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Alice Mary Robertson
papers
Collection 1931-001
Dates: Early 1800s-1970s.
Extent: (61 boxes, oversized box).
Level of Description: Item level.
Name of creator(s):
Date of creation: Undetermined.
Scope and Content: The collection is
organized into five series: Series 1: Writings; Series 2:
Correspondence; Series 3: Personal Papers; Series 4: Photographs;
Series 5: Miscellaneous; and Series 6: Oversize.
Series 1: Writings: General
The general writings consist
of handwritten typescript, and carbon copy typescript drafts of historical
accounts, biographical and autobiographical pieces, reminiscences, articles,
stories, sermons, hymns, speeches, and plays, written by or about various
individuals, institutions, and locations. Authors include Alice Robertson, Ann
Eliza Worcester Robertson, William Shenck Robertson, Hannah Worcester
Hitchcock, Daniel Dwight Hitchcock, Robert McGill Loughridge, Napoleon
Bonaparte Moore, Nancy Thompson, Sarah Worcester, and Samuel Austin Worcester.
The general writings are arranged alphabetically by surname of author, name of
institution, or name of location.
Series 1: Writings: Creek Papers
The Creek papers consist of
stories, fables, historical accounts, sermons, scripture translations, church
doctrines, vocabularies and grammar, as well as hymns and songs, written in
and/or translated into the Creek language. The Creek papers are arranged
alphabetically by surname of author.
Series 2: Correspondence
This series consists of
handwritten, typescript, and carbon copy typescript letters, postcards, and
greeting cards between Alice Robertson and friends, family, congressional
colleagues, social and political organizations, United States government
offices (e.g. Department of the Interior, Postal Service, Veterans Bureau), and
her constituents and political supporters. Other correspondents represented
are: Althea L. Bass, Mrs. William Lowell Putnam (Coolidge Womens Club of
America), Elmira College, Kate George, Mary Chandler Hale, Hicks family
members, Rev. Timothy Hill, Hitchcock family members, Merriman family members,
Napoleon Bonaparte Moore (including papers and documents relating to his
appointment as Treasurer, Muskogee Nation), the Muskogee Nation, Mrs. Frank
Korn (Oklahoma Memorial Association), J.F. Owens, Pleasant and Matilda Porter,
the Presbyterian Church of the United States, Ann Augusta Robertson-Moore, Ann
Eliza Worcester Robertson, Grace Leeds Robertson-Merriman, Samuel Worcester
Robertson, William Shenck Robertson, Mary Copley Thaw, Nancy Thompson, The
University of Tulsa, Harold Westerberg, Martha Reynolds Williams, and various
members of the Worcester family. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically
by surname of correspondent, name of institution, or name of organization, and
dates from approximately 1815-1977. Typescript transcriptions, part of a Works
Progress Administration project in the 1930s, accompany most pieces of
correspondence.
Series 3: Personal Papers
The personal papers consist
of documents relating to Indian affairs; reference materials and documents
pertaining to issues addressed during Alice Robertson's term in the House of
Representatives; promotional brochures for institutions and organizations;
campaign related records and promotional materials; documents and materials
relating to Alice Robertson's term as Muskogee Postmaster; publications of the
Presbyterian Church of the United States; accounts, prices, and menus, relating
to Sawokla Cafeteria; documents relating to Alice Robertson's appointment as
Superintendent of the Creek Nation schools; Tullahassee Manual Labor School
student papers, school programs, accounts, orders of examination, and copies of
Our Monthly (1870-1875); and genealogical information pertaining to members of
the Robertson and Worcester families. The personal papers are arranged
alphabetically by subject, name of institution, or name of organization.
Series 4: Photographs
This series consists of
daguerreotypes, tintypes, photographs, photographic reproductions,
photo-negatives, photo-postcards, and glass negatives. The first section is
comprised of photographs of Alice Robertson taken at various stages of her
life. The remaining section consists of photographs of other people and
locations and is arranged alphabetically by surname, name of institution or
organization, or name of location, followed by unidentified photographs.
Series 5: Miscellaneous
The miscellaneous material
consists of receipts, invoices, bills, financial records, cancelled checks,
note fragments, an Alice Robertson wooden name plate, 3 stenographer's
manuscript notebooks and 1 pocket notebook containing notes in shorthand,
programs, brochures, beaded necklaces, and a lace collar. Also included are
Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson's wedding fan, AMs notes and lists of letters
written and received, and inspirational postcards especially printed for her
use.
Series 6: Oversize
The oversize material
includes maps, plats and blueprints of the city of Muskogee and Muskogee
County; a map of the proposed state of Sequoyah; a short outline of the ballot
for the Republican ticket, general election; group photographs of attendees of
1907, 1910, and 1912 Postmasters conventions; a re-election campaign poster,
"She's made good, let's send her back;" photograph of the interior
view of the 1920 Republican National Convention; 1882 annuity payroll vouchers,
Creek Nation; announcement of the Pageant of Famous Women of the US presented
by the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, 1929;
fragment of the Lewiston Journal containing reference to Mary Worcester
Williams and her recollections of her father, Samuel A. Worcester, 1917; galley
proof fragment in reference to the Creek and Seminole Nations, Creek dialect
and phonetics; Tilden and Hendricks campaign poster; "Free Cuba"
poster; John F. Wood's hand drawn plat of his addition to the village of
Newaygo, Michigan; and Oklahoma State Election Board certificate of nomination,
1920.
Administrative/Biographical History: Alice Mary
Robertson was an instrumental figure in the history of The University of Tulsa
and she was the first – and, so far, only – woman to represent Oklahoma in the
United States Congress.
Robertson was born Jan. 2, 1854, at the Tullahassee Mission in the Creek
Nation, Indian Territory (now Tullahassee, Oklahoma) to parents serving as
missionaries to the Native Americans living there. Self-taught early in
life, Robertson later attended Elmira College in Elmira, New York. She
served as a clerk for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C.
from 1873 to 1879. Robertson later taught school at Tullahassee and the
Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pa.
In 1885, she was appointed head of the Presbyterian School for Indian
Girls in Muskogee. In 1894, the boarding school developed into Henry
Kendall College. In 1907, the college relocated to Tulsa and later
became known as The University of Tulsa.
Robertson left Henry Kendall College in 1899 to work for the U.S. Census
Bureau in Washington, D.C., but returned to Muskogee in 1900 after
President Theodore Roosevelt appointed her as the first government
supervisor of Creek Indian schools. She served as postmaster in Muskogee
from 1905 to 1913, and her service to troops during World War I led to
the formation of the Muskogee Chapter of the American Red Cross.
In 1920, Robertson was elected to the 2nd District of Oklahoma in the
U.S. House of Representatives. She served from March 4, 1921 to March 3,
1923, but was unsuccessful in her bid for re-election. She was the
second woman elected to Congress and the first woman elected after the
passage of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteeing women’s voting rights.
Her tenure was marked by her strong personality, commitment to Native
American issues, and conservative views on women’s issues, including
equal rights, birth control, maternity issues, sex education and
childcare funding. She was known as a fiery and colorful speaker who was
in much demand to speak nationally.
Following her Congressional term, Robertson was appointed by President
Warren G. Harding as a welfare worker at the Veterans Hospital in
Muskogee. Robertson died on July 1, 1931. She bequeathed her personal
library and family papers to The University of Tulsa’s McFarlin library,
which houses the materials in its special collections department.
Access and Copyright:
Language and Scripts: English, Creek.
Finding aid/Inventory: Finding aid is available
online.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition: Acquired
from Alice Robertson circa 1931 with minor additions acquired from Faith
Merriman Daltry, Lola H. Jaques, Maxwell Hunley Rare Books, and Mary Fitch
Williams, between 1959-1992.
Date(s) of description: Milissa
Burkart, Jan 1997.
Access Points:
Subject Headings
Personal names
Corporate names
Places
Series 1: Writings: General
Series 1: Writings: Creek papers
Series 2: Correspondence
Series 3: Personal papers
Series 4: Photographs
Series 5: Miscellaneous
Series 6: Oversize
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