mnsss54 Helen Begley Nixon Papers, 1945-1951 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Susan Boone. 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 Brook Hopkins. 2003-06-06 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mnsss54 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Sophia Smith CollectionSmith College Helen Begley Nixon Papers, 1945-1951 Finding Aid MS 113 Susan Boone 1997 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Nixon, Helen Begley, 1900-1990 Helen Begley Nixon Papers1945-1951 MS 113 4 boxes (1.5 linear ft.) Sophia Smith Collection

Smith College Northampton, MA

Red Cross official; Relief worker, World War II; Refugee relief organizer, Vietnam; and President, International Women's Association, Vietnam. The papers document the lives of women in Korea; in Germany after World War II; and in Vietnam, as well as orphanages, and refugees. Material includes correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia; approximately one quarter of the collection is in German, and some is in Vietnamese, Korean, and French. English. Biographical Note

Helen Begley Nixon distributing care packages to Vietnamese refugees, circa 1960s

Helen Begley Nixon was born on March 13, 1900, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, daughter of Mr. and Mrs Thomas E. Begley. She graduated from Holyoke High School in 1917. Following graduation from Smith College in 1921, she taught English and history at the Allegheny County Academy in Cumberland, Maryland for five years. Between 1926 and 1948 she was director of the Red Cross in Holyoke, and Red Cross civilian relief representative in the American military governments of France, Belgium, Austria, and Germany. From 1946 to 1948 she was Chief Advisor of the Women's Bureau of the American military government in Korea where she helped reestablish the Korean Red Cross. From 1948 to 1953 Nixon was Cultural Officer for the Public Affairs Division of Women's Affairs for the U.S. High Commissioner in Germany, Cecil Lyon. She administered adult education and community organizing. Beginning circa 1955 to 1957, Nixon was the Refugee Settlement Advisor of the International Cooperation Administration Mission. the U.S. Great Britain, and France, plus seven voluntary agencies (CARE, Church World Service, Catholic Relief Services, International Research Council) who gave money, food, clothing, farm tools, and drugs to Vietnam. Her job was to resettle 650,000 refugees. She also established the first International Women's Association in Vietnam and served as it's first president. She also served on the Board of the Family Welfare School for Young Women. In 1957 she returned to the United States, and circa 1961 became an agency social worker with the Jicarilla Tribe in Dulce, New Mexico.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Helen Begley Nixon papers consist of 1.5 linear feet (4 document boxes) of correspondence, photographs, printed material, and memorabilia reflecting her professional life. In addition there is material she collected on subjects that were of interest to her, mostly about women. The Papers are arranged in three series (I. Korea, II. Germany, and III. Vietnam) by country in general chronological order. Approximately one quarter to one third of the material is in German, and an additional quarter in Vietnamese, Korean, and French. There is virtually no personal material.

The smallest amount of material is from Nixon's time in Korea and consists of four folders. These contain printed material and reports about women in Korea, reports, and one photograph of the General Federation of Korean Women, plus correspondence and printed material from the Women's Bureau of the Office of the Military Governor, 1946-55. In this series there is also a folder of printed material about women in China and Japan that Nixon obviously collected while in Korea.

The largest portion of the Nixon papers is from Germany, most of which is contained in 10 linear inches of reports and related material (1945-53) collected while Nixon was associated with the Women's Affairs Branch of the U.S. High Commission for Occupied Germany. These cover a wide range of topics, including, education and culture, exchanges with women in the United States, women's organizations, employment and the position of women in Germany after World War II. Included also in this series is general printed material (clippings, articles, periodicals) about women in Germany, plus one photograph (1952) of Dr. Dorothy Fosdick and Dr. Else Ulich-Beil President of Deutscher.

The final series is from Vietnam and reflects Nixon's role as Refugee Settlement Advisor of the International Cooperation Administration in Vietnam. This consists of five inches of material, including articles, clippings and printed material about women in Vietnam, 1954-1957; reports, memos and correspondence about orphanages, International Women's Association, refugees and voluntary agencies. This series also contains 27 photographs.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into three series:

I. Korea II. Germany III. Vietnam Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

The Papers are open to research without restriction according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection without any added restrictions.

Most of the material is published and owner of copyright for unpublished material is unknown. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.

Preferred Citation

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

Helen Begley Nixon Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

History of the Collection

The Helen Begley Nixon Papers were a gift of Mrs. Nixon, 1966-1972.

Processed by Susan Boone, 1997.

Search Terms Nixon, Helen Begley, 1900-1990 International Women's Association--Vietnam--History Korea--Social conditions--1945- --Sources Refugees--Vietnam--Sources United States. Office of High Commissioner for Germany. Women's Affairs Branch--Sources Vietnam--Social conditions--20th century--Sources Women--Germany--History--20th century--Sources Women--International cooperation--History--Sources Women--Korea--History--20th century--Sources Women--Vietnam--History--20th century--Sources World War, 1939-1945--Civilian relief--Europe--Sources World War, 1939-1945--War work--Red Cross--Sources World War, 1939-1945--Women--Sources 1 1 Contents 1 Biographical information SERIES I. KOREA 1 2 Clippings, articles, and printed material, 1945-53 1 3 General Federation of Korean Women's Clubs: correspondence, printed material, and photograph, 1947-53 1 4 Women's Bureau: correspondence and printed material, 1946-55 1 5 China and Japan: correspondence, miscellaneous printed material (collected by Nixon while in Korea), 1949-52 SERIES II. GERMANY 2 6-10 Reports and memos, 1945-52 3 11-12 Reports and memos, 1953, n.d. Printed material 3 13 Buro zum Studiem der U.S.A., 1950-51 3 14 The Bulletin, A Weekly Survey of German Affairs, 1953 3 15 Der Staatsburgen, 1953-61 3 16 Miscellaneous articles, pamphlets and printed material, 1947-64 3 17 Correspondence, 1949-61 3 18 Photograph of Dr. Dorothy Fosdick and Dr. Else Ulich-Beil, 1952 SERIES III. VIETNAM 4 19 Clippings, articles and printed material, 1954-57 4 20 Orphanages: Reports, memos and correspondence, 1955-56 4 21 International Women's Association: Reports, memos and correspondence, 1956-57 4 22 Refugees: Reports, 1954-57 4 23 Education: Reports, 1955, n.d 4 24 Voluntary Agencies Coordinating Committee: Reports, 1954-56 Photographs 4 25 Meeting of the International Women's Association at the Palace with Mme Ngo-dinh-Nhu as hostess (22 photos) 4 Nixon with Milo Kamstra of CARE (2) 4 CARE package distribution (2) 4 Nixon alone (1)