III: Pan-American Women's Association

The Frances R. Grant Papers span the period 1897 to 1986, with the bulk dating from 1920 to 1986. They comprise approximately 78 cubic feet of material (66 records center cartons, 11 phase boxes containing oversize scrapbooks, 3 newspaper boxes, 6 index card boxes, and 1 oversize folder). The Frances R. Grant Papers are divided into five sub-groups: Personal Papers, Roerich Museum, Pan-American Women's Association (PAWA), International League for Human Rights (ILHR) and Inter-American Association for Democracy and Freedom (IADF).

The Personal Papers sub-group (13 cubic feet) spans the period 1897 to 1986, with the bulk dating from 1917 to 1986. This sub-group includes material related to Frances Grant's life and activities not connected with her organizational affiliations. It documents her relationship with her family, particularly her sister and brother-in-law Hylda and Max Zimmerman; and her personal friendships with prominent individuals. The series also documents Grant's interests-religion, spirituality, astrology, music, art, and the Far East. Grant was an active participant in women's clubs, and frequently attended exhibitions and programs. The sub-group also documents Grant's travels, her journalism, and the many awards she received over her lifetime. Although primarily paper, the sub-group contains material in several other formats including photographs, phonograph discs, and ephemera such as ribbons and identification cards. Throughout the collection, brittle documents have been photocopied on to acid-free paper. The sub-group also includes five oil paintings and about three cubic feet of artifacts which Grant acquired in Latin America. An item-level list of these artifacts can be found in Appendix A. The oil paintings, which are oversize, are stored separately. Other oversize material in this sub-group are the phonograph discs, lithographs, and citations.

The Roerich Museum (4 cubic feet) sub-group spans the period 1920 to 1985. It documents Grant's service as executive director and vice-president of the museum from 1921 to 1937, as well as the later history of the museum. Events documented in this sub-group include the administration of the Roerich Museum and the Roerich Press; Nicholas Roerich's travels to India, Manchuria, and Mongolia; Frances Grant's travels to Latin America; and internal politics and financial difficulties at the museum. Subjects documented include spirituality, Pan-Americanism, the Roerich Pact, and the relationship between Roerich and Henry A. Wallace. Besides paper, formats include photographs, etchings and scrapbooks. Two oversize scrapbooks are stored separately.

The PAWA sub-group (7 cubic feet) spans the period 1928 to 1985. It documents the foundation and growth of the PAWA and its many activities, including sponsoring musical programs, art exhibits, readings, conferences, and fund-raisers. It shows the development of the PAWA from a strictly cultural to a politically active organization concerned with human rights and social conditions in Latin America. It also documents Latin American women artists and other prominent women. In addition to paper, formats include photographs, address cards and scrapbooks. Two oversize scrapbooks, photographs, a citation and a broadside are stored separately.

The ILHR sub-group (4 cubic feet) spans the period 1941 to 1985. It documents Grant's work as secretary and vice-president of the league, and chairman of its Latin-American Committee. As well as revealing the internal workings of the organization, this series shows the ILHR's attempts to document, publicize and protest human rights abuses throughout the world. These files particularly focus on Latin America. Includes address lists and an index to the BY-LAWS, MINUTES, and CORRESPONDENCE series on index cards. Two oversize broadsides are stored separately.

The IADF sub-group (approximately 44 cubic feet) spans the period 1929 to 1986, with the bulk dating from 1950 to 1985. By far the largest and most important sub-group in the collection, it primarily consists of the office files of the IADF from its foundation in 1950 to its demise in 1985. It also includes, however, some earlier materials which Grant added to the files. This sub-group documents the administration of the IADF, including conference and event planning, finances, and relations with other NGOs and international organizations. More importantly, the sub-group documents the IADF's response through protests and publicity campaigns to human rights violations in Latin-American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. Of particular interest is correspondence with Latin-American political leaders and dissidents. It is also a rich source of information about political parties, labor movements, women's rights, and social and economic conditions in virtually every Latin American country. It also includes some information about human rights in other countries, particularly Spain, Portugal, and the English-speaking Caribbean.

Although primarily paper, other formats include photographs, photographic plates, scrapbooks, microfilm, a few audiotapes, a phonograph disc, and card files. Oversize items, including scrapbooks, broadsides, photographs, newspapers and magazines are stored separately. Also stored separately are card indexes to the PERSONALITY CORRESPONDENCE FILES, CONFERENCE MATERIALS, a partial index to the LATIN-AMERICAN COUNTRY FILES, and an index to the IADF's newsletter Hemispherica. An item-level list of the photographs in the IADF sub-group can be found in Appendix B.

Several sub-groups contain overlapping materials. In the Personal Papers sub-group, Frances Grant's diaries cover the last years of her work at the Roerich Museum, as well as her work with the PAWA, ILHR, and the IADF. The CORRESPONDENCE FILES also contain some letters from figures like Rómulo Betancourt and artist Julia Codesido, whom Grant considered as friends as well as colleagues. Similarly, documentation of honors Grant received is included in both the Personal Papers and IADF sub-groups. Essentially, Grant's personal and professional lives were interwoven. The ILHR and IADF sub-groups overlap because the two groups often worked together on the same cases.

Furthermore, within the large IADF sub-group, there is some overlap between series. For instance, the REFERENCE MATERIALS overlap with the LATIN-AMERICAN COUNTRY FILES because both series contain documentation of conditions within Latin-American countries; the REFERENCE FILES, however, contain very little correspondence. The PERSONALITY CORRESPONDENCE FILES, although primarily consisting of correspondence between Grant and the U.S. Committee of the IADF, overlaps somewhat with the LATIN-AMERICAN COUNTRY FILES; for instance, both series contain files on Jesús de Galíndez and on the Pérez Jiménez extradition case. Although the DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE, DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENCE AND MISCELLANY, and GENERAL FILES contain more routine material, they overlap to some degree with the LATIN-AMERICAN COUNTRY FILES.