Main content

Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry

Notifications

Held at: Bryn Mawr College [Contact Us]Bryn Mawr College Library, 101 N. Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr 19010

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Bryn Mawr College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
RG.13D
Repository:
Bryn Mawr College
Extent:
10 linear ft.
Language:
English
Date:
1921-1984 (bulk)
Creator:
Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry
Abstract:

The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry was held on the Bryn Mawr College campus from 1921 through 1938, except for 1935. The school was a two-month program on the Bryn Mawr campus designed to instruct one hundred women workers each year in English composition, economics, science, history, psychology, literature, and music appreciation. Governed by a Joint Administrative Committee of whom half were representatives of the College and half representatives of women in industry, the School was headed by Hilda Worthington Smith. Students were recruited nationwide from both union and non-union industries. Faculty was drawn from both the faculty and student body of Bryn Mawr College and other colleges and universities. In 1939, the Summer School left Bryn Mawr and became the Hudson Shore Labor School.

The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry collection contains materials both generated by the Bryn Mawr Summer School, by other workers' schools, and material about the Bryn Mawr Summer School. Of the thirteen boxes in the collection, records in boxes 1 through 6 derive directly from the Bryn Mawr Summer School. Boxes 1, 2, and 3 contain financial records, promotional materials, articles, speeches, memorabilia, materials on organization and policy, and some information about alumni. Boxes 4, 5, and 6 contain syllabi for Summer School courses. Boxes 7, 8, and 9 house manuscripts, books, articles, and projects about the Bryn Mawr Summer School. Boxes 10 and 11 contain promotional materials for, and publications by, other workers' schools. Boxes 12 and 13 contain songbooks and sheet music used at the Bryn Mawr Summer School.

The papers in the collection primarily cover the period 1921-1942, with some exceptions. Papers of the Bryn Mawr College Alumnae/i Association concerning fundraising for the school continue through 1951. There are a few items from other workers' schools from the 1940s and 1950s. Published materials span from the 1950s through the 1980s, including articles and papers about the Summer School and Rita Heller's papers and correspondence which culminated in the 1986 film "Women of Summer."

The bulk of the records in Box 1 were given to the College Archives in 1977, by Dr. Elizabeth Reid after her mother, Elizabeth Cope Aub '21, once treasurer of the School, passed away. Records from Box 2 were transferred from the Bryn Mawr College Alumnae Association in August 1984. In June 1984, Peter Smith deposited papers related to Hilda Worthington Smith. Also in June 1984, Esther Peterson, once a member of the Summer School staff, deposited papers related to the school. The remainder of the papers were collected from scattered sources on campus at Bryn Mawr, and through donations by various authors of articles/books on the Summer School.

Subject

Publisher
Bryn Mawr College
Finding Aid Author
Lorett Treese, Allison Mills
Use Restrictions

This collection is open for research. Records containing personal or confidential student information may be restricted.

Collection Inventory

General information and bibliography.
Box 1 Folder A
Annual Reports: 1923-4, 1928, 1933, 1936-8, 1942.
Box 1 Folder 1
Students: Reports on students 1941, 1940.
Box 1 Folder 2
Organization and policies, 1921-23, 1940.
Box 1 Folder 3
Financial matter and fundraising, 1925-1942.
Box 1 Folder 4
Fundraising brouchures, 1921-1939.
Box 1 Folder 5
Checkbook, 1928-1941.
Box 1 Folder 6
Notebook of donations to Bryn Mawr Summer School, Hudson Shore Labor School.
Box 1 Folder 7
Advertising, 1921-1939.
Box 1 Folder 8
Invitations and programs for conferences on the Summer School: 1921-1929.
Box 1 Folder 9
Articles and speeches.
Box 1 Folder 10
Correspondence, resolutions, and press releases: 1921-1939.
Box 1 Folder 11
Newspaper clippings: 1921-1939.
Box 1 Folder 12
Publications on Women Workers' Education, 1933.
Box 1 Folder 13
Publications on Women Workers' Education.
Box 1 Folder 14

Department of Labor: Bulletin of the Women's Bureau, 1926-1939.
Box 2 Folder 1
Application for admission, 1923.
Box 2 Folder 2
Certificate of attendance, 1921: Lee Siesel Moore.
Box 2 Folder 3
Programs for the benefit performances for the Summer School.
Box 2 Folder 4
Invitations to opening exercises.
Box 2 Folder 5
Bryn Mawr Summer School Bookplate.
Box 2 Folder 6
Poster, 1923.
Box 2 Folder 7
Files of the BMC Alumnae/i Association: 1921-23, 1926.
Box 2 Folder 8
Files of the BMC Alumnae/i Association: "Trouble, 1935".
Box 2 Folder 9
Files of the BMC Alumnae/i Association: Return to campus.
Box 2 Folder 10
Files of the BMC Alumnae/i Association: 1931-1951.
Box 2 Folder 11
Copies of documents in the Rutgers Collection on the Bryn Mawr Summer School.
Box 2 Folder 12
Copies of documents in the Rutgers Collection on the Bryn Mawr Summer School.
Box 2 Folder 13
Invertory of holdings at the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Box 2 Folder 13a
Correspondence about the Summer School, 1970-.
Box 2 Folder 14
Newspaper clippings, 1980-.
Box 2 Folder 15
Women Workers' Week, January 20-24, 1975.
Box 2 Folder 16
Reunion, 1984.
Box 2 Folder 17
Hilda Worthington Smith memorial service programs, 1984.
Box 2 Folder 18

Students (essays about).
Box 3 Folder 1
"The Workers Look at the Stars" (poems), 1927.
Box 3 Folder 2
"A Home, a School, a Dream" (poems by H. W. Smith), 1946.
Box 3 Folder 3
Songs by students, 1923.
Box 3 Folder 4
"Echoes of the Summer School" (fragment), 1927.
Box 3 Folder 5
"Shop and School" (literary magazine), 1923.
Box 3 Folder 6
"Shop and School" (literary magazine), 1930.
Box 3 Folder 7
"Shop and School" (literary magazine), 1931.
Box 3 Folder 8
"Shop and School" (literary magazine), 1938.
Box 3 Folder 9
Songbook, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 10
Songbook, 1927.
Box 3 Folder 11
"Packing! Packing! Packing!" (play program and songs), n.d.
Box 3 Folder 12
"America You Called Us" (play), n.d.
Box 3 Folder 13
"Torchbearers" (play program), 1924.
Box 3 Folder 14
"Tenth Anniversary Fete" (play), 1930.
Box 3 Folder 15
Songs from "Land of the Free" by Archibald Macliesh, 1938.
Box 3 Folder 16
Summer School instructors' handbook, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 17
Autograph book of Leah Goldkrantz, 1930.
Box 3 Folder 18
Letter, Reminiscence of Summer, 1924.
Box 3 Folder 19

Music, 1922, 1925, 1927.
Box 4 Folder 1
Music - Syllabi, 1926.
Box 4 Folder 2
Recreation, 1934.
Box 4 Folder 3
Recreation, 1934.
Box 4 Folder 4
Hygiene, 1925.
Box 4 Folder 5
Economics - Syllabi, 1921-22.
Box 4 Folder 6
Economics - Syllabi, 1923.
Box 4 Folder 7
Economics - Syllabi, 1924.
Box 4 Folder 8
Economics - Syllabi, 1925.
Box 4 Folder 9
Economics - Syllabi, 1926.
Box 4 Folder 10
Economics - Syllabi, 1926.
Box 4 Folder 11
Economics - Syllabi, 1927.
Box 4 Folder 12
Economics - Syllabi, 1927.
Box 4 Folder 13
Economics - Syllabi, 1928.
Box 4 Folder 14
Economics - Syllabi, 1928.
Box 4 Folder 15
Economics - Syllabi, 1929.
Box 4 Folder 16
Economics - Syllabi, 1930.
Box 4 Folder 17
Economics - Syllabi, 1931.
Box 4 Folder 18
Economics - Syllabi, 1931.
Box 4 Folder 19
Economics - Syllabi, 1933.
Box 4 Folder 20
Economics - Syllabi, 1934, 1935, 1936.
Box 4 Folder 21
History - Syllabi, 1921-1929.
Box 4 Folder 22

English 1926.
Box 5 Folder 1
English 1926-29.
Box 5 Folder 2
English 1927.
Box 5 Folder 3
English 1927.
Box 5 Folder 4
English 1928.
Box 5 Folder 5
English 1929.
Box 5 Folder 6
English 1929.
Box 5 Folder 7
English 1930.
Box 5 Folder 8
English 1930-31.
Box 5 Folder 9
English 1931.
Box 5 Folder 10
English 1932-33.
Box 5 Folder 11
English 1934-35.
Box 5 Folder 12
English 1936.
Box 5 Folder 13
English Composition 1925.
Box 5 Folder 14
English Composition 1925.
Box 5 Folder 15
Science 1926.
Box 5 Folder 16
Science 1927.
Box 5 Folder 17
Science 1927.
Box 5 Folder 18
Science 1928.
Box 5 Folder 19
Science 1928.
Box 5 Folder 20
Science 1933.
Box 5 Folder 21
Science 1936.
Box 5 Folder 22

Psychology 1922-23.
Box 6 Folder 1
Psychology 1924-25.
Box 6 Folder 2
Psychology 1925.
Box 6 Folder 3
Psychology 1926.
Box 6 Folder 4
Psychology 1927.
Box 6 Folder 5
Psychology 1928.
Box 6 Folder 6
Psychology 1928.
Box 6 Folder 7
Psychology 1929.
Box 6 Folder 8

Brookes, "The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry," n.d.
Box 7 Folder 1
Davis, "The Bryn Mawr Summer School of 1921", 1985.
Box 7 Folder 2
Fairchild, et al., "The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry and the Workers' Education Movement: A Survery of the Years 1928-38," 1938.
Box 7 Folder 3
Duplicate copy of Fairchild.
Box 7 Folder 4
Heller, "Blue Collar and Blue Stockings: The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers 1921-1938", 198?.
Box 7 Folder 5
Heller, "The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry: Its history, an exploration into available source materials, and a proposal for further research," 1975.
Box 7 Folder 6
Heller, "The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers, 1921-38: A Surprising Alliance," 1980.
Box 7 Folder 7
Heller, "The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry: 1921-33: A Surprising Alliance," 1981.
Box 7 Folder 8
Duplicate of article in folder 8.
Box 7 Folder 9
Heller, "The Eviction of the Bryn Mawr Summer School: A Casualty of the 1934 Red Scare," 1976.
Box 7 Folder 10
Heller, et al., "The Women of Summer", film project grant proposal, 1983.
Box 7 Folder 11
"Women of Summer" film: promotional material.
Box 7 Folder 12
"Women of Summer" film: correspondence.
Box 7 Folder 13
"Women of Summer" film: clippings.
Box 7 Folder 14
Hoffecker, "The Bryn Mawr Summer School: A Project in Search of a Purpose", n.d.
Box 7 Folder 15
Kessler-Harris, Excerpt from "Out of Work", 1982.
Box 7 Folder 16
Rivera, "Like a Light in a Dark Tunnel: Memories of the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers," n.d.
Box 7 Folder 17
Schneiderman with Goldwaite, Chapter 14 of "All for One".
Box 7 Folder 18
Students' student and papers about the Summer School, 1972-.
Box 7 Folder 19
"In Another Class", Philadelphia Inquirer clipping, 1986.
Box 7 Folder 20
Recollections of a Summer at Bryn Mawr, 1984.
Box 7 Folder 21
Helen Hellermann correspondence, clippings, re: "Women of Summer" film.
Box 7 Folder 22
"Led by a Flame Within".
Box 7 Folder 23

Smith, Hilda Worthington, "Women Workers at the Bryn Mawr Summer School," original manuscript with notes by M. Carey Thomas and Susan Kingsbury.
Box 8 Folder 1
Schneider, Patterns of Workers' Education: The Story of the Bryn Mawr Summer School," 1941.
Box 8 Folder 2
Smith, "Women Workers at the Bryn Mawr Summer School", 1929.
Box 8 Folder 3

Smith, "A School for Women Workers in Industry," typescript.
Box 9 Folder 1
Smith, "A School for Women Workers in Industry," excerpt from autobiography.
Box 9 Folder 2
Duplicates, Smith, "A School for Women Workers in Industry," excerpt from autobiography.
Box 9 Folder 3
Smith, "Opening Vistas in Workers Education: An Autobiography of Hilda Worthington Smith," 1978.
Box 9 Folder 4
Rogin and Rachlin, "Labor Education in the United States," 1968.
Box 9 Folder 5

Promotional materials - Non-Bryn Mawr.
Box 10 Folder 1
Affiliated Summer Schools, Spring Magazine 1930.
Box 10 Folder 2
Affiliated Summer Schools, scrapbooks.
Box 10 Folder 3
The Art Workshop, literary magazine, 1930-31.
Box 10 Folder 4
Barnard Summer School yearbook, 1927.
Box 10 Folder 5
Barnard Summer School yearbook, 1928.
Box 10 Folder 6
Barnard Summer School yearbook, 1929.
Box 10 Folder 7
Barnard Summer School yearbook, 1930 (2 copies).
Box 10 Folder 8
Brookwood Labor College, songbook, n.d.
Box 10 Folder 9
Hudson Shore School, Annual Institute, 1952.
Box 10 Folder 10
Hudson Shore School, Inter Union Institute, 1950.
Box 10 Folder 11
Hudson Shore School, Newsletter, Spring 1947.
Box 10 Folder 12
Hudson Shore School, Notebook, 1950.
Box 10 Folder 13
Hudson Shore School, Songbook, 1939.
Box 10 Folder 14
Hudson Shore School, Yearbook, 1941.
Box 10 Folder 15
Hudson Shore School, 1943.
Box 10 Folder 16

New England Training Center Songbook, 1935.
Box 11 Folder 1
Office Workers School, Songbook, 1940.
Box 11 Folder 2
Pacific Coast School for Workers, Songbook, 1940.
Box 11 Folder 3
Southern Summer School, yearbook, 1930.
Box 11 Folder 4
Vineyard Shore School, literary magazine, 1930.
Box 11 Folder 5
Vineyard Shore School, literary magazine, 1932.
Box 11 Folder 6
Vineyard Shore School, literary magazine, 1929-30.
Box 11 Folder 7
Vineyard Shore School, songbooks, 1930, 1935.
Box 11 Folder 8
Wisconsin Summer School, yearbook, 1928.
Box 11 Folder 9
Wisconsin Summer School, yearbook, 1930.
Box 11 Folder 10
Wisconsin Summer School, yearbook, 1931.
Box 11 Folder 11
"How Can a Union Build its Program?", 1940.
Box 11 Folder 12
Conference and Annual Reports, 1931-1968.
Box 11 Folder 13
Labor History publications, 1947-58.
Box 11 Folder 14
Frederickson, "A Place to Speak Our Minds," article about the Southern Summer School.
Box 11 Folder 15

Songs by Summer School Students, sheet music.
Box 12 Folder 1
Songs by Summer School students, sheet music.
Box 12 Folder 2
Labor Union songs.
Box 12 Folder 3

Sheet music used at Bryn Mawr Summer School.
Box 13 Folder 1

Print, Suggest