Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1344

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

9.5 linear feet (11 boxes )

Language Note:

Most materials are in English, but the collection also contains some materials in Yiddish (Hebrew orthography and transliterated), German, French and Russian.

Preferred Citation:

Clement and Sophie Winston family papers, 1903-1999, undated, Ms. Coll. 1344, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1903-1999, undated (inclusive)

Creator:

Winston, Clement and Winston, Sophie Zion

Form:

Account books, Correspondence, Drawings (visual works), Financial records, Pencil drawings, Poems, and Sketches

Abstract:

Clement and Sophie Winston lived and worked in Washington, DC from the 1930s to the 1980s. Clement Winston (1902-1986), a Russian Jewish immigrant worked as an economist at the United States Bureau of the Budget. Sophie Zion Winston (1902-1986) was an artist who worked as an art therapist during World War II and exhibited her own artwork from the 1940s to 1960s. This collection documents the couple's personal and professional lives through their creative and professional writings, correspondence, and household accounts, dating from 1903 to 1999.

Clement Winston (1902-1986) and Sophie Zion (1902-1986) both spent their youth and married in Philadelphia, but spent most of their lives together in Washington, District of Columbia. Both Clement and Sophie were Jewish, and active within their religious community.

Clement Winston was born (with the name Kalman "Kutze" Weinstein) on February 14, 1902, in the central Ukrainian city of Byelaya Tserkov, then a part of Russia. At the time of his birth, Winston's parents Jacob (Yacov Yosif) Weinstein, and Esther (Feige) Weinstein were in the process of emigrating from Russia with their two other children, Joseph ("Zalman") and Samuel (Shmuel). Esther and her sons Joseph, Samuel, and Kalman (later Clement) finally joined Jacob Weinstein, who was employed as a tailor in a clothing factory, in Philadelphia in 1905. The family's youngest child, Lena, was born in 1908.

Clement Winston attended Pennsylvania State University where he studied industrial engineering and graduated in 1923. He went on to earn a BS in education (1927), a masters in mathematics (1928), and a doctoral degree in mathematics (1929) from the University of Pennsylvania. He served as an instructor in math at the University of Pennsylvania from 1927 to 1933 and for the National Recovery Administration from 1933 to 1934. From 1935 to 1937, he worked as chief of the statistician section for a Works Progress Administration National Research Project in Philadelphia before moving to the National Resources Board from 1937 to 1938. From 1938 to 1942, Winston was employed by the Railroad Retirement Board and from 1942 to 1945, he served as an industrial analyst with the War Production Board. Clement spent the majority of his career (1945 to 1962) as an economist at the Office of Business Economics at the United States Bureau of the Budget, serving as chief of the Consumption and Markets section of the Business Structure Division. In 1962, he moved to the Office of Statistical Standards (or the Statistical Standards Division) where he worked on prices, price indexes and consumer expenditure surveys; statistical methodology; and retail and wholesale trade; retiring in January 1968. From 1947 until at least 1967, he also served as a lecturer in statistics at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. According to a biographical sketch (box 7, folder 9), Clement met Sophie Zion when he was sixteen. They married in Philadelphia in 1934.

Sophie Zion was born in Philadelphia on January 10, 1902, the oldest child of Harry and Rose Zion. A biographical sketch written by her sister Mollie states "at the age of 12, after the death of her father, she was taken out of school to help her mother support and raise her five younger siblings," (box 7, folder 9). She continued to help her family until all of her siblings (Reba, Helen, Herman, David, and Mollie) had earned their educations and/or married. According to the 1920 census, Sophie was employed as a salesgirl at a department store, but had not gone to school. In 1934, she married Clement Winston, "after a courtship that lasted 16 years," and they moved to Washington, DC. She attended the Corcoran Art School and continued to work with the School as a volunteer. During the Second World War, Sophie volunteered as an art instructor with the American Red Cross. During the course of her life, Sophie created an extensive body of work in medias including watercolors, pastels, charcoals, and oils, and producing nudes, landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and cityscapes. Sophie died on October 9, 1986.

Perhaps because she was so actively involved in helping to raise her siblings, Sophie and her husband maintained deep relationships with her extended family. Clement and Sophie appear to have been particularly close to her sisters, Rebecca and Mollie. Rebecca (called Reba) (1903-1994) married Charles Bell (1901-1985) and was the mother of Harold and Ruth (born about 1932). Ruth married Arnold Rothman and they were the parents of Carol, Ellen, and Steven. Sophie's youngest sister, Mollie B. Zion (1915–2007), was employed for many years as an administrative assistant at the Securities and Exchange Commission, beginning in 1955.

This collection documents Clement and Sophie Winston's personal and professional lives and provides insight into the day-to-day life of a middle-class family in Washington, DC. This collection is arranged in four series: I. Clement Winston papers; II. Sophie Winston papers; III. Clement and Sophie Winston household papers; and IV. Zion and Winston family papers. The bulk of the material appears to have been created by Clement Winston; however, there is a significant portion of material generated by Sophie Winston and her sister, Mollie B. Zion. In some cases, it is difficult to ascertain the creator of material; and because Clement Winston's professional and personal worlds appear to have been largely intertwined, the series designations are not completely rigid and there is a degree of overlap in materials between series (for example, copies of poems enclosed in some letters, or sketches in a few of the notebooks).

The first series, the Clement Winston papers is further arranged into: A. Educational and early professional material; B. Career at the Office of the Budget material; C. Creative writing, poems, music, and drawings; and D. Correspondence. These materials provide insight into the professional life of a budget analyst and the personal life of a man whose creativity and humor very much reflect the world in which he lived. While working at the Office of the Budget, Winston was required to appear before the United States Department of Commerce Loyalty Board No. 4 from December 2 to 3 in 1952. Resulting from Executive Order 9835, Winston was one of three million federal employees investigated between 1947 to 1953. This group of material includes the transcript of the hearing, the statement of Clement Winston, and numerous letters of support written by friends, family and colleagues for Winston. On December 9, 1952, it was determined that there was "no reasonable doubt" as to Clement's "loyalty to the government of the United States," (box 4, folder 13).

The second series, the Sophie Winston papers is further arranged into A. Art career material and B. Correspondence from family and friends. A. Art career provides documentation of Sophie Winston's work as an artist, both teaching and exhibiting, as well as her service to the Red Cross Arts and Skills Corp during World War II, working with wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital and the Forest Glenn facility. Slides and photographs of her oeuvre as well as a few original drawings are included in the collection. B. Correspondence from family and friends includes letters from Clement Winston during their sixteen-year courtship as well as after their marriage, which took place in 1934, whenever they were geographically separated.

The third series, Clement and Sophie Winston household papers brings together the records that Clement and Sophie Winston created together and consists of A. Household accounting records; B. Notes, travel documents, and photographs; and C. Correspondence. The couple's meticulous records of their household finances, which cover, to varying degrees, the 1930s to the 1980s, document not only the Winston's lifestyle, but mid to late century American economy. Clement and Sophie wrote letters to their friends and extended family which describe their lives and provide insight into their world. Clement, Sophie, and Mollie consistently used nicknames for each other: Clement was "Rabbit," Sophie was "Pooh," and Mollie was "Eeyore." Letters are addressed to and signed by these nicknames.

The final series, Zion and Winston family papers include information sent to or created by the Winston and Zion families, especially Mollie Zion (youngest sister of Sophie Winston) and Rose Zion (mother of Sophia Winston).

Additional information about each group of material may be found at the series level.