LibraryGeorge J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives

1.2 linear feet

Catalog Number: M271

Series List:

• Smith's Correspondence, 1867-1934, n.d.
  9 folders
• Writings, 1871-1933, n.d.
  8 folders, 1 volume
• Kindergarten Movement, 1877-1927, n.d.
  4 folders, 1 volume
• Santa Barbara College, 1874-1877, n.d.
  2 folders
• Mexico Materials, 1896-1898, n.d.
  2 folders
• Miscellaneous Clippings and Materials, 1899-1937, n.d.
  2 folders
• Images, n.d.
  13 folders

Agency History / Biographical Note:
Nora Archibald Smith (1859-1934), the younger sister of Kate Douglas Wiggin, was born in Philadelphia and subsequently lived in San Francisco, Santa Barbara, New York City, and Hollis, Maine. She was awarded an A.B. from Santa Barbara College in 1877 and received a certificate from the California Kindergarten Training School in 1881. Throughout her adult life Smith was active in the kindergarten movement, serving as superintendent of the Silver Street Kindergarten (San Francisco), the first free kindergarten west of the Rockies, and authoring numerous books and articles, some with Kate Douglas Wiggin, on the benefits and social importance of kindergarten education. Smith was also a children's author writing either individually or with Wiggin, and she authored a biography of her sister, Kate Douglas Wiggin As Her Sister Knew Her. (1925). Smith died in Portland, Maine, on February 1, 1934.

Scope and Content:
Material documenting Smith family life in California, the sisters' (Kate Wiggin and Nora A. Smith) involvement in the kindergarten movement, their involvement in publishing, and family affairs in Maine. The correspondence, chiefly of Nora Smith and Kate Wiggin, dates primarily from the late 1800's. Writings consist mainly of holograph drafts, but include some typed manuscripts and proofs, notably those for the story and play adaptation of The Old Peabody Pew. There are also family photographs, including two tintypes and two Bachrach portraits. Miscellaneous printed matter includes news clippings, school programs, offprints, certificates, and a bound volume devoted to stitchery and needlework. A related collection is the Kate Douglas Wiggin Collection.

Cite as: Nora Archibald Smith Family Papers, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library

Access Restrictions: None.

Source: Gift; Andy Shepard; 2005.