Identity elements
referentie code
Name and location of repository
Beschrijvingsniveau
Collectie
Titel
Florence Stewart and Robert Kerr Papers 1917-1963 1937-1948
Datum(s)
Omvang
3.00
Naam van de archiefvormer
Biografie
Born in Tennessee in 1890, Florence Stewart Kerr and family moved to Iowa when she was an infant. She grew up in Marshalltown and attended Grinnell College from 1908-1912 where she formed a lifelong friendship with Harry Hopkins. Florence married Robert Y. Kerr in 1915; she taught English at the College from 1921-26 and 1931-32.
In 1930 she was named a member of the Iowa Unemployment Relief Council; in 1935 Hopkins recommended her as one of five regional directors of the Division of Women's and Professional Projects within the Works Progress Administration (alternately called the Work Projects Administration). She was promoted to Assistant Administrator of the WPA and Director of the Women's and Professional Projects in 1938 and worked in Washington, D.C. until the WPA ended in 1943.
She became director of the war public services of the Federal Works Agency and later served as an executive with Northwest Airlines. She retired in the mid 1950s and lived in D.C. until her death in 1975.
Robert Y. Kerr, a native of Newton, Iowa, served on the editorial staff of The American Lumberman and as Executive Secretary of Grinnell College.
Content and structure elements
Bereik en inhoud
The collection contains an oral interview with Florence Kerr; photographs, personal correspondence (notably with President and Mrs. Roosevelt), and other items unrelated to her business life; correspondence and other materials relating to her defense activities in 1941; and materials from two productions of the Federal Theater Project.
The bulk of the collection contains correspondence, memos, and reports from her tenure with the Work Projects Administration and includes numerous WPA publications. There are two photograph albums and ten scrapbooks of newspaper clippings regarding her WPA activities.
Also included is correspondence of her husband, Robert Y. Kerr.
Ordeningstelsel
Conditions of access and use elements
Voorwaarden voor raadpleging
Physical access
Technical access
Voorwaarden voor reproductie
For permission to quote for publication from writings of the Kerrs in this collection, contact Thomas Hunter, 57 Avon Street South #28, St. Paul, MN 55105
Languages of the material
- Engels
Scripts of the material
Taal en schrift aantekeningen
Toegangen
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Geschiedenis beheer
The Kerr papers were donated to the Archives by Mrs. Kerr's nieces, Janet Stewart Hunter, Myra Stewart Boots, and Lois Stewart Cox in November 1985.
Directe bron van verwerving
Donation
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Aanvullingen
Related materials elements
Bestaan en verblifplaats van originelen
Bestaan en verblijfplaats van kopieën
Related archival materials
Kerr, Robert. Retail Lumber Sheds Sales Equipment. 1917. (shelved 82.4 .K46r)
Oversized Material Shelved Near the Kerr Collection:
7 photographs (Presidents Roosevelt and Johnson; Harry Hopkins and Diana; Robert Kerr), ca. 11 x 14
10 scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, Jan. 1939-April 1946, covering Florence Kerr's WPA activities and career
Oversized Materials Housed in Oversize #1, Manuscript Drawers:
2 photograph albums: Florence S. Kerr, Assistant Commissioner W.P.A. Her visit to Oklahoma, Feb. 1941, and Florence Kerr's W.P.A. activities, ca. 1941.
Home Defense Commission. Home Defense for America. 33 typed leaves (carbon copy), no date
4 posters
Related descriptions
Notes element
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Regels of conventies
Sources used
Trefwoorden
Onderwerp trefwoord
Geografische trefwoorden
Naam ontsluitingsterm
- Kerr, Florence S. -- Archives (Onderwerp)
- Kerr, Florence S. -- Correspondence (Onderwerp)
- Kerr, Florence S. -- Interviews (Onderwerp)
- Kerr, Robert Y. -- Correspondence (Onderwerp)
- Roosevelt, Eleanor-- Correspondence (Onderwerp)
- Roosevelt, Franklin D. -- Correspondence (Onderwerp)