Papers of James Waldo Fawcett, 1847-1968, MSS#152, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
James Waldo Fawcett was born October 23, 1893, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of James Thomas and Mary (Herron) Fawcett. At eleven years of age he became a regular contributor to the Pittsburgh Dispatch. Later, he moved to Washington, D.C., and was an editor for the Washington Post, then editorial writer for the Star, a position he held for 23 years. A prolific writer, he contributed articles to many newspapers and magazines in America and Great Britain, and also wrote several plays, including "Necessity", "The Dark Day", and "Lifes a Battle." In his spare time, Mr. Fawcett was an amateur photographer, active in several philatelic societies, and a popular lecturer on cultural themes.
At various times he served in public relations positions for some of Washington's leading institutions, including the Library of Congress, Washington Cathedral, Smithsonian Institute and Mellon National Gallery of Art. As a result of contacts and interviews, he personally knew many of the great figures in contemporary America, including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Paul and Andrew Mellon. In May 1965, the trustees of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania elected Mr. Fawcett Assistant Secretary. Many of his articles and book reviews appeared in the Society's quarterly publication. On November 30. 1968, he died unexpectedly in his brother's home in Port Charlotte, Florida.
These papers include correspondence, research notes, newspaper clippings, speeches, book reviews and other sundry materials. The bulk of these papers were the result of his work at the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania from 1965 to 1968, and are genealogical in nature. They include correspondence with Society patrons, which amply document the process of genealogical research, and also provide much invaluable information on such noted Americans as the Mellons, Herrons, Fricks, General Edward Hand, Colonel John McClellan, and Nathaniel Green.
In addition, Mr. Fawcett was a champion of Miss Helen C. Frick in her court battle with Sylvester K. Stevens, author of Pennsylvania, Birthplace of a Nation. Miss Frick considered Mr. Steven's portrayal of her father, Henry Clay Frick to be damaging to his reputation and sought to have the books removed from publication. Mr. Fawcett compiled a great deal of research materials on Henry Clay Frick in his daughter's behalf, hoping also to write a biography, a project, which never came to fruition. Additional Frick research includes historical and biographical notes on some of the artists and subjects of paintings housed with the Frick art collection, especially Rosa Corder, James Whistler and Dante Rossetti. Other research projects include a manuscript, Smith Family Tree, filed with the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in 1948, and a speech given to the Beulah Presbyterian Church Historical Society in 1968.
Along with his work for genealogical patrons, Mr. Fawcett also did extensive research into his own family history, and this collection includes research on such notables as Peter Stuyvesant, colonial governor of New York, and the Bayards, Culbertsons, Hays and Herrons of Pittsburgh. Mr. Fawcett was a prolific contributor to the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania's quarterly magazine, which published many of his book reviews and historical articles. In 1954, Mr. Fawcett began research on a manuscript, In Quest of Luini, depicting the life of the artist Luini as well as other historical data relating to a particular Luini painting in the Mellon art collection. Mr. Paul Mellon, whose correspondence with Fawcett is included in these papers, sponsored this ambitious undertaking. Mr. Fawcett was also a strong voice in public affairs, as documented with his speech presented in 1964 protesting the "re-newel schemes for Oakland." Throughout Mr. Fawcett's papers, one comes to see this historian as outspoken, yet honorable, ethical, meticulous and generous.
The James Waldo Fawcett papers are housed in two archival boxes and are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Digital Research Library, University Library System Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Summer, 2001
Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History CenterConverted from EAD Version 1.0 to EAD Version 2002 July 1, 2006
This collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
These papers came in one accession in 1970.
Acc# 1970x Gift of James Waldo Fawcett, 1960-1967, and of his estate, 1970, (Papers).
This collection was processed by Historical Society Staff in c1970. Papers rearranged and Inventory rewritten by Karen Hockenson on May 25, 1995.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Doug MacGregor on May 16, 2001.
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Writings | ||||||||||||||
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