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The Mary Baker Eddy Library Reminiscence File, 1870-Present a finding aid mbelibrary.org [email protected] 200 Massachusetts Ave. Boston, MA 02115 617-450-7218 Collection Description Collection #: LSC009 Collection Title: Reminiscence File Creator(s): The First Church of Christ, Scientist Bulk Dates: 1870-Present Extent: 23 LF Provenance: Gifts, 1917-Present Access The Research Room is open by appointment. Contact Research and Reference Services for details. Restrictions: Items in the collection are subject to applicable copyright laws. Portions of the collection were opened for research on September 29, 2002 and December 23, 2002. Materials in the collection continue to be reviewed and opened upon request. Opened folders and items are marked as 'OPEN' on the finding aid. Language: Materials are in English. Historical Note In 1917, after the Christian Science Board of Directors (CSBD) had posted notices in the Christian Science Sentinel for original letters and authentic statements by Mary Baker Eddy, the CSBD requested reminiscences from any “Christian Scientists or others who knew Mrs. Eddy personally or through correspondence at any period of her human experience.” [“Notice,” Christian Science Sentinel, September 29, 1917.] In addition to posted notices in the Sentinel and The Christian Science Journal, some individuals were contacted directly and invited to submit their memories in written form. Later, the CSBD requested “the names and addresses of persons who were acquainted with Mary Baker Eddy at any time, and whose recollections have not been sent to the Directors.” [“From the Directors,” Sentinel, June 4, 1932 and January 7, 1933.] By 1933, the scope broadened to include reminiscences of the greater Christian Science movement and not just the life of Eddy. Acquaintances of Eddy delivered addresses at the General Activities Meetings held in The Mother Church Extension on Tuesday evenings following the Annual Meeting from 1937 to 1942. [We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1943.] These addresses were transcribed and published in the Sentinel. Some of the addresses were published in 1942 in the pamphlet, Excerpts from Letters and Reminiscences. In 1943, We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, issued by The Christian Science Publishing Society, included seven addresses published in the Sentinel. We Knew Mary Baker Eddy eventually consisted of four volumes – consolidated into one volume in 1979 – and was compiled and edited from materials in the Reminiscence File as was the expanded edition published in 2011. Several authors, including Lyman P. Powell, Clifford P. Smith, and Robert Peel, drew from accounts in the Reminiscence File for their biographies of Eddy. Additionally, some reminiscences were published by the authors themselves. Therefore, while some material is in the form of letters to the CSBD, much of the File consists of manuscript and published documents. Scope and Content Note The Reminiscence File consists of the accounts of over 800 people relating to Mary Baker Eddy and the Christian Science movement. The reminiscences are in the form of letters, class notes, diaries, newspaper clippings, oral history interviews and transcriptions, memoirs, drafts of compilations and books, and notes. The file consists mostly of first or second-hand accounts. These accounts may have been recorded decades later. Reminiscences about Eddy span from her childhood in New Hampshire to her life at Pleasant View in Concord, New Hampshire (where she lived 1892-1908) and her home at Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (1908-1910). The most notable reminiscences are accounts by those who worked closely with Eddy, such as her secretaries (notably William R. Rathvon and Irving C. Tomlinson) and household staff (such as Minnie Weygandt, Eddy’s cook), and her students (such as Samuel Putnam Bancroft). Although the CSBD originally sought the reminiscences of those who knew Eddy “personally or through correspondence,” the collection grew to include accounts of family members or friends of those who knew Eddy; accounts of those who once saw Eddy in passing; accounts of visitors to her home and of persons who saw Eddy preach or speak in public; accounts of those who worked at The First Church of Christ, Scientist, including those involved with The Christian Science Monitor, and other activities of The Christian Science Publishing Society or were otherwise active in the Christian Science movement. The collection also includes notes taken by students during class instruction by Mary Baker Eddy, and others (However, Joshua Bailey’s notes of Mary Baker Eddy’s Primary class, February 25 – March 5, 1889 [A12065] and Bailey’s notes of Mary Baker Eddy’s Normal class, May 21, 1889 [A10273] are in the Mary Baker Eddy Articles and Manuscripts Collection. These notes are considered a transcription of Eddy’s teachings rather than Bailey’s recollections of the class since they were created at Eddy’s request. Series I, Authentic Reminiscences Series Scope and Content Note Series I, Authentic Reminiscences includes documents in which the chain of custody is known. Authenticity does not refer to the historical accuracy of the account. Series I consists of the bulk of the collection. Materials are organized alphabetically by the author or subject of the reminiscence. Restrictions: Portions of the collection were opened for research on September 29, 2002 and December 23, 2002. Materials in the collection continue to be reviewed and opened upon request. Folders that have been reviewed and opened are marked as "OPEN"' on the finding aid. Folders marked as "CLOSED" on the finding aid are closed and may not be made available. All other folders may be reviewed upon request. Contact Research and Reference services for more information. Review Box . Folder Title Status Box 1, Abbot, Adelaide - Baker, Alfred E., 6 of 6 01.01 Abbot, Adelaide, 1929 OPEN 01.02 Abbott, Edward N., "Memory of Mrs. Eddy as a Child", 1963 OPEN 01.03 Abbott, Leon M., 1932 OPEN 01.04 Abernethy, Arthur T., 1934, n.d. OPEN 01.05 Adams, George Wendell, 1930-1949 OPEN 01.06 Adams, Lucy M., 1889, 1917, 1932 OPEN 01.07 Adams, Rose E., 1933 OPEN 01.08 Aikin, Laura B., 1934 OPEN 01.09 Alexander, Priscilla Okie, n.d. 01.10 Ames, Susan Evelyn, 1934 OPEN 01.11 Anderson, Charles A., 1932 OPEN 01.12 Anonymous, 1905 01.13 Anthony, Mary P., 1929 OPEN 01.14 Archer, Evelyn L., n.d. OPEN 01.15 Armington, Dorothy F., 1960, 1985, n.d. OPEN 01.16 Armstrong, Carolyn A., 1916 OPEN 01.17 Arnold, Addie Towns, 1930-1933, n.d. OPEN 01.18 Arnold, Ansil G., "Reminiscences of Mr. Ansil G. Arnold", 1933 OPEN 01.19 Arnold, Tama, 1945 OPEN 01.20 Arpin, E. P., 1935 OPEN 01.21 Austin, Lillian D., 1935 OPEN 01.22 Ayers, Leona B., 1935 OPEN 01.23 Babcock, Stephen, 1929 OPEN 01.24 Bailey, Elias F., 1911 OPEN 01.25 Baird, Amanda J., 1910 OPEN 01.26 Baker, Alfred E., 1 of 6, 1901, 1920, 1935, n.d. 01.27 Baker, Alfred E., 2 of 6, 1901, n.d. 01.28 Baker, Alfred E., 3 of 6, 1901, n.d. 01.29 Baker, Alfred E., 4 of 6, n.d. 01.30 Baker, Alfred E., 5 of 6, 1889/1902 01.31 Baker, Alfred E., 6 of 6, 1889/1902 Box 2, Baker, Anna B. White 02.01 Baker, Anna B. White, "Happy Memories of Mary Baker Eddy," 1 of 3, n.d. 02.02 Baker, Anna B. White, "Happy Memories of Mary Baker Eddy," 2 of 3, n.d. 02.03 Baker, Anna B. White, "Happy Memories of Mary Baker Eddy," 3 of 3, n.d. 02.04 Baker, Anna B. White, 1 of 5, n.d. 02.05 Baker, Anna B. White, 2 of 5, n.d. 02.06 Baker, Anna B. White, 3 of 5, n.d. 02.07 Baker, Anna B. White, 4 of 5, 1932, n.d. 02.08 Baker, Anna B. White, 5 of 5, n.d. Box 3, Baker, Martha Rand - Bates, Caroline S. and Edward P. 03.01 Baker, Martha Rand, n.d. OPEN 03.02 Baker, Sarah Locke, n.d. OPEN 03.03 Baldwin, George P., n.d. OPEN 03.04 Bancker, Katharine Hollister, 1930 OPEN 03.05 Bancker, Lucy W., 1896 OPEN 03.06 Bancroft, Samuel Putnam, 1920 OPEN 03.07 Bancroft, Samuel Putnam, "Mrs. Eddy As I knew Her in 1870", 1923 OPEN 03.08 Bangs, Harold S., 1931 OPEN 03.09 Barker, Kate C., n.d. OPEN 03.10 Bartlett, Julia S., 1923, 1932, n.d. OPEN 03.11 Bartlett, Julia S., "Reminiscences of Mary Baker Eddy", n.d. 03.12 Bartlett, Julia S., 1980, n.d. 03.13 Bartlett, Leona E., 1953 OPEN 03.14 Barton, Margaret, re: Clara Shannon, 1939 OPEN 03.15 Bassett, Lynn F., 1948 OPEN 03.16 Bates, Caroline S. and Edward P., "Memories of the Early Years...", 1918 OPEN 03.17 Bates, Caroline S. and Edward P., "Reminiscences of...", 1 of 2, 1918 OPEN 03.18 Bates, Caroline S. and Edward P., "Reminiscences of...", 2 of 2, 1918 OPEN Box 4, Baum, M. Louise - Blossom, Leila S. 04.01 Baum, M. Louise, 1931, 1936, n.d. OPEN 04.02 Baxter, Clara L., 1935 OPEN 04.03 Baylis, Franklin, 1927, 1932 OPEN 04.04 Becker, August, 1937 OPEN 04.05 Behan, Emma D., 1910 OPEN 04.06 Belisle, (Mrs.) George E., 1934 OPEN 04.07 Bell, M. Bettie, 1912 OPEN 04.08 Bellows, George L., 1935 OPEN 04.09 Benedict, (Mrs.) Gilbert J., 1933 OPEN 04.10 Bennett, Leroy W., 1932, 1935 OPEN 04.11 Benson, Isabella Keys, 1945 OPEN 04.12 Bent, Elizabeth T., 1932, n.d. OPEN 04.13 Berenson, Mary, n.d. OPEN 04.14 Bergquist, Elsie, 1951, n.d. OPEN 04.15 Berry, Aida Stewart, 1972 OPEN 04.16 Betts, Harriet L., 1 of 2, 1916-1918, n.d.