Browse: Collection Contents

The Correspondence series includes 2,985 items, the majority spanning three generations of the Grimké and Weld families. This includes incoming and outgoing letters of Sarah Moore Grimké, Angelina Emily Grimké Weld, and Theodore Dwight Weld--as well as Angelina and Theodore Weld's children Charles Stuart Faucheraud Weld, Theodore Grimké Weld, and Sarah Grimké Weld Hamilton. Later correspondence includes letters of Sarah Hamilton's daughter Angelina Grimké Hamilton. The wide-ranging subject matter includes religion (esp. Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Quakerism, Unitarianism), slavery, abolitionism, women's rights and sex equality, suffrage, education, writing and publishing, speaking and lectures, dietary reform and health, mental health, temperance, literature, courtship, child-rearing, household management, and much more. The Weld-Grimké Family Papers digitization project is in process. This site currently includes Angelina Emily Grimké's diaries only.

The Diaries series contains 16 diaries: Nine by Sarah Grimké, seven by Angelina Grimké, and one by Louis Weld. Sarah's diaries date from 1819 to 1836 and they contain poetry, scripture, and her thoughts on religion and marriage. She also reflected on women's issues, on her experiences as a Quaker, and about her daily experiences. Angelina's diaries date from 1828 to approximately 1835 and record her transition between the Presbyterian and Quaker faiths, her relationship with her sister, slavery, and abolitionism. One Angelina Grimké manuscript (beginning, "I think I have sincerely desired to receive a right qualification...") relates to her courtship with Edward Bettle, who died of cholera in 1832. The Weld-Grimké Family Papers digitization project is in process. This site currently includes Angelina Emily Grimké's diaries only.

The Documents and Receipts series includes 11 items. Among them are the vellum marriage certificate of Angelina E. Grimké and Theodore Weld (May 14, 1838), a list of names of attendees at a Woman's Journal reception for Theodore Weld (October 21, 1891, the 56th anniversary of "Boston Mob Day"), a typed copy of Theodore Weld's last will and testament (November 22, 1893), a typed "Catalogue of Anti-Slavery Books, Newspapers and Periodicals," a character reading of Sarah M. Grimké, and several receipts.The Weld-Grimké Family Papers digitization project is in process. This site currently includes Angelina Emily Grimké's diaries only.

The Notebooks and Writings series consists of essays, lecture notes, and 39 notebooks kept by various members of the Weld-Grimké family. Theodore Weld's essays cover a diversity of subjects, including the oppression of women, Shakespeare's works, William Lloyd Garrison, abolition, and subjects related to political philosophy. Approximately eight notebooks belonging to Sarah M. Grimké are also in the collection; these include essays on women's political rights, the education of women, and the status of women in society. Her essays "Sisters of Charity" and "The Condition of Woman" are among the notebooks with titles. The series also includes Angelina Grimké's lecture notes and several undated autobiographical essays by Weld and his children. Of note is a biography of Theodore Weld written on 22 notepads by his daughter Sarah Grimké Weld Hamilton. The Weld-Grimké Family Papers digitization project is in process. This site currently includes Angelina Emily Grimké's diaries only.

The Photographs series contains loose images in multiple photographic formats, including 18 cartes-de-visite, 17 cabinet cards, 5 developing out prints, 1 card-mounted photograph, and one quarter-plate daguerreotype of the Weld-Grimké family by Greenleaf Weld. Also present are a Weld family album of cartes-de-visite and a photo album related to Eagleswood Academy, containing cartes-de-visite and tintypes.The Weld-Grimké Family Papers digitization project is in process. This site currently includes Angelina Emily Grimké's diaries only.

The Printed Items series is made up of nearly 200 newspaper clippings, pamphlets, broadsides, and cards. The clippings mainly pertain to the topics of slavery and abolition movements; some also concern women's rights and the legacies of Theodore Weld and the Grimké sisters. Also included are family members' obituaries, including those of Sarah Moore Grimké. Nine family Bibles and Books of Common Prayer are also included, dating from 1740 to circa 1921. The Weld-Grimké Family Papers digitization project is in process. This site currently includes Angelina Emily Grimké's diaries only.

The Realia and Ephemera series contains objects associated with the Weld-Grimké family, including hair, a Chinese ivory sewing box (gift of Benjamin Grimké), a cameo brooch, Angelina's eyeglasses and case, a silver Addison watch, a quilt presented by Eagleswood students, a pocketknife belonging to Theodore Weld, a Chinese fan, a silhouette of Angelina G. Weld, and 17 elegant hand-cut valentines. Most of the items date to the mid-19th century. The Weld-Grimké Family Papers digitization project is in process. This site currently includes Angelina Emily Grimké's diaries only.