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Ref NoDWE/G
TitleDWE General Correspondence and Ephemera
DescriptionMainly Dorothy Elmhirst's general correspondence revealing her many interests and connections in Britain and America. Outgoing correspondence includes letters dictated or drafted in pencil by Dorothy Elmhirst. Where these have been typed there are carbon copies. Handwritten letters were rarely copied. In some cases, reference copies of outgoing correspondence from Dartington Hall have been obtained from archives in Britain and America.

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically. Later letters, press cuttings and obituaries have been added to many of the files in the years since Dorothy Elmhirst's death in 1968. This practice has provided biographical information for many of the correspondents represented in the archive. Additionally there are 6 boxes of general subject files in the series including topics from religion to welfare (actually birth control).

The weekend guest is a recurrent theme in the series, with much correspondence generated by visitors to the Elmhirsts' home at Dartington Hall. There is also substantive correspondence with many literary and intellectual leaders of the day. Dorothy Elmhirst's American background gave her access to political leaders and officials on both sides of the Atlantic. There is therefore correspondence with Eleanor Roosevelt and Frances Perkins, US Secretary of Labor (Labour). Correspondence with British politicians includes letters from Stafford Cripps, Nancy Astor and Norman Angell. The biologist and writer, Julian Huxley was a close friend, visiting Dartington on many occasions. American sociologist Eduard Lindeman of the New York School for Social Work came as an early adviser to the Elmhirsts. Dorothy's lifelong friends are represented here by their letters, for instance those of Ethel Roosevelt Derby and Gretchen Green. Correspondence with Ruth Morgan, another old friend was transferred to America in 1972 and has for the time being

Other writers include liberal commentators such as H N Brailsford in England, and Herbert Croly in America. Agatha Christie visited, so did W H Auden, Frances Cornford, Arthur Waley, Felix Greene and H G Wells. Basil H Liddell Hart and his family came to stay near Dartington Hall during the early years of World War II. The Liddell Hart correspondence includes many typed articles (which may have been intended as radio scripts) on important aspects of the War.

Letters from poets often include manuscript poems, for instance 11 manuscript poems included with the letters of Robert Graves, and presumed to be by the poet. Artist correspondents include Clare Leighton, and painter/psychiatrist Dr Grace Pailthorpe. The Spanish composer and Republican general, Gustavo Duran, came to stay at Dartington Hall in 1939. House guests were often asked to contribute a Sunday evening talk to estate members and other guests, and in many cases these talks survive as manuscripts collected by Dorothy Elmhirst.

There is extensive metaphysical correspondence between Gerald Heard, Margaret Isherwood and Dorothy Elmhirst. Others interested in psychology and religion included Dr William Sheldon, who came to report on Dartington Hall School, and left to study with Jung in Zurich.

Michael Young was one of the first pupils at Dartington Hall School. His correspondence with Dorothy Elmhirst is highly descriptive, providing youthful perspective on student and worker demonstrations in London in 1933, social activities and social conditions; his early law studies; debt collection; Communists; political beliefs; and life at Toynbee Hall in London's East End. Young's letters from America recount visits to homestead camps, Pennsylvania steel mills, West Virginia coal mines, unionising work; and a description of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Supplementary subject files include topics such as peace; the Peace Pledge Union, (Dorothy Elmhirst was a member); politics and elections; welfare and birth control (including a letter from Margaret Sanger); weaving, including letters from Elizabeth Peacock about the banners she designed and made for the Great Hall.

Letters from clergy include correspondence from Canon R A Edwards, rector of Dartington parish, discussing religion and the role of the Church in parish life, and the effect of changing social values in the village between 1940 and 1949. There is an extraordinary report about the Dartington Hall experiment written to the Bishop of Exeter by Canon Edwards about 1948.

Materials in the series include essays, speeches, interviews, and journals. One such journal, 'Notes in India', describes the Elmhirsts' visit to India in 1930, with descriptions of meetings with Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.
Date1898-1996
SubjectPacifism
Spanish Civil War
World War II
Philosophy
Mysticism
Religion
Writers
Poetry
Poets
Birth control
Social Welfare
Psychology
Textile arts
Church
Political sociology
Social policy
Dartington Hall experiment
Person_CodeGB/DHT/384
DS/UK/569
382
DS/UK/628
252
DS/UK/613
DS/UK/581
DS/UK/592
DS/UK/611
DS/UK/580
DS/UK/576
DS/UK/582
NA427
DS/UK/616
DS/UK/610
DS/UK/577
DS/UK/571
DS/UK/575
DS/UK/623
239
DS/UK/602
201
DS/UK/589
DS/UK/646
DS/UK/572
DS/UK/622
NA423
DS/UK/570
DS/UK/604
DS/UK/655
DS/UK/633
347
DS/UK/740
DS/UK/741
DS/UK/744
Place_CodeNA460
Persons
CodePersonNameDates
GB/DHT/384Elmhirst; Dorothy Whitney Straight (1887-1968)1887-1968
DS/UK/569Brailsford; H N (1873-1958)1873-1958
382Young; Michael (1915-2002); Lord Young of Dartington1915-2002
DS/UK/628Peacock; Elizabeth (1880-1969)1880-1969
252Isherwood; Margaret (-1984)-1984
DS/UK/613Roosevelt; Eleanor (1884-1962)1884-1962
DS/UK/581Derby; Ethel Roosevelt (1891-1977)1891-1977
DS/UK/592Green; Gretchen (-1971)-1971
DS/UK/611Perkins; Frances (1882-1965); Secretary of Labor1882-1965
DS/UK/580Croly; Herbert (1869-1930)1869-1930
DS/UK/576Christie; Dame; Agatha (1890-1976)1890-1976
DS/UK/582Duran; Gustavo (1906-)1906-
NA427Waley; Arthur David (1889-1966); Orientalist1889-1966
DS/UK/616Sheldon; William (1898-1977)1898-1977
DS/UK/610Pailthorpe; Grace
DS/UK/577Cripps; Sir; Stafford (1889-1952); Kt1889-1952
DS/UK/571Astor; Nancy (1879-1964); Viscountess1879-1964
DS/UK/575Leighton; Clare (1898-1989)1898-1989
DS/UK/623Ross; Nancy Wilson (1901-1986)1901-1986
239Heard; Gerald (1889-1971)1889-1971
DS/UK/602Liddell Hart; Sir; Basil Henry (1895-1970); Kt; Military Historian1895-1970
201Edwards; R A; Canon
DS/UK/589Graves; Robert (1885-1995)1885-1995
DS/UK/646Cornford; Frances (1886-1960)1886-1960
DS/UK/572Auden; W H (1907-1973)1907-1973
DS/UK/622Wells; H G (1866-1946)1866-1946
NA423Huxley; Sir; Julian (1887-1975)1887-1975
DS/UK/570Angell; Sir; Norman (1874-1967); Kt1874-1967
DS/UK/604Lindeman; Eduard C. (1885-1943)1885-1943
DS/UK/655Dartington Hall School; 1926-19871926-1987
DS/UK/633Peace Pledge Union; 1934-1934-
347Tagore; Rabindranath (1861-1941); poet1861-1941
DS/UK/740Greene; Felix
DS/UK/741New School for Social Research; 1918-1918-
DS/UK/744Gandhi; Mohandas Karamchand (1869-1948)1869-1948
Places
CodeSet
NA460India
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