| Dates: | 1932-1934 |
| Size: | 0.5 linear feet in 1 box |
| Repository: | Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections, 400 S. State Street, Chicago, IL 60605 |
| Collection Number: | spe.mhwc |
| Immediate Source of Acquisition: | Transferred from Chicago Public Library’s Social Science and History Department in 1976. |
| Custodial History: | Donated to Chicago Public Library by Mrs. Harlan Ward Cooley and her daughter, April 1954. |
| Conditions Governing Access: | Materials are open without restrictions. |
| Conditions Governing Use: | Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection. |
| Preferred Citation: | When quoting material from this collection the preferred citation is: Mrs. Harlan Ward Cooley Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections, Chicago Public Library |
| Finding Aid Author: | Original author unknown. Summer, 1983. Updated and ingested into ArchivesSpace by Johanna Russ, 2021. |
Abstract
Mrs. Harlan Ward Cooley served as head of the Chicago Women's Club's Century of Progress Committee, which sponsored a series of lectures during the Century of Progress Exposition entitled, "Women in Civilization." This collection includes correspondence between Mrs. Cooley and speakers, as well as copies of speeches delivered at the Exposition.
Biographical/Historical
A Century of Progress was the name given to the 1933 World's Fair, held along Chicago’s lakefront, in what is now Burnham Park, from June 1 to November 1, 1933, and May 26 to October 31, 1934. This was the second international exposition held in Chicago during a 40 year period; the first was the World's Columbian Exposition, which in 1893 played host to over 27 million people in Jackson Park on the city's South Side. A Century of Progress—held to celebrate 100 years since the 1833 incorporation of Chicago as a town, and to boost spirits and the economy during the Great Depression—was equally as popular, with 40 million visitors over its two seasons.
When the Century of Progress Exposition was announced, the Chicago Women’s Club formed a Century of Progress Committee to sponsor a series of lectures entitled, “Women in Civilization.” Mrs. Harlan Ward Cooley was appointed to head this committee and began by drawing up a list of prospective women speakers covering a wide range of academic, political and social endeavors. From this list she began to send out correspondence requesting participants for the lecture series. Many notable women throughout the United States were queried. The list included such persons as Hull House founder Jane Addams, author and historian Mary B. Beard, Amelia Earhart and Lena M. Phillips, president of the National Council of women.
Scope and Contents
This collection presents to researchers the work of Mrs. Cooley and the Chicago Women’s Club in organizing a program for and about women during the celebration of a century of American progress. The collection further reflects the role of women in American society through the speeches and lectures given by many of the country’s most notable women leaders.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically, first by topic (Correspondence, Lecture Series, Speeches), and then alphabetically within topics.
Subjects
- Addams, Jane, 1860-1935
- Abbott, Grace, 1878-1939
- Allen, Florence Ellinwood, 1884-1966
- Beard, Mary Ritter, 1876-1958
- Cannon, Annie Jump, 1863-1941
- Cooley, Harlan Ward, Mrs.
- Century of Progress International Exposition (1933-1934 : Chicago, Ill.)
- Phillips, Lena Madesin, 1881-1955
Related Materials
Collection Inventory
| Box 1 | Folder 1 | Correspondence - Abbott, Grace, U.S. Department of Labor, Children’s Bureau, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 2 | Correspondence - Addams, Jane, Founder of Hull House, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 3 | Correspondence - Allen, Florence E., Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 4 | Correspondence - Bartelme, Mary M., Judge, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 5 | Correspondence - Beard, Mary R., Author and historian, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 6 | Correspondence - Breckinridge, Dr. Sophonisba Preston, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 7 | Correspondence - Cannon, Annie J., Scientist, Harvard College Observatory, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 8 | Correspondence - Carroll, Molly Ray, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 9 | Correspondence - Century of Progress - Administration, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 10 | Correspondence - Earhart, Amelia (Secretary), 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 11 | Correspondence - Havener, Helen, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 12 | Correspondence - Herrick, Genevieve Forbes, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 13 | Correspondence - Hobson, Sarah M., M.D., 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 14 | Correspondence - Owen, Ruth Bryan, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 15 | Correspondence - Phillips, Lena Madesin, president, National Council of Women, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 16 | Correspondence - Prospective speakers (general), 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 17 | Correspondence - Rejection letters, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 18 | Correspondence - White, Edna N., 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 19 | Correspondence - Winter, Alice Ames, 1932-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 20 | Lecture Series - The Chicago Women’s Club & The Century of Progress: background material, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 21 | Lecture Series - Program Committee: miscellaneous notes, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 22 | Lecture Series - Program Schedules: “Contribution of Women to Civilization, 1833-1933,” 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 23 | Lecture Series - Program Schedules: “Public Lecture Series,” 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 24 | Lecture Series - Program Speakers: news clippings on, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 25 | Speeches - “A Century of Progress in Nursing,” Edna L. Foley, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 26 | Speeches - “A Century of Women in Music,” Anne Faulkner Oberndorfer, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 27 | Speeches - “Childhood Education,” Flora J. Cooke, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 28 | Speeches - “Growth of Woman’s Work Through Organization,” Hannah G. Solomon, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 29 | Speeches - “The Larger Neighborliness – Internationalism,” Jane Addams, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 30 | Speeches - “Nursery School Education- Its Development and Influence,” Rose H. Alschuler, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 31 | Speeches - “The Progress of Women in the University World,” Dr. Marion Talbot, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 32 | Speeches - “The Recreation Movement and Its Bearing on the Social Life of Our Country,” Amalie Hofer Jerome, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 33 | Speeches - “Review and Anticipation,” Dr. Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 34 | Speeches - “The Social Role of Women in History,” Mary R. Beard, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 35 | Speeches - “What Woman Has Done in Literature in the Last Century,” Katherine Peabody Girling, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 36 | Speeches - “Woman in the Home," Edna Noble White, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 37 | Speeches - “Woman’s Contribution to Civilization Through Motion Pictures,” Mrs. Thomas G. Winter, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 38 | Speeches - “Women in the Fine Arts,” Eve Watson Schutze, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 39 | Speeches - “Women in Government,” Florence Tifes Bohrer, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 40 | Speeches - “Women in Industry,” Mollie Ray Carroll, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 41 | Speeches - “Women in Journalism,” Genevieve Forbes Herrick, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 42 | Speeches - “Women in Law,” Justice Florence E. Allen, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 43 | Speeches - “Women in the Legal Profession and Allied Activities,” Judge Mary M. Bartelme, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 44 | Speeches - “Women in Medicine - The Contribution of Women to Human Welfare through the Science and Art of Medicine,” Sarah M. Hobson, Ph.B., M.D., 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 45 | Speeches - “Women in Science,” Annie J. Cannon, 1933-1934 |
| Box 1 | Folder 46 | Speeches - “Women’s Contribution Through Religion,” Geraldine Brawn Gilkey, past president of National YWCA, 1933-1934 |
