Burt/Bock Family Papers

Series 1. Bock family
The Bock Family Series contains records dating to the early nineteenth century. The Bocks were descended from the eighteenth century Irish patriot, Samuel Neilson, who was imprisoned for six years by the British government for his pro-Irish views (See MSG# 72, The Samuel Neilson Collection).

In this series are correspondence and diaries of Neilson's descendants, the MacAdams, the Magenes and the Bocks. Included is the correspondence of Anne MacAdam Bock, the granddaughter of Neilson and grandmother of Louise Bock Burt, Henry F. Burt's wife. Anne Bock and her husband, William Breeze Bock, were among the earliest settlers of Illinois. Also of interest are the diaries of George MacAdam and Eliza Bock. George MacAdam's diary was compiled between 1846 and 1849 in Ireland and Eliza Bock's during a trip to Europe in 1889 and 1890.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by the name of the family member and chronologically within folders.

Series 2. Henry F. Burt
The Henry F. Burt Series contains records relating to the activities of Henry F. Burt, noted social worker and settlement house administrator. The bulk of the series pertains to Burt's involvement with the settlement house movement.

Burt was an early pioneer in the Chicago settlement houses. A graduate of Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas, and the Chicago Theological Seminary, it was as a student at the Seminary that he first became involved in the settlement house movement. In 1900, Burt joined the staff of Graham Taylor's Chicago Commons Settlement House where he served in a variety of posts. The nature of his work there, and the nature of settlement houses in general, is captured in the folders labeled "Chicago Commons" and in the bound issues of The Commons, the monthly journal published by Chicago Commons. Photo albums depicting activities at the Chicago Commons and its summer camp reveal details of daily life for residents and staff members of the settlement house. It was also at the Chicago Commons that Burt met and married his wife, Louie Bock.

After a brief sojourn as a department manager at Sears Roebuck, Burt returned to the settlement house world in 1907 as resident director of the Pillsbury House in Minneapolis. Again, the flavor of settlement house life can be seen in the photo albums Burt compiled of activities at Pillsbury House and its summer camp.

Perhaps the most interesting material in this series concerns Burt's work with the Commission on Training Camp Activities of the War Department. Upon U.S. entry into World War I in the spring of 1917, the War Department established camps throughout the country to train the influx of new soldiers for military service. Many of these camps were located near large cities and attracted a horde of "camp followers" peddling liquor and sex to the young G.I.s. When this situation began to alarm the powers that be in the War Department, they responded by creating the Commission on Training Camp Activities to study conditions in and around the camps and to make recommendations to the War Department to better enable it to preserve the morals of its soldiers.

Burt was appointed an investigator for the commission because of his experience in social work and was assigned to visit several camps in the Midwest. In his reports on the "moral conditions" surrounding the camps, Burt noted the number of saloons in the area, the number of prostitutes or "street walkers" he observed, the number of bordellos, the number of intoxicated soldiers he saw, and whatever else he considered to be potential evidence of corrupting influences. Burt's reports make interesting reading and the tone of them provides a stark contrast to the "Roaring Twenties" which followed the war.

Other items of interest include a photograph album and narrative description of a Works Progress Administration project in New Orleans which Burt administered between 1934 and 1937, needlework and paper craft project pattern books used in classes in the Chicago Commons, and a 150-page typescript biography of Burt written by his daughter, Katherine Burt Jackson, in 1988.

Also included at the end of the series are diplomas and certificates which Burt received from Washburn College and Chicago Theological Seminary, a testimonial certificate from the Rhode Island Conference of Social Workers, and a diploma awarded to Louise Bock Burt by the Pestalozzi Froebel Kindergarten Training School.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by name, subject, title, or type of record and chronologically within folders. There is no folder 37.

Series 3. Burt scrapbooks
This series consists of eleven scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings and memorabilia (invitations, programs, etc) chronicling the life and times of Henry F. Burt. The scrapbooks were apparently compiled by Burt himself as he moved from place to place and job to job. The materials in each scrapbook are in rough chronological order and relate both specifically to Burt himself and generally to the times of which he was a part.

The scrapbooks are arranged chronologically by date.

Series 4. Settlement house photographs
This series consists of 35 positive glass plate images of activities at the Chicago Commons Settlement House and its summer camp and the Pillsbury Settlement House in Minneapolis and its summer camp. Though undated, the photos were probably taken between 1900 and 1912 by Henry F. Burt, who worked at both settlement houses during that time and who accompanied the residents to their summer camps. Most of the images depict summer camp activities, although a few were taken in and around the settlement houses.

The individual glass plates are identified and, for ease of access, have been assigned an arbitrary number from I to 35 and an arbitrary title based on the activity depicted. Photo albums depicting similar activities are housed in Series II in folders labeled "Chicago Commons: Photo Albums" and "Pillsbury House: Photo Albums."

Series 5. Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony
This series consists of printed and typescript histories of the "Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony," correspondence about the colony, and photographs of the church built by the members of the colony.

The Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony consisted of a group of Connecticut citizens who gathered together to emigrate to the Kansas Territory to support the free soil/anti-slavery movement there. Officially known as the Connecticut Kansas Colony, it became popularly known as the Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony after Rev. Henry Ward Beecher raised money to purchase 25 rifles for the colony members and one of his parishioners donated 25 Bibles. The leader of the Beecher Colony was Charles B. Lines, great-grandfather of Katherine Burt Jackson who donated the Burt/Bock Family Papers.

This series includes typescript histories of the colony by Henry Burt, Katherine Burt Jackson, and Elsie Burt Grim. Also included are photographs and reprints of articles, and copies of journals containing articles relating to the Beecher Bible and Rifle Colony.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by name, article title, or subject and chronologically within folders.