Kane, Florence Bayard, 1868-1943. Papers, 1886-1943.
Title:
Papers, 1886-1943.
The material consists of incoming and outgoing personal correspondence, papers from organizations to which Miss Kane belonged or contributed, personal memorabilia and other miscellany, and the manuscript writings of sister Anne Francis (Nancy) Kane. Florence Bayard Kane's outgoing correspondence consists primarily of letters, 1886-1895, to her mother, Mabel Bayard Kane Bird, and letters, 1899-1909, to members of her family while on various trips abroad. The latter include her reports on the Messina, Sicily, earthquake of December, 1908, and her role in rendering nursing assistance to the victims, for which the Italian Government awarded her a medal. The bulk of the collection consists of incoming personal correspondence, 1886-1943, along with some draft replies by Miss Kane. Principal correspondents are various family members, including several generations of siblings, cousins and nieces: sisters Jean Duval Leiper Kane Foulke, Elizabeth Bayard Kane Norris Rhein, Anne Francis (Nancy) Kane and brother J[ames] A[shton] Bayard Kane; cousins Eliza Middleton Kane Cope, with whom Miss Kane often made her home, Francis Fisher Kane, Philadelphia lawyer and U.S. attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania from 1913 to 1920, Elisha Kent Kane, prohibition advocate, and Helen Hamilton Shields Stockton; nieces Jean Kane Foulke DuPont and Florence Foulke Bird. Additionally, there are letters from various friends, particularly: Langdon Elwyn Mitchell, playwright; Mary Moss, author and travelling companion of Miss Kane, who was with her at the time of the Sicilian earthquake; Maria Lansdale, with whom Florence often lived in Philadelphia; Etta de Vitti, Marchese de Vitti de Marco at whose home Florence often stayed while in Italy; Mary Sterrett Gittings, an old Baltimore friend; Emily Hobhouse, outspoken English opponent of the Boer War and pacifist in WWI; Margaret Munro Elder Dow, author and biographer of Elisha Kent Kane: Sarah Northcliff Cleghorne, author and poet. For Miss Kane's flirtation with a librarian's career the correspondence 1897-1903 includes letters from Bryn Mawr College President M. Carey Thomas. Letters to Florence at the time of the Messina earthquake, 1909, concern the supply and use of financial aid provided by her family and friends in America. Florence's interest in prison reform is evident from letters of penologist Thomas Mott Osborne, 1914-1918, and others. Miss Kane worked sporadically for a number of years organizing the papers of the Wister family, and Owen Wister, author, wrote her on this and other subjects, 1913-1935. The miscellaneous section contains solicitations, acknowledgements, newsletters, and flyers of various conservation, philanthropic, civic, and international organizations; pamphlets, articles, clippings; collected poems and quotations, receipted bills, medical prescriptions, addresses; photographs. Florence's sister, Anne Francis (Nancy) Kane, aspired to a literary career. Her death at age 24 was much lamented by family and friends, especially Langdon Elwyn Mitchell who was to become a noted playwright. A group of Nancy Kane's manuscripts are interspersed with Mitchell's translations and some writings.
ArchivalResource:
12.75 linear ft.
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/151372098 View
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