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Janet Speakman Papers
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Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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Janet Speakman (1895-1971) was the daughter of William William Speakman (1865-1930), a prominent Philadelphia ophthalmologist, and Anna Travilla Speakman (1866-1945), an active member and acknowledged minister in the Society of Friends. William and Anna Speakman were married in 1890 and lived in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and Buck Hill Falls; they were among the founders of the Buck Hill Falls development in the Poconos. They sold their home in Swarthmore in 1918 and moved to Philadelphia.
Anna Travilla Speakman was the daughter of Jonathan Travilla, a Chester County farmer and merchant, and Martha Ellison Newport, a Quaker minister. Martha's sister, Mary Travilla (1860-1947), also was an acknowledged minister and lived in Buck Hill Falls and Pasadena, California. She died in the Hickman Home in Nether Providence, Pennsylvania.
Anna Travilla and William W. Speakman had two daughters, Martha Travilla Speakman (1892-1977) and Janet Speakman (1895-1971). In 1925, Martha married L. Hollingsworth Wood (1874-1956), Quaker lawyer and social reformer. Martha graduated from Swarthmore College in 1914 and worked in Hull House and AFSC Relief in France after WWI. Her husband was active in peace, civil rights, and education - a New York attorney, clerk of New York Yearly Meeting (Hicksite), and a founder of the ACLU, AFSC, and National Urban League. They were members of Croton Valley Monthly Meeting and had one child, James Wood, born 1927.
Janet Speakman earned a degree as a registered nurse in December 1921, training in Meadville General Hospital. In February 1922 she began a six month tour in a maternity hospital is France. In the fall of 1923, she went to Russia for a year of relief work with the American Friends Service Committee. On her return to the U.S., she worked at Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia, but was bored and restless. Janet visited Russia a second time in 1926, traveling with a delegation led by Christian evangelist Sherwood Eddy. Earlier she had studied music and voice in Philadelphia, and on her return to the United States she prepared a slide presentation on Russia and worked as a private duty nurse for several years. Her father's health was failing, and Janet nursed him until is death in February 1930. In 1930 she visited Cuba. She studied social work in New York City in 1930-1931, residing in the International House on Riverside Drive, and worked briefly as a caseworker.
She attended National Conference on Social Work in 1935 in Montreal, Canada. In the mid 1930s, she traveled widely in Europe for about 15 months and became interested in socialism, peace efforts, and spiritualism. In July August 1937 she traveled with the American Seminar organized by Sherwood Eddy. In 1937-1939 travels included several months in Germany and Italy. In the summer of 1939 she witnessed Hitler rallies, and she ended her travels in Italy, intending to travel to Yugoslavia.
On her return to the United States at the end of 1939, Janet suffered emotional and health issues. She lived in the family cottage at Buck Hill Falls from about 1940-1942 and also The Winslow, 45 East 55th Street, New York City. In 1944 her mother visited her sister Mary Travilla in Pasadena, California, and Janet joined them in late 1944.
Anna Travilla Speakman returned to Buck Hill Falls in the summer of 1945 in failing health and was hospitalized in September. She died on October 27, 1945, at Stroudsburg General Hospital, apparently after complications following surgery. Janet was convinced there had been medical malpractice and spent the rest of her life in a fruitless effort to prove a fraud which had cheated her out of the inheritance of a cottage at Buck Hill Falls. Concerned about her mother's death, she disengaged from family and friends and spent her last years residing in the Women's Temperance Union Home, a boarding house near the Sun Ship Works, Chester, Pennsylvania.
The collection largely contains correspondence of Janet Speakman, a lifelong member of Swarthmore Monthly Meeting. The significant correpondence dates between 1922-1939 when she worked in civilian relief in France and Russia and later traveled through pre World War II Europe.
Arranged in 5 series
Donated by James Wood, nephew of Janet Speakman who handled the estate of his aunt which included 19 cartons that had been in storage. The papers were delivered to Friends Historical Library by Field Horne, 19 November 2021
James Wood, Acc. 2021.040
Papers were received in 9 cartons which had been retrieved from Janet Speakman's storage after her death and were then retained in storage until donated to Friends Historical Library. As received, three cartons of Travilla-Speakman Papers were largely sorted and identified. These were processed as a sepaarate collection, RG5/352. The remaining 6 cartons contained Janet Speakman's correspondence in no order, some water damaged and mixed with publications and ephemera from her travels. Much of the late correspondence was redundant and included drafts and letters not sent. A small number of papers with mold and water damage were discarded. The early letters reflecting her work and travels up to 1940 were sorted and are described in Series 1. Series 2 contains post 1940 coorespondence sorted largely correspondent. Late correspondence not mailed has been returned to the donor.
Travilla family and William and Anna Travilla Speakman Papers were processed as a separate collection, RG 5/352. Redundant unsent letters written to random public figures were discarded.
People
Organization
Subject
- Quakers -- Pennsylvania -- Swarthmore
- Quakers -- World War, 1914–1918 -- Civilian relief
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Civilian relief -- France
- Quakers -- Travel -- 20th century
- Quakers -- Russia
Place
- Publisher
- Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
- Finding Aid Author
- Susanna Morikawa
- Finding Aid Date
- 2024
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
Friends Historical Library believes all of the items in this collection to be in the Public Domain in the United States, and is not aware of any restrictions on their use. However, the user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status before reproducing. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/.
Collection Inventory
Janet Speakman was raised in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where her parents, particularly her mother, Anna Travilla Speakman, were friends and associates of prominent Hicksite Quakers involved in reform activites. The family vacationed in Buck Hill Falls. Janet earned a degree in nursing and volunteered for Friends Relief in France in 1922-1923 and in Russia in 1924. Restless and unhappy after returning to the United States, she spent about a year and half touring Europe 1937-1938. The contents are largely correspondence and her sympathetic letters describing Germany in 1938 are of special interest.
The note referenced Janet's disappointment in nursing and her desire to pursue a future in music.
"Enroute for Maison Maternelle de la Marne." Only scattered entries. In March, she visited Paris. In March she was working in the hospital. Bound daybook, stamped on cover Dr. W. W. Speakman
Inscription on front leaf, gift of her roommate Esther M. Whitson, Maison Maternelle. Sightseeing in Paris, Brussels, London. By September she was back at Buck Hill Falls, Pennsylvania
Course in public health in the School of Sociology and Social Service. Unhappy with nursing, Janet studied to be a social worker.
Typed carbon, Copomuckoe, O.A..K., Russia. Detailed letter in which Janet referenced her sister's recent visit to Paris, Vienna, and London where Martha had worked previously. Janet wrote that she had been assigned to an orphanage, but will be leaving for a malaria clinic. She witnessed much hunger and suffering and noted that she received a check from Aunt Mary's [Mary Travilla] Pasadena First Day School. Janet was trying to raise funds to support a vocational school and had given money to help "Nick," a young Russian who was forced to drop out of medical school. Also included picture postcard from Martha sent from Vienna.
Handwritten letter on letterhead of Friends International Service, Moscow, Copomuckdobka [?}. Thanked her for donation from the Swarthmore Monthly Meeting Philanthropic Committee. Described th immense suffering and her respect for the Russian people.
Handwritten from Russia (incomplete). Mentioned her plan to bring a Russian co-worker and her children as well as a Russian medical student.
Handwritten after her return to the United States, she was working at Hahnemann Hospital, Philadelphia, as a nurse She was bored and depressed, longed for the excitement of her life in relief work. She made a brief visit with her parents and tried to remember to hold her tongue and be patient. An annotated fragment was enclosed, a rambling draft written 1936 to Nik? after her return to Russia when he rejected her, and her friendship with Natalie also brought disappointment.
Typed signed letter. Addams wrote that plans for a clinic at Hull House had not materialized and therefore there was no opening for a nurse. She closed with "affectionate greetings to your mother."
Issued before her second trip to Russia second time in 1926 to travel with a delegation led by Christian evangelist Sherwood Eddy
Prior to her second trip to Russia second time in 1926, Janet traveled with a delegation led by Christian evangelist Sherwood Eddy.
Handwritten letters, letterhead of the National Hotel, London. Also a postcard to her sister and brother-in-law from Paris.
Typed letter, the author wrote that he/she had arrived without an invitation from the Delegation and was shut out of the meetings. He intended to travel alone. writing articles.
Typed carbon, incomplete. Interview with a Russian concerning the economy. Also a typed draft of a poem Reflections of a Prisoner in Russia, daeted July 25d, 1927 for J.S.
Snapshots of peasants and sites.
Upon her return to Philadelphia, Janet prepared a lecture and slideshow entitled "From Moscow to Turkestan: An Interpretatioin of Russian Peasant Life." The cover of her small brochure features a photo of Janet Speakman in traditional Russian peasant.
How I learned to speak Russia, essay at Columbia University, NYC. Incomplete, introduction to her early experiences, notes, a poem
Carbon, typed. "Leaves from a Diary of a Journey to Russia"
Signed typed letter expressed appreciation for her efforts to raise funds to send a Trade Union Delegation to Russia to give a fair survey of socialist economics and related correspondence. Also signed note from Jerome Davis, Yale Universtiy expressing thanks.
Typed signed letter with handwritten additions, mentions financial hardship and Nic. Natasha was mentioned in Janet's notes on her travels in Russia. Also a typed letter presumably from Natasha dated 1930 from London.
Handwritten signed letter from Emma Bancroft rejecting Janet's request for funding, but wished her well on the trip to Russia and made a small donation. A follow-up typed and signed letter of October expressed reservations about Russian revolution and appreciation for sending her Allinson's book
Affectionate note addressed to Aunt Janet, Chestnut St. Philadelphia
Draft of her application after her service in Europe. Her address is Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Typed signed letter with an accounting of funds raised for her Russian account, including funds for Brent Allinson
Janet lost money which she loaned to an Indian she met at International House in New York City and asked her brother-in-law and others to try to regain it. She was told he was preying on vulnerable women, and it was a lost cause. 1937 typed letter from The Aemrican Seminar detailing that her reimbursement for the cancelled trip to Russia was complete.
Submitted to Atlantic Magazine
Note of appreciation for the fudge she sent and the invitation to visit her
Fragment, self reflection
Scrawled instructions regarding which rooms Janet and her aunt Mary Speakman w [Quaker minister Mary Speakman] which asked her not to sesnd her spiritual advice.
Graded paper, exams at Fordham University, School of Sociology and Social Service. Course work in Columbia University includes a typed essay in which she described how she learned to speak basic Russian on the job, working in medical clinics.
Canadian trip itinerary
Includes dertification as registered nurse in Pennsylvania. Case report in NYC
Application for the WPA and application for membership in Alumni Association of International House. She wrote that she was held student membership in the International House 1930-1932 and currently was employed as a social worker.
Occupation social worker
Material reflecdts Janet's interest in Peace, work camps, war
Includes agenda, August 2-4. Published list of travelers Vierschrauben-Turbinen-Schnelldampfer Europa, am August 19 1937 returning from Bremen. Janet Speakman, travelling third class. During this trip, Janet visited nine countries, including Denmark and Sweden
Typed carbon, draft of letter written after her return from American Seminar led by Sherwood Eddy. Miscellaneous mimeographs
Applied for a position with Cooperative Greenbelt Village in New York City. Carbon, typed, which detailed her work and extensive travel history.
Carbon, typed, after hearing his speech the previous summer.
Author assumed Janet was in England
He was returning a traveling clock she had sent him, writing that is was an inappropriate gift
Peaerson died March 26, 1938. Typed
Janet Speakman returned to Europe in the fall of 1938 for a 16 month tour of 10 countries.
Occasional entries. In fall of 1939, Janet returned to Europe, traveling alone. In May 1939 she wrote impressions of Berlin.
From Inverness, references to her mother, signed with love. A draft.
Author asssumed Janet was in England
Edmonds wrote that he was returning a travel clock that she sent him, remarked that it was an inappropriate gift
Typed draft written on death of Pearson, March 26, 1938
Occasional entries. In the summer of 1938, Janet returned to Europe approximately embarking on an approximately 15 month tour of Europe, 1938-1939, with American Seminar. She began with a visit to Germany and was in Bad Godesburg in September 1938 when Chamberlain and Hitler met.
1938 Sept 1/Aug 31: Janert was touring Italy, the Amalfi coast. etc., Italy. She wrote that the mobilization was upsetting with the threat of draft and war for young men. Jews were trying to leave. Janet enclosed a postcard of Hitler reviewing the troops. Sept. 13-16 she was in Netherlands, chatting with folks about politics. On Sept 21, Janet was in Bad Godesburg where Hitler was due for a rally. She spent time with German journalists. Sept. 29 in Leipzig and then to Berlin. In letter dated Sept 30 she mentioned news of the German invasion of the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia. She met with German Quakers.
Partial. Janet wrote that she was in her first month of travel in Germany September 1938.
Typed letter, lacking first page. Janet made the case that she should get the family's Buck Hill Falls cottage since her sister had so much; Janet felt that she should not need to buy out her sister and brother in law.
On October 1, Janet was in Berlin. In a letter to Asta B[rugglemann] Janet wrote that she was thrilled to be traveling. Remainder to her mother and aunt, atmosphere was fearful that war is ahead as Hitler pushed ahead with invasions. Postcard of Hitler meeting with officials. Mid October she was in London.
Janet stayed in youth hostels along south coast of England. An undated letter from London mentioned Chamberlain and Britain's lack of preparation for war.
Letter from "Miriam," and the remainder from her mother urging her not to continue travels. Natalie Ball visited her mother in Pennsylvania.
Typed signed letter to Janet's mother, Anna T. Speakman, on letterhead of the National Council for the Prevention of War. He thanked her for her donation and expressed praise for Chamberlain for averting war. Enclosed greetings to Janet
Signed typed letter referenced receiving several postcards from Janet which mentioned Asta Brugglemann.
Sent from Scotland
Mailed from London where Janet attended a Friends Conference as an observer. The letters addressed to her mother in Pasadena, visiting her sister, Mary Travilla.
Jones expressed appreciation for her letter and noted his receiving the Bok Award.
Postcards from Germany where Janet attended Hitler rallies
Janet was in Germany and Austria. Her mother was in Pasadena where sister Mary Travilla lived. Janet spent several months in Germany, attended rally in Berlin and a military parade. June she was is Austria.
In July Janet was in Italy and intended to travel to Yugoslavia.
Janet wrote from Italy that she was not leaving until she was convinced there was a war, not just a "crisis."
Italy, Stockholm, etc. While the newspapers expressed war tensions, Janet thought Italy would stay out of the conflict.
Sent from Italy, October 12, Janet was trying to arrange transport to America. From Rome, she assured her mother that she was safe. They listened to Hitler on the radio who said he hoped for peace.
Janet had offered service to the AFSC, noting she was already in Europe. The letter was sent via her mother, a follow-up to her previous offer to help AFSC in any way. Or if not needed, she would return home
Janet wrote that she did not want to care for orphaned children, so against war aand did not want to support relief efforts. She hoped to make a career of writing.
Handwritten draft addressed to Friends Intelligencer, sent from Sorrento, Italy. Janet wrote that radio programs in English were no longer available in Germany and Italy. There was hope in Italy that when Germany's war in Poland was finished, there would be no further war. [Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939.] There was fear of the U.S. and Russia supporting the war with weaponry. Note in her mother's hand at end, hoping for a miracle to avert war.
Incomplete typed manuscript, not signed but internal evidence indicates it was written by Janet. She supported the views of Charles Lindbergh and argued that the first World War had not accomplished any good and instead planted the seeds of the present war in Europe.
Janet Speakman returned to the United States at the end of 1939 and struggled emotionally and physically. She spent time in Pasadena, California, Buck Hill Falls, and New York City. The crisis came with her mother's death on Oct. 27, 1945.
Includes a letter regarding Janet's application to do a radio address on her travels.
Agitated undated typed letter, incomplete, defending herself from cruel remarks about how she was taken in by "Lova" and became a laughing stock. She had planned to go to South America, would have benefited from her mother's warning. She felt she was always unfairly compared to her sister.
Dictated response to her letter reporting her work in Washington, D.C., meeting with Hubert Herring. His secretary followed up with apology for not sending a more substantive letter. Janet was living at the cottage in Buck Hill Falls.
Draft cover letter to repay a loan. Janet wrote that she had health and mental issues for the past few years but she was finally recovering and keeping house at the Hemlocks.
Typed. Janet was upset by political situation, she continued to have sympathies for how Germany had been treated. She had taken rooms in the Winslow Hotel in NYC, and was having health issues.
Undated incomplete letter that mentioned the Los Angles blackout which happened in February 1942: it was a false alarm which unleashed anti-aircraft above LA. Janet expressed anti-war sentiment, that it was in the majority. Written on Murray Hill letterhead, she asked if they were planning to come to Buck Hill sooner.
Janet's aunt Mary Travilla (1860-1947) attended the Swarthmore Preparative School. By 1920, she lived in Pasadena, California, alternating with a cottage in Buck Hill Falls,, Pennsylvania. She was well-known in Quaker circles as a powerful preacher. In her last years she resided in the Hickman in West Chester and died at the age of 86.
Nye was vicar of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Lyndhurst, NJ. In a typed signed letter 1951 he hoped that she had continued career as nurse and "found your balance." She wrote in August 1952 that she had left NYC and was staying with friends in a Philadelphia suburb. In a long letter she explaianedd that she had made claims against executors and parents' friends and had tried to bring a lawsuit, but had no money. Nye left the church in 1953 to remarry. In 1954 Janet wrote to his ex-wife, Mattie, who she had known in nursing training, Meadville.
Typed letter reporting that Mrs. Roosevelt was very interest in Janet's slides of Russia
Includes a letter to "dearest" about finances.
Dr. Claus Jordan's report on his treatment of Anna Speakman, General Hospital of Monroe County, Pennsylvania. He wrote that he had noted loss of weight. Progress notes 9/20-24 of exploratory operation and infected gall bladder. Daughter Martha was with her, and Janet hurried home from Pasadena, California. Anna Travilla Speakman died Oct. 27, 1945.
He had heard that Anna had the operation. In the later 1957 to Janet he wrote that he glad that she was getting over the bitterness and hurt.
Anna Travilla Speakman died Oct. 27, 1945, after declining health and apparent complications of abdominal surgery. Janet flew to Pennsylvania from California, and after conversations with her mother's nurse, she became convinced the surgery was unnecessary and as a trained nurse she should have been consulted.
Landlord in Pasadena who shipped some of the personal items that Janet had left behind including correspondence and uniforms.
In a letter dated 1945-09-30, Janet despaired that she had not been consulted in her mother's illness. She was convinced her mother had promised her the family cottage "The Hemlocks" at Buck Hill Falls. Janet accused her sister of greed and dishonesty, ruining her health, and of killing their mother and aunt. 1966 Christmas card from nephew Jim.
Early letters to Jenkins and Claude Smith questioned her mother's Will. Janet also wrote to Marie Jenkins. 1946-07-26, Janet was living in Philadelphia. Typed signed letterfrom Jenkins concerns a loan she repaid. Charles Jenkins was a prominent Philadelphia Quaker and close friend of both her parents. He and Smith were executors of Anna's Will which divided her estate bewteen her two daughters.
In a response to her apparent multiple letters, they wrote that they cannot help her "cause," and want to spend their limited funds on causes such as the AFSC and the Socialist Party.
Dorothy (1894-1974) was member of Sadsbury Monthly Meeting and long-time resident of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. She was one of Janet's most patient and loyal correspondents. Later correspondence in Series 3.
Dorothy's typed signed letter sympathizing with Janet's belief that she was cheated, but advised Janet that without documentation she would not have a case
In the letter, Janet described how she tried to force her way into Marie Jenkin's home.
Clifford Gillam was general manager of the Inn at Buck Hill Falls. He sent a typed signed letter detailing ownership of various Buck Hill Fall lots. Janet's rambling, handwritten letter to Cornelia mentions her sorrow and how she was maligned. Jane thought her plight could be the subject of a play.
Sorted by correspondent, most are post 1950. Circa 1951 Janet lived in New York City but gave up nursing after she was sent on an assignment that she felt put her in danger. Her accusations concerning Hannah Hull and Charles Jenkins led to meetings with elders of Swarthmore Monthly Meeting. She moved often until she found a home in the Women's Temperance Home in Chester, Pennsylvania, near Sun Shipyard. While generally her letters reflect her personal issues, they reflect the wide range of her correspondents, most of whom were Quakers, friends and relations or Quakers she met in her travels.
Brent Dow Allinson (1893-1967), Harvard Class of 1918, a peace activist and WWI conscientious objector who was imprisoned a Fort Leavenworth from 1918-1921. He was a poet and taught at American University and elsewhere. He and Janet Speakman became friends in the 1920s and 1931 and resumed their correspondence in 1954 until his death in Mexico in 1967.
Natalie was friend from European travels, she lived in England when they met. She offered to help Janet settle down, and they apparently became estranged after the death of Anna Speakman. She settled in Claremont, California, with her husband. Janet and Natalie resumed their correspondence in 1958.
A friend Janet's time in NYC
Friends from European travel? Janet wrote that she had enjoyed her private nursing work in 1949-1951 but then stopped. She wrote that she tried writing, and by 1956 was living in the Women's Christian Temperance Union boarding house located Chester. Pennsylvania, near Sun Shipbuiding Company on a busy thorough fare.
Janet knew Harry Edmonds from her travels with the American Seminar. He was the founder and first director of the International House in New York and supporter of German post-war reconstruction. In 1970 he advised her never to return to Buck Hill Falls and let it remain past history.
Janet's letter of 1952 referred to their conversations about the Elkintons' trip to Japan. In 1960 J. Passmore wrote to her for her comments on meeting Howard Brinton in Berlin.
Janet confided in Emery after her mother's death, but he was not sympathetic to her accusations.
Janet wrote that she had moved from Swarthmore, 14 S. Princeton home, to Atlantic City which was cheaper and where she felt safe. She heard that her brother-in-law had died, tried to call her sister, but had no contact with the family. She wrote that in 1950 her important papers had been stolen, and she suffered from anxiety.
Janet drafted a memorial for longtime member of Swarthmore Monthly Meeting
Hill (1880-1960) served as principal and president of Cheyney State Teachers College from 1913 - 1951. In later letters he encouraged her to participate in ministry.
Sewell W. Hodge (d. 1986) was 1916 Swarthmore College graduate and insurance company executive. Active in Swarthmore Monthly Meeting, he and his wife Reba lived at 111 Ogden Ave., Swarthmore; she was a founder of the Swarthmore Public Library. Much of the correspondence deals with Janet's repayment of a loan but touched on events of the times
Incomplete draft from Janet recalled her daughter Elizabeth and fond memories of fine times at Swarthmore Meeting.
Undated letter from Stroudsburg Hospital from Janet with an update of her mother's condition, includes a note from Anna. Later letters from Janet to "Cousin Hannah," urged her to tell truth. Typed signed note from Isaac Clothier, Jr., which praised the remarks that Janet made at Hannah's memorial service. Hannah Hull and Janet's mother, Anna Speakman, lifelong friends.
Frederick J. Libby (1891-1970) served as Executive Secretary of the National Council for Prevention of War in Washington, D.C., from 1921 until his death. He wrote in 1957 he was skeptical about Janet's claim that the FBI was investigating her and refused her offer to research for him in Swarthmore College Peace Collection.
Gladys Gould MacKenzie (1893-1980) was a member of Friends Meeting of Washington and worked for the National Council for the Prevention of War with Frederick Libby. In 1970 she wrote from Swarthmore that she was working on their archives in the Peace Collection
Swarthmore friend, Lydia lived at 615 N. Chester Road.
Friend of Janet's mother.
Lived in Philadelphia and married to Alexander Pavlov. Adeline wrote that some of Dorothy's possessions which were stored in her basement had been ruined and discarded after water damage.
Janet to Dear Cousin, with allusions to corruption. Alice was a Swaarthmore neighbor and close friend of Janet's parents.
Typed signed letters reminiscing about growing up in Swarthmore
In a draft of her 1947 letter to Pickett, Janet railed against hypocrisy of Quakers in her meeting. Correspondence includes a unsent letter to Mrs. Pickett, 1956, with accusations about Hannah Hull, her mother's dearest friend, and how Swarthmore Monthly Meeting discussed her and her accusations. Includes Clarence Pickett's 1958 handwritten letter of introduction for Janet confirming her work with the AFSC 1922-1923 and his friendship with her parents.
Dorothy Gest Pownall (1894-1974), a birthright member of Sadsbury Monthly Meeting and resident of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania., was a longtime friend and patient correspondent. She worked as secretary at Friends School. Janet wrote her many letters describing her legal and other problems and asked to borrow money. Dorothy was the daughter of Levi W. Pownall and Emily Broomell Pownall of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Janet also wrote to Dorothy's mother. letters include her private nursing
Janet to Dear Cousin, the letter mentioned her visit tothis home at 409 College Avenue, Swarthmore, which will be given to the College.
A typed signed letter sent to Janet in New York City which acknowledged her letter but he replied that he did "not feel able to unravel mental problems."
Janet travelled with Sudler and his wife to Mexico in 1948, and she borrowed money from them. He was a Chicago, Illinois, businessman. In a letter dated June 8, 1952, Janet wrote that she gave up nursing in spring of 1951 when she refused an assignment that she thought was dangerous to her. She wrote that she had no money except from her father's estate, and Sudler tried to help her arrange her finances. In 1957, Carroll Sudler wrote that she must go to the Philadelphia law firm Duane Morris and Heckscher to set up a monthly deposit from the trust fund her parents had arranged for her. She began to repay debts, so presumably some settlement was arranged.
Cordial letter, handwritten and signed
Two volumess: One contains her timeline to 1930, second her reminiscences of Charles and Marie Jenkins who she blamed for her problems.
Janet's version of her relationship with her sister Martha and her husband.
Reflections on travel, her lack of career focus, financial stress from travels
References to her mother's early diaries, her aunt Mary Travilla's ministry, homes in Swarthmore, and her own psychic experiences
Rambling introduction to why she was pursuing a lawsuit. Removed from bound Record book.
Jottings, dreams, etc. She remained convinced that the cottage at Buck Hill should go to her.
Rough jottings, attempts to organize her story.
Only scattered entries
Trust created in 1946 for Janet Speakman. Janet belatedly appealed probate and didn't accept the distribution. Also copies of William Speakman trusts for Martha and Janet.
Janet remained convinced that she was due the cottage at Buck Hill Falls. After hospitalization, she finally signed approval to make use of funds in her trust to pay for nursing care. She died a few weeks later, leaving 19 cartons of papers and clothing in storage.
Janet died March 18, 1971.
Includes correspondence, remarks to the fellow Ladies of the Women's Christian Temperance Union boarding home in Chester, Pennsylvania.