Summary
Overview
Sayre, Jessie Woodrow Wilson,
1887-1933.
Jessie Wilson Sayre Papers
0.63 linear feet, 2 boxes
Abstract
Jessie Wilson Sayre was the daughter of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and was a political activist. The Jessie Wilson Sayre Papers document
the close relationships amongst the Wilson and Axson families in the early twentieth century, and provide details into their lives.
Description
Description
The Jessie Wilson Sayre Papers document the close relationships amongst the Wilson and Axson families in the early twentieth century and provide
details into their lives. The collection includes correspondence to and from Jessie Wilson Sayre, before and after her marriage. The bulk of the
collection is correspondence to Sayre before her marriage from her parents, sisters, and her mother's family, the Axsons. The collection also
contains her address book.
Collection Creator
Biography
Jessie Woodrow Wilson Sayre was the daughter of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and was a political activist. She was born in Gainesville, Georgia on
August 28, 1887, the second daughter of Woodrow and Ellen Axson Wilson. She was educated privately in Princeton and at Goucher College in Baltimore;
after her graduation from Goucher, she worked at a settlement home in Philadelphia for three years. She was also involved with the YWCA, serving on
its national board. She married Francis Bowes Sayre (a Harvard professor, Ambassador to Siam, Assistant Secretary of State for Franklin Rooselvelt
and U. S. High Commissioner for the Philippines) on November 25, 1913 at the White House and had three children with him, Francis Bowes Sayre, Jr.,
Eleanor Axson Sayre, and Woodrow Wilson Sayre. After World War I, the Sayres moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where Sayre worked in the interests
of the Democratic Party, the League of Nations, and the League of Women Voters. In 1928 Sayre made the introductory speech for presidential nominee
Alfred Smith at the Democratic National Convention and in 1929 her name was mentioned as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States
Senator; she declined. After that time, she continued to participate actively as a party official in Massachusetts. Sayre died after an emergency
appendectomy operation on January 15, 1933, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Collection History
Acquisition
Gift of Francis Bowes Sayre, Jr., Eleanor Sayre, and Woodrow Wilson Sayre. No further aquisition information is available.
Processing Information
This is an unprocessed collection. The contents list provided is a preliminary inventory.
Bibliography
"Mrs. Sayre Dead; Wilson's Daughter" New York Times (1857-current file); Jan 16, 1933, page 15, consulted during
preparation of biographical note.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research use.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Curator of
the Public Policy Papers. Researchers are responsible for determining copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Jessie Wilson Sayre Papers; 1886-1931, Public Policy Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Contents and Arrangement
Arrangement
The Jessie Wilson Sayre Papers are organized into the following sections: Correspondence from Jessie Wilson (Sayre), Correspondence to Jessie
Wilson (Sayre), and Jessie Wilson Sayre's Address Book. Within each section, folders are arranged alphabetically.
Series 1: Jessie Wilson Sayre Papers, 1886-1931
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