COLLECTION GUIDES

1902-1935

Guide to the Collection

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Representative digitized documents from this collection:

Restrictions on Access

Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).

The Rose Dabney Forbes papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@datsumoki.net.


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of records collected by Rose Dabney Forbes as an officer of the Massachusetts Peace Society, the American Peace Society, the Massachusetts branch of the Woman's Peace Party, and the World Peace Foundation. It documents her participation in the American peace movement during the early 20th century.

Historical Sketches

Rose Dabney Forbes

Rose Dabney Forbes, born in 1864, was the daughter of Samuel Wyllys Dabney, U.S. Consul to the Azores, 1872-92. A resident of Milton, Massachusetts, Mrs. Forbes was married to J. Malcolm Forbes, 1847-1904, a businessman. She was involved in many peace organizations including the American Peace Society; the Massachusetts Peace Society, of which she was on the Board of Directors; the Massachusetts branch of the Woman's Peace Party, of which she was chairman; and the World Peace Foundation, of which she was a member of the Advisory Council. Among the other organizations of concern to her were the Boston League of Women Voters, the Milton Women's Club, and the Women's National Committee for Law Enforcement. Rose Dabney Forbes died in 1947.

American Peace Society

The American Peace Society was established in May of 1828 when the peace societies of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania merged to become a national organization. Most local societies also became affiliated, with varying degrees of autonomy, from the national office.

Massachusetts Peace Society

Founded in 1911 as a branch of the American Peace Society, the Massachusetts Peace Society remained active through the conclusion of the World War I. This group was unrelated to the Massachusetts Peace Society that operated from 1815-1845.

Woman's Peace Party/League for Permanent Peace

The Massachusetts Branch of the Woman's Peace Party was established in January of 1915 for the purpose of promoting peace among nations. In 1918, it voted to change its name to the League for Permanent Peace and broke its affiliation with the National Woman's Peace Party. The League was disbanded in 1920.

World Peace Foundation

In 1910, textbook magnate Edwin Ginn founded the International School of Peace in Boston, renamed the World Peace Foundation shortly thereafter. Though many peace organizations already existed early in the 20th century, most concentrated their efforts on theory and ideology. The World Peace Foundation, conversely, was founded with the express purpose of educating and mobilizing public opinion toward the cause of peace through their publications.

Collection Description

The Rose Dabney Forbes papers consist of 3 document boxes and 2 pamphlet boxes dating from 1902-1935. The papers document her participation in the American peace movement during the early 20th century. The collection contains records collected by Forbes as an officer of the Massachusetts Peace Society, the American Peace Society, the Massachusetts branch of the Woman's Peace Party, and the World Peace Foundation. The records of the organizations in which she was involved include governance documents, meeting minutes, and correspondence, as well as printed materials. Topics of interest to these groups included the Panama Canal Act of 1912, the celebration of 100 years of peace between the United States and Great Britain, World War I, and the formation of the League of Nations. The collection also includes addresses by Rose Dabney Forbes and others, as well as printed ephemera. Henry S. Haskins, Jay William Hudson, James L. Tryon, and Edwin D. Mead were involved in one or more of Rose Dabney Forbes' organizations, and the collection also includes their correspondence and addresses.

Acquisition Information

Gift of the China Trade Museum, Milton, Mass., 1984. Given to the China Trade Museum by Mrs. Copley Amory.

Restrictions on Access

Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).

The Rose Dabney Forbes papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@datsumoki.net.

Other Formats

The collection is also available as color digital facsimiles and on microfilm, P-814, 6 reels.

Detailed Description of the Collection

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I. Massachusetts Peace Society records, 1911-1929Digital Content

Arranged chronologically by record type.

This series contains the records of the Massachusetts Peace Society, divided into two subseries. The first subseries includes documents relating to governance, correspondence, membership lists, meeting minutes, and annual meeting reports. Governance documents include the constitution and by-laws, Work and Plans of the Society, 1913, and descriptions of work done by the society. Correspondents include Rose Dabney Forbes, as well as other officers of the society, including Henry S. Haskins, Jay William Hudson, and James L. Tryon. Topics range from administrative matters concerning the organization to the society's view on issues, including world peace and the peace movement, international relations, and the Panama Canal Act of 1912. The second subseries contains printed ephemera, including membership applications, invitations to meetings, lectures, and dinners, blank letterhead, and Rose Dabney Forbes' certificate of life membership to the society.

See also Series V for addresses delivered for the Massachusetts Peace Society.

Close I. Massachusetts Peace Society records, 1911-1929Digital Content

Materials Removed from the Collection

Two photographs, a portrait of Ainsworth Rand Spofford, Librarian of Congress, and family, and a photograph of an American Peace Society broadside, were removed to the Rose Dabney Forbes photographs.

A Massachusetts Peace Society button was removed to the MHS museum collection.

A broadside, "After the War, What?," advertising Jay William Hudson lectures sponsored by the Massachusetts Peace Society, Feb. [ca. 1918] was removed to the MHS broadside collection.

Preferred Citation

Rose Dabney Forbes papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Haskins, Henry Stanley, 1875-
Hudson, Jay William, 1874-
Mead, Edwin D. (Edwin Doak), 1849-1937.
Tryon, James L. (James Libby), 1864-1958.

Organizations:

American Peace Society.
League for Permanent Peace.
League of Nations.
Massachusetts Peace Society.
Woman's Peace Party. Massachusetts Branch.
World Peace Foundation.

Subjects:

Panama Canal (Panama)--Law and legislation.
Peace movements--Massachusetts.
Peace movements--United States.
Peace--Societies, etc.
Women and peace.
World War, 1914-1918--Peace.

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