Eleanora O'Donnell Hinckley Series, 1895 - 1934

Mary Eleanora O'Donnell was born in Baltimore, Maryland on 17 May 1861, the daughter of Edward Columbus and Mary Caroline Jenkins O'Donnell. She was a grand-daughter of General Columbus O'Donnell, and related through her mother to the Brent, Plowden, Gerard and Jenkins families of Maryland. Eleanora moved from Baltimore to Washington after her marriage to portrait artist, Robert Hinckley, in 1885. They had three children: Thomas, Gladys and Robert. During her years in Washington, Eleanora Hinckley was involved in numerous social and charitable organizations, and was a member of Colonial Dames and the D.A.R. She died in December 1934, at the age of 72. The Eleanora O'Donnell Hinckley Series includes family correspondence, travel journals, commonplace books, account ledgers, genealogical recordsand material concerning her death. Perhaps of greatest interest are Eleanora's travel diaries/journals which record trips made to Peking, Japan, Egypt, Russia, Latvia, Warsaw, Vienna and Paris between 1913 - 1927. The journals contain fascinating and lengthy descriptions of people, places and events, including, for instance, discussions of the circumstances behind and reactions to the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914.