William and Cecilia Corr papers

William and Cecilia Corr papers, 1906-2006

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Corr, Cecilia, 1914-2006
Title: William and Cecilia Corr papers
Dates: 1906-2006 (inclusive)
19062006
Quantity: 5.95 cubic feet (8 boxes, one vertical file and one oversize folder)
Collection Number: 5501
Summary: Papers of Seattle activists Bill and Cecilia Corr who were interested in socialism, labor, civil rights, and the environment
Repository: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions: Open to all users.
Languages: English
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

William John (Bill) Corr (1906-1984) and his wife, Cecilia Genevieve Brodine Corr (1914-2006), were activists in Seattle interested in socialism, labor, civil rights, and the environment. Cecilia Corr was also an artist.

Bill was born in New York City to Irish immigrant parents. Leaving school after the 8th grade, he eventually became a union organizer and a member of the Communist party. He met Cecilia, daughter of Swedish immigrants living in Seattle, when she visited her brother Franz, who was Bill’s roommate. After marrying in 1936, Bill and Cecilia moved to Seattle to raise their family of four sons.

Bill worked as a circulation manger for the Washington New Dealer for a short time, resigning in 1939. During World War II he worked as a welder and was an active unionizer until his communist associations were revealed in the 1950s. From that time on, he worked as small business contractor and engaged in environmental activism, notably serving as Acting Chairman in the Save Cypress Island Committee in the 1960s and 1970s. Cecilia contributed to this effort, producing a block print for Heritage & Legacy: The Story of the Cypress Island Co-operative.

Cecilia’s participation in peace efforts and civil rights also included involvement with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Citizens' Train, Washington State Council of American-Soviet Friendship, and the Washington Committee to Protect the Foreign Born. During the late 1950s ,Cecilia wrote to US congresspeople on a wide range of issues. Cecilia contributed to her activism through her artistic skills, illustrating newsletters for the Washington State Council of American-Soviet Friendship, for which she served as co-editor in the late 1980s, and creating other political sketches. She also worked for the University of Washington as an illustrator during 1959 and 1960.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection documents William (Bill) and Cecilia Corr's social and environmental activism as well as their creative output, including newsletters, subject files, letters to congresspeople, and miscellaneous pamphlets and ephemera related to the Save Cypress Island Committee, the Washington Council for American-Soviet Friendship, the Washington Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born, the Washington Pension Union, and other contemporary political issues such as Marxism, civil rights, the environment, and nuclear war. Original manuscripts, drawings, and photographs are also included.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The creators' literary rights have been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Preferred Citation

[Title of item], [date of item if known], [box/folder number], William and Cecilia Corr Papers, [Accession No.], University of Washington Libraries.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Organized into 4 accessions.

Accession No. 5501-001, William and Cecilia Corr papers, 1920-1995
Accession No. 5501-002, William and Cecilia Corr papers, 1906-2006
Accession No. 5501-003, William and Cecilia Corr papers, 1970-1975
Accession No. 5501-004, William and Cecilia Corr papers, 1970-2002

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Accession No. 5501-001: William and Cecilia Corr papers, 1920-1995 (bulk 1955-1989)Return to Top

1.42 cubic feet (2 boxes)

Arrangement: Rough sort.

Scope and Content: The collection consists of correspondence, pamphlets, clippings, ephemera, photographs and other materials relating to the Corr’s activism in socialist, civil rights, labor, and environmental issues. A substantial portion of the material relates to William Corr's work as Acting Chairman of Save Cypress Island Committee and to the Washington Council for American-Soviet Friendship. Also included are Cecilia Corr's letters to government officials, primarily Warren G. Magnuson, on issues ranging from atomic energy to immigration to Social Security. Materials also include newsletters from the Washington Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born and the Washington Pension Union. Three original Cecilia Corr sketches are in the papers and reproductions of her work can be found in various newsletters.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Acquisition Info: William Corr Jr., May and July 2007

Separated Material: This accession also included runs of several periodicals, including Freedom Ways, New World Review, New Masses (and successor titles), and Political Affairs, which were removed for separate cataloging.

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	Accession
1/1	5501-001	Background information provided by donor: clipping, photocopies of photographs
1/2	5501-001	Miscellaneous political materials: pamphlets, newsletters, bulletins, clippings, notes	1955-1995
1/3	5501-001	Miscellaneous government pamphlets, newspaper, map
1/4	5501-001	Bill and Cecilia: miscellaneous professional, academic, and personal papers; miscellaneous photos
1/5	5501-001	Cecilia - original drawings and writings
1/6	5501-001	Cecilia - political correspondence
1/7	5501-001	Washington Committee for Protection of the Foreign Born
1/8	5501-001	Washington State Council of American-Soviet Friendship
1/9	5501-001	National Council of American-Soviet Friendship
1/10	5501-001	Peace activism materials
1/11	5501-001	Seattle Peace Information Center
1/12	5501-001	Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
1/13	5501-001	Citizen's Train
1/14	5501-001	Cypress Island - clippings
1/15	5501-001	Environmental issues - Washington state - miscellaneous
1/16	5501-001	Nature conservancy - Washington chapter
1/17	5501-001	Personal correspondence
1/18	5501-001	Environmental issues - national - miscellaneous
1/19	5501-001	Environmentalists for Truth in Politics
1/20	5501-001	Save Cypress Island Committee
1/21	5501-001	Save Cypress Island Committee - re: Island of America
1/22	5501-001	Puget Sound Council of Senior Citizens
1/23	5501-001	Washington Pension Union
1/24-28	5501-001	Miscellaneous pamphlets and printed material - unsorted
Box
2	5501-001	Miscellaneous pamphlets and printed material - unsorted	1939-1984

Accession No. 5501-002: William and Cecilia Corr papers, 1906-2006 (bulk 1930-1979)Return to Top

4.09 cubic feet (4 boxes, one oversize folder and one vertical file)

Arrangement: Rough sort.

Scope and Content: Artwork, periodicals, clippings, correspondence, ephemera, notebooks, photographs, subject files and writings. Writings include manuscripts by Bill Corr, only some of which are titled. This accession also contains subject files on the periodical Northwest Passage, and the organization Venceremos Brigade.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Acquisition Info: John Corr, August-September 2008

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	Accession
1/1	5501-002	Artwork – artist not identified
1/2	5501-002	Artwork – Corr, Anders	1992
1/3	5501-002	Artwork – Corr, Cecilia
1/4	5501-002	Artwork – Corr, Cecilia
1/5	5501-002	Artwork – Corr, Cecilia (art class)	1959
1/6	5501-002	Artwork – Corr, Cecilia (sketchbook)
1/7	5501-002	Artwork – Corr, Cecilia (reproductions)
1/8	5501-002	Artwork – Corr, Michael	1967; 1973
1/9	5501-002	Artwork – Corr, Michael (reproductions)	circa 1970s
folder:oversize
Folder	5501-002	Artwork: Drawing and print by Michael Corr
Box/Folder
1/10	5501-002	Artwork – Corr, Peter
1/11	5501-002	Biographical information – Cecilia Corr
1/12	5501-002	Book – And It Shall Come to Pass by “Dr. Bob” R. J. Gallagher
1/13	5501-002	Booklet – Nutrition
1/14	5501-002	Program – Wedding – Frank H. Brodine & Sigrid S. Tingstrom
1/15	5501-002	Catalogue – L’Estampe Moderne	1919
1/16	5501-002	Clippings	1930s – 1980s
1/17	5501-002	Condolences – Deaths of Cecilia Corr, Peter Corr
1/18	5501-002	Correspondence
1/19	5501-002	Correspondence
1/20	5501-002	Correspondence – B., Ann	circa 1960s
1 /21	5501-002	Correspondence – Brodine, Virginia and Russell	1951
1/22	5501-002	Correspondence – Chase, Waldo S. & Norbert K. Garbstas
1/23	5501-002	Correspondence – Corr, Billy and Peter
1/24	5501-002	Correspondence – Corr, Cecilia
1/25	5501-002	Correspondence – Corr, John
1/26	5501-002	Correspondence – Corr, Mary & Dorothy (Bill’s mother and sister)	1950s, 1960s
1/27	5501-002	Correspondence – Corr, Michael
1/28	5501-002	Correspondence – Corr, Michael
1/29	5501-002	Correspondence –Howe, Marion and Harry	circa 1950s
1/30	5501-002	Correspondence – Tess, David Satermo, Frank, Zeo, M.T.H.	1947-1977
1/31	5501-002	Correspondence – Prisoners	1969-1975
2/1	5501-002	Ephemera
2/2	5501-002	Ephemera
2/3	5501-002	Ephemera
2/4	5501-002	Exhibition Announcements – Corr, Cecilia and Michael
2/5	5501-002	Essay – " Economic Collectives as a Basis for Political Organizing"
2/6	5501-002	Invoices – Contracting business	1960-1963
2/7	5501-002	Membership list – Artist Equity Association	1976-1977
2/8	5501-002	Memorial – Bill Corr	1984
2/9	5501-002	Memorial Programs – Family members and friends
2/10	5501-002	Miscellaneous
2/11	5501-002	Miscellaneous
2/12	5501-002	Notebooks – William Corr, Cecilia Corr	1965-1977
2/13	5501-002	Notes
2/14	5501-002	Periodical – Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio	1958
2/15	5501-002	Periodical – L’Art Decoratif. Nos. 159, 202	1911; 1914
2/16	5501-002	Periodical – Friends of the Earth, Not Man Apart	1974, 1976, 1979
2/17	5501-002	Periodical – The Mentor. Vol. 2 no. 9	1914
2/18	5501-002	Periodical – New Statesman	1975
2/19	5501-002	Periodical – News from Cuba. Nos. 21-23
2/20	5501-002	Periodical – Northwest Passage – issues covering Bill & Cecilia Corr	1973-1974
2/21	5501-002	Periodical – Northwest Passage	1976
2/22	5501-002	Periodical – Pacific Discovery. Vol. 11 no. 1	1968
2/23	5501-002	Periodical – Plainswoman – Story by Virginia Brodine	1989
2/24	5501-002	Periodical – Soviet Literature	1970
2/25	5501-002	Periodicals – Miscellaneous
2/26	5501-002	Photographs – Cecilia Corr
2/27	5501-002	Photographs
2/28	5501-002	Photographs
2/29	5501-002	Photographs
2/30	5501-002	Photographs
2/31	5501-002	Photographs
2/32	5501-002	Photographs and negatives
2/33	5501-002	Photographs, postcards, association card – Ireland
VF:oversize
Vertical file	5501-002	Print and photographs Scope and Content: Art print by Michael Corr; photographs of Peter and Cecilia Corr.
Box/Folder
3/1	5501-002	Northwest Passage subject file	1960s
3/2	5501-002	Venceremos Brigade	circa 1970s – 1980s
3/3	5501-002	Venceremos Brigade	circa 1970s – 1980s
3/4	5501-002	Venceremos Brigade	circa 1970s – 1980s
3/5	5501-002	Venceremos Brigade	1973 – 1983
3/6	5501-002	Venceremos Brigade	1976 – 1986
3/7	5501-002	Venceremos Brigade	1978 – 1986
3/8	5501-002	Venceremos Brigade	1980
3/9	5501-002	Venceremos Brigade	circa 1980s
3/10	5501-002	Notebook 1 – Part 1	1906-1958
3/11	5501-002	Notebook 1 – Part 2	1956-1971
3/12	5501-002	Notebook 2 – Part 1	1972
3/13	5501-002	Notebook 2 – Part 2	1972
3/14	5501-002	Notebook 3	1974-1975
3/15	5501-002	Notebook 4 – Part 1	1975-1976
3/16	5501-002	Notebook 4 – Part 2	1975-1976
3/17	5501-002	Notebook 5 – Part 1	1936-1981
3/18	5501-002	Notebook 5 – Part 2	1936-1981
4/1	5501-002	Notebook 6	1972-1975
4/2	5501-002	Notebook 7 – Part 1	1968-1974 ; 1974
4/3	5501-002	Notebook 7 – Part 2	1968-1974; 1974
4/4	5501-002	Notebook 7 – Part 3	1968-1974; 1974
4/5	5501-002	Notebook 8 – Part 1	1973
4/6	5501-002	Notebook 8 – Part 2	1973
4/7	5501-002	Writings – Apple Polisher	1958
4/8	5501-002	Writings – Bad News	1956
4/9	5501-002	Writings – Bear Hunt – Laurence
4/10	5501-002	Writings – Benito
4/11	5501-002	Writings – Boomer
4/12	5501-002	Writings – The Boy
4/13	5501-002	Writings – Bull Fight	1957
4/14	5501-002	Writings – Dose	1957
4/15	5501-002	Writings – Craftsmen
4/16	5501-002	Writings – Edison	1955
4/17	5501-002	Writings – Hattne Story / The Boy
4/18	5501-002	Writings – Love Story / Kick at Parole
4/19	5501-002	Writings – Loving Brothers
4/20	5501-002	Writings – Monday	1932, undated
4/21	5501-002	Writings – Niggard
4/22	5501-002	Writings – Night of Youth
4/23	5501-002	Writings – Promotion / Bush Hotel	1956, 1957
4/24	5501-002	Writings – Real Bird Kennard	circa 1969
4/25	5501-002	Writings – Ruck Saint
4/26	5501-002	Writings – Spotter
4/27	5501-002	Writings – Spring Story
4/28	5501-002	Writings – The Star Boarder
4/29	5501-002	Writings – The Tidy Look
4/30	5501-002	Writings – The Wall	undated
4/31	5501-002	Writings – The Well
4/32	5501-002	Writings – White Bull
4/33	5501-002	Writings – Widow / Other stories	1955
4/34	5501-002	Writings – Wild Oats
4/35	5501-002	Writings – Windfall Bucker
4/36	5501-002	Writings – Work Simple
4/37	5501-002	Writings – Untitled
4/38	5501-002	Writings – Untitled
4/39	5501-002	Writings	1943-1949
4/40	5501-002	Writings
4/41	5501-002	Writings
4/42	5501-002	Writings - miscellaneous
4/43	5501-002	Writings - miscellaneous

Accession No. 5501-003: William and Cecilia Corr papers, 1970-1975Return to Top

0.21 cubic feet (1 box)

Arrangement: Arranged as received.

Scope and Content: Correspondence, ephemera, and photocopied maps pertaining to the Save Cypress Island Committee that Bill Corr and others were involved in.

Restrictions on Access: Open to all users.

Acquisition Info: Rick Rice, March 2009

Container(s)		Description
Box	Accession
1/1	5501-003	Directory - Environmental leaders
1/2	5501-003	Documents - Department of Natural Resources and the Nature Conservancy
1/3	5501-003	Cypress - 1974

Accession No. 5501-004: William and Cecilia Corr papers, 1970-2002Return to Top

.23 cubic feet (1 box)

Scope and Content: News clippings, manuscripts, a sketchbook, loose sketches, correspondence, and miscellaneous ephemera.

Restrictions on Access: No restrictions on access.

Restrictions on Use: Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Acquisition Info: Donor: John Corr, 2017-09-08

Container(s)		Description	Dates
Box/Folder	Accession
1/1	5501-004	Letters from Cecilia Corr to John Corr	circa 1996-2001
1/2	5501-004	Sketches and copies of sketches by Cecilia Corr	circa 1977-2003
1/3	5501-004	Sketchpad with sketches belonging to Cecilia Corr	undated
1/4	5501-004	Event flier, poem by Cecilia Corr, news clipping about Cypress Island, and living will directive to physicians for Cecilia Corr	circa 1979-2004
1/5	5501-004	Letter from John Corr to William and Cecilia Corr	1970
1/6	5501-004	News clippings authored by William Corr	circa 1970s-1980s
1/7	5501-004	Manuscript articles by William Corr	undated
1/8	5501-004	Letter from John Corr to Gary [last name not given], regarding his parents William and Cecilia Corr	2003

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)

Personal Names

Corr, Cecilia, 1914-2006--Archives
Corr, William J., 1906-1984--Archives

Other Creators

Personal Names
- Corr, William J., 1906-1984 (creator)
Corporate Names
- Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington) (creator)

Archives West Finding Aid

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