MS 1066

PAPERS OF ALICE HENRY



Summary

Creator: Henry, Alice, 1857-1943

Title: Papers of Alice Henry

Date range: 1857-1943

Reference number: MS 1066

Extent: 45cm. (3 boxes)


Administrative information

Access

Available for reference

Provenance

The papers were donated to the Library by Nettie Palmer in July 1964.


Scope and Content

The papers include newspaper cuttings, typescript and manuscript articles, some letters, and scrapbooks. Most of the material is concerned with women and trade unions and women's suffrage. The material divides roughly into two sections:

1. Biographical articles on people connected with trade unions and the labour movement and people in the literary and theatrical worlds. 2. Articles relating to Alice Henry or written by her, which appeared in newspapers and magazines.


Biographical Note

1857, March 21 Born, Richmond, Melbourne, Victoria

1877 Read and impressed, by Thomas Hare’s Representative Government

1884 or 5 Joined the staff of The Australasian, a weekly newspaper. Later, she also joined the staff of the Argus.

Between1884 and 1905 she was involved with the Australian Health Society, the Women Writers’ Club and the establishment of the Talbot Epileptic Colony. Gave lectures on proportional representation and women’s suffrage.

1905 June Arrived in England.

1905 December Arrived in the United States

1906 Became Office Secretary of the Chicago Branch of the Women’s Trade Union League.

1910 Appointed Editor of Life and Labor, the monthly magazine of the National Women’s Trade Union League of America.

1915 Published The Trade Union Woman.

1919 Accepted position of Secretary of the Educational Department of the League.

1923 Published Women and the Labor Movement.

1924 Returned to Australia via Italy and England.

1926 Returned to the United States.

1928 Moved to Santa Barbara, California, following a severe illness.

1933 Return to Australia.

1937 Compiled a bibliography of the works of Australian women writers for the International Council of Women.

1943, February 14 Died in Melbourne, Victoria.

References

Memoirs of Alice Henry, Nettie Palmer (ed.)

Australian Encyclopaedia vol. 4, p. 484


Series List

Series Title

1 Biography

2 Press clippings

3 Publicity

4 Poetry


Series Description

Series 1 BIOGRAPHY

Folder

1-9 Biographical articles and photographs collected from newspapers and magazines, the majority coming from United States publications and arranged in alphabetical order. Most are concerned with women, especially those active in the labour movement; figures in the literary and theatrical worlds and several articles on the position of the Afro-Americans in the United States are also included. Almost wholly confined to Americans. Collected while in the United States, 1906-1933.

10-14 Similar to above but collected after returning to Australia in 1933. Includes a few photographs.

15-16 Biographical notes, published and unpublished, of people prominent in the field of rights for women, especially working women, in America.

16 Historical notes on the National Women’s Trade Union League of America and Bryn Maws. General biographical notes. By Alice Henry.

Series 2 PRESS CLIPPINGS – Written by Alice Henry

Folder

17-21 Articles mainly relating to votes for women and labour conditions, 1897-1918, 1929, 1933-1939. Arranged chronologically by Alice Henry. The file marked “1905 and prior” also includes articles for 1929, 1933-1934 and 1939, three portraits and two biographical sketches.

22 Articles and letters, 1905, 1908-1919, 1924-1925, 1929. Includes an unpublished article, 1905. The main topics are: juvenile courts, house heating, literature and women and trade unions. Contains a letter to Alice Henry in praise of Life and labor.

23. Articles on labour problems and a book review, 1905-1906, 1911-1913, 1919-1920, 1923, 1928, 1935.

24-26 Mainly duplicates of cuttings in the above folders. Arranged by subject: Impressions of Australia; Literary articles; Votes for women; Proportional representation and Labour problems.

27 ‘Books and the woman’ – a section of the periodical The suffragist which Alice Henry conducted for several years. Arranged in chronological order, 1919-1921.

28 United States and Australian reviews of Alice Henry’s book The trade union woman. Typescript notes on publishing.

29 Articles relating to literary styles, manners of and variations in speech, advice to lecturers collected from newspapers and magazines.

30 Two unpublished articles and a manuscript newspaper ‘The Sandy Creek news’, 1873.

31-33 Miscellaneous cuttings and articles, notes for addresses and articles.

34 Letters to Alice Henry or concerned with her activities, 1898, 1900, 1911, 1926-1943.

Series 3 PUBLICITY

Folder

35-37 Newspaper cuttings covering Alice Henry’s lectures and other activities, 1903-1913, 1914-1918, 1921-1930. This file also contains a few biographical and literary articles. .

38-39 Newspaper cuttings, 1886-1921, 1925-1939. The majority of the material is from Australian newspapers for 1925-1926 when Alice Henry returned to Australia for several months. This file includes about 10 personal letters.

40 Bound album. Advertisement for “Alice Henry, town shopper” and ‘Alice Henry’s employment bureau”, invitations, programs for dances, concerts and lecture series, newspaper reports of societies to which Alice Henry belonged and handbills for her lectures. Collected before going to England, 1905.

41 Bound scrapbook. Newspaper cuttings and handbills, typed layout of Alice Henry’s lectures. Collected while in the United States.

42 Invitations, programs and visiting cards. Predominantly 1924-1943.

43 Newspaper cuttings marked by Alice Henry as “Current events”. The articles relate to her personally or are of particular interest to her because of their subject matter or author.

44 Newspaper cuttings on general health and The Australian Health Society. Collected prior to leaving Australia in 1905.

45 Chinese Joss House, Launceston. Newspaper articles, typescript notes, two photographs. Undated.

46 Federation speeches and newspaper clippings from Australian metropolitan newspapers and notes, 1897-1901, 1905.

47 International Archives for the Women’s Movement. Six letters between Alice Henry, Mary Beard and Nettie Palmer, 1938.

48 16 German pamphlets and articles related to socialism and labour conditions.

Series 4 POETRY

Folder

49-53 Typescript, manuscript and newspaper cuttings. Poems related to Labour, the freedom of the worker and Australia. A few anecdotes and some music included. Arranged in alphabetical order except for a separate grouping of animal poems.

54 Verse written by servicemen or concerned with World War I, 1914-1918.

55 Recipes, household hints, articles on the importation of food. Newspaper cuttings collected prior to 1905.

56 Photographs and postcards.

57 Letters relating to the death of Alice Henry and the distribution of her memoirs. One newspaper article covering her death, 1943.

58 Notes of Nettie Palmer and a letter to Vance Palmer.

59 Book of Common Prayer with Alice Henry’s signature.

1966. Updated May 2002.