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Collection Overview

Creator:
Livermore, Mary A. (Mary Ashton), 1820-1905
Collector:
Princeton University. Library. Special Collections
Title:
Mary A. Livermore Collection
Repository:
Manuscripts Division
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/zc77sq12q
Dates:
1768-1928 (mostly 1846-1905)
Size:
9 boxes and 5.15 linear feet
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes 1-8; P-000143
Language:
English

Abstract

Consists of two collections of materials created by or related to American suffragette and reformer Mary Ashton Rice Livermore (1820-1905), including autograph notes, drafts, typescripts, and reprints of lectures, addresses, articles, and short stories by Livermore; correspondence; family documents and photographs; and clippings and printed materials, some of which were collected by Adelaide Witherington Boynton.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The Mary A. Livermore Collection was formed by combining two separately acquired groups of material. The "Writings by Mary A. Livermore and Others" file group consists of autograph notes, drafts, typescripts, and reprints of several lectures, articles and short stories by or pertaining to Mary Livermore together with manuscripts of poetry by Hezekiah Butterworth and Lillie J. Davis.

Materials collected by Adelaide Witherington Boynton, a family member of Livermore, include correspondence (to, from, and about Mary Livermore, together with letters of the Witherington family), two memoranda books belonging to Mary Livermore, financial records, and other miscellaneous documents. The majority of the material in this part of the collection, however, consists of early or finished autograph drafts of Livermore's lectures and addresses on various historical topics, woman's suffrage, temperance, religion, and anthropology. Also included are some periodicals, pamphlets, and clippings pertaining to, written and/or collected by Livermore, as well as photographs and glass plate negatives of family portraits and pictures from Livermore's European travels.

Collection Creator Biography:

Livermore, Mary A. (Mary Ashton), 1820-1905

Mary Ashton Rice Livermore (1820-1905) of Boston, Massachusetts, was an American suffragette and reformer. In 1845 she married Reverend Daniel Parker Livermore, and together they co-edited the New Covenant, a church periodical, from 1857 to 1869. Livermore was a proponent of the temperance cause and an activist in the women's suffrage movement. For a number of years, she was president of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association and honorary president of the Massachusetts Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Her philanthropic work with such groups as the Boston Women's Educational and Industrial and the Woman's Relief Corps was lauded by her contemporaries. Founder and editor of The Agitator and the Woman's Journal (1869-1872), Livermore became a spokesman for woman's suffrage. Twice she was selected as a delegate to the Massachusetts State Republican Convention, where she presented temperance and suffrage resolutions which were incorporated into the party platform. As a lecturer at the Redpath Lyceum Bureau in Boston, she spoke regularly for audiences of "mothers, teachers, and clergymen."

Collection History

Acquisition:

This collection was formed as a result of a departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.

Appraisal

No appraisal information is available.

Processing Information

Original processing information unknown.

Some revisions to the finding aid were made by Kelly Bolding in February 2020.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Mary A. Livermore Collection; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/zc77sq12q
Location:
Firestone Library
One Washington Road
Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
(609) 258-3184
Storage Note:
  • Firestone Library (scamss): Boxes 1-8; P-000143