William Rhinelander Stewart papers

1882-1929

The collection is divided into five sections: Letters from Governors, State Board of Charities, the National Conference of Charities and Correction, the New York State Conference of Charities and Correction, and personal papers. The letters from Governors contain approximately 150 letters written to Stewart by N. Y. State Governors, 1889-1917. The records relating to the State Board of Charities comprise the bulk of this collection. These consist of letters received, 1882-1929; Stewart's 27 letterbooks, 1884-1929 (all indexed); and six volumes of his office diaries, 1886-1924, which record his daily activities on behalf of the SBC. Most of the official correspondence is with the staff and commissioners of the SBC, state legislators and officials, leaders of charitable institutions, and philanthropists. The most frequent correspondents are Josephine Shaw Lowell; Robert W. Hebberd and Robert W. Hill (1845-?), both secretaries to the Board; and SBC commissioners William P. Letchworth (1823-1910) and Enoch V. Stoddard (1840-1908). Between 1905-1911 there are many letters concerning J. S. Lowell's life as Stewart was compiling her biography. There are also scattered letters relating to Stewart's work for the N. Y. Salary Classification Commission. For the National Conference of Charities and Correction there are letters received, 1897-1899, and letterbooks, 1897-1900. There is a single letterbook for the New York State Conference of Charities and Correction, 1002-1903. The personal papers contain 4 folders of material on Josephine Shaw Lowell and other unsorted items.