Call Number:

12H.Thacher

Repository:

Bryn Mawr College

Extent:

2 boxes

Language:

English

Date:

collection has not been dated, but most materials seem to be from between 1960s-1980s. (bulk)

Abstract:

The Barbara Auchincloss Thacher papers contain the professional papers of Barbara Thacher, Bryn Mawr College class of 1940, President of the BMC Alumnae Association (1966-69), and Chairman of the Board of Trustees (1980-87). Thacher was highly involved in education, and also wrote for Harper's, Newsweek, the Herald Tribune, and the New York Times.

Barbara Auchincloss attended the Chapin School before obtaining her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College in 1940. She subsequently received her Master's from Columbia in 1965. She married Thomas Thacher and had 6 children.

Thacher was highly involved in education throughout her career, serving as the first female Chair on the Board of Trustees as Bryn Mawr. For her service, she received the M. Carey Thomas Award in 1985 from Bryn Mawr and the Cleveland E. Dodge Medal for Distinguished Contribution to Education from Teacher's College in 1992.

She also served on the boards of Teacher's College of Columbia University; WNET-17 Channel 13; Riverdale Country Day School; the Public Social Policy Committee of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies; and the New York City Park Association.

She was the editorial assistant for Newsweek Magazine. The next year, she began working for the New York Times (Sunday Magazine and Week in Review). Additionally, Thacher wrote book reviews for the Herald Tribune, and created the Christmas Children's Book List for Harper's Magazine.

Thacher passed away at the age of 88 on February 1, 2007.

The Barbara Auchincloss Thacher papers contain the professional papers of Barbara Thacher, Bryn Mawr College class of 1940, President of the BMC Alumnae Association (1966-69), and Chairman of the Board of Trustees (1980-87). The collection is not dated in the finding aid. It consists primarily of correspondence and fundraising materials.

The collection is housed in two boxes. Box 1 contains correspondence and materials related to the Alumnae Association. Box 2 contains materials pertaining to Thacher's work on the Board of Trustees.

Of note in Box 1 are materials concerning the election of President Harris Wofford; Bryn Mawr Alumnae surveys, 1968-1971; and correspondence concerning an M. Carey Thomas film project, 1978-1979. Box 2 is largely materials pertaining to corporations and foundations contacted for fundraising. It also contains some Hepburn correspondence for an Alumnae Bulletin article and some Wofford correspondence.

This collection would be of worth to those interested in the internal workings of the Alumnae Association and the Board of Trustees during the 1960s-1980s.