Osborne (Katherine Gillette) Collection, 1910-1943

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Summary

Title:
Katherine Gillette Osborne Collection
Dates:
1910-1943
Abstract:
Compiled by Katherine Gillette Osborne (1847ā€“1943), who was both the founder and resident director of the Boston Students' Union from 1910 until her death in 1943, the Katherine Gillette Osborne Collection includes two religious manuscripts of either southeast Asian or Middle Eastern origin and four scrapbooks, containing maps, photographs, correspondence with several government officials, and select art documenting Osborne's travels in Quebec, Switzerland from 1910-1932, and India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in the 1920s and 1930s.
Extent:
1.2 Linear Feet (3 document boxes)
Language:
Languages represented in collection: English and Sanskrit .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Katherine Gillette Osborne Collection (D.Mss.0976). Ella Strong Denison Library, Scripps College, Claremont, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The Katherine Osborne Collection consists of a set of four scrapbooks, all compiled by her, and two religious manuscripts of southeast Asian origin and likely written in Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi or Pali. The text of the bound manuscript volumes is written with the devanāgirÄ«, or nāgarÄ« script. Of great interest in this collection is a detailed map annotated by Mrs. Osborne of her travels throughout Switzerland from 1910-1932, including routes taken and years of occurrence. Another scrapbook contains fifteen years-worth of holiday cards from two or three different families, from 1929 ā€“ 1943. The remaining two scrapbooks detail, using photographs, calling cards, party invitations, and newspaper clippings, Mrs. Osborne's travels throughout India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in the 1920s and 1930s. Also included are images from her travels to Hudson Bay, near Quebec, largely featuring the landscape but select art as well. The most notable items in this collection are myriad photographs taken, primarily of young men and women, from Mrs. Osborne's travels to Afghanistan and India, as well as some correspondence in the form of invitations from several government officials installed by Britain in Afghanistan and India at the time.

Besides the four scrapbooks, the collection's prominent pieces are the two religious manuscripts, all of which feature a handful of full-color illuminated images. The text of the bound manuscript volumes is written with the devanāgirī, or nāgarī, script. Although this script is used by a variety of languages, some of which include Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi and Pali, at the time this collection was processed the language represented in the volume had not yet been identified.

Biographical / historical:

This collection was compiled by Katherine Gillette Osborne (1847 ā€“ 1943), who was both the founder and resident director of the Boston Students' Union from 1910 until her death in 1943. Listed in the 1913 publication Handbook of Opportunities for Vocational Training in Boston compiled by the Women's Municipal League of Boston, the Boston Students' Union was a boarding house suitable for young women who were students at the time. Although little else is known about Mrs. Osborne beyond her involvement at the Students' Union, she appears to have been an advocate for the education of women in the early 1900s. An additional compilation of her work, entitled "Katherine Gillette Osborne Papers," can be found at Archives and Special Collections, University Libraries, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts.

Acquisition information:
Donated in 1964.
Processing information:

Processed by Elizabeth Tati Willsmore-Finkle 2020; Revised by Helen Anderson September 2021

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two series:

  • Series 1: Scrapbooks, 1908-1943
  • Series 2: Religious texts, undated
Accruals:

No additions to the collection are anticipated.

Physical location:
Please consult repository.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Elizabeth Tati Willsmore-Finkle and Helen Anderson
Date Prepared:
Ā© 2022
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-03-02 14:40:50 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research.

Terms of access:

Please contact Ella Strong Denison Library staff for all requests for permission to reproduce or to publish.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Katherine Gillette Osborne Collection (D.Mss.0976). Ella Strong Denison Library, Scripps College, Claremont, California.

Location of this collection:
1030 Columbia Avenue, #2031
Claremont, CA 91711, US
Contact:
(909) 607-3941
Denison@scrippscollege.edu
Website