Research Catalog

Ellen Tarry papers

Title
Ellen Tarry papers, 1937-1999 (bulk 1970-1980).
Author
Tarry, Ellen, 1906-2008.

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StatusContainerFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
box 1Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 738 box 1Offsite
box 2Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 738 box 2Offsite
box 3Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 738 box 3Offsite
box 4Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 738 box 4Offsite
box 5Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 738 box 5Offsite
box 6Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 738 box 6Offsite
box 7Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 738 box 7Offsite
box 8Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 738 box 8Offsite
box 9Mixed materialRequest in advance Sc MG 738 box 9Offsite

Details

Additional Authors
Tarry, Ellen, 1906-2008.
Description
7.6 lin. ft. (7 record cartons, 1 archival box, 11/2 archival box)
Summary
  • The Ellen Tarry Papers consist primarily of Tarry's writings and her involvement in projects pertaining to Blacks and Catholicism. The Alphabetical File series, 1940-1999, includes research files along with personal and professional correspondence. The correspondence files include letters concerning her writings and activities related to the Catholic Church, among them a 1953 letter from Mary McLeod Bethune asking for Tarry's assistance in writing a column regarding the Church.
  • There is correspondence between Tarry and John Cardinal O'Connor, then Archbishop of New York, and several priests pertaining to Pierre Toussaint, a Haitian slave brought to New York City by his owner, ca. 1787. The correspondence deals with the elevation of Toussaint to Venerable, a step toward sainthood proclaimed by Pope John Paul II in 1996 and the efforts of the Office of Black Ministry in the Archdiocese of New York to canonize him. Additional records concerning Toussaint in this series consist of Tarry's research material and the 1993 testimony given in Rome regarding the efforts to have him beatified and canonized.
  • Tarry also authored a book for teenagers, "Katharine Drexel: Friend of the Neglected" (1960) based upon the story of this Philadelphia heiress who founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and provided schools and social services for African Americans and Native Americans. Files discuss Drexel's beatification at the Vatican in 1988 and Tarry's meeting with Pope John Paul II as a member of the committee on Drexel's beatification. The transcript of an interview with Tarry conducted by a doctoral student in 1988 is in the folder "Publishers."
  • There are two files concerning Tarry and Baroness Catherine de Hueck Doherty's work at Friendship House, a Catholic outreach center promoting interracial friendship in Harlem; related matters are also discussed in the correspondence.
  • The Writings series, 1939-1997, contains a small number of Tarry's published articles, including a few of her journalistic articles (1939-1965). The bulk of this series consists of manuscripts for published books, unpublished book manuscripts, and unpublished short works. The manuscript for her published children's book "Hezekiah Horton (Gets His Wish)" (1942) and for "The Other Toussaint" can be found here as well as manuscripts for two unpublished books: "A Home for Dixie" (1980s), a fictional work concerning a black journalist who left New York to return to her home town in Birmingham where she covers the civil rights movement, and "Memories of Alabama and the Twentieth Century: Diary of a Weary Foot Soldier," focusing on Tarry's family and church life at the beginning of the twentieth century (1996). There are also a large number of short manuscripts which relate various aspects of Tarry's experiences, a few are fictionalized stories and some are biographical stories about well-known African Americans. Her poems also form part of this series.
  • The series Datebooks, 1945-1996, contains datebooks with entries for many of her personal appointments as well as her travels, including to Rome for the beatification of Katherine Drexel.
Subjects
Note
  • Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.
Source (note)
  • Elizabeth Tarry Patton
Location of Other Archival Materials (note)
  • Friendship House Records Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Biography (note)
  • African-American author and journalist, Ellen Tarry was primarily known for her writings and work pertaining to Blacks and the Catholic Church. Tarry worked with Baroness Catharine de Hueck Doherty at Harlem's Friendship House, during the 1940s, and later assisted in setting up a Friendship House on the South Side of Chicago.
  • Tarry authored several books for children and teenagers and two autobiographies, only one of which was published. Among her published works is "The Other Toussaint" (1981), a biography of Pierre Toussaint, the Haitian slave credited with funding the construction of old St. Patrick's Cathedral in lower Manhattan. Tarry was also involved in efforts to have him canonized. She wrote a young adult book about Katharine Drexel and served as a member of the committee for Drexel's beatification. In 2008, Tarry died at the age 101, in New York City.
Call Number
Sc MG 738
OCLC
425957936
Author
Tarry, Ellen, 1906-2008.
Title
Ellen Tarry papers, 1937-1999 (bulk 1970-1980).
Biography
African-American author and journalist, Ellen Tarry was primarily known for her writings and work pertaining to Blacks and the Catholic Church. Tarry worked with Baroness Catharine de Hueck Doherty at Harlem's Friendship House, during the 1940s, and later assisted in setting up a Friendship House on the South Side of Chicago.
Tarry authored several books for children and teenagers and two autobiographies, only one of which was published. Among her published works is "The Other Toussaint" (1981), a biography of Pierre Toussaint, the Haitian slave credited with funding the construction of old St. Patrick's Cathedral in lower Manhattan. Tarry was also involved in efforts to have him canonized. She wrote a young adult book about Katharine Drexel and served as a member of the committee for Drexel's beatification. In 2008, Tarry died at the age 101, in New York City.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Friendship House Records Also located at Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Connect to:
Finding Aid
Local Subject
Black author.
Added Author
Tarry, Ellen, 1906-2008. Other Toussaint.
Tarry, Ellen, 1906-2008. Hezekiah Horton gets his wish.
Tarry, Ellen, 1906-2008. Home for Dixie.
Tarry, Ellen, 1906-2008. Memories of Alabama and the twentieth century: diary of a weary foot soldier.
Research Call Number
Sc MG 738
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