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Lucile Olive Davis Dana Papers, 1870-1974

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Dana, Lucile Olive Davis
Title
Lucile Olive Davis Dana Papers
Dates
1870-1974 (inclusive)
Quantity
13 containers., (6.5 linear feet of shelf space.), (1700 items.)
Collection Number
Cage 313
Summary
Correspondence, student notes, drafts of essays and photographs of a Washington State University student, 1912-1916, subsequently wife of Professor Homer J. Dana of the College of Engineering. The papers reflect her student experiences, her position as a faculty wife and her interest in the Daughters of the American Revolution and the American Association of University Women, as well as her relationship with family members, principally her father, the Reverend William H. Davis, her sister Grace Davis, a mission teacher in India; and her step-mother Martha Jenks Davis.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

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

Lucile Dana was born as Lucy Davis in Webster, Kansas in 1891. While a small child, she was moved to Oregon City, Oregon, where her father, a clergyman and teacher, had accepted a new assignment. While attending preparatory school at Pacific College in Newberg, Oregon, she adopted the name Lucile. When her family moved to Albion, Washington in about 1910, she followed to the nearby city of Pullman, where she entered the State College of Washington (now WSU). She graduated from the State College's Department of History and Economics in 1916 and became a teacher, first at Amber, Washington, and then in the high school at Davenport, Washington.

In the summer of 1920, she married Homer Dana of the WSU engineering department staff and returned to Pullman. The rest of Mrs. Dana's life was largely composed of the activities of a professor's wife in a small college town, a role through which she attempted to preserve formal social traditions. She was also concerned with volunteer activities with the Daughters of the American Revolution and the American Association of University Women. As a part of her DAR activities, Mrs. Dana served as the compiler of Volume 12 of Family Records of Washington Pioneers (Prior to 1891), Collected by the Daughters of the American Revolution (typescript, 1941-42). During much of Mrs. Dana's adult life, she was hampered by numerous minor physical and mental health problems. She died in Spokane in April 1974.

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Content Description

Lucile Dana's papers consist of correspondence from 1907-1972, notes and papers accumulated while a student, drafts of essays written for the DAR and AAUW, and numerous photographs, mostly of personal and family subjects. Correspondents include Mrs. Dana's husband, Homer J. Dana (1890-1970); her father, Rev. William H. Davis (1842-1935), a clergyman and head of Edwards College at Albion, Washington; her sister, Grace Davis (ca. 1885-1953), a teacher at a mission school at Lucknow, India; her step-mother, Martha Jenks Davis (1869-1955); and other acquaintances and family members. The correspondence also includes a series of letters written by Mrs. Dana to her step-mother, Martha Davis, which Mrs. Dana acquired after the death of Mrs. Davis. Subjects discussed in the correspondence include personal affairs and interrelationships among the various members of the Davis and Dana families, as well as comments on the career of Professor Homer Dana. Some correspondence relative to the Daughters of the American Revolution is included. Mrs. Dana's student papers illustrate the content of instruction in the social sciences at Washington State University in 1912-1916.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]. Cage 313, Lucile Olive Davis Dana Papers . Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in three series: correspondence, student papers and writings, and photographs. The correspondence is arranged in one chronological sequence, except for the letters from Lucile Dana to Martha Davis, which are in a separate chronological sequence. Mrs. Dana's student notes and her later writings are arranged according to courses of instruction or subject. The photographs are arranged according to their principal subjects.

Acquisition Information

The papers of Lucile Dana were donated to the Washington State University Library in 1973 and 1974.

Separated Materials

The donation accompanied her gift of the papers of her husband, Professor Homer J. Dana (Cage 299).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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

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Subject Terms

  • Missionaries -- India--Correspondence

Personal Names

  • Dana, Homer Jackson, 1890-
  • Dana, Lucile Olive Davis, 1891-1974. --Archives (creator)
  • Davis, Grace, ca. 1885-1953
  • Davis, Martha Jenks, 1869-1955
  • Davis, William Henry, 1843-1935

Corporate Names

  • Daughters of the American Revolution
  • American Association of University Women

Finding aid prepared by Lawrence Stark
2012

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

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