%eadnotat; ]> 5277littl An Inventory of the May Virginia Bassett Little Album Collection, 1955-1994 Finding Aid Prepared by FHL staff Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 2011 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Friends Historical Library, April 2011 ENG May Virginia Bassett Little Album Collection, 1955-1994 FHL staff Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 2011 Descriptive Summary May Virginia Bassett Little Album Collection 1955-1994 RG5/277 May Virginia Bassett Little 3 boxes; 2.5 linear feet Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College.
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081-1399 U.S.A.
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog. In the 1980s, May Virginia Bassett Little (1913-1994) created a series of family scrapbooks accompanied by short memoirs and excerpts from her diaries. Her father was a birthright Quaker, and the family had deep roots in Swarthmore College and the Borough of Swarthmore. Her husband, Ralph V. Little, Jr., (1909-2001), an electrical engineer, also was raised in Swarthmore. The collection provides insight into growing up and living in Swarthmore, Pa., in the first half of the 20th century.

Repository:

Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College

500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1399

Phone: (610) 328-8496 FAX: (610) 690-5728

 BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL NOTE

May Virginia Bassett Little was born March 10, 1913, and died Sept. 4, 1994. She was the daughter of Dr. Arthur E. Bassett (1886-1951), a dentist and prominent Swarthmore, Pa., resident, and Vernon Rose (Waddell) Bassett (1887-1955).

Arthur E. Bassett was the son of Franklin Lippincott Bassett (1855-1929) and Anna Elgar (Hallowell) Bassett, Philadelphia Quakers. Franklin Bassett graduated from Swarthmore College in 1876 and practiced dentistry in Philadelphia. The family transferred their membership from Philadelphia Monthly Meeting (Hicksite) to Swarthmore Monthly Meeting in 1895 and lived on 513 Walnut Lane. In 1914, the family removed to Salem Monthly Meeting. Anna returned to Swarthmore Monthly Meeting in 1949 and died in the Hickman Home in West Chester.

Vernon Rose Waddell (1889-1955) was the daughter of James A. Waddell and May Virginia Rose. Her mother died in childbirth in 1895, and Vernon first lived with her mother's parents and sister at 422 Harvard Avenue, Swarthmore, and subsequently with her mother's other sister, Vernon (Rose) Geddes who lived across the street at 417 Harvard. Vernon and her husband, Frank H. Geddes raised her namesake as their own daughter. Their son, F. Bramwell Geddes, married Vernon Waddell Bassett's cousin, Alice Worth. Vernon Waddell attended Swarthmore College in the Class of 1912, and married Arthur Bassett in 1910. Alice Worth Geddess graduated in the Class of 1908, and her husband, F. Bramwell Geddess, was in the Class of 1905.

While Arthur Bassett remained a member of the Society of Friends until his death in 1951, Vernon, who had been raised a Baptist, became a member of the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church. Vernon and Arthur Bassett moved to 307 N. Chester Road in 1916, where they lived the remainder of their lives.

The extended Swarthmore family also included Vernon's uncle, Herbert T. Bassett, and his wife Mary Ramsay Bassett (Swarthmore Class of 1912) who lived in the Ramsay family home on North Chester Road. Virginia's sister, Barbara, married David West Cochrane. He was the long-time clerk of the Swarthmore Camera Shop.

Virginia Bassett married Ralph V. Little, Jr. (1909-2001) in 1937. An electrical engineer, he was the son of Ralph V. Little and Helen Druary Little who also lived in Swarthmore and were members of the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church. Ralph graduated from Penn State University in 1933 and worked for RCA in Camden. Virginia and Ralph lived in Swarthmore for fifteen years. They moved to Ohio in 1957. In 1974, they moved to Central Pennsylvania, and in 1985, to a retirement home in Blue Bell, Pa.

 SCOPE AND CONTENT OF THE RECORDS:

In the 1980s, May Virginia Bassett Little (1913-1994) created a series of family scrapbooks accompanied by short memoirs and excerpts from her diaries. Her father was a birthright Quaker, and the family had deep roots in Swarthmore College and the Borough of Swarthmore. Her husband, Ralph V. Little, Jr., (1909-2001), an electrical engineer, also was raised in Swarthmore. The collection provides insight into growing up and living in Swarthmore, Pa., in the first half of the 20th century.

 ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Accession information

Gift of Donald T. Little, 2011

 Access

Collection is open for research.

 Use Restrictions

Copyright has not been assigned to Friends Historical Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in to the Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf Friends Historical Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by reader.

 Preferred Citation

[Indicate the cited item or series here], RG5/277

 Processing information

Received in 10 "magnetic" binders with one bound acidic scrapbook and a folder of loose photographs. The memoirs and scrapbooks were reproduced with annotationsa and additions by her son, Donald T. Little, in 2008. For preservation purposes, the manuscript material was removed and acid-free photocopies made of the scrapbooks. This material is stored as RG 5/277. Two additional oversized scrapbooks and related travel diaries added to the collection in 2012. The original photographs were removed from the binders and stored with Picture Collections as PA 154.

The scrapbooks were published with annotations and writings by Donald T. Little, Virginia's World & Pathways Beyond (2008). Volume 2 contains additional biogrraphical information about Vernon and Arthur Bassett and other family members.

 SELECTED SEARCH TERMS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Friends Historical Library (TRIPOD). Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings:

Little, May Virginia Bassett, 1913-1994 Woman's Club of Swarthmore Swarthmore (Pa.) Civic improvement Women -- Societies and clubs -- Pennsylvania Women in public life DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE RECORDS

Note to Researchers: To request materials, please note both the location and box numbers shown below:

 Ser. 1. Memoirs and Miscellaneous Autobiography of May Virginia Bassett 1988 1 folder 1

Virginia's memoirs, from childhood to engagement, 1913-1936, with additions exerpted from her diaries

 Extracts from Virginia's diary 1988 1 folder 1

Compiled for her grandson, Derek Little. Life in Swarthmore, then trip to Germany in 1929.

 Fine Arts, Temple University 1936 1 folder 1

Camp Counselor 1 folder 1

Typed copies of letters, 1933-1936, she wrote to her parents

 Wedding 1937 1 folder 1

Swarthmore Presbyterian Church

 "Living with your parents" 1993 1 folder 1

In the early 1990s, Virginia excerpted her diaries1938-1940, to give her children her memories and perspectives of their childhood. Donald was born in Swarthmore. After a series of temporary moves, the family settled on Haverford Place in Swarthmore

 Raising family in Swarthmore 1993 1 folder 1

Covering the period from 1943-44

 Raising family in Swarthmore 1993 1 folder 1

Covering the period from 1945-47. Becomes more involved with puppetry

 "Life with Your Parents" 1993 1 folder 1

Summary of family activities for year 1951 and excerpts from diaries. Virginia began her puppet shows

 Diary entries of home life in Swarthmore 1993-1994 1 folder 1

Activities in Swarthmore, 1952

 Diary entries of home life in Swarthmore 1994 1 folder 1

Activities in Swarthmore, 1953. Final diary excerpted in July 1994.

 Family letter 1958 1 folder 1

Mimeographed letter to family with details of their life in Shaker Heights in 1958

 Autobiography and update 1980, 1987 1 folder 1

In a brief autobiography, Virginia relates that she has compiled a scrapbook with photographs of her grandparents and made albums for each of her children

 Correspondence with parents 1 folder 1

Typed copies of letters 1946-1955 from Virginia to her parents and a letter from her mother

 Letters to son Donald 1 folder 1

Typed copies of letters, 1955-1956

 Puppetry 1955 1 folder 1

In 1955, Virginia took a puppetry course in Folktale Puppet Studio Vermont. Virginia became interested in puppets when her children were small

 Shaker Heights Church activities 1960-1966 1 folder 1

Stories, from Locust Lane Pa. 1965, 1977 1 folder 1

Original Doll Artists Council of America, letter to members 1982 1 folder 1

Virginia became president of the organization in 1982. Mimeographed copy.

 "A Happy Week-end with Polly and Don Little" 1990 1 folder 1

Account of a pleasant weekend spent with family and a thank-you note. A second copy included, with cover letter from sister-in-law Margy (2001)

Virginia Little obituary 1994 1 folder 1

Also Christmas letter from her sister-in-law that mentions the death

 Waddell plantation, Florida 1925-1934 1 folder 1

Clippings, etc., on land developed by members of the Waddell family. Vernon Bassett inherited a share in 1934

 Miscellaneous loose correspondence 1990 1 folder 1

Donald T. Little 1 folder 1

Ser.2 Scrapbooks

All photocopies

 Family album, Part I 1987 1 folder 1

"Dedicated to my Family." Genealogical information and photographs of family members, beginning with her grandparents to 1941

 Family album, Part II 1987 1 folder 1

"Dedicated to my Family." Photo album with labels covers the years 1942-1968

 Donald T. Little 1 folder 1

Photograph album covering life of son Donald, 1939-1949

 Vernon Rose Waddell 1 folder 1

Includes photographs collected by Virginia's mother, Vernon. Includes Swarthmore homes and Swarthmore College. Donald T. Little compiled additional biographical material which is included in Vol. 2.

 Virginia's childhood-engagement 1913-1936 1 folder 1

Album to accompany the Autobiography of May Virginia Bassett (Series 1)

 Move from Shaker Heights, OH, to Locust Lane Farm 1957-1972 1 folder 2

Little family album 1 folder 2

Little, Geddes family and homes in Swarthmore

 Vernon Rose Waddell album 1955 1 folder 2

Early memories, diary of a trip to Canada in 1904

 Life of Dr. Arthur Edward Bassett 1 folder 2

Virginia's father. Donald T. Little compiled additional biographical material which is included in Vol. 2. Arthur was a descendent of Benjamin Hallowell, and his father was a graduate of Swarthmore College. In 1893 the family moved to Swarthmore, first to a house on N. Chester Rd and 1893 to a new house at 513 Walnut Lane.

 Frank Rose album 1 folder 2

Note from Donor that he removed the pages in 2005 from a bound album. Photographs mounted on black paper. Frank Rose was a sister of May Vernon Rose Waddell (Virginia's mother).

 Ralph Vinton Little album 1980 1 folder 2

Contains a brief autobiorgraphy of Ralph Little who grew up at 133 Park Avenue. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he worked for RCA and was in early days of television and Theater Television.

 Oregon trip scrapbooks and diaries 1951 1 folder 3

Trip from Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, to Wonder, Oregon, and return, taken by Vernon W. Bassett and her grandson, Donald Little, 1951. Includes two scrapbooks, two diaries of Vernon Bassett and one diary of Donald Little.