14, Printed document with corrections in Marie Curie's hand.


Box 5 Folder 19 League of Nations Committee on Intellectual Co-Operation: Memorandum by Madame Curie, member of the Committee, on the Question of International Scholarships for the Advancement of the Sciences, Geneva, 1926 June 26


Subseries IV.2: Materials about Marie Curie and family, 1921-1936, undated


Box 5 Folder 20 En L'Honneur de Madame Pierre Curie et de la Découverte du Radium pamphlet., 1921 April 28, Bound volume with "Marie M. Meloney" stamped on cover.


Box 5 Folder 21 Remarks of the President in Presenting to Madam Curie a Gift of Radium from the American People. Washington, Government Printing Office., 1921 May 21


Box 5 Folder 22 Radium. In The Story of Pittsburgh, vol. 1, no. 7, 1921 August


Box 5 Folder 23 Conferencia, Journal de L'Université des Annales, 1922 August 15

Contains material on Marie Curie.


Box 5 Folder 24 Madame Curie at the St. Lawrence University., 1929 October 25-26


Box 5 Folder 25 Instytutu Radowego dla walki z rakiem im. Marji Sklodowskiej-Curie, 1929


Box 5 Folder 26 Marie Sklodowska-Curie. 1867-1934. Notice Nécrologique lue au Conseil de la Fondation Curie, 1934 October 24


Box 5 Folder 27 La Femme Polonaise, Revue Paraissant Tous Les Deux Mois, No. 1, 1935 January-February

Contains articles on Marie Curie.


Box 5 Folder 28 Miscellaneous printed material about Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, and Radium, 1921-1936, undated



Box 6 Radium, volumes VIII-XVI, 1916-1921, Reprints of scientific articles by the Joliot-Curies, in a blue fabric-covered case.


Works of Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie, circa 1920s-1930s

Series V: Memorabilia, circa 1890s, 1920s, undated



Box 7 Case for "Life of Pierre Curie with Autobiographical Notes and Correspondence" original manuscript with correction, by Marie Curie, undated, Blue cloth box with title on hinge in gold.

Materials formerly stored inside case now located in Box 3.



Box 8 Academic cap worn by Marie Curie while accepting honorary degrees in the United States, 1921 or 1929


Box 8 Silver pocket watch belonging to Pierre and Marie Curie, circa 1890s

Given to Marie Mattingly Meloney by Marie Curie.