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Rogers Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: GTM-890501

Scope and Contents note

The Rogers Family Papers consist of fifteen series, the first being on the Rogers & Clarke families in general, and the remainder focusing on the papers of individuals such as James Webb Rogers I, J. Harris Rogers, James Charles Rogers, Cora Rogers Clarke, Phillips H. Clarke Jr., Mae Harris Clarke and George E. Sullivan. The final series contains objects and oversize materials of varying types.

Extent: 30 linear feet Number of Boxes: 19, with 11 oversize containers

Dates

  • 1817 - 1988

Conditions Governing Access note

Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.

Biographical note

The Rogers Family Papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, pamphlets, clippings, and photographs of the Rogers family and of a closely connected family, the Clarkes. The most notable individual included in the collection is J. Harris Rogers, the turn of the century inventor, much of whose papers are included. the Papers comprise 30 linear feet, contained in 19 boxes and 11 oversize containers, arranged in 580 folders.

The Rogers Family Papers are a slice of American history, containing a wide variety of items from 1803 to 1988, with a majority of it coming from the post-Civil War to the post-World War II eras. Among the subjects included the most extensively are the Inventive Age and Washington area real estate development.

The roots of the Rogers family can be found in its patriarch, James Webb Rogers (1822-1896), wh otook part in the civil War and had careers as a minister, a lawyer, a writer, and a real estate developer. Rogers had seven children, several of whom distinguished themselves in writing, real estate, the law and science. His oldest and most renowned child was J. Harris Rogers (1850-1929(, who was constantly at the forefront of the inventive age, always coming near to the fame for which he strove during periods of inventiveness in electricity, telegraphy, telephony, and radio technology. A. Mae Rogers (1858-1936) and Joseph Sebastian Rogers (1870-1898) excelled in writing, while James Charles Rogers (1864-1941) became a prominent Maryland lawyer. All of James Webb Rogers' children became involved in real estate, but especially Cora Ann Rogers (1867-1943), who married into the Clarke family, another family heavily involved in development in Maryland the District of Columbia.

The patriarch of the Clarke family was Rufus Lathrop Baker Clarke (1817-1910), a federal patent judge and brother of Sarah Jane Clarke Lippincott, a writer and editor who used the pen-name Grace Greenwood. His most notable son was Phillips Huntington Clarke, Sr. (1865-1930), who married Cora Rogers and made a name along with his son, Phillips H. Clarke, Jr (1905-1979), as a prime real estate developer in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

The Inventive Age (1870s - 1920s) was a time of great change, with hundreds of amateur inventors appearing all over the world, and just as many speculators and short lived companies as one could imagine. J. Harris Rogers was a good example of such an inventor, always pursuing the latest field of discovery, and his father and brother James Charles Rogers were prime examples of the speculators during this period: forming companies, selling stock, and pursuing patent legislation. The five series containing the correspondence, notes, legal documents, pamphlets, and clippings of J. Harris Rogers as he traced his way through the Inventive Age, focusing upon his involvement in the invention of underground and undersea wireless radio during the First World War and his subsequent patent legislation against the U.S. Navy Department. He also has correspondence and pamphlets from many other inventors of the time such as Nikola Tesla, Emile Berliner, and Hubbard Gardiner, and from companies such as American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T), Wanamaker Telephone Company, and others.

The American housing boom of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s was another time of immense growth and change, during which time many communities around Washington, D.C. came into existence and expanded. The Rogers and Clarke families were primarily responsible for much of the development which took place in Hyattsville and Bladensburg, Maryland, namely in Rogers Heights and Mt. Ranier, and in Randle Highlands in Anacostia, D.C. The series containing material from james Charles Rogers, Cora Rogers Clarke, and Phillips H. Clarke, Jr., among others, has much information on this development, consisting primarily of financial records, clippings, maps, and blue prints.

Extent

44.5 Linear Feet (30 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Provenance

Provenance: Gift of Mrs. James Webb Rogers II, May, 1989 Processed by: Michael J. North Date: February 2, 1990

Title
Rogers Family Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Georgetown University Library Booth Family Center for Special Collections
Date
1990-02-02
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository

Contact:
Lauinger Library, 5th Floor
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057