ELIZABETH WALLACE:
An Inventory of Her Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
Creator: | Wallace, Elizabeth, 1865-1960, creator. | |
Title: | Elizabeth Wallace papers. | |
Dates: | 1870-1961, [circa 1999]. | |
Language: | Materials in English. | |
Abstract: | Correspondence, diaries, notebooks, journals, manuscripts, lecture notes, and published works of Wallace, the first woman to become a full professor (of French literature) at the University of Chicago (1923). Her fields of study included Latin American literature, history, and institutions, as well as French and Spanish literature. | |
Quantity: | 3.5 cubic feet (8 boxes, 4 oversize items, and 7 items in Reserve). | |
Location: | P2710: See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Elizabeth Wallace was born in Bogotá, Colombia, where her father, Thomas Freeman Wallace, was a missionary in charge of a chapel, a school, and for a time the embassy of the United States. However, she, together with her three brothers, James, William, and Thomas, Jr., was repatriated by her mother, who took the children to Pennsylvania. She was enrolled in a female seminary, and graduated from Wellesley College in 1886.
After graduation from Wellesley, Elizabeth re-joined her mother and brothers, who had moved to Minneapolis. For awhile Elizabeth taught at the Judson Institute and then began graduate work in history under Harry Pratt Judson at the University of Minnesota. Shortly thereafter she applied for a Rockefeller fellowship and entered the University of Chicago as a Fellow in History in the fall of 1892. Elizabeth Wallace remained at the University of Chicago until 1927. She traveled and studied extensively in France and from 1899 until 1905 she was an instructor in French literature, then an assistant professor, and finally a full professor in 1923--the first woman to attain this rank at the University of Chicago. She was twice a dean in the colleges of Arts, Literature, and Sciences (1905-1913; 1923-1926) and was supervisor of Foster Hall at the time of her resignation in 1927.
After leaving the University of Chicago , Elizabeth Wallace returned to Minneapolis to live with her two bachelor brothers, James and Thomas (retired president of the Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank), at 124 Groveland Terrace and launched into a busy schedule of traveling, lecturing, writing, clubbing, and visiting with friends.
During the Second World War Elizabeth Wallace responded to a French crisis and was a state leader in American relief work for France. For this contribution, and for her valuable services to France during World War II, she was awarded membership in the French Legion of Honor in 1946. She also received honorary degrees from Carleton College in 1949 and from Macalester College in 1952, as well as acclaim for her autobiography, The Unending Journey. She died on April 10, 1960, shortly before her ninety-fifth birthday.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
The collection documents her personal life and career, including her childhood in Pennsylvania; study at Wellesley College, the University of Minnesota, the University of Chicago, and the University of Paris; her career at the University of Chicago (1905-1913, 1923-1926); her resignation in 1927 to travel, write, and lecture, while living with her brothers in Minneapolis; her work as an interpreter with the Rockefeller medical mission to France during World War I; and her many friends and acquaintances in the United States and abroad.
A photograph album and several letters (1909-1910) document her friendship with Mark Twain, and other letters the publication of her Mark Twain and the Happy Island (1912). Other publications include an autobiography, The Unending Journey (Minneapolis, 1952); articles about literature, travel, and French, American, and Mexican women; and book reviews.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Location of Master Files:
Digital masters of Volume 10, Bermuda Journal are stored in the Society's Collections Management System.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Elizabeth Wallace Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession numbers: 11,196; 8801; 8784; 8871; 9153; 9255; 16,059.
Processing Information:
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Catalog ID number: 990017308710104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 1 | Letters, cards and autographs, undated. |
Reserve 104 | Letters, cards and autographs, undated, 1894, 1908. 5 items in 1 folder. | ||||||||||
Photocopies of these items can be found P2710 Box 1. |
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 1 | Correspondence, 1870-1961. | |||||||||
The correspondents are mainly from several generations of the intelligentsia of several countries, and many letters are in the Spanish and French languages. Numerous persons of eminence are represented as well as family, university colleagues, editors, and friends. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1870-1895. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1896-1903. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1904-1910. | |||||||||||
Mark Twain correspondence, January 5, 1909-March 12, 1910. | |||||||||||
Copies of ten letters written by Mark Twain to Elizabeth Wallace. | |||||||||||
Location of originals unknown. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1911. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1912-1926. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1927-1931. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1932-1933. | |||||||||||
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 2 | Correspondence, 1934-1935. | |||||||||
Correspondence, 1936-1939. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1940. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1941. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1942-1945. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1946. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1947-1949. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1950-1951. | |||||||||||
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 3 | Correspondence, January-June 1952. | |||||||||
Correspondence, July 1952. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, August-December 1952. | |||||||||||
Correspondence, 1953-1961, circa 1999. |
Notes, quotations, lecture plans, and poems. |
Miscellaneous writings by Elizabeth Wallace, undated, 1895-1951: | |||||||||||
Concerning Elizabeth Kenny, poem, undated. | |||||||||||
In the land of revolutions, The chap-book, April 1, 1895. | |||||||||||
Edmond Rostand: A prince charming of letters, Stratford Journal, August 1919. | |||||||||||
The new french university, Modern Language Journal, April 1920. | |||||||||||
The haunting shadows of Haiti, Wellesley Magazine, February 1932. | |||||||||||
Casa del Altillo, Tasco, circa 1934. | |||||||||||
Booklet published by the Committee on Cultural Relations with Latin America, Inc. | |||||||||||
The city of peace, Three Americas, May 1935. | |||||||||||
Two sketches, Three Americas, June 1935. | |||||||||||
Little towns in France, poem, 1944. | |||||||||||
A tribute, 1950. | |||||||||||
Booklet honoring Sister Elizabeth Kenny. |
Mementos, 1895-1953. | |||||||||||
Knox coup d'etat, November 1895. | |||||||||||
Publication of Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. | |||||||||||
John Crosby dinner for Thomas F. and Elizabeth Wallace, January 27, 1939. | |||||||||||
The voice of the Carleton alumni, June 1949. | |||||||||||
Publication of Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota. | |||||||||||
Les cloches de Bully, September 11, 1949. | |||||||||||
Programs, photos of a local festival at Bully, France. | |||||||||||
Wallace-Gillet l'agence de marriage, July 1951. | |||||||||||
Calendar printed as humorous souvenir in memory of the marriage of Albert Hastings-Crosby of Minneapolis and Monique Francois of France, who became acquainted through Elizabeth Wallace and Lily Gillet | |||||||||||
The death of Robert A. Millikan, December 19, 1953. |
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 4 | Published and unpublished manuscripts | |||||||||
The quest for Dona Cecilia, unpublished manuscript by Elizabeth Wallace. 233 pages in 1 folder. | |||||||||||
Study of the Spanish writer, Fernan Caballero, 1796-1877. | |||||||||||
Jane and Peter, unpublished manuscript by Elizabeth Wallace. 163 pages in 1 folder. | |||||||||||
Juvenile novel with a South American setting. | |||||||||||
I live again, unpublished manuscript by Elizabeth Wallace. 156 pages in 1 folder. | |||||||||||
Study of the Mexican nun and poet, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, 1651-1695. Her Spanish version of this book was published in Mexico City in 1944 by the Xochitl Press. | |||||||||||
The unending journey, published manuscript by Elizabeth Wallace. 1 folder. | |||||||||||
Autobiography published by the University of Minnesota Press in 1952. | |||||||||||
Miscellaneous manuscripts. 18 manuscripts in 1 folder. | |||||||||||
Laughter. | |||||||||||
The story of a wedding. | |||||||||||
The flight of the magic carpet. | |||||||||||
The birth of Talleyrand. | |||||||||||
A classic play gone modern. | |||||||||||
The city of peace. | |||||||||||
Pyramids and kings, not to mention other things. | |||||||||||
A case for the humane society. | |||||||||||
Normandy, thy kingdom is within thee. | |||||||||||
Repercussions. | |||||||||||
The strange life of Mother Castillo of Tunja. | |||||||||||
Barcelona. | |||||||||||
Fellowships and their value to us. | |||||||||||
Report on the International Assembly of Women. | |||||||||||
El Indio. | |||||||||||
The haunting shadows of Haiti. | |||||||||||
Some spanish plays and playhouses, 1920. | |||||||||||
How we all used to build; We all want to learn; We all have to pray; and Adventures in understanding, 1938. | |||||||||||
Four talks at the Hennepin Avenue Church, Minneapolis | |||||||||||
Alumnae talk, 1939. | |||||||||||
Talk to drama club, 1941. | |||||||||||
Louis the Fourteenth writes a letter to the Duke of Windsor, 1947. |
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 5 | Clippings, undated. |
Photographs, undated. |
Notebooks, Journals, and Diaries | |||||||||||
Volume 1. Notebook, 1896, 1898-1899. 1 master and 1 user copy. | |||||||||||
Impressions, people, events at the Sorbonne, lecture plans, and notes. | |||||||||||
Volume 2. Notebook, 1897. | |||||||||||
Lecture notes (Gaston Paris) taken during study in Paris. | |||||||||||
Volume 3. Diary, 1900-1904. | |||||||||||
Duties of Elizabeth Wallace, activities, appointments, travels, notes, quotations, anecdotes, and addresses of friends. | |||||||||||
Volume 4. Notebook, 1900-1912. | |||||||||||
A lecture by Henry James (1905); reading notes; letter extracts; thoughts; writing ideas; attempts at poetic composition; The Song the Poet Chooses, a verse drama (Eagle's Nest Camp, August 1905). | |||||||||||
Volume 5. Diary, 1905-1906, 1908. | |||||||||||
Appointments, activities, and travels. | |||||||||||
Volume 6. The journal of a little jaunt to Alaska, 1906. | |||||||||||
Illustrated with photos and postcard cuttings. | |||||||||||
Volume 7. Notebook, 1907. | |||||||||||
Written in Paris with notes on plays and their performances; notes on lectures by Paul Gautier, Emile Faguet, Paul Passy; M. P. Rognon, Alfred Morel-Fatio. | |||||||||||
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 6 | Volume 8. French notes, 1907. | |||||||||
People, topics, and events. | |||||||||||
Volume 9. Summer wanderings, 1908. | |||||||||||
Volume 9a. Summer wanderings, 1908. | |||||||||||
Travel in France: Mont St. Michel; L'Abbaye de Hambye; Amiens; Rodin's studio. | |||||||||||
Reserve 104 | Volume 10. Bermuda journal, 1908. | ||||||||||
Elizabeth Wallace's friendship with Mark Twain at Bermuda. The illustrations include ten snapshots in which Mark Twain may be found. | |||||||||||
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Volume 11. Notes and impressions, Spain, 1911. | |||||||||||
Inscribed by Mark Twain. Introductory pages describe, in the third person, Elizabeth Wallace's arrival at Stormfield in November 1908. | |||||||||||
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 6 | Volume 12. Spanish notes, 1911. | |||||||||
Volume 13. Notes on Fernan Caballero, Sevilla, 1911. | |||||||||||
San Telmo; Don Miguel Velarde; Dos Hermanas; the Duque de T'Serclaes; Manuela; Fernan's grave; the Conde de Osborne; the Marquesa de Castilleja. | |||||||||||
Volume 14. Glacier Park notes, 1912. | |||||||||||
Volume 15. Diary, 1911-1912 and 1914-1915. | |||||||||||
Appointments, calls, philanthropies, flowers received. | |||||||||||
Volume 16. University of Chicago handbook, 1914-1915. | |||||||||||
Appointments, activities, brief diary entries. | |||||||||||
Volume 17. The ghosts of my friends, 1915-1916. | |||||||||||
Ink-doodling of Elizabeth Wallace's friends. | |||||||||||
Volume 18. University of Chicago handbook, 1915-1916. | |||||||||||
Addresses of people, appointments, activities. | |||||||||||
Volume 19. University of Chicago handbook, 1916-1917. | |||||||||||
Appointments and activities. | |||||||||||
Volume 20. Diary notes, 1917. | |||||||||||
Volume 21. Diary, 1919. | |||||||||||
Volume 22. Diary, 1920. | |||||||||||
Volume 23. Diary, 1921. | |||||||||||
Volume 24. Diary, 1922. | |||||||||||
Volume 25. Diary, 1923. | |||||||||||
Volume 26. Diary, 1924. | |||||||||||
Volume 27. Diary, 1925. | |||||||||||
Volume 28. Diary, 1926. | |||||||||||
Volume 29. French notes, summer, 1926. | |||||||||||
Travel to numerous small communities in France with Florence Lowden. | |||||||||||
Volume 30. A little book of successful dinners and other meals, 1927-1938. | |||||||||||
Menus; dinner guests; dinner invitations; Lafayette Club dinner, 1935. | |||||||||||
Volume 31. Diary, 1927. | |||||||||||
Volume 32. Diary, 1928. | |||||||||||
Volume 33. Diary, 1929. | |||||||||||
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 7 | Volume 34. Notes of South American trip, January-April 1929. | |||||||||
Volume 35. Diary, 1930. | |||||||||||
Volume 36. Paris notebook, 1930. | |||||||||||
Lecture plans; impressions of Paris; "the foreign invasion." | |||||||||||
Volume 37. Diary, 1931. | |||||||||||
Volume 38. Diary, 1933. | |||||||||||
Volume 39. Diary, 1934. | |||||||||||
Volume 40. Bogata revisited, 1934. | |||||||||||
Volume 41. Diary, 1935. | |||||||||||
Volume 42. Diary, 1936. | |||||||||||
Volume 43. Diary, 1936. | |||||||||||
Volume 44. Mexican corridos: Lecture notes and translations. | |||||||||||
Volume 45. Diary, 1937. | |||||||||||
Volume 46. Diary, 1938. | |||||||||||
Volume 47. Diary, 1939. | |||||||||||
Volume 48. A journal of happy days at Hollyhocks, summer, 1939. | |||||||||||
Social occasions in Pasadena, California; the Robert A. Millikans and other friends. | |||||||||||
Volume 49. Diary, 1940. | |||||||||||
Volume 50. Diary, 1941. | |||||||||||
Volume 51. Diary, 1942. | |||||||||||
Volume 52. Diary, 1943. | |||||||||||
Volume 53. Notebook, 1943. | |||||||||||
Notes, quotations, and autographs. | |||||||||||
Volume 54. Diary, 1944. | |||||||||||
Volume 55. Diary, 1945. | |||||||||||
Volume 56. Diary, 1946. | |||||||||||
Volume 57. Diary, 1947. | |||||||||||
Volume 58. Diary, 1948. | |||||||||||
Volume 59. Diary, 1948-1949 and 1954. | |||||||||||
Includes entry regarding Elizabeth Wallace's reading of Robert A. Millikan's autobiography and her criticism of it. | |||||||||||
Volume 60. Diary, 1949. | |||||||||||
Volume 61. Diary, 1950. | |||||||||||
Volume 62. Diary, 1951. | |||||||||||
Box | |||||||||||
P2710 | 8 | Volume 63. Quotations and reflections; Sketch of my seventieth class reunion at Wellesley College, June 6-11, 1956. | |||||||||
Volume 64. Letter register, 1957-1959. | |||||||||||
Volume 65. Memorandum book. | |||||||||||
Volume 66. Address book. | |||||||||||
Volume 67. Miscellaneous notes from loose-leaf notebook. | |||||||||||
Volume 68. Addresses for use in the drama league. | |||||||||||
Volume 69. Notebook. | |||||||||||
Includes addresses, poems, and outlines. |
142.C.19.5 | Certificates | ||||||||||
Certificate of Elizabeth Wallace's designation as Officier d'Academie, Paris, February 20, 1905. | |||||||||||
Certificate of recognition of Elizabeth Wallace's contribution to French relief work, American Aid to France, Inc., 1944. | |||||||||||
Certificate Elizabeth Wallace's membership in the Ordre National de la Legion D'Honneur of France, September 16, 1946. | |||||||||||
Certificate of award to Elizabeth Wallace of the Medal of Honor, Croix-Rouge Francaise, Paris, October 1949. |
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Persons:
- Morel-Fatio, Alfred, 1850-1924.
- Paris, Bruno Paulin Gaston, 1839-1903.
- Twain, Mark, 1835-1910.
- Organizations:
- Knox College (Galesburg, Ill.)
- University of Chicago.
- Wellesley College.
- Topics:
- American literature -- History and criticism.
- Places:
- Spain -- Description and travel.
- Spain -- Social life and customs.
- France -- Description and travel.
- France -- Social life and customs.
- Paris (France) -- Intellectual life.
- Document Types:
- Autographs (manuscripts).
- Diaries.