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James Samuel Stemons papers

Notifications

Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 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:
MSS012
Repository:
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Extent:
1.4 linear feet (1.4 linear feet, 4 boxes )
Language:
English
Date:
1894-1922 (inclusive)
Creator:
Stemons, James Samuel
Abstract:
James Samuel Stemons was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, and settled in Philadelphia ca. 1900. A postal worker, journalist and writer, he served as the editor of two short-lived African American newspapers: The Philadelphia Courant and The Pilot. He was also active in several civic organizations. An outspoken advocate for equal industrial opportunities for blacks, he lectured and published extensively on race relations. He served as field secretary of the Joint Organization of the Association for Equalizing Industrial Opportunities and the League of Civic and Political Reform. The collection documents Stemons's personal and professional life, and includes correspondence, printed materials, writings, clippings, a photocopy of a marraige licence to Arizona L. Cleaver, and the manuscript of his unpublished autobiographical novel.

The collection was acquired through purchases in 1973 and 1974.

This collection was processed by Monique Bourque in August 1990 and both the biographical note and the scope and contents note in this finding aid are hers. The box and folder inventory was created in March, 2012.

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

Below the Belt by James Samuel Stemons. Philadelphia: Reading Press, 1942.

A Cry From the Oppressed: A Plea for the Industrial Rights of the Colored Race in the Northern States by James Samuel Stemons. Buffalo: Tent and Temple Co., 1897.

The Korean Mess, and Some Correctives by James Samuel Stemons. Boston: Chapman and Grimes, 1952.

A Movement to Improve the Status of Colored Employees in the Philadelphia Postal Service: "Come Let Us Reason Together," A Message to Every Colored Employee by James Samuel Stemons. Philadelphia: The Summer Press, 1922.

The Key: A tangible solution to the Negro problem by James Samuel Stemons. New York: Neale Publishing Company, 1916.

The North Holds the Key to the Race Question, by James Samuel Stemons. Philadelphia : Sumner Press, 1907.

Subject

Publisher
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Monique Bourque and Sarah Newhouse
Finding Aid Date
2012 March 13
Sponsor
This collection was processed during the Digital Center for Americana Project Phase II, which was funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation.
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Collection Inventory

Scope and Contents note

SERIES I. PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1894-1922 and n.d., (.75 ft.). This series is arranged chronologically.

The series consists of letters between Stemons and his sister, Mary Stemons Johnson, and letters to Stemons from friends and business associates. In some cases Stemons's initial letters or replies are included.

1894 October 10, 1899 September 18, 1900 July 12-1901 April 24.
Box 1 Folder 1
1901 May 2-1902 December 26.
Box 1 Folder 2
1903 January 5-September 21.
Box 1 Folder 3
1904 November 14-1905 July 30.
Box 1 Folder 4
1905 August 7-December 31.
Box 1 Folder 5
1906 January 18-April 20.
Box 1 Folder 6
1906 April 22-December 27.
Box 1 Folder 7
1907 January 2-February 7, undated.
Box 1 Folder 8
1907 February 8-April 2.
Box 1 Folder 9
1907 April 6-July 27.
Box 1 Folder 10
1907 August 30-December 27.
Box 1 Folder 11
1908 February 4-December 29.
Box 1 Folder 12
1909 January 25-July 29.
Box 1 Folder 13
1909 August 11-October 25.
Box 1 Folder 14
1910 July 8-December 18.
Box 1 Folder 15
1911 March 1-December 12.
Box 1 Folder 16
1912 January 13- June 26.
Box 1 Folder 17
1912 July 1-December 17.
Box 1 Folder 18
1913 January 5-March 31.
Box 1 Folder 19
1913 April 1-May 13.
Box 1 Folder 20
1913 May 14-October 31.
Box 2 Folder 1
1913 November 2-December 30.
Box 2 Folder 2
1914 January 1-March 30.
Box 2 Folder 3
1914 April 2-May 14.
Box 2 Folder 4
1914 May 15-June 30.
Box 2 Folder 5
1914 July 1-October 4.
Box 2 Folder 6
1917 July 13-1920 September 28.
Box 2 Folder 7
1920 October 2-1921 November 4.
Box 2 Folder 8
1921 November 22-1922 March 2.
Box 2 Folder 9
1922 March 3-May 30.
Box 2 Folder 10
1922 June 1-September 24.
Box 2 Folder 11
1922 October 3-November 20.
Box 2 Folder 12

Scope and Contents note

SERIES II. FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE, 1901-1912 and n.d. (.25 ft.). This series is arranged alphabetically by correspondent.

The bulk of this series is composed of letters to and from Mary Stemons Johnson. Other correspondents include her husband, John T. Johnson, James Samuel Stemons's wife Mary (Mamie) Whaley Stemons, and other friends and family members.

Mary S. Johnson and John T. Johnson, ca. 1901-1907 May 15.
Box 2 Folder 13
Mary S. Johnson and John T. Johnson, 1912 June 16-1914 October 8.
Box 2 Folder 14
Mary S. Johnson and Harriet Stemons, 1905 February 2-1906 September 25, undated.
Box 2 Folder 15
Mary S. Johnson and Harriet Stemons, 1907 February 21-1910 December 25.
Box 2 Folder 16
Mary S. Johnson, 1912 February 20-1914 October 3.
Box 2 Folder 17
Mary S. Johnson and Katie M. Poston, 1906 August 13-1907 March 31.
Box 2 Folder 18
Mary S. Johnson and Katie M. Poston, 1907 April 29-December 2.
Box 2 Folder 19
Mary S. Johnson and Katie M. Poston, 1912 March 21-1914 March 30.
Box 2 Folder 20
Mary S. Johnson and Nora E. Hulings Siegel, 1906 January 6-August 14, undated.
Box 2 Folder 21
Mary S. Johnson and Nora E. Hulings Siegel, 1907 January 1-1910 December 20.
Box 2 Folder 22
Mary S. Johnson and Nora E. Hulings Siegel, 1911 April 17-1914 August 31.
Box 2 Folder 23
Mary S. Johnson and Mamie Whaley Stemons, 1905 October 1-1906 December 25.
Box 2 Folder 24
Mary S. Johnson and Mamie Whaley Stemons, 1907 January 18, 1908 November 27, 1912 February 7, undated.
Box 2 Folder 25
Fragments and undated materials, undated.
Box 2 Folder 26

Scope and Contents note

SERIES III. MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS, 1903-1920 and n.d. (.25 ft.).

The series contains correspondence fragments, personal documents relating to Stemons and to other family members such as a photocopy of the application for a marriage license filed by James S. Stemons and his second wife, Arizona L. Cleaver. Miscellaneous personal documents include notes taken by an unknown person from a 1979 interview with Cleaver, and materials relating to Stemons being charged in 1912 with assault and battery. Also present are miscellaneous business cards, notes, an incomplete application for the United States Civil Service Examination in the name of Ailenwill S. Jackson, and flyers and leaflets from organizations such as the Association for Equalizing Industrial Opportunities and the League of Civic Reform, the Socialist Literary Society, and the Southern League Beneficial Association.

Personal documents, 1903-1918, undated.
Box 3 Folder 1
James Stemons and Arizona L. Cleaver application for marriage license, 1928 June 1.
Box 3 Folder 2
Organization papers: Association for Equalizing Industrial Opportunities and League of Civic Reform, 1911, undated.
Box 3 Folder 3
Organization papers: Socialist Literary Society, ca. 1914, undated.
Box 3 Folder 4
Organization papers: Home Mission Week, 1912, undated.
Box 3 Folder 5
Organization papers: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Southern League Beneficial Association, 1920, undated.
Box 3 Folder 6
Organization papers: Miscellaneous organizations, undated.
Box 3 Folder 7

Scope and Contents note

SERIES IV. WRITINGS AND SPEECHES, 1900-1922 and n.d. (.5 ft.).

This series is arranged by record type. Writings are arranged alphabetically by subject or organization for which they were produced. Speeches are arranged alphabetically by the organization or occasion for which they were intended. Writings and publications not by Stemons have been placed at the end of the writings, as has a folder of newspaper clippings which includes articles about African Americans by a number of authors and letters by Stemons to the Philadelphia American, with the editor's replies. Writings include a manuscript of Stemons's semi-autobiographical novel, "Jay Ess," of which much of chapters one through four are missing.

Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, to page 58, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 8
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 59-100, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 9
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 101-152, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 10
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 153-186, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 11
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 187-209, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 12
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 210-250, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 13
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 251-306, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 14
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 307-340, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 15
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 341-384, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 16
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 385-420, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 17
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 421-459, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 18
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 460-505, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 19
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 506-550, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 20
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 551-594, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 21
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 595-629, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 22
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 630-666, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 23
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 667-700, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 24
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 701-728, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 25
Writings: Manuscript of "Jay Ess" with notes by Stemons, pages 729-754, 1900.
Box 3 Folder 26
Writings: Association for Equalizing Industrial Opportunities, undated.
Box 4 Folder 1
Writings: "Early History of Negroes in Business in Philadelphia", undated.
Box 4 Folder 2
Writings: Miscellaneous and industrial relations, undated.
Box 4 Folder 3
Writings: Miscellaneous, ca. 1903, 1910, undated.
Box 4 Folder 4
Writings: Miscellaneous, 1909, undated.
Oversize 1
Writings: "The Unmentionable Crime", 1903.
Box 4 Folder 5
Writings: Race relations and "The Negro in Politics", 1910, undated.
Box 4 Folder 6
Writings: Essays for The Pilot by Mary S. Johnson, 1907, undated.
Box 4 Folder 7
Writings: Miscellaneous publications, 1897, 1905, 1907, undated.
Box 4 Folder 8
Writings: Newspaper clippings, 1904-1920, undated.
Box 4 Folder 9
Writings: Fragments, undated.
Box 4 Folder 10
Speeches: Association for Equalizing Industrial Opportunities, 1910 December 25.
Box 4 Folder 11
Speeches: Baptist Ministers' Conference, ca. 1909.
Box 4 Folder 12
Speeches: Lincoln Conference, 1909 April 3.
Box 4 Folder 13
Speeches: Methodist Preachers' Meeting, 1912.
Box 4 Folder 14
Speeches: Pennsylvania Congress of Postal Employees, 1922 October 10.
Box 4 Folder 15
Speeches: Philadelphia A.M.E. Preachers' Meeting, 1909 October 25.
Box 4 Folder 16
Speeches: Private conference and Spite Conference (incomplete), 1910.
Box 4 Folder 17

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