Manuscript Collection
Files
Download Finding Aid (133 KB)
Identifier
Accession 273
Inclusive Dates
1895-1981
Restrictions
Open under the rules and regulations of the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections
Collection Size
27,500 pieces, 8.5 linear feet
Language
English;
Historical Note
Martha Thomas Fitzgerald (1895-1981) was a Winthrop graduate in 1916 and a prominent South Carolina educator and politician. Mrs. Fitzgerald was the first woman elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in a general election.
Scope and Content Note
The Martha Thomas Fitzgerald Papers consist of biographical data, correspondence, minutes, newspaper clippings, memoranda, reports, and photographs (of particular interest are the many photographs of rural S.C. school houses in the 1920s). The collection pertains to Mrs. Fitzgerald’s work with the South Carolina Department of Education, the South Carolina House of Representatives, and her work with various civic organizations such as the Altrusa Club, the League of Women Voters, the Daughters of American Colonists, United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), Business and Professional Women’s Club (BPW), Delta Kappa Gamma, South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Salvation Army. There is also information on the Status of Women Commission Council on Aging, agriculture, Queens College, University of South Carolina, Winthrop University, Columbia University, public health, South Carolina history, City of Columbia, South Carolina, and Richland County, South Carolina. Correspondents include Strom Thurmond and three letters from John F. Kennedy when he was senator. Mrs. Fitzgerald was the first woman elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in a general election.
Provenance
The papers of Martha Thomas Fitzgerald, educator and politician, were deposited as a gift by the Archives by Mrs. Ben H. Williams on September 7, 1979 with additions up until 1981.
Copyright
For information concerning copyright please contact the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University.
Finding Aid Citation
Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections, Winthrop University, "Martha Thomas Fitzgerald Papers - Accession 273". Finding Aid 58.
https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/58
LC Subject Headings
Fitzgerald, Martha Thomas, 1895-1981--Archives; Legislation--South Carolina; Women--South Carolina--Societies and clubs; Women--United States--Societies and clubs; Women--Political activity--South Carolina; Women--Political activity--Societies, etc.; Voting--South Carolina; Voting--Societies, etc; Patriotic societies--United States; Charities--South Carolina; Women in charitable work--South Carolina; Aging--South Carolina; Older people--South Carolina; Women--Social conditions; Women--Legal status, laws, etc.--South Carolina; Education--South Carolina; Vocational rehabilitation--South Carolina; Vocational education--South Carolina; Confederate States of America--History--Societies, etc.; South Carolina--Politics and government--1865-1950; South Carolina--Politics and government--1951- ; United States--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775--Societies, etc.; Altrusa Club of Columbia (Columbia, S.C.); South Carolina. General Assembly--Committees; South Carolina. State Department of Education; Daughters of the American Colonists; League of Women Voters of South Carolina; United Daughters of the Confederacy. Wade Hampton Chapter (Columbia, S.C.)
