Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Catherine Cooper papers
- Dates:
- 1927 November 11 - 1976 January 24
- Creators:
- Catherine Cooper
- Abstract:
- The Catherine Cooper Papers offer an in depth insight into the life of one woman living in the early 20th Century, preserving her reflections on life, love, and education. Cooper was an avid writer from an early age who submitted essays to the Pioneer Press paper and wrote short stories. She also kept detailed diaries from her teenage years and the letters she wrote to her friends and families, which make up the bulk of the collection. There is also an abundance of ephemera she collected throughout her life to remember her time as a student at the University of Minnesota and as a teacher at Marshall High School, Minnesota.
- Extent:
- 5 Linear Feet (2 records boxes, 1 document box, 1 oversized document box, 1 flat box)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Catherine Cooper Papers (Collection H.Mss.1108). Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
This collection contains materials related to the personal life of Catherine Cooper. The majority of the collection is comprised of her diaries and correspondence between family and friends. There are also two scrapbooks, containing items laid-in such as newspaper clippings and programs from productions at the University of Minnesota and Marshall High School, Minnesota. Other folders also contain playbills, theatre programs and magazines, reflecting her interests. She collected assorted ephemera from her life including newspaper clippings, postcards, photographs of friends, leaflets from her travels, tickets from transport and shows, receipts and napkins. Also contains ephemera from her time as a teacher, including test papers, copies of students work and announcements, and drafts of her own writing.
- Biographical / historical:
-
The Catherine Cooper papers came to the library though a donor who came across the materials while clearing out an old storage unit. The collection begins with Catherine Cooper's diaries at the age of 12, in which she writes about her time at school, her relationships with teachers, friends and family and her hopes for the future, including becoming a teacher and a writer. The scrapbook of her essay submissions to the Pioneer Press newspaper also reflect this, as she enthusiastically contributed to the competition in order to improve her writing. From there, she went on to study at the University of Minnesota in the late 1930s. Her scrapbooks demonstrate she was actively involved in student life, both socially and politically, as well as the theater department. Around 1940, she began working as an English teacher at Marshall High School in Minnesota, helping to direct school plays. In April of that year, she was involved in a serious car crash which resulted in medical treatment and a legal battle. When America joined World War II in 1941, Cooper exchanged letters with her past students, as well as her brother Gus Cooper, who were all drafted, with her brother serving in North Africa. In that same year, her letters detail how she fell in love with and eventually married a man called Arthur Raine. The rest of the collection mainly comprises of their correspondence to each other and correspondence with his family. In January 1945, she suffered a miscarriage and had to go into hospital, and she kept all of the letters she exchanged in that time. Into the 1950s and beyond, the collection is sparser, but she kept newspaper clippings which discussed the involvement of school students in the Vietnam War protests as well as a few letters and articles.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Stewart S. Johnson, 2018.
- Processing information:
-
Processed in 2018 by Katriona Lawrenson in the Special Collections branch of the Honnold Mudd Library with assistance from Sara Chetney. Materials have been rehoused in acid free folders and boxes. Materials have been organized alphabetically by type, and then chronologically within each type.
- Accruals:
-
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
- Physical location:
- Please consult repository.
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 2019
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2019-03-26 16:49:42 +0000 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Catherine Cooper Papers (Collection H.Mss.1108). Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
800 N. Dartmouth Ave.Claremont, CA 91711, US
- Contact:
- (909) 607‑3977