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Cudahy Family Papers: Finding Aid
mssCudahy family
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Title: Cudahy Family Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1901-1925
Collection Number: mssCudahy family
Creator:
Cudahy family.
Extent: 319 items in 2 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
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.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Cudahy Family Papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Purchased from C. Apfelbaum, November 8, 1988.
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.
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.
Correspondence arranged alphabetically in Boxes 1-2, followed by ephemera at the end of Box 2.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Cudahy family.
Hodgkinson, W.
W.
Loew,
Marcus.
Zukor, Adolph,
1873-1976.
Associated First
National Pictures, Inc.
Paramount Pictures.
Catholic schools.
Catholic women.
Motion pictures --
Distribution.
Theater and society.
World War, 1914-1918 --
Canada.
World War, 1914-1918 -- Washington
(State)
Hollywood (Los Angeles,
Calif.)
Pasadena
(Calif.)
Santa Catalina Island
(Calif.)
Ephemera -- 20th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- 20th
century.
Finding aids.
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).