Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Biographical Note
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Related Material
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
| Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
|---|---|
| Creator: | Zimand, Gertrude Folks, 1894-1966 |
| Creator: | Zimand, Savel, 1891- |
| Title: | Gertrude Folks Zimand and Savel Zimand Papers |
| Dates: | 1911-1958 |
| Quantity: | 0.6 cubic feet (3 boxes) |
| Abstract: | The Zimand papers primarily concern Gertrude Folks Zimand's work in France during World War I with the American Committee for Devastated France. There is additional biographical materials as well as items relating to her father, Homer Folks, Zimand's publications, and her work with the National Child Labor Committee. There is also a significant collection of material relating to Savel Zimand's work as a writer and journalist. |
Biographical Note
Gertrude Folks Zimand (1894-1966) was born in New York City and graduated from Vassar College in 1916. As an undergraduate she was head of the Suffrage Club and the Socialist Club; she was also active in the Settlement Association and the debating society. After graduation Gertrude Folks became a field investigator for the National Child Labor Committee, an organization which her father, Homer Folks, had helped found in 1904. When her Vassar classmates selected her for the Borden Memorial Fund Prize for a year of travel, she decided to use the money to work in France. After a brief stint with the American Red Cross she returned to work with the National Child Labor Committee, devoting the rest of her life to the problems of child labor. She wrote extensively on that subject, publishing several books and editing the committee’s magazine American Child. Gertrude Folks Zimand served as both general secretary and a trustee of the National Child Labor Committee and was a founder of its National Committee on Employment of Youth. She was married in 1926 to Savel Zimand, a writer and correspondent for several newspapers including the New York Times and New York Evening Post. As one of the foremost campaigners against child labor abuses, she fought for an eight-hour work day for children and for a law to keep children in school until the age of fourteen. She also fought for a constitutional amendment outlawing child labor.
Savel Zimand (1891-1967)was born in Rumania. He came to the United States in 1913. He was a writer, educator and advocate for public health and economic reform. His work took him around the world and introduced him to luminaries in the arts, sciences and politics.
TopScope and Content Note
The Zimand papers primarily concern Gertrude Folks Zimand's work in France during World War I with the American Committee for Devastated France and include a diary for 1917, letters written to her family, 1917-1919, and photographs. Other items include a tribute to her father, Homer Folks, Zimand's publications, the 1911 Yonkers High School yearbook, letters received on her retirement from the National Child Labor Committee, 1955, an inventory of her papers at the Social Welfare History Archives Center, University of Minnesota, and biographical material.
There is also material relating to Savel Zimand's work as a journalist. Correspondents include the painter, Jack B. Yeats; poet George Russell (AE); historian and supporter of Irish independence, Alice Green; Mizra Ismail, the Diwan of Mysore (now Karnataka, India); biologist and sociologist, Patrick Geddes; Irish labor leader and politician, Robert Smillie; and a variety of other political, cultural and social figures.
TopAccess and Use
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
Permission to quote (publish) from unpublished or previously published material must be obtained as described in the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library.
Subject Headings
Names:
- Folks family
- Folks, Homer, 1867-1963
- Geddes, Patrick, Sir, 1854-1932
- Green, Alice Stopford, 1848-1929
- Ismail, Mirza M., Sir, 1883-
- Russell, George William, 1867-1935
- Smillie, Robert, 1857-1940
- Yeats, Jack Butler, 1871-1957
Organizations:
- American Committee for Devastated France
- National Child Labor Committee (U.S.)
- University of Minnesota. Social Welfare History Archives Center
- Yonkers High School (Yonkers, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Children--Employment
- International relief--France
- Journalists
- War--Women's work
- Women--Diaries
- World War, 1914-1918--France
- World War, 1914-1918--War work
Places:
- France--Description and travel
- United States--Social conditions
Document Types:
- Diaries
- Photographs
VCL Categories
- Children and Children's Literature
- Journalism
- War and War Crimes
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Gertrude Folks Zimand and Savel Zimand Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Original processing date unknown. Last updated March 2007 by Laura Streett.
Description of Savel Zimand material in boxes 2 and 3 added to guide in March 2007 by Laura Streett.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Savel Zimand.
Series List
Series I. Gertrude Folks Zimand (Boxes 1-3) |
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Series II. Savel Zimand (Boxes 2-3, Multiple Collections, Box 8) |
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Container List
Return to the Table of Contents
Details
The Zimand papers primarily concern Gertrude Folks Zimand's work in France during World War I with the American Committee for Devastated France. There is additional biographical materials as well as items relating to her father, Homer Folks, Zimand's publications, and her work with the National Child Labor Committee. There is also a significant collection of material relating to Savel Zimand's work as a writer and journalist.
