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Emmanuel Taylor Gordon papers, 1881-1980

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Gordon, Taylor, 1893-1971
Title
Emmanuel Taylor Gordon papers
Dates
1881-1980 (inclusive)
Quantity
9.0 linear feet
Collection Number
MC 150 (collection)
Summary
Taylor Gordon was a Black singer and author who grew up in White Sulphur Springs, Montana. Collection (1882-1980) includes letters, writings, financial records, and clippings for Taylor; his sister Rose Gordon, a White Sulphur Springs business woman and physical therapist; and other members of the Gordon family; the Florence Mining Company; and the Democratic party in Montana.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Emmanuel Taylor Gordon, was born April 29, 1893, in White Sulphur Springs, Montana, the youngest of five children of John Francis Gordon and Mary Anna Goodall Gordon. In Cairo, Illinois, in 1879, John Gordon, who claimed descent from Zulu ancestors, married Mary Anna Goodall, who had been born in slavery in Bourbon County, Kentucky, in 1853. The couple, and their baby son Robert, moved to Montana from Illinois in 1881, coming up the Missouri River on a steamboat. John Gordon worked as a cook in the mining camps of Barker and Castle. Their daughter Rose was born in Barker in 1883. About 1884 or 1885 the family moved to White Sulphur Springs where they remained--- the town's only African American family. The senior Gordon left White Sulphur Springs in 1895, headed for the Alaska gold fields. The family believed he was killed in a train wreck in Canada. His widow Mary Gordon raised the children alone, supporting the family primarily by working as a laundress.

Young Taylor, or "Mannie", Gordon spent his early years attending the local school and doing a variety of odd jobs, including cowboying, carrying messages for the local bawdy houses, and working as a automobile driver-mechanic. It was in this capacity that he met circus owner John Ringling who had a ranch near White Sulphur Springs. About 1910, when Taylor was 17, Ringling hired him as chauffeur for his Smith River Development Company. He later hired Gordon as chef and porter on his private railroad car. Taylor traveled around the U.S. on the train, experiencing for the first time the prejudice and discrimination facing blacks in the 1910s and 1920s. In New York City, Gordon became involved in the "Harlem Renaissance." He joined with pianist Rosamond Johnson in 1925 in a musical vaudeville act, performing Negro spirituals. The act toured for several years, including a series of concerts in Europe in 1927, before dissolving in the early 1930s. Gordon also performed on Broadway and acted in one movie, The Emperor Jones, with Paul Robeson. In 1929 Gordon's autobiography Born to Be was published (reprinted in 1975 and 1995).

Gordon returned to White Sulphur Springs in 1935 and spent the winter of that year snowbound in a cabin at Sheep Creek Ranch. During this time he wrote a novel, entitled Daonda, but his efforts to have it published were not successful. In addition, it became increasingly difficult for Gordon to make a living as his attempts to renew his musical career failed. He eventually turned to inventing toys and working as a lathe operator in a New Jersey B-29 factory during the World War II.

Gordon suffered a mental breakdown in 1947, and was hospitalized in New York for most of the following twelve years. He became increasingly paranoid, his problems being exacerbated by a dispute with John Steinbeck's publisher Viking Press. Gordon had previously submitted Daonda to the same publisher, and he believed that Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath had been plagiarized from his work. The feeling of having been cheated out of wealth and fame, and the subsequent belief that he was continually under electronic surveillance by the government, dominated much of the rest of Taylor Gordon's life.

In February 1959, Gordon was released from Central Islip Hospital to the care of his sister, Rose Gordon, who still resided in White Sulphur Springs. He lived there quietly, surviving on rental incomes and an antique business. He also occasionally gave concerts and talks for local groups. He continued to write, including the 1970 Born To Be Sequel, but his only publication was a 1967 booklet entitled The Man Who Built the Stone Castle describing White Sulphur Springs' historic landmark and its creator, B.R. Sherman. Taylor Gordon died on May 5, 1971.

Taylor Gordon had three older brothers besides his sister, Rose. Robert James Gordon (Bob) (1881-1962) was born in Cairo, Illinois, and lived in White Sulphur Springs working many years as the custodian for the Sherman Hotel and the First National Bank; Rose Beatris Gordon (1883-1968) was born in Barker, Montana, and lived in White Sulphur Springs operating several businesses (Rose's Cafe, Kentucky Kitchen, Gordon Novelty) and working as a physical therapist; John Francis (Sam) Gordon, Jr., (1885-1952) was born in White Sulphur Springs and worked thirty years for the Dollar Steamship Line headquartered in Seattle; George Washington Gordon (1888-1948) was born in White Sulphur Springs and served 29 years as a Steward for the Bozeman Elks Club.

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Content Description

The collection is arranged into four subgroups. The first two are Taylor Gordon and Rose Gordon, each including correspondence, financial records, legal documents, writings, clippings, and miscellany. Correspondence addressed to both Taylor and Rose is filed in a separate chronological order in the Taylor Gordon subgroup as incoming correspondence. A third subgroup for the Gordon Family contains the materials of other family members. Correspondence from Taylor and Rose to the family is included in this series and is noted in the inventory. The final subgroup is Miscellany and contains materials for the White Sulphur Springs school; Florence Mining Company; Frank Phelps; Jessie and William Wellman; C.H. and P.H. Willard; Maud W. Crosby; Charles Tipton; Frank, Richard G., Mary L., and Charles H. Wight; etc.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. The Library & Archives does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. Helena, Montana.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged by subgroup and series.

Location of Collection

7:4-1

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request.

Separated Materials

Photographs, artifacts, and publications(including maps and music) transferred to the Photograph Archives, Museum, and Library respectively. See inventory below for more information.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

  • Emmanuel Taylor Gordon

    • Biographical Materials

    • Incoming Correspondence

      • Description: Otto Asherman
        Dates: 1920
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 2
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Bozeman Women's Club; Mrs. C. G. Carter; D.Y. Chanler; Mrs. Henry Foster; Grace Gile; George Gordon; Helena Progressive League; E. Janzig; Mrs. Smith Ely Jelliffe; Mrs. D.A. Mackintosh; New York Department of Taxation and Finance; Ringling Public Schools)
        Dates: 1935
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 3
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: C-P (correspondents include Caxton Printers Calwell Idaho; Mrs. A.C. Pearson)
        Dates: 1936-1937
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 4
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: C-G (correspondents include Bertha Mae Cotton; Rose Gordon re death of George; Robert Gordon)
        Dates: 1948
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 5
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-G (correspondents include Harry Bragg; Rose Gordon)
        Dates: 1952
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 6
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Robert Gordon
        Dates: 1953
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 7
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-U (correspondence include William Burgess; Robert Gordon; United States Office of Selective Service)
        Dates: 1955
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 8
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Rose Gordon
        Dates: 1956
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 9
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Reverend J. Phillip Anshutz (re visits to Central Eslip Hospital in New York)
        Dates: 1957
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 10
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-S (correspondents include Reverend J. Phillip Anshutz; Rose Gordon; State of New York Central Islip State Hospital; (?) Swain)
        Dates: 1958
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 11
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-S (correspondents include Reverend J. Phillip Anshutz; Rose Gordon; Library of Congress Copyright Office; State of New York Central Islip State Hospital; Olyvia Wyndham)
        Dates: 1959
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 12
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-Y (correspondents include Reverend J. Phillip Anshutz; Caragie Book Shop, Chicago; Montana State University; (?) Swain; Viking Press)
        Dates: 1960
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 13
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: G-W (correspondents include Gulf State Lands & Industries; Webb & Knapp, New York re Cumberland Mine in Castle, Montana)
        Dates: 1961
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 14
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: G-W (correspondents include A.B. Guthrie; Josef Sklower; Robert Thrun; Mrs. Franklin Benjamin Tuttle; United States Social Security)
        Dates: 1962
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 15
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Bob & Gladys Benzie; Caragie Book Shop, Chicago; A.B. Guthrie; Mrs. Philip Harmon; Viking Press Inc.; Olivia Wyndham)
        Dates: 1963
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 16
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: J-M (correspondents include Lawrence Johnston; Mrs. Harold E. Kimball; Mike Mansfield)
        Dates: 1964
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 17
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-Y (correspondents include American Finance Corporation; Empire Savings and Loan; Mrs. Harold Kimball; Mike Mansfield; United States Department of the Treasury; Viking Press)
        Dates: 1965
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 18
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: C-U (correspondents include Chemical Bank New York; Nora Daniels; Exposition Press; Ron Hill; Olivia King; Julia Klaue; Mary McCusker; the United States Department of State; the White House Washington)
        Dates: 1966
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 19
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-W (correspondents include Norma Ashby; Charles Donahoe; Exposition Press; George Kiehl; Olive King; Julia Klaue; Nadene McClellan; State of New York, Governor's Office; United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; United States Department of State;Viking Press)
        Dates: 1967
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 20
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-U (primarily condolences on death of Rose Gordon. Correspondents include Margaret Allen; John Austin; Reno Banks; Robert Bates; Clinton Backus; Octavia Bridgewater; John Buchanan; Estelle Chaffin; Walt Coburn; Theresa Conway Ivan Doig; Walter Donahoe; John Dron; Edith Elliott; Mrs. Ed Erickson; Walter Forsman; Laura Carrier French; Mary Haaland; Margaret Haney; Ervin Huus; Francis Kern; Doris Kimball; Julia Kalue; Mike Mansfield; Josephine Mueller; NAACP; Margaret Schneider; Jospine Scott; Wilhelmina Sharpe; Hal Stearns; Alice Stewart; "?" Swain; Mrs. Richard Volks; Mrs. O. S. Warden; The White House; Virginia M. Wolke)
        Dates: 1968
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 21
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-U (correspondents include Florence Anderson; Mable Anderson; Clinton Backus; Reno Banks; Stanley Bell; Octavia Bridgewater; Elizabeth Campbell; Leo Cadwell; Theresa Conway; Agnes Corey; Dorothy Dawdle; Gerald Hunt; Mrs. George Kiehl; Julia Klaue; Mrs. Thomas McClellan; Mike Mansfield; Wilhelmina Sharpe; Mrs. O. S. Warden)
        Dates: 1969
        Container: Box/Folder 1 / 22
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-W (correspondents include Chester Arthur III; Clinton Backus; Ruthy Brewer; Jane Carlson; David Cooper; Agney Corey; Jack Duranceau; Mary Haaland; Robert Hemenway; Doris and Howard Kimball; Fay Kuhlman; E. E. MacGilvra; Nadene McClellan; Mike Mansfield; Vivian Paladin; United States Department of Justice; University of Washington Press)
        Dates: 1970
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-W (correspondents include Chestser Arthur III; Ruthy Brewer; Nola Cady; National Association of Colored People; University of Washington Press)
        Dates: 1971
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-M (correspondents include Sally and Stan Bell; Ted Byers; Rose Gordon; Mike Mansfield)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-K (correspondents include Ruthy Brewer; Olive King; Julia Klaue)
        Dates: 1959
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Ruthy Brewer; Doris Kimball; Mary and Art Williams)
        Dates: 1960
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-G (correspondents include Ruthy Brewer; Laura Blewett Gregory)
        Dates: 1961
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-M (correspondents include Ruthy Brewer; Martha Meachen)
        Dates: 1962
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-R (correspondents include Ruthy Brewer; Margie Gavne; Thelma Rogers)
        Dates: 1963
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 8
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-M (correspondents include Margie Austin; Catherine Bonine; Elizabeth Campbell; Marie Jaeger; Julia Klaue; Ralph and Stephanie Moore)
        Dates: 1964
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 9
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-K (correspondents include Minnie and John Astin; Ruthy Brewer; Grace Stone Coates; Jennie Edwards; Mrs. Ed Erickson; Jim and Gena Gabrielson; Doris and Harold Kimball; Julia Klaue)
        Dates: 1965
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 10
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Ruthy Brewer; Jennie Edwards; Jim and Gena Gabrielson; Julia Klaue; Margaret Schneider; Wilmelmina Sharpe; Kathleen Waggoner)
        Dates: 1966
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 11
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Gertrude Backus; Margaret and Cathlene Betzel; Ruthie Brewer; Elizabeth Campbell; Rosie Conway; James Gabrielson; Evert and Olive Harry; Olive King; Julia Klaue; Nadine McClellan; Maude Perham; Bula Pinnell; Wilhelmine Sharpe)
        Dates: 1967
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 12
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Clinton Backus; Margaret Betzel; Ruthy Brewer; Alice Chapin; Ivan Doig; Doris Kimball; Charels Mecklenburg; Margaret Schneider; Wilhelmine Sharpe ; Arthur Smith)
        Dates: 1968
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 13
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-S (correspondents include Reno Banks; Helena Hughes; Wilhelmina Sharpe)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 14
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Incoming Correspondence

    • Outgoing Correspondence

      • Description: Letters to Grace Stone Coates and Kelley Ford
        Dates: 1927
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 15
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Outgoing Correspondence
      • Description: Letters to Walter M. Hill
        Dates: 1935
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 16
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Outgoing Correspondence
      • Description: Letters to friends, family and various officials regarding his career, finances, his case against John Steinbeck and his illness (correspondents include New York District Attorney's Office, FBI, Central Islep State Hospital, Senator John McClellan; Dr. Francis O'Neill, Rev. J. Phillip Aushutz; Wlater Winchell; Edward Cummings; Mrs. Elizabeth Hill; Harry Foster; Clerk of the Supreme Court of New York; Social Security Bureau; J. Edgar Hoover; YMCA (New York City); Crown Publishers; Viking Press; U.S. Selective Service; Gulf State Land & Industries Inc. (New York))
        Dates: 1951-1961
        Container: Box/Folder 2 / 17-20
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Outgoing Correspondence
      • Description: Letters to friends and family regarding personal life, local history of White Sulphur Springs, and finances (correspondents include Ruthy Brewer; William Hensley; Nobel Prize Committee (re award to John Steinbeck); Viking Press; Robert Benzie; Mrs. Francis Kern; Roy Merril; Carl Van Vechten; Governor Nelson Rockefeller; Lyndon B. Johnson; Lucius Delany; Mike Mansfield; J. Edgar Hoover; Telegram and Sun; William Zeckendorf; Murry Printing Company; Senator Bible; John Ringling; Cornelius Sampson; Clinton Backus; Wilhelmina Sharp; Sears and Roebuck; William Crowley (U of M law professor--letter regarding prostitution; E.E. MacGilvra; Vivian Paladin; Ruthie Brewer; Robert Hemenway; Harold Kimball; )
        Dates: 1962-1971; undated
        Container: Box/Folder 3 / 1-10
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Outgoing Correspondence

    • Court Papers

    • Financial Records

    • Maps

      • Description: List of maps transferred to Library (maps primarily relating to Montana History)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 4 / 6
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Maps

    • Photographs

    • Speeches

      • Description: Autobiographical talk given to White Sulphur Springs Rotary Club
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 4 / 8
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Speeches

    • Writings

      • Description: Zegabo Dream (typescript)
        Dates: 1933
        Container: Box/Folder 4 / 9-10
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: Daonda (typescript and excerpts used as evidence of his plagiarism claims against John Steinbeck)
        Dates: 1935, 1942
        Container: Box/Folder 4 / 11-13
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "The Assembly Line Blues" (poem)
        Dates: 1945
        Container: Box/Folder 4 / 14
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "Symptoms of Crackedpotanastrophe" by Professor Longtyme Stupidmass
        Dates: 1946
        Container: Box/Folder 4 / 15
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "Sixteen Months Imprisoned in a Madhouse" (handwritten draft)
        Dates: 1948
        Container: Box/Folder 4 / 16-17
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: The Man Who Built the Stone Castle (typescript, draft and notes, published versions)
        Dates: undated, 1967
        Container: Box/Folder 5 / 1-2
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: Born To Be Sequel (typescript, draft and notes)
        Dates: 1970
        Container: Box/Folder 5 / 3-5
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "Between Light and Dark" (typescript draft)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 5 / 6
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "Peace by Scientific Method" (typescript draft)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 5 / 7
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: Music lyrics and notes
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 5 / 8
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings
      • Description: Miscellaneous notes
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 6 / 1
        Location: Emmanuel Taylor Gordon / Writings

    • Miscellany

  • Rose Gordon

    • Incoming Correspondence

      • Description: Anna and Robert Gordon
        Dates: 1907-1919
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 1
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Taylor Gordon
        Dates: 1906-1919
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 2
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: George Gordon
        Dates: 1921-1929
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 3
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Taylor Gordon
        Dates: 1921-1935
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 4-6
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-W (correspondents include Grayce Allen; PFC Scott Allen; Ruth Brewer; Ada Hicks; Dr. A.J. Hossbein; Gladys Schneider; Grant Schmid; J. Scott, M.L. Wright)
        Dates: 1940-1943
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 7
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: F-W (correspondents include Phoebe Fuller; Mrs. Deuthold (no first name given); Library of Congress; N. Mackintosh ; Grant Murphy; Margaret Smith; Annie Walton)
        Dates: 1944-1945
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 8
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-R (correspondents include Philip Anshutz; Beverly Bohna; Ruth Brewer; Octavia Bridgewater (?); Montana State Federation of Negro Women's Clubs; Manhattan State Hospital (New York); Eva Robinson )
        Dates: 1946-1947
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 9
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-M (correspondents include Scott Allen; Florence Anderson; Ruth Brewer; Caxton Publishers; The College of Swedish Massage; Theresa Conway; Ella Hanson; Viva Harris; Geraldine McCarty; Mrs. MacIntosh; Manhattan State Hospital)
        Dates: 1948-1949
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 10
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-R (correspondents include Mrs. W.O. Atkins; M. Austin; Alberta Bair; John Gordon; M.C. Haines; Maude Krugman; Nellie Lowe; Florence Motsinger; Mary Redfield; Anonymous letter telling Ms. Gordon not to run for mayor's office in White Sulphur)
        Dates: 1950-1951
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 11
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Jim Benkley; Grace Stone Coates; Maude Crosby; Mabel Ferris; Nora Buckley; Mrs. T. L. Gardner; Robert Gordon; Sam Gordon; Francis Kathman; Helen Kelly; Edith Rader; Emma Wood )
        Dates: 1952
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 12
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Ruth Brewer; Ray Brewington; Mrs. Harry Ford; W.J. Harrison; Harold Manley; Manhattan State Hospital; Mrs. Courtenay Terrett; Joseph Wilson)
        Dates: 1953
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 13
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Battle Creek Equipment Company (re muscle exerciser); Margaret McCourt; Sadie Davis; Ruth Erius; Central Islip State Hospital; Lester Saltzman; Harry Speich (attorney); Yellowstone Park Company)
        Dates: 1954
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 14
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Taylor Gordon
        Dates: 1950-1954
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 15
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-W (correspondents include Margaret Betzel; Sadie Davis; Copley Enos; Montana Chest X-Ray Survey; Central Islip State Hospital; Radian Health Products; Western Benefit Association)
        Dates: 1955
        Container: Box/Folder 7 / 16
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Ruth Brewer; Central Islip State Hospital; Ferna Stark; E.J. Whicker)
        Dates: 1956
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 1
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Taylor Gordon
        Dates: 1956
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 2
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-W (correspondents include Rev. Anshutz; Ruth Brewer; Central Islip Hospital; Doris Chandler; Sadie Davis; Mollie Gross; Mary Haaland; Hilda House; Anna Ivanhoff; Julia Klaue; Olive McDonald; June Pugh; Bob Solinger; Genny Stoganoff; Charles Tipton; Vitazone Company; Joseph Wilson
        Dates: 1957
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 3
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Taylor Gordon
        Dates: 1957
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 4
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-T (correspondents include Rev. Anshutz; Ruth Brewer; Central Islip State Hospital; Doris Chandler; Grace Stones Coates; William Davis; Laura Gregory; Elizabeth Hill; Tom McClellan; Olive McDonald; Ralph Moore; Martha Proctor; Lillian Sutter; Bessie Trumble)
        Dates: 1958
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 5
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Taylor Gordon
        Dates: 1958
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 6
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-W (correspondents include Rev. Anshutz; Caxton Printers; Central Islip State Hospital; Willard Harris; Elizabeth Hill; Montana State Physical Therapy Association; Moxley Massage Equipment; Martha Proctor; The Torrance Company (pharmaceuticals); Mary Williams)
        Dates: 1959
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 7
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Taylor Gordon
        Dates: 1959
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 8
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-T (correspondents include American Republic Insurance Company; Montana Industrial Accident Board; Mrs. Charles Tipton)
        Dates: 1960
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 9
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: C-M (correspondents include Frank Campbell; Alfred Doughterty; Episcopal Churchwomen of Montana; Emily Kempf; Olive King; Donald Lucas (Montana legislator); Montana Physician's Service)
        Dates: 1961
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 10
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-M (correspondents include Louis Allard; Margaret Ford; Rosie Conway; Margie Gavney; Olive King; Mike Mansfield)
        Dates: 1961
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 11
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-S (correspondents include Arthur Bice; Ruth Censer; Margie Gavne; State of Montana Industrial Accident Board)
        Dates: 1963
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 12
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Gerturde Backus; Buzz Buchanan; Rosie Conway; Billy Davis; Mrs. James Kearns; Episcopal Churchwomen of Montana; Betty Fray; Mrs. Harold Kimball; Patricia Whitehorn)
        Dates: 1964
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 13
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Rev. Anshutz; Arthur Bice; Nell Butler; Ginny Gayman; Romma Gaffrey; Olive King; Robert Smith; Art Watson; Lucille Wetherill)
        Dates: 1965
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 14
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include John Butler; Eva Clark; Dorothea Dawdle; Dola Driessen; Jennie Edwards; Romma Gaffrey; Mrs. Harold Kimball; Julia Klaue; Grace Lampitt; Mrs. Thomas McClellan; Lola Mayer; Montana Physicians Service; Josephine Mueller; Bob Reaves; Kathlene Waggoner)
        Dates: 1966
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 15
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Hattie Amend; Rebecca Anderson; Rosie Conway; John Danzer; Dola Driessen; Jennie Edwards; Mrs. Donald Gayman; Mary Haaland; Lacy Kern; Olivia King; Mrs. Thomas McClelland; Wilhelmia Sharpe; Beatrice Simmes; Edna Thomas; Lucille Wetherell; Virginia Wolfe)
        Dates: 1967
        Container: Box/Folder 8 / 16
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: B-W (correspondents include Clinton Backus; John "Buzz" Buchanan; Isabel Choquett; Rosie Conway; Francis Kern; Olive King; R.T. O'Neil; Fern Stark; James Wolfe)
        Dates: 1968
        Container: Box/Folder 9 / 1
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: A-W (correspondents include Scott Allen; Mary Brazier; A.L. Gesche; Mollie Gross; Aubrey Haley; Mabel Kiehl; Olive King; Gladys Schoeder; Wilhelmenia Sharpe; Elizabeth Webb)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 9 / 2
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence
      • Description: Taylor Gordon
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 9 / 3
        Location: Rose Gordon / Incoming Correspondence

    • Outgoing Correspondence

      • Description: Letters by Rose (correspondents include Grace Stone Coates; Jessie Moore; Roy Ayers; Senator Burton K. Wheeler; Rose McFillon; Francis O'Neil; Dr. J.R. Simms; Rev. Anshutz)
        Dates: 1927-1966, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 9 / 4-5
        Location: Rose Gordon / Outgoing Correspondence

    • Court Papers

      • Description: Court papers relating estates of Nora Buckley and P.H. Willard
        Dates: 1952-1968
        Container: Box/Folder 9 / 6
        Location: Rose Gordon / Court Papers

    • Financial Records

    • Legal Documents

    • Writings

      • Description: "Abbey the Man Hater" (includes typescript and handwritten drafts)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 10 / 5-7
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "The Cripple" (handwritten draft)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 10 / 8
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "Dear Editor" (tributes)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 10 / 9
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "Devine Man" (handwritten draft)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 11 / 1
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "Gone are the Days" (typescript copy)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 11 / 2-3
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "The Hidden Talent" (typescript copy)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 11 / 4
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "Martinsdale" (handwritten draft)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 11 / 5
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "My Mother Was a Slave" (handwritten draft)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 11 / 6
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: Poems
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 11 / 7
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "The Progress of the Negro Race" (commencement address)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 11 / 8
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: "Restraurant Life" (handwritten draft)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 11 / 9
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings
      • Description: American Massage and Therapy Association materials; business cards; stationery; certificates and diplomas
        Dates: 1891-1968
        Container: Box/Folder 11 / 10-12
        Location: Rose Gordon / Writings

    • Miscellany

      • Description: Dear Old London booklet received from Taylor
        Dates: 1927
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 1
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Esther May Corporation reports to stockholders
        Dates: 1960-1961
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 2
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Hoco, Inc. stock certiicate, report to stockholders
        Dates: 1959-1961
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 3
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Horoscopes
        Dates: 1907, 1961
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 4
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Letters of recommendation; book inscription
        Dates: 1904, 1956-1964
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 5
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Programs, invitations
        Dates: 1904-1970
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 6
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Montana Federation of Negro Women's Clubs cookbook, newsletters, miscellany
        Dates: 1938-1951, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 7
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Montana Message Therapy Act
        Dates: 1961
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 8
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Montana State Board of Nursing application materials
        Dates: 1953, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 9
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Obituaries; funeral book; sympathy cards; tributes (for Rose to Gordon family)
        Dates: 1968
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 10
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Recipes, diets, first aid information
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 11
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Religious tracts (sampled)
        Dates: 1888-1967
        Container: Box/Folder 12 / 12
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: Therapy brochures, notes, schedules (re message)
        Dates: 1958-1967, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 13 / 1-3
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany
      • Description: The War and the Negro People by James W. Ford; miscellany
        Dates: 1941
        Container: Box/Folder 13 / 4-5
        Location: Rose Gordon / Miscellany

    • Clippings

      • Description: Articles about Rose and Taylor Gordon; scrapbook
        Dates: 1893-1969
        Container: Box/Folder 13 / 6-7
        Location: Rose Gordon / Clippings
      • Description: Sketches by Taylor Gordon
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 13 / 8
        Location: Rose Gordon / Clippings

  • Gordon Family

    • General Correspondence

      • Description: Anna Gordon (includes postcards from Taylor Gordon)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 13 / 9
        Location: Gordon Family / General Correspondence
      • Description: George Washington Gordon, Jr. (includes letters from Robert, Rose, and Taylor Gordon)
        Dates: 1927-1948
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 1
        Location: Gordon Family / General Correspondence
      • Description: John Francis Gordon Jr. (includes letters from Robert, Rose, and Taylor Gordon)
        Dates: 1951-1952
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 2
        Location: Gordon Family / General Correspondence
      • Description: John Francis Gordon Sr. (includes letters from Anna Gordon)
        Dates: 1886-1900
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 3
        Location: Gordon Family / General Correspondence
      • Description: Robert James Gordon (includes letters from Taylor, George, John, and Rose Gordon)
        Dates: 1899-1959, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 4
        Location: Gordon Family / General Correspondence

    • Financial Records

      • Description: Anna Gordon bills and receipts
        Dates: 1888-1924
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 5
        Location: Gordon Family / Financial Records
      • Description: George Washington Gordon (miscellaneous bills, receipts, etc.)
        Dates: 1945, 1948
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 6
        Location: Gordon Family / Financial Records
      • Description: John Francis Gordon, Sr. (bills and receipts)
        Dates: 1889-1891
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 7
        Location: Gordon Family / Financial Records
      • Description: Robert James Gordon (bills and receipts, etc.)
        Dates: 1934-1968
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 8
        Location: Gordon Family / Financial Records
      • Description: Account book for household expenses, groceries, egg accounts (includes entries for Robert Gordon)
        Dates: 1926-1932
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 9
        Location: Gordon Family / Financial Records
      • Description: Egg accounts
        Dates: 1932
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 10
        Location: Gordon Family / Financial Records

    • Legal Documents

    • Miscellany

      • Description: Anna Gordon obituary
        Dates: 1924
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 14
        Location: Gordon Family / Miscellany
      • Description: George Washington Gordon Elk's Club materials; obituary, sympathy cards (sampled); etc.
        Dates: 1947-1948, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 15-16
        Location: Gordon Family / Miscellany
      • Description: John Francis Gordon, Jr. baptism, masonic membership, etc.
        Dates: 1891, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 17
        Location: Gordon Family / Miscellany
      • Description: Robert Francis Gordon baptism, license, publications, etc.
        Dates: 1891, 1950, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 14 / 18
        Location: Gordon Family / Miscellany
      • Description: Robert James Gordon funeral book, obituaries
        Dates: 1962
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 1
        Location: Gordon Family / Miscellany

  • Miscellany

    • Miscellany

      • Description: Grayce Brewer Allen and Ruth Marea Brewer poems; musical program
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 2
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Maude Wild Crosby clippings
        Dates: 1927-1950, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 3
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Democratic County Convention minutes, clippings, lists announcements, etc.
        Dates: 1900
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 4
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Florence Mining Company records (includes ore receipt and journal. See Vol. 1)
        Dates: 1890-1911
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 5
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: J. Rosamond Johnson music and book jacket
        Dates: 1920, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 6
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Meagher County history, brochures, clippings, etc.
        Dates: 1888-1955, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 7-8
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Ringling family materials (including clippings and circus script books)
        Dates: 1934-1950
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 9
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Teacher's daily register books, White Sulphur Springs
        Dates: 1887-1895
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 10-11
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Jessie Wellman correspondence
        Dates: 1891-1961
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 12
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Jessie Wellman Correspondence
        Dates: 1927-1933
        Container: Box/Folder 15 / 13
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Jessie Wellman financial records
        Dates: 1911-1933
        Container: Box/Folder 16 / 1
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: William Wellman papers (including correspondence, notebook, business materials)
        Dates: 1889-1929
        Container: Box/Folder 16 / 2
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: White Sulphur Springs (re community events and businesses)
        Dates: 1898-1968, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 16 / 3
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: C.H. and P.H. Hampton Willard correspondence
        Dates: 1942-1950
        Container: Box/Folder 16 / 4
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Wright family correspondence (includes Frank, Richard, and Mary "Mamie")
        Dates: 1905-1931
        Container: Box/Folder 16 / 5-6
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Charles Henry Wight correspondence
        Dates: 1915-1929, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 16 / 7
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany
      • Description: Miscellaneous correspondence, poems etc.
        Dates: 1893-1970, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 16 / 8-10
        Location: Miscellany / Miscellany

    • Clippings

      • Description: Racial issues, African Americans, Meagher County history, White Sulphur Springs, miscellany
        Dates: 1909-1970, undated
        Container: Box/Folder 17 / 1-8
        Location: Miscellany / Clippings
      • Description: List of printed materials transferred to Library
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 17 / 9
        Location: Miscellany / Clippings
      • Description: Books, magazines, sheet music (some inscribed to Gordon Family)
        Dates: undated
        Container: Box/Folder 18 / 1
        Location: Miscellany / Clippings

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • African American Women--White Sulphur Springs (Mont.)
  • African Americans--White Sulphur Springs (Mont.)
  • Authors--White Sulphur Springs (Mont.).
  • Physical therapy--Montana
  • Teachers--White Sulphur Springs (Mont.)

Personal Names

  • Gordon, Taylor, 1893-1971 (creator)

Geographical Names

  • Meagher County (Mont.)
  • White Sulphur Springs (Mont.)--Buildings, structures etc.
  • White Sulphur Springs (Mont.)--Commerce
  • White Sulphur Springs (Mont.)--Social life lnd customs
  • White Sulphur Springs (Mont.)

Finding aid prepared by Sue Jackson
1982

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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