Women at Harvard University

Coco at the Hasty Pudding Club for Officers, 1944-1945 (HUM 198).
Caroline S. Oveson (commonly known by her nickname “Coco”) worked as the assistant manager of Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Club for Officers during World War II. The collection documents the creation, administration, and utilization of the Hasty Pudding Club for Officers, including correspondence (letters and telegrams) addressed to Oveson, photocopies of newspaper clippings related to Oveson and the Club, a transcript of interview questions intended for Oveson with handwritten notes, and other ephemera related to Club. Of particular note are thirty-two black and white photographs depicting various activities at the club, including dancing, eating, drinking, playing games, and socializing.

• Open for research.

 

Evro Layton personal archive, 1963-2005 and [undated] (HUM 332).
Evro Layton (1924-2005) was a bibliographer at the Harvard College Library from 1958 to 1968, where she was instrumental in improving the university's Modern Greek collection. Layton published various articles and books related to the history of Greek printing, particularly during the 16th century. The bulk of the collection includes photocopied reference materials, some with handwritten annotations, many of which are Greek language; these document Layton's research activities, particularly in preparation for writing her influential 1994 work, The sixteenth century Greek book in Italy : printers and publishers for the Greek world. Layton's personal archive also contains correspondence with various colleagues, scholars, and Harvard departments, including the Harvard Library.

• Open for research.

 

General information by and about Women Employed at Harvard, 1973. (HUD 3880).
Women Employed at Harvard was formed in 1973 by women employees of Harvard University to work for fair treatment of women. Contains flyers and bulletins.

• Open for research.

 

Collection of Harvard College bills sent to Charles Augustus Chase, 1851-1855. (HUD 1841.14).
Charles Augustus Chase (1833-1911) was a member of the Harvard Class of 1855. His collection of bills demonstrates Chase's financial transactions while an undergraduate at Harvard, and include his spending on Harvard tuition, board, washing, books, clothing and shoes, furniture, oil, and more; in particular, several of the bills are paid to female laundresses.

• Open for research.

 

Helen L. Brooks collection relating to the Harvard University Underwater Sound Laboratory and the Harvard University Division of Engineering and Applied Physics Wives Committee, 1941-1993. (HUM 315).
Helen Lathrop Brooks (1917- ) was a secretary at Harvard Law School from 1940 to 1942, then worked as an editorial secretary at the Harvard University Underwater Sound Laboratory from March 1942 to July 1945. In 1958, Brooks founded and chaired the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics Wives Committee, which served as a social organization for the department faculty members and their wives until 1977. This collection contains photographs, staff rosters, correspondence, newsletters, and invitations from the Harvard Underwater Sound Laboratory and Harvard’s Division of Engineering and Applied Physics’ Wives Committee, compiled by Helen Brooks.

• Open for research.

Papers of Tatiana Proskouriakoff, 1939-1983. (HUGFP 51.5).
Tatiana Proskouriakoff (1909-1985), Mayanist scholar and archaeologist, worked at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University from 1958 until her retirement in 1977. Her papers consist of account books and diaries, dating from the beginning of her career as an archaeological illustrator, extending through her time at the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, and ending during Proskouriakoff’s retirement.

• Open for research; some access restrictions apply. Requires review by archivist.

 

Rosalie Stuart Magruder reminiscences of working at Harvard University, 1958. (HUG 4555.5).
Rosalie Stuart Magruder (1884-1971), executive secretary in the Harvard Students Records Office from 1921 to 1949. This collection contains handwritten reminiscences of Magruder's experiences working in the War Records Office and the Students Records Office at Harvard University from 1920 to 1949.

• Open for research.

 

Tobie Kranitz Walters collection of correspondence from Harvard professors Wilga Rivers and Wilbur M. Frohock, 1975-2004. (HUM 337).
Tobie Kranitz Walters is a business consultant who spent four years as an administrator in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University from 1974 to 1978. The collection contains correspondence between former Harvard administrator Tobie Kranitz Walters and Harvard professors of Romance Languages and Literatures Wilga Rivers and Wilbur M. Frohock and his wife, Natalie Frohock.

• Open for research.