Rainbows for Children

mnsss112 The Sturgis-Tappan Family Papers, 1812-1982 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Burd Schlessinger. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College

Northampton, MA

2003

Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Laura Cutter. 2003-06-12 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mnsss112 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Sophia Smith CollectionSmith College The Sturgis-Tappan Family Papers, 1812-1982 Finding Aid MS 186 Burd Schlessinger Revised 2002 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Sturgis-Tappan Family Sturgis-Tappan Family Papers1812-1982 MS 186 4 boxes (1.25 linear ft.) Sophia Smith Collection

Smith College Northampton, MA

Authors and Poets. Approximately two thirds of material is correspondence and the rest is writings and drawings. Includes pencil drawings and watercolors, drafts of poems, and one published volume. Some biographical material. English. Biographical Note

Caroline Sturgis-Tappan at about age 40

William Sturgis was born 25 February 1782, the son of William Sturgis and Hannah Mills. He was a prominent Boston merchant and co-founder of Bryant and Sturgis, and made his fortune in the China Trade. He married Elizabeth Marston Davis and they had six children, among them two daughters, Ellen (1812-1848) and Caroline (1819-1888). Caroline Sturgis married William Aspinwall Tappan, son of Lewis Tappan, a noted abolitionist, and Susanna Aspinwall; they had two children, Ellen Sturgis Tappan and Mary Aspinwall Tappan. Caroline Sturgis Tappan and her sister, Ellen Sturgis Hooper, were minor Transcendentalist poets whose work was occasionally published in the Dial. They counted among their acquaintances William Ellery Channing, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, and Henry David Thoreau. The sisters, especially Caroline, were also friendly with Margaret Fuller and regularly attended her celebrated "conversations," begun in 1839.

The Tappans lived in Boston and summered in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts. In 1936, Mary Aspinwall Tappan and her niece, Rosamond Sturgis Dixey Brooks (Caroline Sturgis Tappan's granddaughter), gave the family's summer estate, Tanglewood, to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Please see Appendix for more information about the extended Sturgis-Tappan family.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Sturgis-Tappan Papers consist of 1.25 linear feet dating from 1812 to 1983, approximately two thirds of which is correspondence and the rest of which is writings and drawings. Types of material include correspondence, pencil drawings and watercolors, drafts of poems, and one published volume.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into three series:

I. Biographical Material II. Correspondence III. Writings and Drawings Oversize Materials Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection. Original letters by Ralph Waldo Emerson are in a secure location in the Sophia Smith Collection; photocopies for normal use are in the Sturgis-Tappan Family Papers, although researchers may request special permission to examine the originals.

The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to the papers of Sturgis-Tappan family members. Copyright to materials created by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission must be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use."

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Sturgis-Tappan Family Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

History of the Collection

Daphne Brooks Prout donated the Sturgis-Tappan Family Papers to the Sophia Smith Collection in 1983 and 1985.

Reprocessed by Burd Schlessinger, 2002.

Search Terms Channing, William Ellery, 1780-1842--Correspondence Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882--Correspondence Fuller, Margaret, 1810-1850 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864--Correspondence Hawthorne, Sophia Peabody, 1809-1871--Correspondence Hooper, Ellen Sturgis, 1812-1848 Tappan, Mary Aspinwall, 1851- Tappan, Caroline Sturgis, 1819-1888 James, William--Correspondence Tappan family Sturgis family Tanglewood Music Center--History Authors, American--19th century Europe--Description and travel--Sources Family--United States--19th century--History--Sources New England--Intellectual life--19th century Women poets, American--19th century Transcendentalists (New England) Additional Information SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL (1836-1982) .25 linear ft.

This series consists of information about members of the Sturgis-Tappan Family (primarily photocopied excerpts from various reference books and anthologies); a photograph of Caroline Sturgis Tappan and a published catalog about her Grand Tour of Europe; and correspondence pertaining to the transfer of Tanglewood to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE (1812-1913) .75 linear ft.

This series is the largest in the collection and is organized into three subseries: letters to and from Caroline Sturgis Tappan, letters to and from her daughter, Mary Aspinwall Tappan, and third party correspondence. The correspondence is extensive among family members across three generations. Also included are letters to and from Lydia Maria Child, William Ellery Channing, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sophia Hawthorne, and William James. (The Emerson correspondence is significant, while that of the others here listed is limited to one or two letters.)

SERIES III. WRITINGS AND DRAWINGS (1849-59) .25 linear ft.

This series contains primarily pencil drawings and watercolor sketches by Caroline Sturgis Tappan, as well as drafts of poems attributed to Tappan and to her sister, Ellen Sturgis Hooper. There is also correspondence pertaining to ownership of plates for Rainbows for Children (1848), a book by Lydia Maria Child.

SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL (1836-1982) Family history 1 1 Photocopies of pages from various books, 1914, 1973, n.d. 1 2 The American Transcendentalists: Their Prose and Poetry (1957) and The Transcendentalists: An Anthology (1950) by Perry Miller: photocopies of excerpts, n.d. 1 3 Notes taken on the Tappan family by George McCandlish: photocopies, n.d. 1 4 Caroline Sturgis Tappan and the Grand Tour by George Dimock (2 copies), 1982 1 5 Account of Lewis Henry Tappan's first two years (brother of William Aspinwall Tappan), by his father, Lewis Tappan, circa 1823

[See Oversize Materials]

1 6 Caroline Sturgis Tappan: photograph, n.d. 1 7 Tanglewood: correspondence, 1836-56, n.d. SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE (1812-1913) Caroline Sturgis Tappan Family 1 8 Bigelow, William S., n.d. 1 9-11 Dixey, Ellen Sturgis Tappan, 1875-87 1 12 Dixey, Richard Cowell, 1875-85 1 13 Goodwin, Ezra, 1828 1 14-15 Hooper, Anne Sturgis, 1855-59, n.d. 1 16 Hooper, Edward W., 1861 1 17 Sturgis, Susan, 1849, n.d. 1 18 Sturgis, William, 1848-50 1 19 Tappan, Lewis (combined letter from Caroline Sturgis Tappan and Ellen Sturgis Tappan (Dixey) [father-in-law/grandfather, respectively], 1861 1 20 Tappan, Mary Aspinwall, 1887, n.d. 1 21 Unidentified relative, 1849 Friends and acquaintances 1 22 Channing, William Ellery, n.d 1 23 Child, Lydia Maria, 1847

[See also Oversize Materials]

1 24-35 Emerson, Ralph Waldo (includes some photocopies), 1838-72, n.d. 1 36 Hawthorne, Sophia, 1842 1 37 James, William, 1882 1 38 White, Ellen, n.d. 1 39 Unidentified fragments, n.d. Mary Aspinwall Tappan Family 2 1 General, 1887, n.d. 2 2 Bigelow, William S. 1888, 1913, n.d. 2 3 Brooks, Gorham, 1913 2 4-5 Dixey, Arthur Sturgis, 1890-1905, n.d.

[See also Oversize Materials]

2 6-7 Dixey, Ellen Sturgis Tappan, 1879-1910 2 8 Dixey, Rosamond Sturgis, 1908-24 2 9 Tappan, William Aspinwall, 1886-1904, n.d. Friends and acquaintances 2 10 James, William, 1901, n.d. 2 11 Miscellaneous, 1905-32 Other family members 2 12 Bigelow, William S. to family, n.d. 2 13 Davis, John to William W. Sturgis, 1816 2 14 Dixey, Ellen Sturgis Tappan to various recipients, 1851-95 2 15 Dixey, Richard W. to wife, Rebecca Dixey, 1859 2 16 Hooper, Anne Sturgis to various recipients, 1851, n.d. 2 17 Hooper, Ellen Sturgis to William Swain, 1844 2 18 Sturgis, Ellen M. to Ellen Goodwin, 1815-25 2 19 Sturgis, Susan to William Swain, 1846 2 20 Sturgis, William to various recipients, 1812-59 2 21 Sturgis, William W. to various recipients, 1822 2 22 Tappan, Susan A. to "Mrs. Colonel Aspinwall" (sister), 1821 2 23 Tappan, William Aspinwall to various recipients, 1855-1903, n.d. Third party Emerson, Ralph Waldo 2 24 Forbes, Margaret, n.d. 2 25 Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer, n.d. 2 26 Tappan, William Aspinwall (photocopies), 1845, n.d. 2 27 Payne, Eloisa, n.d. SERIES III. WRITINGS AND DRAWINGS (1849-59) Drawings: Tappan, Caroline Sturgis 3 1-2 Pencil sketches, 1846-57, n.d. 3 Pencil sketches and watercolor paintings: album, n.d.

[Located in Box 4]

Poetry 3 3 Tappan, Caroline Sturgis: handwritten booklet of poetry with pressed flowers, n.d. 3 4 Tappan, Caroline Sturgis and Ellen Sturgis Hooper (?): miscellaneous poems, 1836, n.d.

[See also Oversize Materials]

3 5 "G.W.": "Nebulae," n.d. 3 6 Unidentified author: handwritten book of poems, n.d. 3 7 Correspondence pertaining to Rainbows for Children by Lydia Maria Child, 1849-59 3 8 Published etchings by various artists of sites in Great Britain, n.d. 4 Album of pencil sketches and watercolor paintings by Caroline Sturgis Tappan, n.d. OVERSIZE MATERIALS Flat file Letter to Mary Aspinwall Tappan from Arthur Sturgis Dixey, 29 Nov 1894 (?)