Saunders Finding Aid

|

COLLECTION SUMMARY SHEET

COLLECTION:          Frances Wright Saunders Collection

ACCESSION NUMBER:       259                                        INCLUSIVE DATES: 1850-1990

DONOR: Frances Wright Saunders                                       RESTRICTIONS: None

DATE OF GIFT:                                                                   LOCATION:

SIZE: 4 boxes                                                                        COLLECTION GUIDE AVAILABLE: Yes

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL FEATURES: Ellen Axson Wilson was born in Savannah, Georgia on 15 May 1860 to Rev. Samuel Edward Axson and Margaret Hoyt Axson. After being schooled at home, she was sent to the local high school and graduated in 1876. Ellen studied French and German after high school, and studied art at the Art Students League in New York. She married Thomas Woodrow Wilson (Woodrow Wilson) on 24 June 1885, and had three daughters: Margaret, Jessie, and Eleanor. She was extremely influential upon her husband’s career, and helped him gain entry into the political world. In 1889, after the birth of their daughter Eleanor, Ellen began to suffer from Bright’s Disease, which eventually led to her death on 6 August 1914.

SUBJECT: Ellen Wilson’s life, family, and death; Frances Wright Saunders’ research

FORMS OF MATERIAL: The collection consists of research material collected by Ms. Saunders for her book, First Lady Between Two Worlds: Ellen Axson Wilson. The collection contains letters between relatives of the Woodrow Wilson family and Mrs. Saunders; letters between Helen Bones and Woodrow Wilson; letters to Margaret Axson Elliott; biographical and genealogical information of the Axson and Hoyt families; and photographs of Ellen Wilson and her family.

AUTHOR/DONOR: Frances Wright Saunders is the author of First Lady Between Two Worlds: Ellen Axson Wilson. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey. 

ARRANGEMENT: Alphabetical except for Box 4.