The collection is open to research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Adelaide A. Claflin Letters, Ms1992-005, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Adelaide A. Claflin Letters were purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1992.
The processing and description of the Adelaide A. Claflin Letters commenced and was completed in September, 2023.
Narcissa Adelaide Avery, daughter of Alden A. and Lucinda Miller Brown Avery, was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 28, 1846. A couple of years after graduating from Boston Girls' High School in 1862, she became a teacher at the Winthrop School. In 1870, Avery married Frederick A. Claflin. The couple lived in Quincy, Massachusetts, and had four children. Adelaide Claflin became a lecturer on women's suffrage in 1883. She also lectured on other topics and wrote for newspapers. Adelaide Avery Claflin died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 31, 1931, and was buried in Mt. Wollaston Cemetery in Quincy.
This collection consists of two letters from Adelaide A. Claflin, a woman suffragist living in Quincy, Massachusetts. Written in November, 1884, to Mrs. Hollander, the letters relate to Claflin's upcoming lecture on the suffrage question. On November 11, Claflin relates that "Mrs. Stone" (probably suffragist Lucy Stone) had recently asked if she would be willing to address a club in Somerville, and Claflin mentions her essay, "What Women as a Class Owe to Each Other," recently read before an audience in South Boston. On November 14, Claflin responds to a recent letter from Hollander, providing further background on her experience in speaking about women's suffrage and proposing the lecture topic "The Need of the Feminine Influence in the School, the Town, and the State." She requests feedback on the proposal and more information about the venue in which the lecture is to be delivered.
The guide to the Adelaide A. Claflin Letters by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).