Guide to the Lawrence Family Collection
RG 15.2
Summary Information
- Repository
- Sarah Lawrence College Archives
- Title
- Lawrence Family Collection
- ID
- RG 15.2
- Date [inclusive]
- undated, 1901-2001
- Extent
- 3.0 linear feet 1 document box, 2 oversize flat boxes
- Language
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Sarah Lawrence College Archives June 2004
Sarah Lawrence College Archives1 Mead Way
Bronxville, NY, 10708
914-395-2480
archives@sarahlawrence.edu
Revision Description
Finding aid entered in Archivists' Toolkit by Elijah Black June 2012
Terms of use
The collection is open to researchers without restriction with the exception of the original scrapbook.
Acquisition note
The provenance of this collection is unknown.
Existence and Location of Originals note
The original scrapbook is restricted due to its fragile state and is housed separately in box 2.
Biographical note
William Van Duzer Lawrence, born in 1842 on a farm outside Elmira, New York, established Lawrence Park in Bronxville, New York, a housing development that catered to the artistic community in 1890. In 1908, Lawrence donated to the building of a new hospital in Bronxville, named Lawrence Hospital after its benefactor. Upon the death of his wife, Sarah, in 1926, Lawrence decided to donate his residence in Bronxville, to the establishment of an all-girls junior college. The school was named Sarah Lawrence College in honor of Lawrence’s late wife. William Van Duzer Lawrence died in 1927, less than a year after the initial founding of the Sarah Lawrence College.
Sarah Bates Lawrence, born in 1846 in Monroe, Michigan, never pursued a college education, but always emphasized higher education for young women in her lifetime. Upon moving to New York, with her husband, in 1889, Sarah Bates Lawrence became active in the New York Exchange For Women’s Work serving on its Board of Managers before becoming President of the organization. In 1916, the Lawrences bought a summer home in Daytona, Florida where Mrs. Lawrence became actively involved in African American educator Mary McLeod Bethune’s Bethune-Cookman College. Sarah Bates Lawrence died in 1926.
William and Sarah Lawrence were survived by their four children: Arthur W. Lawrence (1875-1937) , Louise Lawrence Meigs (1871-1965), Anna Lawrence Bisland (1872-1950), and Dudley Bates Lawrence (1880-1970).
Scope and Contents note
The Lawrence Family Collection consists of biographical sketches of both William Van Duzer Lawrence and Sarah Bates Lawrence. Two family genealogies are included in the papers, the first written in 1858 and the second in 1932. In addition, several revised family trees are available up to 2001. Short stories and poetry written by William V. Lawrence are included as well as correspondence between family members and former college Presidents along with proposals for the founding of Sarah Lawrence College. Several newsclippings spanning the years 1906 to 2001 are available. The majority of these are marriage announcements and Lawrence Family obituaries. A folder is included with information on Lawrence Ferlinghetti, adopted son of Anna Lawrence Bisland and Poet Laureate of San Francisco, California (1998). Lastly, a user copy of a scrapbook of obituaries for William V. Lawrence is in box 1.
Related Materials
See also
Lawrence Family Holy Bible; A Diary and Reminiscences Portraying the Life and Times of the Author, William Van Duzer Lawrence; Sketches of Lawrence Enterprises, 1888-1934, Lucia Meigs Andrews; Switchback 1899-1979, Lucia Meigs Andrews, housed in the book collection of the archives. For additional material regarding the founding of Sarah Lawrence College, see the Early History of the College Collection.
Controlled Access Headings
Genre(s)
- Correspondence
- Scrapbooks
Personal Name(s)
- Bisland, Anna Lawrence, 1872-1950
- Ferlinghetti, Lawrence
- Lawrence, Sarah Bates, 1846-1926
- Lawrence, William Van Duzer, 1842-1927
- Raushenbush, Esther
- Taylor, Harold, 1914-1993
- Tweed, Harrison, 1885-1969
- Ward, Paul L., 1911-2005
- Warren, Constance, 1880-1971
Subject(s)
- Sarah Lawrence College
Collection Inventory
| Title | Box | Folder | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Correspondence of Clifford, Margery Meigs, Granddaughter of William and Sarah Lawrence 1952-1978 | 1 | 1 | ||
Correspondence with Constance Warren concerning scholarship donation 1941-1945 | 1 | 2 | ||
Correspondence with Esther Raushenbush 1966 | 1 | 3 | ||
Correspondence with Harold Taylor 1949-1959 | 1 | 4 | ||
Correspondence with Harrison Tweed 1959-1960 | 1 | 5 | ||
Correspondence with Paul Ward 1960-1965 | 1 | 6 | ||
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence 1998, 2005 | 1 | 7 | ||
Lawrence, Bates, and Van Duzer Genealogies by Anna Lawrence Bisland 1932 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Title | Box | |||
Lawrence, Dudley Bates, Jr. - Letters Upon Discharge From the Navy 1945 | 1 | |||
| Title | Box | Folder | ||
Lawrence Family Genealogy by Thomas Lawrence 1858 | 1 | 11 | ||
| Title | Oversize | |||
Lawrence Family Newsletter (Family Fact and Fun) December 15, 1925 | Box 3 | |||
| Title | Box | Folder | ||
Lawrence Family Newspaper Clippings undated, 1906-2001 | 1 | 9 | ||
Lawrence Family Trees 1938-2000 | 1 | 10 | ||
Lawrence, Sarah Bates- biographical 1923-2001 | 1 | 12 | ||
Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Biographical material undated, 1922-1980 | 1 | 13 | ||
Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Correspondence 1901-1927 | 1 | 14 | ||
Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Last Will and Testament undated | 1 | 15 | ||
Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Letters to William Lawrence after announcing the foundation of Sarah Lawrence College undated, 1926 | 1 | 16 | ||
Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Letters to William Lawrence after announcing the foundation of Sarah Lawrence College 1927 | 1 | 17 | ||
Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Obituary Scrapbook (User Copy) 1927 | 1 | 18 | ||
Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Poetry and short stories undated, 1908-1914 | 1 | 19 | ||
Proposals for the foundation of Sarah Lawrence College 1929-1929 | 1 | 20 | ||
| Title | Box | |||
Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Obituary Scrapbook (original) 1927 | 2 | |||
Lawrence, William Van Duzer IV - Correspondence 1999 | 1 | |||
Lawrence Properties and Management Newspaper Clipping Scrapbook circa 1920s-circa 1970s | 3 | |||