Guide to the the Leo Griffin Spoffod Papers
Finding aid of the Leo Griffin Spoffod Papers
Collection number: H1992.2
Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd LibraryLibraries of The Claremont Colleges
Claremont, California
- Processed by:
- Kelley Wolfe Bachli
- Date Completed:
- 2005
- Encoded by:
- Kelley Wolfe Bachli
| November 19, 1896 | Leo Griffin Spofford born in Tiptonville, Tennessee |
| 1917 | graduated from the University of Tennessee, receiving her B.A. in sociology and home economics |
| 1932-1936 | Leo was a field worker for government relief work under the Unemployment Relief Committee in Shreveport, Louisiana |
| 1936-1939 | Leo worked as the State Director of the Women's and Professional Projects Division, where she supervised the activities of 10,000 non-construction workers, and the art, music and writers' projects of the WPA |
| 1939-1942 | Leo was the Chief Regional Supervisor for the Employment for Eligible Unemployed, WPA, New Orleans |
| 1942-1943 | Leo was the Regional Supervisor of the War Public Services Division, Federal Works Agency, Fort Worth, Texas |
| 1943 | Leo worked as the Special Assistant to Assistant Commissioner, Federal Works Agency, Washington, D.C. |
| 1943-1946 | Leo was the Director of the New Orleans Department of War Emergency Children's Service, where she created a plan for child care centers under federal supervision, making it possible for mothers to work in war plants. Leo was the Regional Director of UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Association) in Hunan Province for 8 months. Arriving in May 1946, she helped establish, at its highest point, 20 refugee camps and orphanages. |
| 1947 | Leo returned to her home to New Orleans |
| 1949 | Leo opened a gumbo restaurant and a praline shop in New Orleans |
Scope and Content of Collection
Series 1. Biographical Materials
Newspaper clippings about Mrs. Leo Spofford, typed documents 1947
Applications for employment, autograph and typed documents circa 1947
Medical records, autograph and typed documents 1946-7
Business cards no date
Series 2. Cassette tapes
Recordings of correspondence, sides 1-6
Recordings of correspondence, tapes 8-9 and "old bits of info #1915e"
Outline of contents of cassette tapes, autograph document no date
Cassette tape transcripts, sides 1-2, typed document no date
Cassette tape transcripts, sides 4-5, typed document no date
Cassette tape transcripts, tape 8, typed document
Cassette tape transcripts, tape 9, autograph and typed documents
Cassette tape transcripts, tape 11, typed document
Series 3. Collected ephemera
Chinese money and military payment certificate
Receipts 1946-7
Post office receipts 1947(?)
When you are in Peiping [guide of things to do] [source unknown], no date; The 40th Anniversary of Yali Middle School [source , typed document no date, 1946
Photocopies of Life magazine article, "China Famine" (May 13, 1946), ""Life" Looks at China" (May 1, 1944) 1944, 1946
The China Weekly Review (2 issues), June 12, 1947 and June 21, 1947 1947
Poems [source unknown], typed document no date
Newspaper clippings about General Chang Chun, premier of China 1947
Outline of Chinese history [source unknown], SOB Story Chinese Style [source unknown], Temple of Heaven (T'ien T'an) [source , typed documents no date
Chinese dishes and menu, typed documents no date
Bamboo, by George Kwei, typed document no date
Invitation to a garden party at the White House 1940
Miscellaneous business cards no date
Memorial to Harry Hopkins, by John Steinbeck, typed document 1946?
China, by A.W. Platt, typed poem 1946
Series 4. Correspondence
Correspondence and newspaper clippings from the WPA years, autograph documents 1942-5
Letter from the School of Social Work, Tulane University, typed document signed 1943
Letter from Mr. L. Hoffman, Chief UNRRA Representative, typed document 1945
Personal letters from Mrs. Leo Spofford, autograph documents signed 1946
Personal letters from Mrs. Leo Spofford, autograph documents signed 1946
Personal letters from Mrs. Leo Spofford, autograph and typed documents signed 1946
Personal letters from Mrs. Leo Spofford, autograph documents signed 1947
Letters from George Kwei, Board of Trustees for Rehabilitation Affairs, and CNRRA officials, typed documents signed 1947
Correspondence between Mrs. Leo Spofford and the CNNRA, typed documents signed 1947
Correspondence between Mrs. Leo Spofford and David Chang, autograph and typed documents signed 1947-9
Correspondence to Mrs. Leo Spofford from student, autograph and typed documents signed 1951
Card from 1st Refugees Service Center, Changsha, autograph and typed document no date
Series 5. Manuscripts
Tiger Bone Wine: Leo Spofford's Letters from China, by Betty Lamb, typed document 1992
Tiger Bone Wine for a Lady: the Life of Leo Spofford, by Betty Lamb, typed document 1985
Tiger Bone Wine for a Lady: The Life of Leo Spofford, by Betty Lamb, typed document 1985
First Impressions f Chinese Relief Procedures and Philosophy, autograph document no date
Saga of Changsha, by L. Heidenreich, M. Soroka, and K. Quan Man, typed poem no date
draft for article for The China Press, autograph document no date
draft fpr cassette tape recordings (?), autograph document no date
brief bioraphy on Luther Hoffman, autograph document no date
Report on the Proposed Visit of General Edgerton to Hengyang and Buddha Promises More Rice to Hunan at UNRRA Chief Regional Representitive's Request, poems by Prm S. Sood, typed poems no date
The Living Buddha Story and related correspondence, typed document and typed letter signed 1947
Series 6. Photographs
An autograph book with drawings, photographs, and messages from friends and acquaintances in China; small scrapbook with photographs of the war damaged city of Lihling(?); color photographs of a Manchurian belt buckle
Gelatin silver prints of Mrs. Leo Spofford, David Chang, miscellaneous images of orphans, and group portraits
Gelatin silver print of the staff at Chanshaw headquarters
Series 7. UNRRA/CNNRA
The Story of the U.N.R.R.A., publication by the UNRRA, booklet 1948
Minutes of Welfare Field Supervisors Conference, Changsha, Hunan, China, typed document 1946
Instructions for the field welfare supervisors, typed document 1946
Memorandum to Director Yu from the Welfare Committee, typed document 1946
Memorandums and reports from Lillian McLeod, Deputy Field Supervisor, CNRRA, Shaoyang, typed documents 1946-7
Minutes of Shaoyang Relief, Rehabilitation Committee, typed document 1947
Summary of CNRRA/UNRRA program, Shaoyang, typed document 1947
Inventories and supply orders, autograph and typed documents 1947
Plans for closing CNRRA operations, typed documents 1947
Regulations and descriptions of work relief projects, typed documents 1946-7
Supply requirements for work relief projects, autograph and typed documents 1947
Regional reports, typed documents 1947
A Suggested Child Welfare Platform [report, source unknown], typed document no date
Travel expenses, typed document 1947?
Orientation for overseas personnel, typed document 1946
Memorandum regarding health precautions for staff to take, typed document 1946
Miscellaneous materials, autograph and typed documents no date
Welfare monthly report, typed document 1946
Project worker's food wage and basic unit of work, Supplement no. 1 to revised issue of circular no. 7, typed document 1946
Regulations for the payment of workers on work relief projects, English translation of CNRRA directive no. 16485, typed document 1946