Call Number:

12H.Kuppinger

Repository:

Bryn Mawr College

Extent:

3 linear ft. (1 document box and 2 storage containers)

Language:

English

Date:

1930-1969 (bulk)

Abstract:

Alice Knepper Kuppinger graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1936 from the School of Social Work. She was involved in the American Red Cross, and traveled widely with her husband as part of his job in the Foreign Service. This collection runs from circa 1930s-1960s, and contains a variety of materials related to the American Red Cross and the Foreign Service.

Alice Knepper Kuppinger was born Mary 29th, 1912. She attended the Columbus School for Girls in Columbus, Ohio, graduating 1929. She then received her B.A. in Journalism in 1933, and M.A. in Social Administration in 1934 from Ohio State University. She graduated from the Bryn Mawr School of Social Work with a 1 year certificate in 1936. She married Eldred Kuppinger in 1942, and the pair had one son, John.

Alice Kuppinger worked a wide variety of jobs and volunteer positions throughout her life. She was highly involved in various capacities in the American Red Cross for many years, beginning in 1937 and throughout the 1970s. Additionally, she worked for the Lee Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. Eldred Kuppinger worked for the U.S. Department of State for 34 years, spending the last 22 years in the Foreign Service with posts in London, Sao Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, Edinburgh and Paramaribo. As such, the couple spent a large portion of their lives in other countries. Alice Kuppinger passed away on April 24, 1994.

Bibliography: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/news-press/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=18662237

Deceased Alumnae Files, Bryn Mawr College Archives

The Alice Margaret Knepper Kuppinger papers contain the personal papers of Alice Knepper Kuppinger, Bryn Mawr School of Social Work 1936. The collection runs from circa 1930s-60s, and contains materials related to the American Red Cross and the Foreign Service.

The collection is housed in three boxes. Boxes 1 and 3 each contain a variety of materials, and do not seem to be organized thematically. Box 2 contains photograph albums.

The first box contains American Red Cross materials; correspondence; Foreign Service Assignments, from Edinburgh and Surinam; letters from Surinam (manuscript); Surinam recipes; and other miscellaneous materials. The second box contains 11 albums of photographs, clippings, cards, invitations, etc. from Foreign Service assignments (in London, San Paolo, Edinburgh, and Surinam). Box 3 contains a typed history of Surinam; a visitor's signature book from Surinam; two photographs from the Surinam Museum Foundation; two albums of letters, 1930s-60s; one album of Red Cross materials, 1933-34; one envelope of photographs of Bryn Mawr College, 1933-34; and Kuppinger's thesis from Ohio State University, Master of Social Administration.

Kuppinger lived in a number of countries due to her husband's position in the Foreign Service. This collection offers intriguing visual insight into their lives in these countries, and into Kuppinger's work in the Red Cross. Anyone interested in the Red Cross, Surinam, and the Foreign Service would find this collection to be of value.