Charles Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-366

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Charles Family papers document the lives of two generations of the family. A substantial portion of the documentation is personal correspondence between Harriet Blood Charles and Thomas Charles, their four daughters: Ethelwyn Charles, Mary Agnes Charles, Grace Miriam Charles and Alice Bell Charles Reid, and various friends and relatives. Many of these letters provide descriptions of student life at Oberlin College around 1893-1902. Of a separate special interest are letters from invited commencement speakers at Antioch College (Yellow Springs, Ohio) from 1854 and 1860, including William Seward, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Horace Mann. The papers also include college and church documents, various social invitations, newspaper clippings, and various personal notes.

The collection is divided into eight series. Series 1-6 contain materials, primarily correspondence, relating to each Charles family member: Harriet Blood Charles, Thomas Charles, Alice Bell Charles Reid, Ethelwyn Charles, Grace Miriam Charles, and Mary Agnes Charles. Series 7 contains correspondence of other family members and miscellaneous materials relating to the Charles family. Series 8 consists of photographs of members of the Charles family and other individuals.

Dates

Creation: 1828-1965, undated
Other: Date acquired: 2003 October 23

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

The four Charles sisters Ethlwyn Charles (1872-1969), Mary Agnes Charles (1874-1972), Grace Miriam Charles (1876-1971), and Alice Bell Charles (1878-1966) were born in Chicago, Illinois. All four sisters graduated from Oberlin College and went on to enter careers in teaching. The Chicago Public School System served as a common place of employment for Ethelwyn (1900-ca. 1937), Mary (1899-1939), and Grace (1900-1903 and 1924-1941). Alice, the only sister to marry, taught in the high school at East Aurora, Illinois (1904-1907) where she met Charles Wheeler Reid (1881-1921). They were married on July 8, 1907. After the death of her husband in 1921, Alice Reid returned to the Chicago area to live with her sisters in River Forest, Illinois. The sisters remained together during their post-retirement years, each residing until their deaths at the Dulaney Towson Nursing Home in Towson, Maryland.

Ethelwyn Charles, the eldest daughter of Thomas and Harriet Blood Charles, was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 27, 1872. After receiving an A.B. degree from Oberlin College in 1897, she pursued a life-long career in education, serving first as a teacher at the Grand River Institute in Austinburg, Ohio (1897-1898). Then, after working in her father's Chicago business (1898-1899), she accepted a position teaching history at John Marshall High School (Chicago) in 1900; there she served for many years as department head until her retirement c. 1937. During these years she also engaged in graduate studies at the University of Chicago. In addition, she was active in the Oak Park (Illinois) International Relations Study Group #1, the League of Women Voters, and the First Congregational Church on Oak Park. Ethelwyn Charles died at the Dulaney Towson Nursing Home in Towson, Maryland on January 5, 1969, at the age of 96 years.

Like her elder sister, Mary Agnes Charles (b. August 21, 1874) was born in Chicago and received her A.B. degree from Oberlin College in 1899. From 1899 to 1939 she taught in the Chicago Public School System. She was active in the First Congregational Church of Oak Park and the League of Women Voters. She was also a member of the Oberlin Women's Club of Chicago. Mary Agnes Charles died at the Towson Dulaney Nursing Home on September 13, 1972. She was 98 years of age.

A third sister, Grace Miriam Charles, was born in Chicago on August 29, 1876. She also received her A.B. from Oberlin College (in 1900). From 1900-1903 she taught in the Chicago Public School System. The following two years (1904-1905) she studied botany and zoology at the University of Chicago, earning an M.A. degree in 1905. She taught these subjects at the University of Wyoming (1905-1907) before returning to the University of Chicago to pursue doctoral studies, receiving a Ph.D. degree in 1910.

From 1910-1923, Miss Charles served as an assistant professor of botany at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. In 1921, she was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She returned to Chicago in 1924 to teach botany at Austin High School, a position from which she retired in 1941. During her years in Chicago she was active in the First Congregational Church of Oak Park, the YWCA, an International Relations Study Group, the 19th Century Women's Club, and the Oberlin Women's Club of Chicago. Grace Miriam Charles died at the Dulaney Towson Nursing Home on June 22, 1971. She was 95.

Alice Bell Charles Reid, the youngest of the four sisters, was born in Chicago on November 6, 1878, and received her A.B. degree from Oberlin College in 1902. After college, she became a teacher, first in Florida (1903-04) and then in the high school at East Aurora, Illinois (1904-1907). With her husband Charles Wheeler Reid she had two children, Harriet (1911-1997, OC ’32) and John Charles (1914-1984, OC ’35). She was a Camp Fire Guardian and a director and vice president of the River Forest Women's Club. She was also a counselor and president for Oberlin Women's Club of Chicago and a counselor for the Chicago Alumni Association. Alice Bell Charles Reid died at the Dulaney Towson Nursing Home on November 30, 1966. She was 88 years old.

Sources Consulted

Student files of each of the Charles sisters (RG 28/2)