Guide to the Lucile Olive Davis Dana Papers 1870-1974
Cage 313

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Creator
Dana, Lucile Olive Davis
Title
Lucile Olive Davis Dana Papers
ID
Cage 313
Date [inclusive]
1870-1974
Extent
13 containers., 6.5 linear feet of shelf space., 1700 items.
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
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.

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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Biography/History

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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Scope and Content

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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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.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2012

http://www.libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Acquisition Information

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

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Related Materials

Separated Material

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

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Names and Subjects

Corporate Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • American Association of University Women
  • Daughters of the American Revolution

Personal Name(s)

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

Subject(s)

  • Missionaries -- India--Correspondence
  • Women
  • Photographs
  • Washington (State)

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Detailed Description of Collection

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

Series 1: Correspondence, 1907-1972 

Correspondence of Lucile Dana 

box-folder

 1907-1911  60 items.

1 / 1

 1912-1916  60 items.

1 / 2

 1917  40 items.

1 / 3

 Jan.-Apr. 1918  45 items.

1 / 4

 May-Sept. 1918  40 items.

2 / 5

 Oct.-Dec. 1918  40 items.

2 / 6

 Jan.-Mar. 1919  25 items.

2 / 7

 Apr.-May 1919  25 items.

2 / 8

 June-Sept. 1919  25 items.

3 / 9

 Oct.-Dec. 1919  25 items.

3 / 10

 Jan.-Mar. 1920  35 items.

3 / 11

 Apr.-Dec. 1920  35 items.

3 / 12

 1921-1928  45 items.

3 / 13

 1930, 1934-1935  25 items.

4 / 14

 1926-1939  25 items.

4 / 15

 1940-1942  20 items.

4 / 16

 1944-1945  65 items.

4 / 17

 1946-1949  20 items.

5 / 18

 1950-1951  20 items.

5 / 19

 1952-1954  20 items.

5 / 20

 1955-1959  25 items.

5 / 21

 1960-1961  30 items.

5 / 22

 1962-1963  35 items.

5 / 23

 1964-1965  50 items.

6 / 24

 1966-1967  25 items.

6 / 25

 1968-1972  50 items.

6 / 26

 n.d.  25 items.

6 / 27

Correspondence with Martha Davis 

box-folder

 1920-1929  35 items.

7 / 28

 1930-1939  50 items.

7 / 29

 1940-1944  50 items.

7 / 30

 1945-1949  50 items.

8 / 31

 1950-1952  45 items.

8 / 32

 1953-1955  45 items.

8 / 33

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Series 2: Student Papers and Writings, 1901-1960 

box-folder

Elementary and prep school materials, 1901-1912  40 items.

9 / 34

College notes, 1912-1916 

box-folder

Economics  8 items.

9 / 35

German  1 item.

9 / 36

History  8 items.

9 / 37

Lab Sciences  2 items.

10 / 38

Sociology  12 items.

10 / 39

Education (Psychology)  6 items.

10 / 40

English, Greek, Geology, Sanitary Science and Political Science  8 items.

10 / 41

Miscellaneous  10 items.

10 / 42
box-folder

The Jews in America, essay  1916  1 item.

11 / 43

The Promise of the Future,  1916  1 item.

11 / 43

Gains from the War,  1918  3 items.

11 / 43

College Souvenirs, 1912-1916  45 items.

11 / 44

Davenport High School, 1918-1919  5 items.

11 / 45

Daughters of the American Revolution and American Association of University Women,  1930-1960  8 items.

11 / 46

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Series 3: Photographs 

box-folder

Objects, scenes, buildings,  1905-1950  50 items.

12 / 47

India,  1910-1920  30 items.

12 / 48

Posed snapshots of persons,  1908-1950  60 items.

12 / 49

Informal poses and candid snapshots,  1905-1955  50 items.

12 / 50

Formal portraits,  1870-1925  30 items.

12 / 51-52

Formal portraits,  1880-1960  70 items.

13 / 53-56

Clippings re: Lucile Dana,  1974  2 items.

13 / 57

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