Nan Wood Honeyman papers, 1901-1962

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Honeyman, Nan Wood, 1881-1970
Title
Nan Wood Honeyman papers
Dates
1901-1962 (inclusive)
1935-1962 (bulk)
Quantity
4.17 cubic feet, (2 document cases; 6 flat boxes)
Collection Number
Mss 193
Summary
The collection consists of scrapbooks, personal and political correspondence, clippings, invitations and announcements, pamphlets, and ephemera of Nan Wood Honeyman, the first woman from Oregon to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives (Democrat, 1937-1938).
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Nan Wood, daughter of C. E. S. Wood and Nanny Moale Smith, was born on July 15, 1881, in West Point, New York, where her father served as adjutant of the United States Military Academy. Two years later, her father resigned from the Army and moved the family to Portland, Oregon, to pursue a career in law.

Following graduation from St. Helen's Hall, Nan Wood studied at the Finch School in New York City. While attending a wedding, she met Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and developed a lasting friendship. In 1908, she married David Taylor Honeyman, an executive in his family's hardware firm in Portland, and together they had three children: Nancy, David, and Judith. She actively supported local charities and organizations as president of the Portland League of Women Voters, and a board member of Doernbecher Children's Hospital, the Oregon Mental Hygiene Society, the American Red Cross, and the Waverly Baby Home.

Nan Wood Honeyman's political involvement increased as her maternal duties waned. She chaired the Oregon division of the Woman's National Organization for Prohibition Reform, and in 1933, as president of the state constitutional convention, witnessed the ratification of the 21st Amendment and the end to Prohibition. She is best known, however, as the first woman to represent Oregon in Congress, serving Oregon's Third District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1937-1938. In her one term in Congress, she met and befriended another first-term congressman, Lyndon B. Johnson. Her congressional career was cut short when she was narrowly defeated for re-election by Republican Homer Angell, and she failed again to regain her seat in 1940. Nevertheless, she spent a lifetime cultivating her political connections and working for Democratic Party causes.

From 1941-1942, Honeyman served as the senior Pacific Coast representative of the U.S. Office of Price Administration, during which time she was also appointed to fill a vacant seat in the Oregon Senate. She resigned both posts to accept President Franklin D. Roosevelt's appointment as District 29 customs collector in Portland, a position she held for eleven years.

Late in life, she moved to Woodacre, California, where she died on December 10, 1970, leaving behind her brother Erskine Wood, son David Honeyman, daughter Nancy Robinson, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection consists of scrapbooks, personal and political correspondence, clippings, invitations and announcements, pamphlets, and ephemera, mostly relating to Nan Wood Honeyman's involvement in the Democratic Party; her public service, especially in the U.S. House of Representatives; and political friendships and relations. Correspondents represented in the collection include Alice Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, James Roosevelt, Sam Rayburn, Francis Biddle, Bernice Pyke, Adlai Stevenson, Fred Friendly, John F. Kennedy, Richard Neuberger, Wayne Morse, Lyndon Johnson, Matthew McClosky, and Monroe Sweetland. Other materials relate to her father, C.E.S. Wood, and a mural by artist Childe Hassam in the Honeymans' Portland home.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

Nan Wood Honeyman papers, Mss 193, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series:

  • Series 1: Personal papers, 1901-1962
  • Series 2: Political papers, 1936-1961
  • Series 3: Scrapbooks, 1935-1950

Acquisition Information

Gift of Nan Wood Honeyman, December 1961 (Lib. Acc. 9692).

Processing Note

Scrapbooks have been interleaved with archival tissue and boxed.

Related Materials

An additional collection of Nan Wood Honeyman's papers, designated A 053, is held at the University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, Eugene, Oregon.

Separated Materials

Theatre and concert programs, and scrapbooks compiled by Nan Wood Honeyman and her mother, Nanny Wood, were separated to Mss 1523, the Performing Arts collection, at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series 1:  Personal papers, 1901-1962,   (bulk 1952-1962) Return to Top

0.22 cubic feet, (8 folders)
Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1
Personal correspondence, incoming
1953-1962; undated
1 2
Personal correspondence, Roosevelt
Letters from Alice Roosevelt, daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, and her son James. Also includes correspondence from J. P. Butt, Roosevelt Traveling Scholar.
1901; 1944; 1952-1961
1 3
Personal correspondence, Childe Hassam mural
Includes color negative of the Childe Hassam mural in the Honeymans' home on Prospect Drive in Portland.
1956-1960
1 4
Personal correspondence, Madie Brown
Includes embroidered handkerchief made for Nan Honeyman by Madie Brown.
1959
1 5
Personal correspondence, outgoing
1953-1961
1 6
Personal papers -- invitations, programs, and ephemera
1956-1961; undated
1 7
Colonial Dames
1959
1 8
Family papers
Materials pertaining to Nan Wood Honeyman's father, C. E. S. Wood (Charles Erskine Scott Wood).
1957; undated

Series 2:  Political papers, 1936-1961Return to Top

0.23 cubic feet, (8 folders)
Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 9
Political correspondence (incoming and outgoing)
Correspondents include: Sam Rayburn, Francis Biddle, Bernice Pyke, Adlai Stevenson, Fred Friendly, John F. Kennedy, Richard Neuberger, Wayne Morse, Lyndon Johnson, Matthew McClosky, and Monroe Sweetland.
1938-1961
1 10
Congressional campaign materials
1936
1 11
Congressional campaign -- speech of C. E. S. Wood
1936 September 25
1 12
Congressional Voting Record and legislative accomplishments
1937-1938
1 13
Radio and film transcripts
undated
1 14
Invitations and programs
1953-1961; undated
1 15
Congressional District Roster
1960 March 22
1 16
Democratic Party and National Convention
1960-1961

Series 3:  Scrapbooks, 1935-1950Return to Top

3.72 cubic feet, (9 volumes in 1 document case and 6 flat boxes)

Nan Wood Honeyman's scrapbooks contain clippings, letters, programs, invitations, photographs, and ephemera, mostly relating to Oregon and national politics.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
2
Volume 1
1935
3
Volumes 2 and 6
1936; 1938-1939
4
Volume 3
1936-1937
5
Volumes 4 and 5
1937; 1938
6
Volume 7
1940
7
Volume 8
1941-1944
8
Volume 9
1945-1950

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Legislators--Oregon
  • Legislators--United States
  • Women legislators--Oregon
  • Women legislators--United States

Personal Names

  • Honeyman, Nan Wood, 1881-1970
  • Honeyman, Nan Wood, 1881-1970--Correspondence

Corporate Names

  • Democratic Party (Or.)
  • Democratic Party (U.S.)
  • United States. Congress. House

Geographical Names

  • Oregon--Politics and government--1859-1950
  • Oregon--Politics and government--1951-
  • United States--Politics and government--20th century

Form or Genre Terms

  • announcements
  • clippings (information artifacts)
  • correspondence
  • pamphlets
  • printed ephemera
  • scrapbooks