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Sleeth family collection, 1864-1944

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Sleeth family
Title
Sleeth family collection
Dates
1864-1944 (inclusive)
Quantity
14.6 cubic feet, (16 boxes)
Collection Number
OLPb047SLE
Summary
Business and personal correspondence of Dana Sleeth during Sleeth’s career as journalist and editor of a variety of West Coast Scripps newspapers (1910-1936); religious writings of Mattie Sleeth, Dana Sleeth's mother, including Methodist sermons, exegeses, and poetry highlighting her role crusading against alcohol in the temperance movement; personal writing, photographs, artwork, family books, and documents relating to three generations of the Sleeth family.
Repository
Lewis & Clark College, Special Collections and Archives

Aubrey R. Watzek Library
615 S. Palatine Hill Rd.
Portland, OR
97219
Telephone: 5037687758
Fax: 5037687282
archives@lclark.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection has no restrictions and is open for research.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Dana Proctor Sleeth (1878-1936), son of conservative Methodist preachers, Asa and Mattie Sleeth, left home at a young age to become one of the most progressive newspaper editors in the country, presiding over a domain from Los Angeles to Seattle. He was editor of the Peoples Press and the Portland News from 1906 to 1915. Whilst at the Portland News, he brought to light a homosexual sex scandal at the YMCA involving some of Portland’s most important political leaders. He was soon approached by E.W. Scripps to edit the Los Angeles Record, where, by 1916, he successfully agitated for the resignation of Mayor Charles Sebastian and the city council of Los Angeles. From the hills of Scappoose, Oregon, writing under various pseudonyms including Hill Billy and One Man, Dana Sleeth brought a well-articulated workingman’s opinion to an increasingly capitalistic society. Sleeth wrote on subjects both pedestrian and philosophical and gained the loyalty of readers across the West. Along with letters from hundreds of fans, Sleeth garnered the attention of such notables as Upton Sinclair, Margaret Sanger and even Eleanor Roosevelt. He was consistently engaged in local and national politics and kept up a steady correspondence with some of the West Coast’s most prominent politicians. Dana Sleeth married Eugenia (Gene) Marshall Sleeth (1876-1968); they had a daughter, Martha E. Sleeth (1911-1987), and a son, Marshall Sleeth (1916-1941). Dana Sleeth's untimely death, at the age of 56, marked the end of a generation of newsmen unafraid to relentlessly champion the values of the common man. Sleeth's mother, Mattie (Martha Ellen) Sleeth (1852-1934), preached throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, and crusaded against the evils of alcohol during the Progressive Era. She was a lecturer and the president of the . Mattie Sleeth was politically active in the city of Portland running for a seat in the House of Representatives in 1916, and also served as Oregon’s first female juror in 1922. Her religion shaped her ideology, and although she and her son, Dana, never saw eye to eye on many political issues, they maintained a loving correspondence until her death in Portland in 1934. Asa Sleeth (1844-1935), Dana Sleeth's father, a lawyer by trade, preached polemical sermons concerning the evils of modern day life across the mid-West. In 1902 Asa and Mattie Sleeth moved to Portland to be closer to their only son. Once in Oregon, Asa maintained a farm and lived next door to Dana until his death in 1935.

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Content Description

This collection contains personal and business correspondence, personal writings, business writings, photographs and original artwork by the Sleeth family as well as newspaper clippings, books, magazines and ephemera collected by the Sleeths.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish, exhibit, broadcast, or quote from materials in the Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections requires written permission of the Head of Archives & Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

The Sleeth Family Collection, #OLPb047SLE, Lewis & Clark College Aubrey Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections, Portland, Oregon.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in nine series:

1. Dana Sleeth personal ephemera, 1891-1936.

2. Dana Sleeth correspondence, 1910-1936.

3. Dana Sleeth books and periodicals, 1843-1943.

4. Dana Sleeth photographs, 1877-1934.

5. Dana Sleeth business correspondence and documents, 1910-1934.

6. Dana Sleeth newspaper columns and editorials, 1911-1939.

7. Mattie Sleeth, Asa Sleeth, and Eugenia Sleeth materials, 1864-1981.

8. Sleeth family artifacts, undated.

9. Eugenia Marshall Sleeth postcards, 1896-1938.

Location of Collection

Special Collections

Acquisition Information

Donated to Lewis & Clark College by Peter Sleeth in January 2010.

Processing Note

Processed in 2010. Rehoused in acid-free boxes.

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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

  • Woman's Christian Temperance Union
  • Journalism--20th century
  • Scripps, E. W. (Edward Willis), 1854-1926.

Personal Names

  • Sleeth, Dana, 1878-1936--Archives

Family Names

  • Sleeth family--Archives

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Sleeth, Asa, 1844-1935 (creator)
    • Sleeth, Eugenia, 1876-1968 (creator)
    • Sleeth, Marshall, 1916-2008 (creator)
    • Sleeth, Mattie, 1852-1934 (creator)

Katalina B. Thakur
2010

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

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