Watrous, Hilda Papers

Collection Type
Papers
Year Start
1892
Year End
1998
ID

SC22210

Quantity

10 boxes (3.50 cubic ft.)

Access

Records are open to research.

Acquisition

Gift; Hilda Watrous; 4 April 1999

Processed By

Aimee Morgan, Student Assistant, Spring 2005

Biographical Note:

Hilda Watrous is a freelance writer and historian who has specialized in issues related to women's history. She was active in politics as a longtime member of the League of Women Voters of New York State (LWV-NYS). A member of the organization's state board, Watrous was the first person to serve as official historian for the LWV-NYS.

Publications by Watrous include The County Between the Lakes: A Public History of Seneca County, New York, 1876-1982 (1982); In League with Eleanor: Eleanor Roosevelt and the League of Women Voters 1921-1962 (1984); Oswego Reflections, 1887-1987 (1994); and 75 Years of a Great Idea: A History of the League of Women Voters of New York State (1995). Watrous has also presented papers at numerous conferences and events.

Scope and Content:

These papers are comprised chiefly of correspondence, research files, and publications related to Hilda Watrous's involvement in state and local organizations of the League of Women Voters of New York State.

Series I consists of Watrous's files on the League of Women Voters.

Included are chronological research files on the LWV-NYS, as well as a sample of LWV-NYS publications. There are a few files on the national League of Women Voters organization, containing mostly publications. Also included are organizational files on the founding of the League of Women Voters of Shenendehowa, later renamed the League of Women Voters of Southern Saratoga. A lengthy run of newsletters from this organization depicts League of Women Voters activities at a local level.

Series II is comprised of Watrous's research files on Eleanor Roosevelt. Of particular interest to Watrous was Roosevelt's connection with the LWV-NYS. In League with Eleanor: Eleanor Roosevelt and the League of Women Voters 1921-1962 was published by LWV-NYS's Foundation for Citizen Education in 1984.

Series III consists of research files from a project completed by Watrous under contract for the New York Capitol Commission in 1985-1986. Watrous was hired to write biographical sketches of activists for woman suffrage whose names were listed on a tablet in the New York State Capitol. The tablet had been placed in the Capitol by LWV-NYS in 1930.

Series IV comprises research for other projects, in particular the lives and careers of Harriet May Mills and Narcissa Cox Vanderlip. Watrous wrote a biography of Mills to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the New York State Fair's Women's Building in Syracuse, which was named to honor Mills. Watrous's research on Vanderlip contributed to the decision to include Vanderlip in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

The papers provide insight into the research process of a local historian. However, they do not present a complete overview of Watrous's career. The collection contains no research files for her publications on Seneca County and the town of Oswego.

Box

Folder

Contents

  

Series 1: League of Women Voters, 1910-1998

1

 

National League of Women Voters, 1940-1990

 

1

Archives, 1986

 

2

History, 1985

 

3

Military Intelligence Records on the League of Women Voters, National Archives, 1920s,/div>

 

4

Political Activity, ca. 1970s-ca. 1990s

  

Publications

 

5

1940-1957

 

6

1962-1970

 

7

1971-1986

  

League of Women Voters of New York State, 1920-1994

  

75th Anniversary

 

8

1992-1994

 

9

Commemorative Journal, 1994

 

10

Gala, Program, 1994

 

11

Information Packet, 1993

 

12

Correspondence, 1980s

2

1

Transfer of League Archives to Columbia University, 1969-1981

  

Historical Research, ca. 1990s

 

2-3

1920s

 

4

1921

 

5

1922

 

6

1923

 

7

1924

 

8

1930s

 

9

1940s

 

10

1970s

 

11

1980s

 

12

1990s

3

1

A-F, no date

 

2

G-R, no date

 

3

S-Z, no date

 

4-6

At Columbia University Library, ca. 1990s

 

7

Board of Directors, 1920-1923

 

8

Edey, Birdsall Otis, 1982

 

9

First Legislative Conference, 1939

 

10

Mott, Lucretia and Anna Lord Strauss, no date

 

11

Miscellaneous, ca. 1910s-1990s

 

12-14

Histories of the State League, 1980s-1990s

 

15

History Conference Presentation, 1982

 

16

History Presentation at State Convention, 1985

 

17

Miscellaneous, ca. 1970s-ca. 1990s

 

18

Oral History Guidelines, no date

4

1

Political Activity and Organization, ca. 1970s-ca. 1980s

 

2

Reports to State Board on League History, 1980-1988

  

Publications

 

3

30 Years in Action: History of the State Program, 1920-1950, 1951

 

4

1919-1969: It Made a Difference, 1969

 

5

Campaign for a Capital Move, 1988

 

6

New York State Action in Albany, Winter 1980

 

7

New York State Voter, 1974-1985

  

Weekly News

 

8

1925

 

9

1926

 

10

1927

 

11

1928

 

12

1929

 

13

Miscellaneous Publications, 1979-1982

 

14

Other State League Programs, 1970-1981

  

Local Leagues, 1969-1998

 

15

Capital District League of Women Voters, Regional Report, 1972-1974

  

League of Women Voters of Shenendehowa

 

16

1977-1985

 

17

1993-1998

 

18

Budget, 1969-1978

  

Newsletter

5

1

1971

 

2

1972

 

3

1973

 

4

1974-1975

 

5

1976-1977

 

6

1978-1979

 

7

1980-1983

 

8

1984-1986

 

9

Organizational Documents, 1971-1973

 

10-11

League of Women Voters of Southern Saratoga County, Clifton Park Development Issues, 1998

 

12

Other Local Leagues, Historical Research, 1979-1986

6

 

Series II: Eleanor Roosevelt Research Project, 1982-1998

  

Correspondence, 1982-1998

 

1-2

Correspondence re: Eleanor Roosevelt, 1982-1984, 1998

 

3

Correspondence and Clippings re: In League With Eleanor, 1983-1984

  

Conferences and Events, 1982-1994

 

4

Hofstra University Roosevelt Conference, 1982

 

5

Grant Application for Eleanor Roosevelt Film, 1983

 

6-7

Centennial of Eleanor Roosevelt's Birth, Conferences and Events, 1983-1984

 

8

Presentation on Eleanor Roosevelt at New York State League of Women Voters Convention, 1985

 

9

Eleanor Roosevelt Program for Russell Sage Elderhostel, 1994

  

Historical Research, ca. 1980s-1990s

 

10

1920-1924

 

11

1925-1929

7

1

1930-1939

 

2

1940s-1960s

 

3

Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill

 

4

Eleanor Roosevelt Timeline, undated

 

5

Eleanor Roosevelt and the League of Women Voters

 

6

Hyde Park, Brochures and Publications

 

7

Hyde Park, Correspondence and Notes

 

8

Miscellaneous

 

9

Photographs and Postcards, ca. 1930s-ca.1980s

 

10

Publications with Eleanor Roosevelt Content, 1983-1998

  

Eleanor Roosevelt, Assorted Buttons, no date [in envelope]

  

Series III: Suffrage Tablet Research, 1985-1996

8

1

Background Information on Tablet, ca. 1986

 

2

Completed Biographies of Suffrage Tablet Women, ca. 1986

 

3

Correspondence, 1982-1996

 

4

Correspondence with Capitol Commission, 1985-1986

 

5

Research at New York Public Library, ca. 1986

 

6

Research at New York State Library, ca. 1986

 

7

Research, Miscellaneous, ca. 1986

  

Suffrage Tablet Names, Research, ca. 1986

 

8

A, ca. 1986

 

9

B, ca. 1986

 

10

C-D, ca. 1986

 

11

E, ca. 1986

9

1

F-H, ca. 1986

 

2

K-L, ca. 1986

 

3

M, ca. 1986

 

4

N-R, ca. 1986

 

5

S-V, ca. 1986

 

6

W, ca. 1986

  

Series IV: Other Research Projects, 1892-1995

 

7

Equal Rights Amendment Research, Correspondence with Elisabeth Griffith, 1983-1987

 

8

Knapp, Florence, Research, no date

  

Mills, Harriet May

  

Research, ca. 1980s

 

9

1892-1918

10

1

1920s-1930s

 

2

House, Family, and Friends, no date

 

3

Women's Building 50th Anniversary Publication, 1984

 

4

Miscellaneous, 1985-1995

 

5

National Women's Hall of Fame and Women's Rights National Historical Park, 1982-1983

 

6

The Review (Liverpool, NY), Articles Written by Watrous, 1983

  

Vanderlip, Narcissa Cox

  

Book

 

7

Correspondence, 1980-1983

 

8

Finished Copy, 1982

 

9

Proposal and Funding, 1980-1981

  

Research, ca. 1980s-1990s

 

10

1930s-1940s

 

11

At Columbia University Library, 1980

 

12

Bok Peace Prize, 1923-1924

 

13

Chicago, ca. 1900s-1920s

 

14

Family, ca. 1910s-1960s

 

15

Palos Verdes, California, 1980-1990

 

16

Sheppard Towner Act, 1920s

 

17

Trip to Japan, 1920

 

18

Vanderlip Estate, 1980

 

19

Women's Land Army, 1915-1919

 

20

Women's History in the United States: A Handbook, Contract and Contributions, 1987-1988

 

21

Women's History Month, Presentation at SUNY Plaza Celebration, 1995