Ruth R. Wheeler papers, 1843-1972 (bulk 1921-1972)
(Mixed Material)

Series: I. Personal & family papers; II. North Bridge Neighbors & Concord, Climate for Freedom; III. Research, lectures, & working papers relating to various historical topics; IV. Allen French papers; V. Thoreau/Thoreau Society; VI. Materials by form.

Papers 1843-1972, bulk 1921-1972. Series Personal Papers, 1843-1971, includes correspondence & Robinson, Coolidge, Bigelow, Parks, & Wheeler family papers. Series North Bridge Neighbors & Concord, Climate for Freedom, [early 1960s]-1968, includes notes & working papers for N.B.N. & quotations, appendixes, agreement, & proof for C.,C.f.F. Series Research, Lectures, & Working Papers Relating to Various Historical Topics (Primarily Concord-Related), [1920s]-1972, includes mixed materials (notes, clippings, etc.)

(cont.) on houses & people in Concord, typescript & ms. drafts of Wheeler House Files, ms. notes on families & houses in Concord & surrounding towns, lectures, notes on various historical topics, typescripts, mixed files (correspondence, notes, typescripts, clippings, etc.) on special topics, incl. Concord, Sydney, Australia & geology of Walden Pond. Series Allen French Papers, 1921-1943, includes correspondence, material for French's Social Circle memoir of Adams Tolman, material related to proposed gas station on site of Thoreau's bean field, expansion of

(cont.) Hapgood Wright Town Forest, library censorship, French's involvement with Thoreau Society. Series Thoreau/Thoreau Society, 1945-1969, includes correspondence & Save Walden Committee material. Series Materials by Form, 1898-[early 1970s], includes photostats & photocopy of early documents (deeds, etc.), photocopied clippings (articles by Ruth Wheeler & others on Concord, reviews of A. French's The First Year of the American Revolution, Thoreau & Thoreau Society articles), & hand-drawn or hand-annotated maps of Concord & vicinity.

Ruth R. Wheeler Papers, Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Mass.

Ruth R. Wheeler;,gift;,1972?

Historian & author of Concord, Mass. Born in Watertown, Mass., to George Frederick & Grace Pratt Robinson, 1890; m. Caleb H. Wheeler of Concord, 1916; d. in Concord, 1973. Graduated from Vassar College, 1912, then studied at University of Munich. Taught school in Ramsey, N.J. & North Stonington, Conn. After marriage, lived in Thoreau birthplace on Virginia Rd. in Concord, later at Fairhaven. Active member of Concord boards & committees from late 1920s. Co-authored Great Little Watertown (published 1930) with father. Author of Our American Mile (1957), Concord, Climate for

(cont.) Freedom (1967), & numerous newspaper articles on Concord history, houses, & people. News editor for Concord Journal. Research on North Bridge area for Minute Man National Historical Park resulted in 1964 typescript North Bridge Neighbors. Founder & officer of Thoreau Society, committed to preservation of Walden Pond. Recipient of Concord's Honored Citizen Award, 1970. Member of Concord Antiquarian Society & of First Parish in Concord. Ruth & Caleb Wheeler had five sons.

Finding aid in Library and online at the Library website.