Katherine to Francis Biddle., 06/01/1946-06/30/1946

File — Box: 1, Folder: 24

Identifier: 75086

Collection-level Scope and Content Note

From the Collection:

The Biddle Family letters comprise the third part of the Biddle Family papers and is organised into three series:

1. Francis Biddle and Katherine Biddle correspondence exchanged between 1912 and 1968. Of particular interest are the very early "courtship" letters from Katherine Biddle before her marriage to Francis Biddle; and the correspondence (primarily from her) sent in late 1945 to 1946 when Francis Biddle served on the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.

2. George Biddle correspondence primarily to his brother Francis Biddle written between 1899 and 1972, with the bulk dating between 1940 and 1970. The letters provide biographical details on his work and rich connections in the art world. (cf. also George Biddle's autobiography, "An American Artist's Story" (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1939).

3. Miscellaneous family correspondence and material relating to other members of the Biddle clan including the families of Coxe, Chapin (note especially the letters of sculptor and artist Cornelia Chapin), McMurtrie, Randolph, and Robinson. Letters by the earlier members of the family provide much historical interest, offering insight into the lives of American nineteenth century men, women and their families.

Husbands and sons often wrote from abroad as necessities of work and education dictated. In particular, letters from William McMurtrie to his wife Elizabeth Coxe McMurtrie offer colorful descriptions of his experiences while serving in the U.S. Navy off the coasts of Italy, Turkey, and in Gibralter. Women's correspondence is typically replete with domestic news of births, deaths, and the general health of various family members. Mothers and aunts advised daughters and nieces on the social graces and especially matters of religion. Well-educated and literate, the women wrote to each other at length, often reporting on books they were reading, as well as the running of their own schools, as did Emily Coxe and her sister Ann Coxe, both married to ministers, the Reverend Charles Pettit McIlvaine and the Reverend Chauncey Colton, respectively. (cf. also the Franklin Sanborne Papers, for nineteenth century American women's correspondence.)

Other substantial correspondence of historical interest includes that of Clement Cornell Biddle (1784-1855), George Biddle (1843-1886), George Washington Biddle (1818-1897), his wife Maria Coxe McMurtrie Biddle, and her sister Elizabeth McMurtrie McColl. The collection is completed by several valuable files of information on the Biddle family genealogy tracing roots back to William Biddle (1630-1712) and wife Sarah Kemp, who arrived in America in 1681, as well as to William Randolph (1650-1711), whose grandson married a granddaughter of Pocahontas.

Dates

06/01/1946-06/30/1946

Collection-level Access Restrictions

Permission of the Biddle Family is required before accessing this collection. The Booth Family Center for Special Collections can provide information on the permission process.

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.

Extent

From the Collection: 2.25 Linear Feet (3 Hollinger Document Cases, 1 Record Storage.)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Container Summary

Correspondence from Katherine to Francis Biddle: 10 ALS. - ALS 6/1/1946, letter #8. Reference to death of friend Charles Malcolmson; Julie Merrell; sorting out with Cornelia Chapin the personal effects of Charlotte Mason (recently deceased); Edmund Randolph Biddle; and Walter Gilkyson. - ALS 6/3/1946, letter #9. Reference to Thomas Corcoran; Catherine Drinker Bowen and son; and James Boyd, Jr. - ALS 6/7/1946, letter #10. Reference to dining with Sumner Welles and Alexis Leger; Walter Lippmann; Norman Armour; Leger's opinion of Charles De Gaulle; progress of Edmund Randolph Biddle; and Charles Malcolmson. - ALS 6/10/1946. Reference to discussion with friends including Marion Merrell, Mark Childs and Katharine Schuyler Chambers Munoz about British Intelligence tactics in the U.S.; statement by Edmund Walsh, S.J. re Nuremberg trials; Walter Lippmann; Charlton Ogburn; and various dinners with friends including Harold and Jane Ickes; Alexis Leger; Rifat Tirana, Libby Rowe* Reference also to family news about George Howe, Sydney Francis and Dorothea Biddle; Leila Schuyler, and Paul D. Chapin. - ALS 6/16/1946 letter #12. Reference to Robert and Irene Jackson; funeral of Charles Malcolmson; Walter Gilkyson; a cocktail party given by Henry Hart also attended by Allen Barth, Philip Graham, Felix and Marion Frankfurter; a cocktail party given by Herbert Elliston; dinner with Alexis Leger; John Lafarge, S.J.; Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood; Russian author Victor Kravenko; Max Eastman. - ALS 6/18/1946, letter #13. Reference to friends and family including Mary Winslow, Gertrude Ely, Drew Pearson, Cornelia Chapin, William and Marion Wasserman, George Howe. - ALS 6/21/1946, letter #14. Reference to visiting Edmund Randolph Biddle with Emilie Amram. - 2 ALS 6/24/1946, letter #14; and 6/27/1946. Reference to Edmund Randolph Biddle. - ALS 6/30/1946, letter #16. Reference to Edmund Randolph Biddle, and to a speech to Congress by John Gilbert Winant* on Franklin Delano Roosevelt. * Notes: - re Libby Rowe is referred to many times by Katherine Biddle as "Libby." - re John Gilbert Winant is sometimes referred to as "Gil Winant" by Katherine Biddle.

Subjects and Associated Physical Materials

BIDDLE, KATHERINE - CORRES. TO BIDDLE, FRANCIS 1946 (JUNE): Autographed Letter

BIDDLE, FRANCIS - CORRES. FROM BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946 (JUNE): Autographed Letter

NUREMBERG WAR TRIALS - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

MALCOLMSON, CHARLES - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

MERRELL, JULIE - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

CHAPIN, CORNELIA - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

MASON, CHARLOTTE - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

BIDDLE, EDMUND RANDOLPH - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

GILKYSON, WALTER - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

CORCORAN, THOMAS - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

BOWEN, CATHERINE DRINKER - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

BOYD, JAMES, JR. - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

WELLES, SUMNER - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

LEGER, ALEXIS - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

LIPPMANN, WALTER - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

ARMOUR, NORMAN - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

DE GAULLE, CHARLES - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

MERRELL, MARION - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

CHILDS, MARK - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

CHAMBERS, KATHARINE SCHUYLER - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

WALSH, EDMUND, S.J. - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

OGBURN, CHARLTON - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

ICKES, HAROLD & JANE - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

TIRANA, RIFAT - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

BIDDLE, SYDNEY FRANCIS - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

BIDDLE, DOROTHEA - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

CHAPIN, LEILA - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

CHAPIN, PAUL D. - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

CHAPIN, SCHUYLER G. - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

JACKSON, ROBERT & IRENE - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

HART, HENRY - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

BARTH, ALLEN - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

GRAHAM, PHILIP - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

FRANKFURTER, FELIX & MARION - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

ELLISTON, HERBERT - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

LAFARGE, JOHN, S.J. - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

HAPGOOD, ELIZABETH REYNOLDS - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

KRAVENKO, VICTOR - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

EASTMAN, MAX - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

WINSLOW, MARY - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

ELY, GERTRUDE - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

PEARSON, DREW - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

CHAPIN, CORNELIA - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

WASSERMAN, WILLIAM & MARION - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

HOWE, GEORGE - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

AMRAM, EMILIE - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

WINANT, JOHN G. - REFERENCE BY BIDDLE, KATHERINE 1946: Autographed Letter

MUNOZ, KATHARINE - SEE: CHAMBERS, KATHARINE SCHUYLER: Autographed Letter

ROWE, LIBBY - SEE REFERENCES: KATHERINE TO FRANCIS BIDDLE 1945-46: Autographed Letter