Mary van Kleeck Papers, 1849-1998 : Scope & Contents of the Collection

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Mary van Kleeck Papers consist of nearly sixty-seven linear feet of material, dating from 1849 to 1998, and are primarily related to her professional and public life. Types of material include biographical information and memorabilia, correspondence, speeches, writings, lectures, photographs, research notes, memoranda, reports, journal and newspaper articles, as well as organization and subject files.

These papers are primarily composed of documents and materials produced by the professional and public activities of Mary van Kleeck, the bulk of which span the years from 1917 to 1960. They include relatively little about her personal life. She spent several years organizing her papers, and the lack of biographical material was a deliberate choice. Most of the biographical materials that are included in the collection have come from other sources-family members of van Kleeck and Mary L. Fleddérus, researchers (especially Guy Alchon), and the federal government through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests made by Eleanor M. Lewis of the Sophia Smith Collection and researcher Guy Alchon.

Mary van Kleeck was involved in a wide variety of social, political and economic studies and organizations over the course of her lifetime, and she saved much of the correspondence, business, research, and printed materials related to her interests. The papers offer a rich cache of information about a variety of subjects, people, and organizations in the first half of the twentieth century, especially radical/left groups, from the international to local level. Her work at the Russell Sage Foundation and the International Industrial Relations Institute (IRI) compose the largest portions of the organizational records. The internal workings of the Department of Industrial Studies of the Russell Sage Foundation, as well as the businesses and subjects van Kleeck researched there, are well-documented within this collection, especially those companies that formed the basis of the Foundation's landmark studies, such as Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, Dutchess Bleachery, Filene Store, Rock Island Arsenal, and the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company. There is a wealth of information in the background research, field notes, correspondence, drafts, and final versions of the Russell Sage Foundation studies. Other subject areas are well-covered in the Foundation records, including the hundreds of businesses studied regarding employee representation in the workplace and the effect of the National Recovery Administration on industry. The records of the International Industrial Relations Institute include detailed notes, correspondence, subject files, speeches and debates from the many conferences and congresses that the organization held during van Kleeck's tenure, as well as materials related to the administration and publications of the IRI.

Mary van Kleeck served on numerous boards and special committees, including the American Association of Social Workers, American Association of University Women, American Civil Liberties Union, National Woman's Party, Bryn Mawr Summer School for Student Workers, International Labor Office of the League of Nations, and the National Research Council. The collection documents this work thoroughly. There is a significant amount of material relating to Smith College, both during the years she spent as a student and her later service to the institution. Other groups that are well-represented in the collection include the Young Women's Christian Association, the Women's Trade Union League, and Taylor Society. Of particular interest is her work with Mary Anderson at the Women's Bureau in the Department of Labor, and with Mary Fleddérus at the International Industrial Relations Institute.

In addition to organizational records, van Kleeck kept subject files on a wide variety of topics, especially U.S and international labor, protective legislation, trade unions, employer- employee relations, social research, social welfare, social work and social security, and the coal industry. Other major subjects addressed throughout the collection include race relations, Christian socialism, peace, women's rights and the Equal Rights Amendment, social settlements, New Deal legislation and policies, the social and economic organization of the Soviet Union, unemployment, and employment during World War I and World War II.

Significant correspondents include Mary Anderson, Susan B. Anthony II, Mary Beard, Elizabeth Christman, Eleanor Coit, Dorothy Douglas, Mary Fleddérus, Pauline Goldmark, Margaret Grierson, Alice Hamilton, John L. Lewis, Mabel Leslie, William Allan Neilson, Gifford Pinchot, Frances Perkins, Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Rose Schneiderman, Florence Simms, William Spofford, M. Carey Thomas, Lillian Wald, and Max Yergan.