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1893-[ca. 1980], predominant 1920-1934 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
1 m of textual records and graphic material
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Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Dora Russell, educator, author and social reformer, was born in 1894 at Thornton Heath to Sir Frederick Black and his wife, Sarah, and educated at Girton College, Cambridge. She married Bertrand Russell on 27 September 1921. The couple had two children. Together they founded and ran Beacon Hill school, where their children began their educations. After her separation in 1932 followed by divorce in 1935, Dora Russell continued to operate the school. She was active in many causes. In 1924 she founded the Workers' Birth Control Group and ran as the Labour candidate for Chelsea in the general election. She was a founding member of the National Council for Civil Liberties. She was one of organizers of the Women's Caravan of Peace in 1958. Dora Russell was also the author of several books, beginning with The Prospects for Industrial Civilization (1923), written jointly with Bertrand Russell. She published a three volume autobiography, The Tamarisk Tree (1977-1985). She died in Cornwall on 31 May 1986.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of correspondence (including many letters from Bertrand to Dora Russell), Bertrand Russell's manuscripts and typescripts, photographs, printed materials including Beacon Hill prospectuses, membership cards and programs, and a syllabus. The fonds is supplemented by books which have been catalogued as part of Russell's library and periodicals which have not been catalogued. See Katharine Tait, “Interim Report on the Beacon Hill School Materials,” Russell: the journal of the Bertrand Russell Archives n.s. 7 (1987): 137-40.
Notes area
Physical condition
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Fonds was acquired from Dora Russell's estate in August 1987.
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Restrictions on access
Correspondence with Patricia Russell and Katharine Tait is closed until five years after their deaths.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Finding aid: The correspondence and manuscripts are described in Russell: the journal of the Bertrand Russell Archives n.s. 9, no. 2 (winter) 1989-1990 157-167. Online finding aid available from http://library.mcmaster.ca/archives/findaids/.
Associated materials
Researchers should also consult the Bertrand Russell fonds, including several recent acquisitions which contain Dora Russell materials. Access via index cards.
Accruals
Further accruals are not expected.
General note
Title based on content of fonds.
General note
Accession no.: Rec. acq. 1,027.