Women

Maud Booth - social reformer, Salvation Army leader, co-founder of Volunteers of America. Signed letter, "Maud B. Booth" on Volunteer Prison League letterhead, November 27, 1916 thanking Mrs. N. R. Montgomery for a donation. "So much of my time has to be spent in visiting prisons that it is hard for me to go out gathering collections and making new friends for the work." A nice example referencing her work for prison reform. A vertical fold line runs through the middle initial of her signature. [#5546]

Letter signed on her personal stationery Perkasie, Pennsylvania April 5, 1958. Buck writes to Emanuel Friedman about a business proposal or request for an engagement and lets him know her business agent will be in touch with him. The letter is boldly signed “Pearl S. Buck” and is in excellent condition. [#1046]

First Lady. ALS on Executive Mansion stationery May 8, 1888. One page letter about going to a concert. Signed in full "Frances F. Cleveland". Silked with some light toning around the edgesedges. Nice display example. [#1870]

Mamie Eisenhower – signed photo, almost certainly as First Lady. This is a nice White House photo. The image is roughly 7.5 x 7.5 printed on heavy paper/light card stock measuring 8 x 10. Mamie has added a large signature running almost the entire length of the border. [#4306]

Caroline C. Fillmore - second wife to Millard Fillmore. ALS, Clifton Springs, NY, September 1877 to Delia Avery. The four-page letter is written on the front and back on two separate black bordered mourning 8vo sheets, with matching envelope. Fillmore writes about her efforts to find some help and complains about the difficulty of finding someone who is not afraid of hard work and can be discreet. She also discusses her own health and troubles with anxiety. The letter is significantly faded throughout although her signature "C.C. Fillmore" is slightly darker than the rest of her writing. There are several fold tears along the margins. The letter has no strong content and is in below average condition but acceptable due to the rarity of her autograph material. It is extremely hard to find her signature and almost impossible to find a handwritten letter.

The Fillmores married after Millard's presidency. Although not a First Lady by service or time of marriage she was a president's wife and sought after for First Lady collectors.

Zona Gale, author 2 ½ page ALS Dec. 13, 1934 on a folded four page sheet of stationrry from The Gotham hotel in New York. A brief thank you note for sending some material and mentions she is on her way home to Portage Wisconsin. Gale was a playwright and the first woman to win a Pulitzer for Drama. [#4889]

Kate Greenaway British illustrator and author or children’s books. Three page ALS on a small 8vo four page sheet, no date, Holloway London. The famous Victorian illustrator invites someone to visit. [#4784]

Sarah Josepha Hale author, poet and influential editor. One page ALS Febry, 3, 1848(?), to one of her publishers Carey & Hart suggesting that it might be better if they sent her poems to editors in her city than other cities. Hale wrote “Mary Had A Little Lamb” and is credited with pushing Abraham Lincoln to declare a national day of Prayer and Thanksgiving in 1863.

Lady Bird Johnson - 19 letters to the noted fashion designer Adele Simpson (16) and her daughter Joan (3). There is also a handwritten postcard from Spain from Lady Bord to Adele. The letters, written from 1974 through 1992,are all on her Stonewall, Texas stationery. Three are signed "Lady Bird J" and the rest as "Lady Bird" Four are simply signed; all others have some additional writing totaling over 100 words in her hand. These range from one word closing to postscripts of 20 or more words. A few letters have envelopes.

The content is largely thank you's for sending some clothes or discussing possible meetings and travel plans. A few mention fundraising efforts for memorials to LBJ (the national committee for the LBJ Memorial Grove in DC, The LBJ Library Foundation), the loss of Lady Bird's brother, family visits with grandchildren, and son-in-law Chuck Robb's campaign for Lt. Governor. All have light mailing folds but overall, each is in excellent condition. It is hard to find small archives of letters from modern figures to the same person. This group has nice non-political association. Simpson was a well-known designer and produced some pieces for First Ladies Johnson, Nixon and Barbara Bush, including the dress Lady Bird wore at daughter Lucie's wedding. And Pat Nixon's 1973 Inaugural gown.

In addition to the Lady Bird archive there are a couple of letters from the First Lady's assistants. [#5953]

Barbara Morgan – astronaut. Morgan was the backup to Christa McAuliffe on the Challenger Mission. She became the first teacher in space on a completed mission. She has signed this official NASA color phoot “To Dick Daoust wth best wishes Barbara R. Morgan.” It is accompanied with a signed letter on NASA letterhead signed by her with a personalized postscript. The pair are in excellent condition. [#3748]

Poet and author (1835-1908) ALS April (n.y.) on the front and back of a small folded sheet sending a small donation to a charity. [#4657]

Patricia Nixon signed letter on White House stationery, June 2, 1972 signed "Pat Nixon" to Virginia Sherwood expressing sympathy on the death of her son, along with the White House envelope. [#4708]

Kate Douglas Wiggin - author of children's stories and composer. Autograph letter signed on personal stationery, one page on a 5 x 8 bifolium sheet. She accepts an offer of tickets to the play The Basker. She didn't accept the offer too soon: The Basker had a short Broadway run of just two months at the Empire Theatre. The play was written by British playwright Emile Clifford. Believing her work would be more widely accepted if written by a man she adopted the pen name of Clifford Mills.

Wiggin's heavy black ink provides nice contrast against tan or beige paper. She signs with her later married name Kate Douglas Riggs, although professionally she wrote under her own name of Wiggin. Her most famous work was Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. [#5586]

Nov. 28, 1916
Dear Mr. Thomas:
I will call up your office (if I can find it) tomorrow, Wednesday morning & see if it is convenient for you to give us seats for the Basker in the evening, as you so kindly suggested.
Sincerely,
Kate Douglas Riggs

Ella Wheeler Wilcox - poet and author (1850-1919). Although not a household name today her work was significant. Her poem "Solitude" opens with lines most people do recognize today "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone."

Handwritten letter on her personal stationery of The Bungalow in Shore Beach Conn. Responding to a fan on June 15, 1901 she mentions several of her books: "I enclose a circular of my books. My latest is "Three Women", "Custer & Other Poems" & ____ preceded it. --- 100 of my journal articles is now in press. Sincerely yours Ella Wheeler Wilcox."
The book at print was probably "Everyday Thoughts in Prose and Verse"
[#5583]