Katharine Hayden Salter Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-335

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The papers of Katharine Hayden Salter document her career and life as a political writer, feminist, radical, and activist. They consist of biographical materials, correspondence, writings by Katharine Hayden Salter such as her poetry, pamphlets, letters to the editors of various publications, and books, and writings about Salter. The materials cover the period from 1915, the time of Salter’s earliest writings, to 1988, the year of her death. Her pamphlets and writings span topics including democracy in the United States, a “counter-action to Catholic Action,” and discrimination against atheistic public sentiment. These writings make up the largest portion of the collection and are a fairly complete collection of Salter's work.

Many of the writings express her strong belief that one should speak out against injustices. She focused on injustices committed by publications, such as those of conservative Catholic groups, and by individuals, including the President of the United States, other members of government, and individuals who wielded power in educational institutions like Oberlin College. Her writings and writings by others included in the collection provide a look at the debate sparked by her publications. This engagement in dialogue was a strong motivating force behind her writing.

The correspondence in this collection includes her letters to Oberlin College personnel, such as the Director of the Library, members of the Alumni Office, and the College President, as well as letters to officials at other colleges and universities, letters to the editor of a variety of newspapers, and open letters intended to provoke discussion and voice her political stances and concerns.

Dates

Creation: 1915 - 1989
Other: Date acquired: 2001 January 1

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted

Biographical Sketch

Katharine Hayden Salter was born Katharine Shepard Hayden on June 19, 1896, in Reading, PA, to Harry Johnson Hayden (OC academy, 1880-81, 1883-85) and Jessie Hinds Hayden. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1918 and pursued a career as a writer. Katharine was also a radical feminist activist and she often published political commentaries. She received her Master’s degree from Oberlin College in 1920, and pursued additional studies. As a student at Oberlin College, Katharine Shepard Hayden was a member of the Phi Alpha Phi Literary Society, secretary of the Student Government League, member of the Honor Court and League Council, Vice-President of the Union Library Association, member of the board of editors of the Literary Magazine, member of the YWCA Board, and a singer in the Musical Union. During her time as a student, she wrote poetry, and according to the 1919 edition of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine, a college anthology called The Poets of the Future included some of her poems. The Oberlin College Library holds some of her writings, including poetry.

She attended a training camp at Vassar College (1918-1919) in order to become a nurse, and followed this training with two months of nursing at Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City. After this brief career in nursing, Katharine Shepard Hayden worked as an assistant Professor of English at Berea College, in Berea, Kentucky (1920-21). She ceased working professionally once she married John Thomas Salter (AB Oberlin College 1921).

The end of her professional career by no means heralded the end of her scholarly endeavors. Katharine Hayden Salter went on to write, disseminate, and publish writing in various forms. Her writing often expressed strong opposition to the censorship of women writers and encouraged open democratic acceptance of dissenting voices (and especially women's voices). These (at the time) radical statements resulted in criticism, including that of a “A Simple Man,” whose letter was published publicly in the newspaper and ultimately prompted Salter to write Her Kitchen Fort.

Katharine's later writings, those that followed her marriage to John Thomas Salter, include “American Democracy and its Antecedents in England and America” (written in tandem with her husband and published in 1947), a number of essays, letters to the editors of newspapers including The Oberlin Times, her manuscript “The War on Republics and on the Individual,” and several manuscripts of poetry. She also wrote a great number of inflammatory political pamphlets, including “A Letter to Dr. ****,” “And Laurel Gardens Fall,” and “The Key to Carlson.” Towards the end of her life, her critical writing about individuals including Oberlin College Presidents William E. Stevenson and Robert Kenneth Carr sparked increased debate and critique.

She and her husband had five children between 1922 and 1938: Katharine Shepard, Patricia Learned, Jean Hayden, Joel Hayden, and Christopher Lord. Both Patricia and Christopher attended Oberlin College, the former in 1941-42, and the latter graduating in 1961. Katharine Salter died at the age of 92 in Greenfield, Massachusetts, in 1988.

Sources Consulted

Student file of Katharine Hayden Salter, Alumni Records (RG 28/2).

Biographical Files, 1921-89, undated.

Katharine Hayden Salter Papers, Series I (RG 30/335).

Note written by Tyler Cassidy-Heacock. Updated by Emily Rebmann.

Extent

1.40 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The papers of Katharine Hayden Salter were received from three sources – in 2001, (2001/94) as part of the transfer of materials from the Oberlin College Library Special Collections Department, from the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs, and from the Archives’ vertical file.

Accruals and Additions

Accession No: 2001/94

Processing Information

Initial arrangement and inventory by Melissa Gottwald, 2002. Additional arrangement and descriptive information (biographical sketch, scope and content, series descriptions) by Tyler Cassidy-Heacock, November 2005.