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Dixon Family Papers, circa 1850s-1989 (bulk 1896-1946)

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Dixon Family
Title
Dixon Family Papers
Dates
circa 1850s-1989 (bulk 1896-1946) (inclusive)
Quantity
10.5 linear feet
Collection Number
Mss 684
Summary
The Dixon Family Papers include correspondence, diaries, photographs and other material documenting the lives and activities of U.S. Senator from Montana Joseph M. Dixon, his wife Caroline, and their six daughters. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1890s to the 1940s.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Joseph Moore "Joe" Dixon was born in Snow Camp, North Carolina, in 1867 to Hugh Woody Dixon and Flora Adaline Murchison. He moved to Missoula, Montana, in 1891 and was admitted to the Montana bar in 1892. Joseph Dixon married Caroline Worden of Missoula in March of 1896. Dixon was elected to the Montana legislature as a Republican in 1900 and to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1902 and 1904. In 1906 he was elected to U.S. Senate. In 1912, he headed Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party and was defeated in his bid for reelection to the U.S. Senate. In 1900, he acquired a controlling interest in the Missoulian, Missoula's Republican newspaper, which he owned until 1917. After 1917, Dixon retired from politics and business and spent most of his time on his farming interests (he owned a dairy near Polson, Montana, and a farm near Ronan, Montana). In 1919 he was elected governor of Montana and served one term. He was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Interior in 1929, and served in that position until 1933. Joseph Dixon died in May 1934.

Caroline Melissa "Carrie" Worden was born in 1867 in Missoula to Lucretia Miller and Francis "Frank" Lyman Worden, a co-founder of Missoula. She was the third of seven children. Caroline and Joseph had seven children: Mary Virginia, Florence, Dorothy, Mary Joe, Betty, Caroline, and Frank. Frank died shortly after birth. Caroline died in Missoula on April 6, 1946.

Mary Virginia "Dick" Dixon was born on 14 December 1896 in Missoula. She attended both the Potomac and Miss Madeira's Schools in Washington, D.C. before attending Vassar College from 1912 to 1916. She received an advanced degree in Economics from Columbia University in 1919 and worked as an economics instructor at Mt. Holyoke College from 1919-1920. She worked in New York City for some time afterwards. In 1924, Virginia and a cousin, Barbara Sterling, sailed to Manila to visit her sister, Florence. Virginia's 1924 travels also included other parts of the Far East, the Middle East and Europe. In 1929 she married Alexander Dean and they resided in New Haven, Connecticut where Mr. Dean was head of the Yale Drama School. Alexander died from hypertension in 1939. Virginia Dixon Dean remained active and close to her extended family until her death in January, 1974, in New Haven.

Florence Worden Dixon was born in Missoula 20 March 1899. Between 1903 and 1913 the Dixons lived in Washington, D.C., but travelled back to Missoula frequently. Florence graduated from Missoula County High School in 1916, and attended the University of Montana from 1916 to 1920. During her time at the university she was a member of the Beta Phi Chapter of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, served as president of the Women's Self Government Association, and was vice-president of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM). Following graduation, Florence studied bacteriology at Johns Hopkins. While at Hopkins, Florence met Charles Nelson Leach (1884-1971), a Vermont physician and World War I veteran who had been sent to Hopkins by his employer, the Rockefeller Foundation, to get a degree in Public Health. They were married in Hong Kong on September 22, 1922, and spent the next few years in Manila where Charles was engaged in public health work for the Foundation. Later assignments took them to Montgomery, Alabama, New York, Prague, Vienna, Peking, London, and Paris. Ultimately they retired to Newfane, Vermont. Charles and Florence Leach had three children: Carolyn, Nancy, and Charles Nelson, Jr (who was known to family as Nelson). Charles Nelson Leach died in 1971. Florence Leach died in 1991.

Dorothy Veronica Dixon was born in Missoula on 26 July 1902. She married William Allen of Lolo, Montana in 1927. They had two daughters. Dorothy died on 28 November 1943 in Seattle, Washington.

Mary Joe Dixon was born 7 August 1906. She attended Helena High School and graduated from the University of Montana in 1927. She married Ralph Gorman Hills on 11 August 1928 and they lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Gorman was a graduate of Princeton and had won a bronze medal in the 1924 Olympics in shot put and javelin. He was a family doctor and on the clinical faculty at Hopkins. They had two sons: J. Dixon and Warren. Mary Joe was active in civic affairs and participated in local dramatics. She died on 19 March 1998.

Elizabeth "Betty" Dixon was born in about 1910. She was a Radcliffe graduate and was married to Marshall Stearns, an English professor and renowned jazz expert. Betty was a professional artist, working in oils and acrylic. They had one daughter, Elizabeth. She and Marshall were divorced and thereafter Betty spent some years in Florence, Italy. She suffered from bipolar disorder and was hospitalized several times. Her sisters, especially Virginia and Florence, looked out for her and assisted as best they could during her illness. Betty died around the year 2000.

Caroline "Peggy" Worden Dixon was born 28 December 1914 in Missoula. She attended Radcliffe College (her widowed mother took an apartment in Boston during this time.) She married John G. Dorsey, a Harvard Law graduate, in Seattle on 15 August 1940. They lived in New York, and in Washington during World War II, and then in Minneapolis where Dorsey became an attorney. John Dorsey committed suicide. After a few years Peggy married "Race" Crane and they lived in California. She was musical and an artist and served as an art docent. She suffered from dementia in her last few years and died in San Diego on 15 August 1996. She had no children.

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Content Description

Through correspondence, diaries, photographs, photograph albums, and a college scrapbook, the Dixon Family Papers document the lives and activities of Joseph M. Dixon, a U.S. Senator and Governor of Montana, and his family. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1890s to the 1940s. The collection includes extensive correspondence between Caroline Worden Dixon, Joseph Dixon and their six daughters; correspondence between the daughters; and correspondence to Dixon family members from others. Many of the early letters are written from or to family living in Missoula, Montana. As Joseph Dixon represents Montana in Washington D.C and then later serves as Governor of Montana in Helena, and as the daughters grow up and have families of their own, correspondence documents life where they live. Several of the daughters travel or live abroad. The letters depict home and family life, the birth of children, illness and health, marriage, and death. Many letters also discuss school activities, social events, holidays, travel, politics and business. The photo albums include images of the Dixons in Missoula, people and activities on the University of Montana campus, activities in front of the White House, and numerous images of family members engaged in recreation such as swimming and playing.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Non-exclusive intellectual property rights to some portions of the collection are held by the University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

Dixon Family Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

This collection has been divided into six series:

Series I: Correspondence, 1895-1989, 3.8 linear feet

Series II: Florence Dixon, circa 1907-1924, 2.4 linear feet

Series III: Virginia Dixon, 1910-1942, 0.4 linear feet

Series IV: Photographs, circa 1850-1932, 1.2 linear feet

Series V: Ephemera and Miscellaneous, 1883-1921, 0.2 linear feet

Series VI: Accession 2022-106, circa 1870-1983, 1.5 linear feet.

Subseries 1: Correspondence, 1896-1972, 0.72 linear feet

Subseries 2: Ephemera and Miscellaneous, 1904-1983, 0.25 linear feet

Subseries 3: Photographs, circa 1870-1972, 0.5 linear feet

Acquisition Information

The contents of this collection were donated by Charles Nelson Leach, Jr., Florence Dixon Leach's son, in multiple accessions between 2007 and 2022.

Processing Note

In 2007, this collection was organized into series according to content creator. Following additions to the collection of several photo albums and a substantial amount of correspondence from and to multiple Dixon family members, the collection was reorganized and redescribed. In particular, all correspondence, regardless of author, has been arranged in a single Correspondence series.

For the sake of simplicity, the Dixon daughters are listed in this collection guide using their common names and the Dixon surname even when they are married during the dates represented in the folder contents.

During processing in 2007, Virginia Dixon Dean's diary of 1924 was removed from a small three ring binder embossed with her name. The metal center of the binder was rusted and the cover was breaking down. Also at this time, scrapbook pages were removed from their binding (they had been held in place by a leather tie) to allow the pages to turn and to minimize damage to the fragile book. Scrapbook pages were kept in their original order and remain between the front and back covers. To aid identification, the donor (Charles Leach) made notes about images, people and items featured in the scrapbook and the photo albums. These notes remain as placed in the books, but are clearly marked with Charles Leach's name and are distinguishable from Florence Worden Dixon Leach's notes and original material.

In 2024 accession 2022-106 was added to the collection along with Virginia Dixon Dean's scrapbook. 2022-106 was processed as a separate series to retain the arrangement completed by Charles Leach, Jr.

Summaries, partial transcripts, and occasional complete transcripts, of a portion of the letters and diaries in this collection were created and donated to the Archives along with the original letters. Contact Archives for more details.

Related Materials

Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula holds an extensive collection of the papers of Joseph M. Dixon (Mss 55). The Montana Historical Society holds records of Montana governors, including Joseph Dixon. The Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford University holds the papers of Charles Nelson Leach.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Teresa Hamann, JoAnn Davison, Donna McCrea, and Micaela Connolly
2018

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

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