Primarily correspondence relating to the Ward and Perkins families of Boston, New York and elsewhere. Other families who figure prominently in the papers are the Barkers, the Howards, and the Bruens. Many letters from noteworthy individuals outside of the family circles, such as James Russell Lowell, Amy Lowell, George Bancroft, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry and William James, George Santayana, and Theodore Roosevelt.

The Ward and Perkins families embodied the ideal of the upper class New England family in the 19th century. Both were very well educated, with several generations of Harvard graduates, most of whom spent time studying and touring in Europe. Both were very wealthy, having found success at international business and finance. Both felt a duty to be active in the social, political, and intellectual movements of their time. The families were brought together by the marriage of Elizabeth Howard Ward and Charles Bruen Perkins in 1896. The collection primarily covers three generations of these families, with extensive correspondence and personal papers of Elizabeth Ward Perkins, her father Thomas Wren Ward, and her grandfather Samuel Gray Ward, as well as her husband's parents, Charles Callahan Perkins and Frances D. Perkins. The papers feature correspondence with many noteworthy individuals outside the family circles, such as George Bancroft, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry and William James, Amy Lowell, James Russell Lowell, Eleanor Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and George Santayana.

5.6 linear feet (15 boxes and 2 oversize boxes).

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

None.