Reminiscence File Collection Number: 10 MBE Creator: various Extent: 38 linear feet Dates: 1870 – present Language: English Access 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. Conditions governing use The collection is subject to applicable copyright laws. 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.”1 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.” 2 By 1933, the scope broadened to include reminiscences of the greater Christian Science movement and not just the life of Eddy. Publication 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 1942.3 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 1 “Notice,” Christian Science Sentinel, September 29, 1917. 2 “From the Directors,” Sentinel, June 4, 1932 and January 7, 1933. 3 We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1943. 200 Massachusetts Avenue ◆ Boston, MA 02115 ◆ www.marybakereddylibrary.org 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 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 during contacts with Eddy or 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 includes class notes taken by students during class instruction. However, Joshua Bailey’s notes of Mary Baker Eddy’s Primary class, February 25–March 5, 1889 [A12065] and Bailey’s notes of 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 during the class at Eddy’s request. Related Materials Reminiscences may also be found in the following collections: Calvin C. and Frances Thompson Hill Collection Gilbert C. Carpenter Collection The Photo/Bio File Erwin Canham Collection 2 200 Massachusetts Avenue ◆ Boston, MA 02115 ◆ www.marybakereddylibrary.org The Mary Baker Eddy Library Reminiscence File Index FOLDER TITLE / NAME NOTES Open Open BOX # REM # Request FOLDER # Review Upon Upon Review 1 1 1 Abbot, Adelaide X 2 1 2 Abbott, Edward N. X 3 1 3 Abbott, Leon M. X 4 1 4 - 5 Abernethy, Arthur T. X 5 1 6 Adams, George Wendell X 6 1 7 Adams, Lucy M. X 7 1 8 Adams, Rose E. X 8 1 9 Aikin, Laura B. X 9 1 10 Ames, Susan Evelyn X 10 1 11 Anderson, Charles A. X 11 1 12 Anonymous X 12 1 13 Anthony, Mary P. X 13 1 14 Archer, Evelyn L. X 14 1 15 Armington, Dorothy F. X 15 1 16 Armstrong, Carolyn X 16 1 17 Arnold, Addie Towns X 17 1 18 Arnold, Ansil G. X 18 1 19 Arnold, Lady Tama X 19 1 20 Arpin, E. P. X 20 1 21 Austin, Lillian D. X 21 1 22 Ayers, Leona B. X 22 1 23 Babcock, Stephen X Bailey, Edward A. and Edith Moved to: Calvin C. and Frances X D. Thompson Hill Collection 24 1 25 Bailey, Elias F. X Bailey, Joshua F. See: A10273 and A12065 in The X Mary Baker Eddy Collection 26 1 27 Baird, Amanda J. X 27 2 1 - 7 Baker, Alfred E. X 27 74 Baker, Alfred E., [notebook see note X #5] 28 2 8 - 11 Baker, Anna B. White X 28 3 1 - 2 Baker, Anna B. White X 28 74 Baker, Anna B. White see note X [notebook #1, 3] Baker, Fred W. See: Subject File, Baker, Fred X W. 30 4 2 Baker, Martha Rand X 31 4 3 Baker, Sarah Locke X 32 4 4 Baldwin, George P. X 33 4 5 Bancker, Katharine Hollister X 34 4 6 Bancker, Lucy W. X 6/15/2017 The Mary Baker Eddy Library 1 The Mary Baker Eddy Library Reminiscence File Index FOLDER TITLE / NAME NOTES Open Open BOX # REM # Request FOLDER # Review Upon Upon Review 35 4 7 - 8 Bancroft, Samuel Putnam X 36 4 9 Bangs, Harold S. X 37 4 10 Barker, Kate C. X 38 4 11 - 13 Bartlett, Julia S. X 39 4 14 Bartlett, Leona E. X 40 4 15 Barton, Margaret X 41 4 16 Bassett, Lynn F. X Batchellor, Anna See SF: Irving C. Tomlinson. 3 X handwritten letters to Mrs. Tomlinson re: 1888 Chicago lecture 43 5 2 Bates, Caroline S. and X Edward P. Battenberg, Violet see note X 45 5 4 Baum, M. Louise X 46 5 5 Baxter, Clara L. X 47 5 6 Baylis, Franklin X 48 5 7 Becker, August X 49 5 8 Behan, Emma D. X 50 5 9 Belisle, (Mrs.) George E. X 51 5 10 Bell, M. Bettie X 52 5 11 Bellows, George L. X 53 5 12 Benedict, (Mrs.) Gilbert J. X Beneford, Eleonora See Calvin C. and Frances X Thompson Hill Collection 55 5 14 Bennett, Leroy W. X 5 15 Benson, Isabella Keys X 57 5 16 Bent, Elizabeth T. X 58 5 17 Berenson, Mary X 59 5 18 Bergquist, Elsie X 60 5 19 - 20 Berry, Aida Stewart X 61 5 21 Betts, Harriet L. X Betts, Harriet L. see note X 62 5 22 Biddle, Anthony Drexel X 5 Billings, Marion Roosevelt X 63 5 23 Billings, Mary Baker Glover X 64 5 24 Bingham, Edith Louise X 65 5 25 Bingham, Helen W. X 66 5 26 Bird, Mrs. (Charles Sumner) X 67 5 27 Bishop, Robert R. X 68 5 28 Bishop, William J. X 69 6 1 Black, Grace H. X 70 6 2 Blackman, C. Lulu X 6/15/2017 The Mary Baker Eddy Library 2 The Mary Baker Eddy Library Reminiscence File Index FOLDER TITLE / NAME NOTES Open Open BOX # REM # Request FOLDER # Review Upon Upon Review 71 6 3 Blake, Charles A. X 72 6 4 Blaney, Emma M. X 73 6 5 Blish, Lauretta Wheelock X 74 6 6 Blodgett, Mary X 75 6 7 Blossom, Leila X Blossom, Leila see note X 76 6 8 Boardman, Herbert R. X 77 6 9 Boardman, Minnie D. X 78 6 10 Bodfish, Winnifred X 79 6 11 - 13 Bogue, Martha Harris X Bogue, Martha Harris see note X 80 6 14 Bond, Dora Lillian X 81 6 15 Booker, Ernest O. X 82 6 16 Boswell, Florence X 83 6 17 Bowen, Mattie X 84 6 18 Bowers, Carlotta X 85 6 19 Bowman, Christine X 86 6 20 Bowman, Frank E. & Lottie X 87 6 21 Brackett, Lyman F. X 88 6 22 Bradley, William H. Note: contains closed items, X entire folder is closed. 89 6 23 Bradshaw, Lula Phillips X 90 6 24 Bradshaw, Sue Ella X 91 6 25 Brady, Clara Sweet X 92 6 26 Bridgers, Annie Cain X 93 6 27 - 28 Brierly, James E. X 94 6 29 Brierly, Ruth Agnes X 95 7 1 Brisbane, Arthur X 96 7 2 Briscoe, Hylton X 97 7 3 Brodeen, Carl R.