Leslie Nelson Savage Mahoney Papers, 1880-1986
General International Standard for Archival Description
Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Brook Hopkins. 2003-06-05
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Leslie Nelson Savage Mahoney Papers
Creation of Leslie Nelson Savage Mahoney Papers
Time of Creation of Leslie Nelson Savage Mahoney Papers
Mahoney, Leslie Nell Savage, 1890-1986
Biographical History for: Leslie Nelson Savage Mahoney Papers
Biographical Note Nell Savage Mahoney, May 1942 Leslie Nelson ("Nell") Savage was born in 1890 in Nashville, Tennessee, one of three daughters of Leslie Alice Jones and opthamologist Dr. Giles Christopher Savage. She graduated from Ward Seminary, a private girls' school in Nashville, in 1908 and began study at Vanderbilt University. After a year she transferred to Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. Her continued interest in architectural history and design led her to take courses at the Art League in New York, the New York School of Applied Design for Women, and Cooper Union. She began study in 1916 at Ward Belmont School, completing a Certificate in Interior Decorating. In July 1918, she received an appointment as clerk in the Surgeon General's Office in Washington, D.C. She resigned in October of the same year. In 1923 she married Charles Hallum Mahoney, the first cousin of her sister Kate's husband. They were divorced in May 1925. She received full custody of their daughter Margaret Ellerbe Mahoney who was born in October 1924. Nell entered Vanderbilt University in 1937 and received her Master of Arts degree in history in 1939. Her thesis was titled "The Building of the Tennessee State House, 1845-1854," and was written under the direction of Professor Frank L. Owsley. She worked as an interior decorator, lecturer, and writer. Her work on architect William Strickland was published in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly and various magazines and newspapers. In 1944, she worked for the Department of Military Intelligence in the Signal Corps. Although she anticipated the publication of a monograph on Strickland through McMillan & Co., the manuscript was never completed. She died January 30, 1986.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Leslie Nelson Savage Mahoney Papers consist of four linear feet of correspondence, writings, diaries, and photographs and date from 1890 to 1986. The bulk of the material dates from 1942 to 1970. The papers are both personal and professional in nature and provide insight into the life a southern woman and a professional single mother.
Divorced mothers--United States--History--20th century
lcsh
Interior decorators--United States--History--20th century
Southern States--Social life and customs--20th century
Cisneros, Eleanora de, 1978-1934--Photographs
lcnaf
Howorth, Lucy Sommerville, 1885- --Correspondence
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952--Correspondence
Mahoney, Margaret, 1924-
Thumb, Tom, 1838-1883--Photographs
series
SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL
This series contains a handwritten autobiography which describes Nell Mahoney's life to 1923 and a biographical sketch written by her friend, Dorothy Saunders. There are a series of personal diaries (1933-45, 1952, 1962-69) from Nashville and Monteagle, Tennessee; travel diaries from Europe (1906, 1960s) and engagement calendars (1966, 1969, 1979). There are also miscellaneous biographical items on Giles Christopher and Alice Leslie Savage as well as Nell Savage Mahoney. These includes legal documents such as wills and Nell's divorce decree. This series also contains memorabilia consisting of school records and a scrapbook. The scrapbook which contained clippings, memorabilia, and photographs has been photocopied and dismantled.
SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE
This series is organized into two subseries: Personal and Business. The Personal subseries is divided into two sections, incoming and outgoing. The first section contains personal correspondence from friends and family. Correspondents include photographer, Frances Benjamin Johnston (1934-42), and lawyer and House of Representatives member, Lucy Sommerville Howorth (1953-72). There are also significant runs of letters from her mother (1902-54) and her friends, Virginia Polk (1951-72), operator with her husband of the largest Mississippi plantation system, and Elizabeth Rogers (1939-69), history professor at Wilson College. The second section contains letters to her daughter, Margaret E. Mahoney (1940s, 1960s), her mother, Leslie Alice Savage (1935-52), and her sister, Kate Savage Zerfoss (1939-47). Letters from her daughter are contained in the Margaret E. Mahoney Papers and are closed until 2015. The Business correspondence includes material related to her research on architect William Strickland.
SERIES III. WRITINGS
This series consists of typescripts and notes related to Nell Mahoney's interior decorating work, poems, a biography of her father, and a series of newspaper articles from the Nashville Tenneseean on Nashville history art and architecture, 1949-53.
SERIES IV. PHOTOGRAPHS
There are circa 110 photographs in this series dating from 1880 to 1986. These include photographs of Nell, her parents, and other family members. There are miscellaneous photos including Tom Thumb and his wife, singer Eleonora de Cisneros, and Frances Benjamin Johnston. [See also SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL--Scrapbook]
Diaries
Nashville and Monteagle, Tennessee
Europe, 1906
Rome, 1906
Paris, post 1960
England, 1968?
Engagement calendars, 1966, 1969, 1979
Autobiography, n.d.
"Nell Savage Mahoney, July 16, 1890 to January 30, 1986" by Dorothy Saunders, 1986
Miscellaneous documents and clippings, 1890-1981
Memorabilia
School records
Ward Seminary
Miscellaneous, 1908-10
Yearbook, 1908
History of art notebook, 1908
Goucher College, 1909-12
Ward-Belmont School, 1920
Vanderbilt University, 1910-67
Scrapbook, 1910-17
Photocopy
Contents
Personal
Incoming
Edward and Florence Ardery, 1914-56, n.d.
Joseph Albert Bennet, 1934
Jean Bradford, 1955
Paul Bragrams, 1942
Susan Clark Carr, 1965-71
Christopher and Linda Clark, 1966-71
Portia Ward Clark, 1965-71, n.d.
Nannie Dudley, 1941, 1944
Bess Eager, 1965-70
Helen Einwalter, 1965-71, n.d.
Irene Agnes Eweret, 1941-44
Ruth Anna Fisher, 1953-65
Marguerite Fry, 1969-70, n.d.
Valerie Graham, 1967-70, n.d.
Dina Harris, 1942-44, n.d.
Mary Park Heym, 1953-71
Lucy Howorth, 1953-72
Rick Johanson, 1968-70
Marjorie Johanson, 1967-70
May Johanson (cousin), 1912, 1952-56, n.d.
Eunice Jones, 1965-69
Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1934-42
Lt. Tom M. Kelly, 1944-45
Mary Kirby-Smith, 1966-71
Cynthia Anne McMillan, 1969-70
Walter A. Montgomery, 1944-45
Rebecca T. Nelson, 1954-72, n.d.
John and Muriel Pilley, 1941-49
Virginia Polk, 1951-72, n.d.
Elizabeth Rogers, 1939-70, n.d.
Dorothy and Lawrence Saunders, 1932, 1944-70, n.d.
Leslie Savage (mother), 1902, 1939-44, 1950-54
Nellie Nugent Sommerville, 1952
Cary Eleanor Waples, 1935-64, n.d.
Eleanor Woodward, 1965-68
Laura Hunter Wyatt-Brown, 1954-68, n.d.
Kate Zerfoss (sister) and family, 1941-55, 1969, n.d.
Unidentified, 1940-71, n.d.
Wedding announcements and invitations, 1919-54
Outgoing
Christopher and Linda Clark, 1970
Margaret Ellerbe Mahoney (daughter), 1940-65
Alice Leslie Savage (mother), 1935-52
Kate Zerfoss (sister), 1939, 1944, 1947
Business
Arthur Vernay Co., 1934-36
William Wright Crandall, 1940-44
War service, 1918, 1944-46
Lectures, 1927, 1934-37, 1952
Arts Club of Washington, 1918, 1947-55
National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1952-56, 1961
British Museum and Library of Congress, 1938-56
Miscellaneous organizations, 1936-37, 1953-55
"Account of Giles Christopher Savage," n.d.
Poems for Margaret E. Mahoney, 1937, 1953
"Worksheet of a Decorator," 1933-37
Research notes, 1951-69
Articles from the Nashville Tennessean, 1949-53,
Giles Christopher Savage, 1880-1925, n.d.
Leslie Alice Savage, 1886-1909, n.d.
Fanny D. and Anson Nelson (grandparents), 1898
Nell Savage Mahoney
Alone, circa 1891-1986, n.d.
With family, circa 1892-1982, n.d.
Family, 1905-41
Miscellaneous, 1918, n.d.