Special Collections Department
Frazer Jones Papers
of the
Robert Kirkwood Society,
Children of the American
Revolution
1929 - 1968
(bulk dates 1955 - 1965)
Manuscript Collection Number: 450
Accessioned: Gift of Virginia Cooch
Hardwick, October 25, 1996
Extent: 2 linear ft. (and flag)
Content: Correspondence, clippings,
minutes, accounts, ephemera, photographs, pamphlets, serials, scrapbook, yearbooks,
programs, flag
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: September/October
2002, by Carrie L. Foley
Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Organizational History
The National Society of the Children of the American Revolution (CAR) was founded in 1895 by Harriett Mulford Lothrop, in conjunction with the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Today, the CAR continues to operate as the oldest patriotic youth organization in the United States. The mission and objectives of the CAR have remained consistent throughout its history, namely to train good citizens and engender patriotism through the honoring of Revolutionary War patriots, the study of American history, the promotion of patriotic holidays, and the preservation of Revolutionary-era places. The CAR is divided into state and local societies and is governed through a system of local, state, and national officers and chairpersons. At each level, Junior Presidents (members of the CAR) are assisted by Senior Presidents (members of the DAR).
In 1938, the Robert Kirkwood Society of the CAR was organized in Newark, Delaware, by Pauline S. Skinner of the Cooch’s Bridge Chapter of the DAR, with Virginia Cooch serving as the founding Junior President. The Society was named for Robert Kirkwood, a Revolutionary War major from Mill Creek Hundred, Delaware. Chapter activities diminished by the mid-1940s, but the Society was revitalized in the fall of 1955 under the leadership of Skinner and twelve-year-old Junior President Frazer Jones. Frazer Jones remained involved with the CAR for many years, serving as Delaware State Junior President, editing the Delaware CAR newsletter, and chairing several National CAR committees. His mother, Agnes Jones, was also involved in the Robert Kirkwood Society, serving as the chapter’s Senior President in the late 1950s and later as Delaware Senior State President and a Senior National Chairperson.
Sources:
Niebell, Eleanor Smallwood. Centennial Plus One: The Centennial History of the Children of the American Revolution, 1895 – 1996. Washington, D.C.: C.A.R. Press, 1997.
“About N.S.C.A.R.” retrieved September 2002 from http://www.nscar.org
Obituary of Agnes Frazer Jones, Newark Post, 1 May 1998, p. 21.
Note: Historical and biographical information obtained from the collection.
The National Society, Children of the American Revolution can be contacted
at: 1776 D Street NW Room 224,
Washington DC 20006-5392 or by telephone at: (202) 638-3153.
Scope and Content Note
The Frazer Jones Papers of the Robert Kirkwood Society, Children of the American Revolution consist of two linear feet of correspondence, clippings, official records, photographs, publications, ephemera, and other materials primarily related to Frazer Jones’s work in the CAR. The collection, spanning 1929 – 1968 (bulk dates 1955 – 1965), was a gift of Mrs. Virginia Cooch Hardwick, the founding Junior President of the Robert Kirkwood Society and neighbor of Frazer Jones and his family.
The collection is arranged according to the organizational structure of the CAR, with separate series for material pertaining to the local, state, and national societies. Researchers should note, however, that much of the material in the state and national series remains relevant to the activities of the Robert Kirkwood Society. For example, members of the Robert Kirkwood Society presumably read and used the publications and letters produced by the National Society CAR that are grouped in Series III.
As Frazer and Agnes Jones assembled much of the collection, the content tends to focus on Frazer and his CAR activities and accomplishments in the mid-to-late 1950s. Despite this bias, however, the Kirkwood Society papers offer researchers a vivid depiction of the activities of a local CAR chapter in this period. The collection is a small but rich resource for the student of mid-twentieth-century patriotic or children’s groups. It may also be of interest to historians of Newark, Delaware, as members of many of the town’s oldest families were active in the Robert Kirkwood Society.
The first series of the collection focuses on the local activities of the Robert Kirkwood Society and has been divided into two sub-series, according to Frazer Jones’s participation. The first sub-series covers the early incarnation of the Society, while the second section picks up in October of 1955 when the Kirkwood Society was reorganized with Frazer Jones as Junior President. Both sub-series contain official records maintained by officers of the Robert Kirkwood Society, however these tend to be brief and incomplete. Of these records, the meeting minutes offer the best insight into the activities of the Society. Newspaper clippings, activities papers, and the Society’s yearbooks and scrapbooks are also useful for this purpose. The correspondence consists largely of thank you notes, and, in the second sub-series, letters between Agnes Jones and Delaware CAR Senior President Clara Bird regarding CAR business.
Series II and III, focusing on the Delaware State Society CAR and the National Society CAR, do not offer as well rounded a picture of state and national CAR activities. They are strongest for the activities in which Frazer Jones was involved, including the Delaware State CAR Newsletter and the National CAR American Indian Committee. Some of the more useful papers in Series III include letters distributed by the National Society CAR to local societies, which provide details on nationally mandated CAR programming. Several National Society CAR publications, such as the CAR Constitution and Bylaws, offer insight into the organization’s history and mission. There is also an extensive run of the Children of the American Revolution Magazine.
Series IV is the least relevant to the CAR, but it does reflect the provenance of the collection; much of this series is material related to Frazer Jones’s other activities as a youth. The Robert Kirkwood Society probably used some of the publications in this section, particularly the patriotic and historical pamphlets.
Series List
I. Robert Kirkwood Society, Children of the American Revolution
1. Early Papers, 1938 – Sep 1955
2. Later Papers, Oct 1955 – 1964
II. Delaware State Society, Children of the American Revolution, 1957 – 1965
III. National Society, Children of the American Revolution, 1929– 1968
IV. Miscellaneous Materials, 1929 – 1965
Contents List
Box -- Folder -- Contents
Series I. Robert Kirkwood Society, Children of the American Revolution,
1938 – 1964
Papers related to the local activities of the Society,
including records, correspondence, clippings, photographs,
miscellaneous papers, yearbooks, and a scrapbook.
Series I.1. Early Papers, 1938 – Sep 1955
This section of papers covers the beginning of the
Society until its reorganization in the fall of
1955.
Official records, 1938 – 1955
1 F1 I
Contains meeting minutes, 1940 – 1948, and president’s
notebook, 1945 – 1946.
F2 II
Contains dues records, 1940 – 1955, and treasurer’s
notebook, 1938 – 1949.
F3 III
Contains membership records, 1940 – 1955.
F4 Correspondence, 1938 – 1955
F5 Miscellaneous, 1939 – 1953
Contains CAR creed; a biographical sketch of Robert
Kirkwood by Nancy Cooch; a list of Delaware State CAR
officers, 1943 – 1944; information from the National
Society CAR, 1951 – 1953; and the flag of the Robert
Kirkwood Society, circa 1939 – 1940, with stand. The
flag has been relocated to the safe.
F6 Newspaper clippings, 1940 – 1945
F7 Yearbook, 1938 – 1939
F8 Yearbook, 1939 – 1940
* See also Robert Kirkwood Society Scrapbook, F22 – F25
Series I.2. Later Papers, Oct 1955 – 1964
This section of papers covers the period in which
Frazer Jones and his mother, Agnes Jones, were
most active in the Robert Kirkwood Society.
Official records, 1955 – 1959
F9 I
Contains secretary’s notebook, 1955 – 1958, and
president’s notebook, 1955 – 1956.
1 F10 II
Contains miscellaneous treasurer’s records, 1955; dues
records, 1956; meeting minutes, 1958; annual report,
1956 – 1957 (blank); and annual report, 1958 – 1959.
F11 III
Contains applications, membership, and resignations,
n.d.
F12 IV
Contains applications, membership, and resignations,
1957 – 1958.
Correspondence
F13 1957, n.d.
F14 1958 Jan – Jun
F15 1958 Jul – 1959
Activities, 1957 – 1964
F16 I
Includes papers related to the Society’s charity work
on behalf of the Tamassee DAR School, the Crossnore DAR
School, the Newark Free Library, and the Hospital for
the Mentally Retarded in Stockley, Delaware.
F17 II
Contains papers related to the Society’s charity work
on behalf of Native Americans, including two “Indian
schools,” Bacone College and St. Mary’s School.
F18 III
Awards and contests, 1957 – 1959
F19 IV
Includes patriotic poems and songs and papers related
to environmental education and Patriotic Education
Week, 1964.
F20 Photographs, 1958, n.d.
Subjects include a doll display for Patriotic Education
Week, 1958; unidentified people, presumably members of
the Robert Kirkwood Society and their families;
unidentified homes and gravestones; and one photograph
of Agnes Jones and Jane Groo.
F21 Newspaper clippings, 1958 – 1960
Scrapbook, 1938 – 1962
F22 I
Contains a scrapbook of photographs, newspaper
clippings, programs, correspondence, ephemera, and
other papers. The scrapbook is located in Box 2.
1 F23 II
Contains loose correspondence and ephemera from the
front of the scrapbook, 1956 – 1960.
F24 III
Contains loose newspaper clippings from the front of
the scrapbook, 1958 – 1959.
F25 IV
Contains loose photographs from the front of the
scrapbook, 1958, 1962, n.d.
Series II. Delaware State Society, Children of the American Revolution,
1957 – 1965
Papers related to Frazer Jones’s involvement with
the Delaware State CAR, including his work on the
state newsletter and his participation in state
and regional conferences.
F26 Membership, 1957, n.d.
Contains membership lists for other Delaware CAR
chapters, including Blue Hen’s Chickens (Wilmington),
Nanticoke (Seaford), Mill Creek Hundred (Hockessin),
and Thomas McKean (Milford).
Delaware State News Sheet/Heir Line News, 1957 – 1959
F27 I
Contains notes and drafts of the Delaware State News
Sheet issues for January and February 1958. Also
includes letters and clippings related to the News
Sheet re-naming contest, which changed the paper’s
title to “Heir Line News.”
F28 II
Includes papers related to the production of the
Delaware State News Sheet/Heir Line News, and six
issues, 1957 – 1959.
State/Regional Conferences, 1957 – 1961
F29 I
Contains state and regional CAR conference and event
programs, 1957 – 1961.
F30 II
Includes pamphlets, brochures, and other tourist
information, presumably collected during regional
conferences.
F31 III
Contains conference ribbons and patches. Also a
photograph of Frazer Jones and others at the Sixth
Eastern Regional CAR Conference, 3 October 1959, in New
York City.
1 F32 Miscellaneous Papers, 1958 – 1965
Includes lists of state officers, chairmen, and local
society presidents; a letter regarding American Indian
project, 1958 – 1959; and a report of the Endowment
Fund Committee, 1964-1965.
F33 Newspaper clippings, 1957 – 1958
Series III. National Society, Children of the American Revolution,
1929 – 1968
Papers related to Frazer Jones’s involvement with
the National Society, CAR, including his work on
the American Indian Committee and his
participation in national conferences. This
series also includes publications, programming
information, and standard letters produced by the
National Society and distributed to the local
chapters.
F34 Letters to local chapters, 1955 – 1964
Includes information and instructions from the National
Society, CAR, to local chapters with suggestions for
activities, membership, contest announcements, and
other programming.
F35 National Conferences, Programs and Ephemera, 1958 – 1965
F36 National Publications, 1929 – 1968
Includes CAR Constitution and Bylaws, informational and
historical pamphlets, and songs with sheet music. Also
includes seventy-four issues of Children of the
American Revolution Magazine, 1951 – 1968 (incomplete),
which have been moved to Box 2.
F37 Campaigns, 1958 – 1965
Contains campaign flyers for various candidates;
letters of support for Frazer Jones and others seeking
national offices.
F38 American Indian Committee, 1958 – 1959
Includes papers related to Frazer Jones’s term as
chairman of the National Society, CAR, American Indian
Committee, including reports and submissions to the
American Indian Today essay contest.
Series IV. Miscellaneous, 1929 – 1965
Papers, clippings, and publications not directly
related to CAR, though some may have been used in
Society activities. Other materials reflect
Frazer Jones’s activities outside of CAR.
1 F39 Papers, n.d.
Includes undated genealogical notes of the Moore Family
and an unsigned Christmas card featuring earth-works
made by the British Army in Newark, Delaware.
F40 Photographs, n.d.
Contains a wallet-sized photograph of Robert Storker;
an undated class photograph labeled “Frazer Jones”; a
photograph of various CAR pins; and a photograph of an
unspecified CAR conference, featuring Frazer Jones.
F41 Publications, 1929 – 1962
Includes pamphlets, programs, serials and leaflets
related to patriotism, American history, the Daughters
of the American Revolution, music, and environmental
education. Some materials, including fifteen issues of
Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, 1929 –
1932, have been moved to Box 2.
F42 Newspaper clippings, 1949 – 1959
F43 Frazer Jones, youth organization ephemera, 1947, n.d.
Includes patches/merit badges from Cub Scouts, YMCA,
Indian Guides, and Camp Tockwogh; a Father and Sons
Indian Guides Manual (1947) and headband; and a plastic
Maine lobster.
F44 Frazer Jones, theater/choir ephemera, 1946 – 1965
Contains playbills for two productions involving Frazer
Jones; a playbill for Johns Hopkins production of
Winterest, 1961, and a copy of Winterest (1946) by
Maxwell Anderson; a Delaware Play Festival Certificate
of Merit to Frazer Jones, 1959; also an invitation for
Frazer Jones to join the Kappa Alpha fraternity.
F45 Home Arts 1936 – 1940
Contains five issues of Home Arts, subscription of Mrs.
Ernest Frazer.
2 Box 2 contains the Robert Kirkwood Society Scrapbook and
numerous publications removed from Box 1, Folders 22, 36,
and 41. For more information, please refer to those folder
descriptions above.
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