Cudahy Family Papers, 1901-1925

Summary

Creators:

Cudahy family.

Abstract:

This collection contains correspondence and ephemera of the family of John P. "Jack" Cudahy (died 1921) and Edna Cudahy (1877-1949) of Illinois and California. Most of the correspondence and ephemera relates to intimate family life and the social connections between members of the American industrial and entertainment elite of the first decades of the twentieth century.

Extent:

319 items in 2 boxes

Language:

English.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of the papers of John P. “Jack” and Edna Cudahy family. Includes correspondence and ephemera.

The correspondence contains 228 letters, many written to Edna Cudahy. These are arranged alphabetically by author. These letters contain information relating to theater and society life in the early twentieth century, Michael Cudahy’s life at Belmont School for Boys, Jack’s experience as an officer at Camp Lewis, Wash. during World War I, and some correspondence related to Jack’s business interests and trust funds. A letter from Edna Cudahy Browne to John, Box 1 (11), discusses the young woman’s decision to become a nun, though she married Percy Browne the following year.

There are also 91 pieces of ephemera, including calling cards, report cards, greeting cards, and some receipts for goods and services. The ephemera is organized alphabetically by type. Most of the correspondence and ephemera relates to intimate family life and the social connections between members of the industrial and entertainment elite of the first decades of the twentieth century.

Subjects in this collection related to film distribution include: Associated First National Pictures, W.W. Hodgkinson, Marcus Loew, Paramount Pictures, and Adolph Zukor. Other subjects include: Catholic schools, Catholic women, Santa Catalina Island, and World War I.

Biographical / historical:

Edna Cudahy (1877-1949) was born Edna Margaret Cowin on October 31, 1877 in Omaha, Nebraska. Her father was a prominent Omaha lawyer and politician who would later go on to be a signatory to the 1914 manifesto of the Nebraska Men’s Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. She married John P. “Jack” Cudahy, son of wealthy Chicago meat packer Michael Cudahy. They had four children, Edna Catherine (born approximately 1900), Marie (born approximately 1902), Anne Elizabeth (born approximately 1904), and Michael (1908–1947).

Edna and Jack began married life in Kansas City, Mo., where Jack managed his father’s meat packing plant. In 1910, Jack attacked Jere Lillis, President of the Western Exchange Bank, over suspicion of an affair between Lillis and Edna. Following the attack, Edna and Jack divorced, and custody of their children was entrusted to Jack’s parents.

In 1912, the couple reconciled and remarried, and settled in Pasadena, Calif. with their children. Jack joined the Army during World War I, served at Camp Lewis in Tacoma, Washington, but secured a medical discharge following a nervous breakdown in 1918. After Jack returned from the Army and regained his health, the family moved from Pasadena to a mansion in Hollywood, where, in 1921, Jack committed suicide. Throughout their married life, Edna maintained connections to the theater society of the United States, Canada, and Britain. Edna died in 1949.

Acquisition information:

Purchased from C. Apfelbaum, November 8, 1988.

Arrangement:

Correspondence arranged alphabetically in Boxes 1-2, followed by ephemera at the end of Box 2.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Other descriptive data:

Claus, Santa.

• Addressee of Marie Cudahy letter [undated]. Box 1 (33).

Yorska, Mme.

• Co-addressee of Carl de Vidal Hundt letter [undated]. Box 1 (57).

Associated First National Pictures, Inc.

• Subject in Monroe Salisbury letter [ca. 1920] to Ellen L. Cash. Box 2 (17).

Catholic Schools

• Subject in Anne Cudahy letters (1922) to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 1 (19).
• Subject in Michael Cudahy letters (1922-1925) to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 1 (37).

Catholic women

• Subject in Edna Cudahy Browne letter to John (1919, Nov. 7). Box 1 (11).

Hodgkinson, W.W.

• Subject in Monroe Salisbury letter [ca. 1920] to Ellen L. Cash. Box 2 (17).

Loew, Marcus

• Subject in Monroe Salisbury letter [ca. 1920] to Ellen L. Cash. Box 2 (17).

Motion Pictures – Distribution

• Subject in Monroe Salisbury letter [ca. 1920] to Ellen L. Cash. Box 2 (17).

Paramount Pictures

• Subject in Monroe Salisbury letter [ca. 1920] to Ellen L. Cash. Box 2 (17).

Santa Catalina Island (Calif.)

• Subject in John P. Cudahy letter (1914, Aug. 16) to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 1 (24).

Theater and Society

• Subject in Travers Allan letter (1916) to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 1 (2).
• Subject in J. D. Barton letter [undated] to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 1 (6).
• Subject in Don W. Donald letters (1918) to Edna Cudahy, 1877, 1949. Box 1 (41).
• Subject in Nat. C. (Nathaniel Carll) Goodwin, 1857-1919, letter to Edna Cudahy, 1877- 1949. Box 1 (49).
• Subject in Carl de Vidal Hundt letters [ca. 1916] to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 1 (56).
• Subject in May Robson letter (1916, Feb. 12) to “Dear Friends.” Box 2 (13).
• Subject in Mme. Yorska letters (1918-1919) to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 2 (25).
• Subject in Frank ----- letter (1919, June 24) to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 2 (28).

World War, 1914-1918

• Subject in letter to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 2 (35).

World War, 1914-1918 – Canada

• Subject in Don W. Donald letters (1918) to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 1 (41).

World War, 1914-1918 -- Washington (State)

• Subject in John P. Cudahy letters (1917-1918) to Edna Cudahy, 1877-1949. Box 1 (24)
• Subject in John P. Cudahy letter (1918, Jan. 11) to Michael Cudahy. Box 1 (27).

Zukor, Adolph, 1873-1976

• Subject in Monroe Salisbury letter [ca. 1920] to Ellen L. Cash. Box 2 (17).

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Catholic schools.
Catholic women.
Motion pictures -- Distribution.
Theater and society.
World War, 1914-1918 -- Canada.
World War, 1914-1918 -- Washington (State)
Ephemera -- 20th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.
Finding aids.

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Location of this collection:

Huntington Library, Manuscript Collections

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, CA 91108, US

Contact:

(626) 405-2191

reference@huntington.org

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