Susan Hale Collection

University Archives and Special Collections
15 Lippitt Road
Kingston, RI 02881-2011
Tel: 401-874-4632

email: archives@etal.uri.edu

Published in 2009

Collection Overview

Title:	Susan Hale Collection
Date range:	1842-1934
Creator:	Hale, Susan
Extent:	1.25 linear feet (3 box(es))
Abstract:	Contains carbon typescript and manuscript letters written by Susan Hale to Caroline Atkinson and Hale's siblings.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	University Archives and Special Collections
Collection number:	Mss. Gr. 88

Scope & content

The Susan Hale Collection in Special Collections at the University of Rhode Island mostly contains letters written by Miss Hale to Caroline Atkinson, and to her siblings, Lucretia, Edward, Charles, Nathan, and are in either carbon typescript or manuscript. In 1919, Caroline P. Atkinson published The Letters of Susan Hale. The collection given to the University of Rhode Island seems to be letters collected by Miss Atkinson in preparation for her book, but do not seem to be included in that book. The carbon typescripts were probably transcribed by Miss Atkinson and are typed from manuscript copies already in this collection.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into one series. The letters are arranged alphabetically by recipient and chronologically within folders.

• 1. Letters

Biographical note

Susan Hale was born December 5, 1833, into a prominent literary family of Boston. She was the youngest of eight children. Her father, Nathan Hale, nephew of the revolutionary war hero of the same name, was editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser. Her mother, Sarah Preston Everett, was a sister of the orator, Edward Everett.

Susan's brother, Edward Everett Hale, was a leading Unitarian minister, a leader in the Social Gospel movement, and author of numerous articles, sermons, pamphlets, and short stories, most prominent of which was The Man Without a Country, written for the Atlantic Monthly in 1863, to inspire greater patriotism during the Civil War. Her sister, Lucretia, with whom she was very close, also wrote numerous books, many of them on religious subjects or on the art of needlework. Lucretia's major reputation, however, rests on a series of whimsical sketches first published in magazines, later collected into two classic books--The Peterkin Papers and The Last of the Peterkins. Susan's brothers, Nathan and Charles (who later became Consul General of the United States in Egypt), followed in the footsteps of their father, and were also editors of the Boston Daily Advertiser.

Susan became a teacher, an art student, a lecturer and public reader, an amateur actress, an avid traveler, and the manager of the family household in Matunuck, Rhode Island, for many years. She traveled extensively in Egypt, the Holy Land, all over Europe, throughout the West Indies, Mexico, and across the American continent. She was a prolific letter writer and, as one of her admirers wrote, her "letters constitute an intimate narrative of the life, activities and thoughts of a cultivated American woman of the highest and best type during an interesting period." She continued her letter writing and traveling until the very end of her life. She died in Matunuck, Rhode Island, in September 1910, at the age of 77.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Open for research.
Use of the materials:	Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
Preferred citation:	Susan Hale Collection, Mss. Gr. 88, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
Contact information:	University Archives and Special Collections 15 Lippitt Road Kingston, RI 02881-2011 Tel: 401-874-4632 email: archives@etal.uri.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The collection was given to Special Collections in January 1990 by Diane McHugh, Librarian of the Robert Beverly Hale Library in Matunuck, Rhode Island.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Leslie Tobias Olsen.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by David Sherman, updated by Hailie D. Posey 2009 July 29, updated by Mark Dionne on 2020 April 13
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Inventory

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Inventory