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Kate Douglas Wiggin Collection, 1867-1985, n.d. (bulk 1891-1917).
3.50 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M187
Series List:
- Correspondence, 1891-1922
0.25 linear feet.
- Journals, manuscripts, notebooks,
etc., 1867-1919 1.25 linear feet.
- Clippings, scrapbooks, etc., 1885-1983
1.5 linear feet.
- Pamphlets and printed material,
notes, etc., 1884-1985, n.d.
0.25 linear feet.
- Images, 1904, 1910, n.d. 0.25 linear feet.
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Agency History / Biographical Note:
Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) lived in Hollis, Maine, New York City,
and Santa Barbara and San Franciso California. She received her education
through "dame school", home study, district school, female seminary,
and academy, later attending a kindergarten training class.
Wiggin started teaching kindergarten in 1877, and founded San
Francisco's Silver Street training school in 1880. She supported
kindergarten movement throughout her life; the Story of Patsy
and The Birds' Christmas Carol, Wiggin's first books, were
written as fundraising efforts. She co-wrote several books with
her sister, Nora Archibald Smith.
Out of her travels to Europe in the 1890s came books for adults,
including Penelope's Progress and Penelope's English Experiences.
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Wiggin's most famous book, was
written in 1903.
In 1904, Bowdoin College presented an honorary degree to Wiggin,
the second such degree the College granted to a woman. Soon after,
she founded the Society of Bowdoin Women, a social and fundraising
organization.
Wiggin was married twice, first in 1881 to Samuel Bradley Wiggin,
who died in 1889, then to George Christopher Riggs in 1895. She
died in Harrow England, August 24, 1923.
Scope and Content:
The collection contains correspondence, journals, book and story
manuscripts, commonplace books, notebooks and notes related to Wiggin's
writing, lectures on kindergarten subjects, clippings, photographs
and material concerning her Irish "literary pilgrimage," the bulk
of which date from 1891-1917. Correspondence
is mostly with family including her sister Nora Archibald Smith and
mother Helen Elizabeth Smith, and with Bowdoin community members
including William De Witt Hyde, George T. Little, and members of
the Society of Bowdoin Women. Other correspondents include: Frances
Hodgson Burnett (1 letter), W.D. Howells (3 letters), Helen Keller
(1 letter), and Jack London (1 letter). Loose clippings concern Wiggin, her homes, and
special interests, while scrapbooks contain notices and reviews
of her published works, especially Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Some photographs and reproductions of photographs in the collection
are of Wiggin, her Maine home (Quillcote), the Scottish highlands,
and Jack London (autographed). The collection is supplemented by
first editions of Wiggin's works and autographed presentation volumes
from her private library.
Finding Aid Note:Unpublished chronological list of correspondents available in
library; item level control.
Provenance:
Cite as: Kate Douglas Wiggin Collection, Special Collections
& Archives. Bowdoin College Library.
Access Restrictions: None.
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