Inventory for Manuscript Collection PMM 29 Colcord Family Papers 1825 – 2003 Bulk 1917 – 1947 77 boxes 53.2 cubic feet Accession Nos. 345, LB2005.28, LB2008.23, LB2012.7, LB2013.29, and LB2014.20 Stephen Phillips Memorial Library Penobscot Marine Museum 11 Church St., Searsport, Maine 04974 penobscotmarinemuseum.org 207-548- 2529 ext. 212 │ [email protected] Name and Location of Repository: Penobscot Marine Museum, | 5 Church Street, PO Box 498 | Searsport, Maine 04974 | Phone: 207-548-2529 Repository identifier: MeSepPM Title: Colcord family papers Name of Creator(s): Colcord, Joanna C. (Joanna Carver), 1882-1960 Colcord, Frances Brooks, 1893- 1966 Colcord, Lincoln A. (Lincoln Alden), 1857-1913 Colcord, Lincoln R. (Lincoln Ross), 1883-1947 Colcord, Brooks, 1931-2003 Colcord, Benjamin, 1803-1868 Colcord, Jane French 1859-1939 Dates: 1825-2003, bulk 1917-1947 Extent: 53.2 cubic feet Reference Code: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM 29 Administrative: The following accessions comprise the current collection: 345 Mrs. Wendell T. Bush donated the Captain Mark C. Potter Papers after 1935, LB2000.51 Museum Purchase, LB2005.28 Nina Colcord first batch of letters in 2 boxes including papers and photographs, LB2005.29 Brooks Colcord bequest 13 boxes, LB2008.32 Dr. Donald Mortland papers related to Colcord article, LB2012.7 Nina Colcord donated logbooks, correspondence and scrapbooks as well as articles, LB2013.29 Nina Colcord donated magazines, correspondence and scrapbooks, LB2014.20 Nina Colcord donated magazines, correspondence and scrapbooks. Scope and Content Note: This collection documents the activities of the Colcords, a seafaring Searsport, Maine family. The earliest materials date to 1825 while the latest were generated in 2003. The bulk of the material was created between 1917 and 1947. Two members of the family, Joanna C. Colcord, known as “Nan” in some of the documents, and her younger brother Lincoln Colcord, had careers of national significance. Both were born at sea, on ships captained by their father, Lincoln Alden Colcord. Captain Lincoln A. Colcord was born on June 16, 1857 in Searsport to Benjamin Loring Colcord and Mary Helen (Carver) Colcord. In his career at sea, he commanded the bark CHARLOTTE A. LITTLEFIELD, the bark HARVARD, barkentine CLARA MCGILVERY, ship STATE OF MAINE, and the steamers AMERICA, VIRGINIA, and KANSAN. Captain Colcord married Jane French (Sweetser) Colcord in Searsport on June 4, 1881. Jane, also known as Jen by her family, was born on July 19, 1859 to the Searsport sea captain Jeremiah Sweetser III and Susan Locke (French) Sweetser. Jane Colcord went to sea at a young age on the ship MARY GOODELL, commanded by her father. Her husband began his career on the bark CHARLOTTE A. LITTLEFIELD, commanded by his uncle Caleb Franklin Carver. That same bark would later be Lincoln’s first command. Lincoln A. Colcord died in Bremerhaven, Germany on March 15, 1913. Jane survived her husband by a little over a quarter of a century, dying in 1939 at the age of eighty. Joanna Carver Colcord was born on March 18, 1882 at sea about 60 miles off the coast of the French island of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. She would go on to earn a B.S degree from the University of Maine at Orono in 1906 and a Master’s Degree in chemistry in 1909. She studied at the New York School of Philanthropy and started a career in social work. Joanna was associated with the New York Charity Organization for a decade and, during World War I, she shared executive duties with that organization. In 1920, she was a field representative for the Red Cross in the Virgin Islands where she began a program of school nursing in the public schools. In association with the American Library Association she also opened three libraries. Between 1921 and 1925 she was involved with the Association of Social Workers in New York City and, in 1925, she became the general secretary of Minnesota’s Family Welfare Association. In 1929, she ©2015 Penobscot Marine Museum Page 2 became the director of the Charity Organization Department of the Russell Sage Foundation. Joanna maintained her interest in the sea even as she pursued a busy professional life. In 1924, she compiled and published Roll and Go: Songs of American Sailormen, for which her brother Lincoln provided the introduction. Facing the title page of this book is a painting of the bark Harvard riding through a typhoon in the China Sea. Joanna had spent part of her childhood on this vessel. In 1950, Joanna married Frank John Bruno and moved to St. Louis, Missouri. She died in 1960. Biographies of Joanna Colcord are available in Notable American Women and in the Biographical Dictionary of Social Welfare in America. Materials by and about Joanna Colcord can be found in several collections at the Social Welfare History Archives at the University of Minnesota. In addition to her maritime works, Joanna Colcord’s writings include: Broken Homes: A Study of Family Desertion and its Social Treatment (1919); Community Planning in Unemployment Emergencies (1930); Setting Up a Program of Work Relief (1931); Community Programs for Subsistence Gardens (1933), with Mary Johnston; Cash Relief (1936); Your Community, Its Provisions for Health, Education, Safety, and Welfare (1939). She also edited The Long View: Papers and Addresses by Mary E. Richmond (1930). Lincoln Ross Colcord was born on August 14, 1883 on the bark commanded by his father, the CHARLOTTE A. LITTLEFIELD. The birth took place in the South Atlantic off of Cape Horn. Lincoln attended the University of Maine in Orono where he studied engineering, but he left before graduating. While there he did pen the lyrics to the Maine Stein Song, which later became a popular hit. By 1905 Lincoln was hard at work as a field engineer for the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, where he worked on construction projects in the north woods of Maine until 1909. It was during this time that he began his writing career with the publication of his first sea story. In 1922, the University of Maine bestowed upon him an Honorary M.A. degree. Lincoln’s literary career was also a journalistic one. He served as a staff correspondent for the Philadelphia Public Ledger, Washington Bureau from 1917-1918. He was an associate editor with The Nation from 1919-1920. His other literary pursuits included co-translating, with its author O. E. Rolvaag in 1927, Giants in the Earth . He also served as the first Executive Secretary for the Foreign Policy Association and as Secretary of Penobscot Marine Museum. Lincoln was married three times. His first marriage was to Blanche Meade Morgan of Searsport on May 4, 1910. The couple had a daughter, Inez. Blanche died on August 26, 1924. Lincoln next married Loomis Logan of Salem, Virginia on February 6, 1928. They were divorced on January 7, 1929. On July 23, 1929 Lincoln married Francis Brooks of Urbana, Illinois. She was the daughter of Professor Morgan and Sophronia (Herrick) Brooks. They had a son, Brooks Colcord. Lincoln died of heart failure in 1947. Index Terms Access Points: Subject Terms, Geographic Terms, and Form or Genre Terms. Use LCSH, Nomenclature 3.0 and local authority control. Keywords Book reviewing Politics and government Sea songs Sea stories Social life and customs Seafaring life World government World communications Foreign Relations Student songs Drinking songs Art Folk Songs Literature Maine Politicians Presidents Rail Transportation Sea Travel Ship Building Ship Masters Shipping Ships Social Welfare Organization Song & Music Song Writers Travel World War I World War II Sea Songs Names: Colcord, Arletta, 1835-1911 Colcord, Benjamin, 1803-1868 Colcord, Brooks, 1931-2003 Colcord, Joanna C. (Joanna Carver), Colcord, Frances Brooks, 1893-1966 Colcord, Lincoln A. (Lincoln Alden), 1882-1960 1857-1913 ©2015 Penobscot Marine Museum Page 3 Colcord, Lincoln R. (Lincoln Ross), De Voto, Bernard Augustine, 1897- Morison, Samuel Eliot, 1887-1976 1883-1947 1955 Chapelle, Howard I. (Howard Irving), Roberts, Kenneth Lewis, 1885-1957 Van Loon, Hendric, 1882-1944 1901-1975 Van Loon, Hendric, 1882-1944 Ransome, Arthur, 1884-1967 Stefannson, Vilhjalmur, 1879-1962 Shipstead, Henrik, 1881-1960 Smith, Margaret Chase, 1897-1995 Rolvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876- 1931 Hayden, Sterling, 1916-1986 Organizations: New York Herald Tribune American Neptune Penobscot Marine Museum Subjects: Naval art and science—Terminology Folksongs, English—United States— Sea songs History and criticism Authors, American--Maine Places: Searsport (Me.) Maine--History--19th century Maine--History--20th century Maine--Intellectual life--20th century Languages and Scripts of the Material: Primarily English; some Russian. Detailed Description of the Records: Family Correspondence Box 1-6, 50-52, 55, 57, 61, 63-68, 70-74, Metal Box Personal Correspondence Box 7-15, 48-49, 60, 69 Assorted Box 16, 62 Manuscripts and Publications Box 17-26, 63-54, 56, 59, 75-76 Maritime History Box 27-42 Biographical Box 43-44, 45, 47, 58 University of Maine Box 46 COLCORD BOX #1 Title Content Dates Letters from Frances to Lincoln R. Colcord, her husband re: Lincoln’s trip 1943 Letters: Frances to New York at the Player's Club and American-Hawaiian Steamship Co., to Lincoln Colcord Brooks, money troubles, and friends. 1943 1938 Letters: Discussing a delay of Lincoln's return home, not having enough money, Lincoln to Frances an article he wrote for Yachting Mag. and personal conversation about Colcord family. Also includes a letter to Frances from "Bernie"(hard to read). 1938 Letters from Brooks as a young child updating his father on his school Brooks to Lincoln activities and general subjects, birthday card, Brooks' graded homework Colcord Letters that Frances sent to Lincoln, drawings of ships 1943 Inez to Lincoln Colcord Letters Letters from Lincoln’s daughter Inez.