<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ead xmlns="urn:isbn:1-931666-22-9" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="urn:isbn:1-931666-22-9 https://www.loc.gov/ead/ead.xsd"><eadheader countryencoding="iso3166-1" dateencoding="iso8601" langencoding="iso639-2b" repositoryencoding="iso15511"><eadid url="http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/fq977t80t">C1198</eadid><filedesc><titlestmt><titleproper>Alice Davis Tibbetts Collection, 1934-1972: Finding Aid <num>C1198</num></titleproper></titlestmt><publicationstmt><publisher>Manuscripts Division </publisher><p><date>2007</date></p><address><addressline>Firestone Library</addressline><addressline>One Washington Road</addressline><addressline>Princeton, New Jersey 08544</addressline></address></publicationstmt></filedesc><profiledesc><creation>This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on <date>2026-09-22 19:22:50 -0400</date>.</creation><langusage>Description is written in: <language langcode="eng" scriptcode="Latn">English, Latin script</language>.</langusage><descrules>Finding aid content adheres to that prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content Standard.</descrules></profiledesc><revisiondesc><change><date>2012-06-20T14:46:48.288-04:00</date><item>Run through PULFA 2.0 normalization routines.</item></change><change><date>2022-11-11 09:08:02 -0500</date><item>Updated physloc code</item></change><change><date>2022-11-11 10:29:25 -0500</date><item>Updated physloc code</item></change><change><date>2022-11-16 12:54:02 -0500</date><item>Updated physloc code</item></change><change><date>2023-12-05 19:47:07 -0500</date><item>Updated use restriction</item></change><change><date>2024-08-12 21:29:07 -0400</date><item>Updated links</item></change></revisiondesc></eadheader><archdesc level="collection">
  <did>
    <repository>
      <corpname>Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division</corpname>
    </repository>
    <unittitle>Alice Davis Tibbetts Collection</unittitle>
    <origination label="Creator">
      <persname authfilenumber="https://viaf.org/viaf/41555015" role="cre" source="viaf">Tibbetts, Alice Davis</persname>
    </origination>
    <unitid>C1198</unitid>
    <unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/resources/2933</unitid>
    <physdesc altrender="whole">
      <extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 box</extent>
    </physdesc>
    <physdesc altrender="whole">
      <extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">0.2 linear feet</extent>
    </physdesc>
    <unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1934/1972" type="inclusive">1934-1972</unitdate>
    <abstract id="f8fe12e0f87b48918e8844fa7187a7e9">Consists of selected letters and photographs of authors, poets, and friends collected by Alice Davis Tibbetts, secretary, companion, and romantic partner of Edgar Lee Masters.</abstract>
    <physloc id="5d59ea1d16bd5baf140707e5cfaea326">scarcpxm</physloc>
    <langmaterial>
      <language langcode="eng">English</language>
    </langmaterial>
  </did>
  <phystech id="7b1a534b8ce7ab9fe32fb3cbd161c6ad">
    <head>Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements</head>
<p>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
<extref xlink:href="https://library.princeton.edu/special-collections/ask-us" xlink:type="simple">Ask Us Form</extref>.</p>  </phystech>
  <scopecontent id="6a4289754ea2266c0d7f3a45d3230091">
    <head>Scope and Contents</head>
<p>The collection consists of selected letters and photographs authors, poets, and friends collected by Alice Davis Tibbetts. Included are a visiting card of Ford Madox Ford; a photograph of Thomas Wolfe; photographs of Dexter, Gertrude, and Marcia Masters; two letters and a card from H. L. Mencken; a photograph of Pearl Violet Metzelthin inscribed to Tibbetts; two photographs of Gerald Sanders; five cards and one letter by Jesse Stuart; four photographs of A. M. Sullivan; a "Thank you" note from Virgil Thomson; and a letter by John Hall Wheelock. The material was laid-in a collection of books presented by Alice Davis Tibbetts to Princeton University Library.</p>  </scopecontent>
  <arrangement id="d9724458e989dff44404164bbfda8b9a">
    <head>Arrangement</head>
<p>Folders are arranged alphabetically.</p>  </arrangement>
  <accessrestrict id="3a9ff639ac0d21fab4b433831fe1975e">
    <head>Conditions Governing Access</head>
<p>The collection is open for research.</p>  </accessrestrict>
  <userestrict id="d40c33912e461fa2c1839984160c4f54">
    <head>Conditions Governing Use</head>
<p>Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under <extref xlink:href="http://copyright.princeton.edu/basics/fair-use" xlink:type="simple">U. S. Copyright Law</extref>, 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 <extref xlink:href="https://library.princeton.edu/about/policies/special-collections-copyright-credit-and-citation-guidelines" xlink:type="simple">Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines</extref> page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the <extref xlink:href="https://library.princeton.edu/services/special-collections/ask-special-collections" xlink:type="simple">Ask Us! form</extref>.</p>  </userestrict>
  <acqinfo id="e87bd6a22b4849c7306001bc9ad0a6d0">
    <head>Immediate Source of Acquisition</head>
<p>Gift of Alice Davis Tibbetts in <date normal="1983" type="acquisition">1983</date> (AM2008-7).</p>  </acqinfo>
  <appraisal id="41ddd9c9f734f20d29de6b782645752e">
    <head>Appraisal</head>
<p>No appraisal information is available.</p>  </appraisal>
  <prefercite id="57e9aa2dbb4ba4ce005cdf1a6d72294e">
    <head>Preferred Citation</head>
<p>Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Alice Davis Tibbetts Collection of Letters and Photographs, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.</p>  </prefercite>
  <processinfo id="4bb4983bc9273197be7995960ce2178a">
    <head>Processing Information</head>
<p>This collection was processed by Dina Britain in July 2007. Finding aid written by Traci Ballou-Broadnax on August 8, 2007. Folder Inventory added by Hilde Creager (2015) in 2012.</p>  </processinfo>
  <bioghist>
    <note label="personal-name">Tibbetts, Alice Davis</note>
    <head>Biographical / Historical</head>
<p>Alice Elizabeth Davis Tibbetts met Edgar Lee Masters during the Great Depression in the lobby of the Hotel Chelsea in 1936. She became his secretary, companion, and romantic partner until 1944 when Masters was taken from the hotel to a hospital and then a nursing home. The two never married. Following this relationship, Davis was married unsucessfully to a merchant sailor before marrying Charles Tibbetts. Mrs. Tibbetts died in New York City on September 29, 1988.</p>  </bioghist>
  <controlaccess>
    <genreform source="aat">Correspondence -- 20th century</genreform>
    <genreform source="lcsh">photographs -- 20th century</genreform>
    <persname authfilenumber="https://viaf.org/viaf/27068379" source="viaf">Masters, Edgar Lee (1868-1950)</persname>
    <persname authfilenumber="https://viaf.org/viaf/41555015" source="viaf">Tibbetts, Alice Davis</persname>
    <persname authfilenumber="https://viaf.org/viaf/54155795" source="viaf">Wolfe, Thomas (1900-1938)</persname>
  </controlaccess>
  <bioghist audience="internal">
    <note label="personal-name">Masters, Edgar Lee (1868-1950)</note>
    <head>Biographical / Historical</head>
<p>Edgar Lee Masters, American poet, novelist, and biographer, is best known as the author of the Spoon River Anthology (1915). Born in Garnett, Kansas, in 1868, he maintained a successful law practice in Chicago, Illinois, from 1892 to 1920, and made his debut as a poet in 1898 with A Book of Verse. After retiring from practicing law, he devoted himself entirely to writing. He died in Philadelphia on March 5, 1950.</p>  </bioghist>
  <bioghist audience="internal">
    <note label="personal-name">Tibbetts, Alice Davis</note>
    <head>Biographical / Historical</head>
<p>Alice Elizabeth Davis Tibbetts met Edgar Lee Masters during the Great Depression in the lobby of the Hotel Chelsea in 1936. She became his secretary, companion, and romantic partner until 1944 when Masters was taken from the hotel to a hospital and then a nursing home. The two never married. Following this relationship, Davis was married unsucessfully to a merchant sailor before marrying Charles Tibbetts. Mrs. Tibbetts died in New York City on September 29, 1988.</p>  </bioghist>
  <dsc><c id="C1198_c001" level="file"><did><unittitle>Card from Ford Madox Ford</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847318</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate calendar="gregorian" datechar="creation" era="ce">undated</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="8e2796351dda740745296cc1f5511f9f" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="0987620ba296281dba7bdc00ec107602" parent="aspace_8e2796351dda740745296cc1f5511f9f" type="folder">1</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c002" level="file"><did><unittitle>Photograph of Edgar Lee Masters with Gertrude (Mrs. Thomas Masters) and Dexter Masters</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847319</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate calendar="gregorian" datechar="creation" era="ce">undated</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="278022f4462e63c5497bfbe244191ad5" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="4db7d9a5668481b0bc18e5034a6653cf" parent="aspace_278022f4462e63c5497bfbe244191ad5" type="folder">2</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c003" level="file"><did><unittitle>Photograph of Edgar Lee Masters and Marcia Masters</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847320</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1942-08/1942-08">1942 August</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="b5275c7087e6b9abaf8a92cdf58f6718" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="cb9ddcc74e0b91c4e3cddd94e7eb1652" parent="aspace_b5275c7087e6b9abaf8a92cdf58f6718" type="folder">3</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c004" level="file"><did><unittitle>Letters from H.L. Mencken to Alice Davis Tibbetts</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847321</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1946/1946" type="inclusive">1946</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="151343f5429c3fb0197c6e368257f55e" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="fc9062a9d28efd7576bd342068a0bab1" parent="aspace_151343f5429c3fb0197c6e368257f55e" type="folder">4</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c005" level="file"><did><unittitle>Photograph of Pearl Violette Metzelthin</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847322</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1934/1934" type="inclusive">1934</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="7a6321d65563e3277eb48dfa9151ddab" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="1f296b748e75ab6e59fd44359a6ed363" parent="aspace_7a6321d65563e3277eb48dfa9151ddab" type="folder">5</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c006" level="file"><did><unittitle>Photographs of Gerald Sanders and Edgar Lee Masters</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847323</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1942/1942" type="inclusive">1942</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="9de48daefa503354d2f533f5b17016ba" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="f671b79a06c6ee373ea6e65a0c4181ae" parent="aspace_9de48daefa503354d2f533f5b17016ba" type="folder">6</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c007" level="file"><did><unittitle>Letters from Jesse Stuart to Alice Davis Tibbetts</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847324</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1949/1972" type="inclusive">1949-1972</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="0685dcf8fd53b95719689c92036fe336" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="6e2158d59021c1ab64aea18bc5774bcf" parent="aspace_0685dcf8fd53b95719689c92036fe336" type="folder">7</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c008" level="file"><did><unittitle>Photographs of A.M. Sullivan and Edgar Lee Masters</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847325</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1942/1942" type="inclusive">1942</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="82e5808af7fa36d98047e0f8ca881e71" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="78363cef37ad9fcf0f7eac09bbd812e1" parent="aspace_82e5808af7fa36d98047e0f8ca881e71" type="folder">8</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c009" level="file"><did><unittitle>Note from Virgil Thomson to Alice Davis Tibbetts</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847326</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate calendar="gregorian" datechar="creation" era="ce">undated</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="ef2636b48e0fc871064af2d0b3b00f59" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="e7a06b452a76502b85a63d63b018c0a4" parent="aspace_ef2636b48e0fc871064af2d0b3b00f59" type="folder">9</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c010" level="file"><did><unittitle>Letter from John Hall Wheelock to Alice Davis Tibbetts</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847327</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1955-01-17/1955-01-17">1955 January 17</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="68a759448902211b800d93d6a360c0e2" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="0999a0105ee27a6ed10f225840042239" parent="aspace_68a759448902211b800d93d6a360c0e2" type="folder">10</container></did></c><c id="C1198_c011" level="file"><did><unittitle>Letters from Mabel Wolfe Wheaton to Edgar Lee Masters</unittitle><unitid type="aspace_uri">/repositories/5/archival_objects/847328</unitid><physdesc altrender="whole"><extent altrender="materialtype spaceoccupied">1 folder</extent></physdesc><unitdate datechar="creation" normal="1939/1939" type="inclusive">1939</unitdate><container altrender="scarcpxm" encodinganalog="Standard half-manuscript" id="41d9fdd5b76dd14a949966a1ba7a7a66" label="Mixed Materials [32101037662127]" type="box">1</container><container id="037d4e3d2690bcd3623bf268a3506ff6" parent="aspace_41d9fdd5b76dd14a949966a1ba7a7a66" type="folder">11</container></did></c></dsc>
</archdesc>
</ead>
