Guide to the Mary Elizabeth Sharpe papers, 1914-1985

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2024

Collection Overview

Title:	Mary Elizabeth Sharpe papers
Date range:	1914-1985
Creator:	Sharpe, Mary Elizabeth, 1884-1985
Extent:	22 Linear Feet 22 linear feet (22 record center boxes)
Abstract:	Mary Elizabeth Sharpe (1884-1985) was a successful businesswoman (owner of a successful tea shop and candy room in New York City) when she married her husband Henry Sharpe in 1920. Mrs. Sharpe was a philanthropist with many interests but was best known for her efforts to beautify Brown University and the city of Providence, RI. A self-taught landscape architect, Sharpe established an annual tree fund and lead the fundraising efforts to create India Point Park, a Providence waterfront recreation area. This collection contains her personal files, blueprints, correspondence, day books, calendars, clippings, recipes, scrapbooks, records relating to landscaping and other community projects, gardening information, blueprints, and photographs.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	Ms.2005.34

Scope & content

The Mary E. Sharpe papers include two sets of files and six boxes of personal correspondence, dating from her engagement to Henry Sharpe in 1920 to her death in 1985. Included are personal and official correspondence, day books, calendars, clippings, recipes, scrapbooks, records relating to landscaping and other community projects, gardening, blueprints, and photographs.

The filed materials include landscaping and fundraising documents relating to the Mary Elizabeth Sharpe Street Tree Endowment, India Point Park, Prospect Terrace, the Roger Williams Memorial, Roger Williams Park, George M. Cohan Boulevard, the Fox Point neighborhood, as well as projects at Brown University (the Ellen Sharpe House, the Wriston Quadrangle Building Committee, the Henry Moore statue "Bridge prop" on the Main Green, and landscaping in general); work for charitable, political, and cultural organizations (Bundles for Britain, Friends of France, Women for Hoover, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra); and materials relating to Unitarianism, art, music, and urban beautification. Also included are materials relating to her personal art collection and her long relationship with artist Florence Koehler.

The personal correspondence includes Christmas cards, thank-you notes, home-made cards, letters written home to her husband during a trip to Europe, congratulatory notes on her engagement, and many personal letters, primarily from a network that included her mother and two sisters (Martha and Frances), her nieces, several Sharpe relatives, and many close friends. Also included are materials from her 90th and 100th birthdays. A significant segment of her correspondence, particularly just before and during World War II, is with friends who lived in England or France. Although the letters cover a time span from 1914 to 1984, most of the correspondence dates from the 1920s through 1940s. Notable correspondents include: Lord Markey, former Secretary of State and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Charles E Hughes, Dr. Serge Koussevitzky (conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), author Mary Roberts Rheinhardt, Charles Brackett (screen writer for Paramount Pictures), President of Prudential Insurance Franklin D'Oler, Senator John Chaffee, and Congressman Jesse H. Metcalf.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Sharpe, Henry Dexter, 1923-
• Sharpe, Mary Elizabeth, 1884-1985

Subject Organizations

• Brown University--Buildings
• Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company (Providence, R.I.)
• Moore, Henry, 1898-1986 Bridge prop.
• Mary Elizabeth Sharpe Street Tree Endowment (Providence, R.I.)
• Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.
• Brown University. Class of 1894.
• Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive

Subject Topics

• Urban beautification -- Rhode Island -- Providence
• Urban forestry -- Rhode Island -- Providence
• Landscape gardening -- Rhode Island -- Providence
• Roger Williams National Memorial (Providence, R.I.)
• Unitarian churches -- Rhode Island -- Providence
• Rhode Island/Local Interest

Geographical Names

• Roger Williams Park (Providence, R.I.)
• India Point Park (Providence, R.I.)

Document Types

• Letters (Correspondence)
• Postcards
• Photographs
• Blueprints
• Scrapbooks
• Day Books
• Calendars
• Clippings

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:

• Series 1. Art
• Series 2. Music
• Series 3. Parties
• Series 4. Personal Correspondence
• Series 5. Day Books and Calendars
• Series 6. Personal Appearance
• Series 7. Gardening
• Series 8. Household
• Series 9. Memorabilia
• Series 10. Travel
• Series 11. Unitarianism
• Series 12. Community Issues
• Series 13. Brown University Correspondence
• Series 14. Bundles for Britain
• Series 15. Landscaping Projects: Brown University
• Series 16. Landscaping Projects: Providence
• Series 17. The Mount (Edith Wharton's House)
• Series 18. Oversize

Biographical Note

href="http://dl.lib.brown.edu/riamco/img/US-RPB.jpg"/>Mary Elizabeth Sharpe was born Mary Evans on October 23, 1884, in Syracuse, New York. Her father abandoned the family to search for gold in the Klondike and never returned, leaving Mary, her mother, her two sisters, and her brother to be taken in by an uncle. When the family fell on hard times, Mary Elizabeth (age 13) began selling home-made candy. Mary Elizabeth's Candy, as her fledgling business was called, took off, and she established a tea house in Newport, Rhode Island, and then another on 37th Street, just off 5th Avenue in New York City.

Mary met her future husband, Henry D. Sharpe (1872-1954; Brown class of 1894), on a horseback riding vacation in Wyoming, just before World War I. He was running his family's business, Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company in Providence. After serving with the Red Cross during the war, Mary returned in 1920 and she and Henry were officially engaged and then married. They built a 20,000 square foot French chateau at 84 Prospect St., now Brown University's Rochambeau House. They had one child, a son named Henry D. Sharpe Jr., in 1925. Henry senior became chancellor of Brown in 1932 and remained so until 1952, two years before his death.

During this time, Mary Sharpe became increasingly interested in art, befriending artist Florence Kohler, who helped her amass a collection of fine art. She also became interested in and then proficient at landscape design. In 1944, the president of Brown University, Henry Merritt Wriston, asked her advice for a good planting plan for the University, and she "bit like a hungry trout," eventually redesigning much of the Brown landscape with trees that were attractive, hardy and easy to maintain. For this work she was awarded an honorary A.M. degree by Brown University in 1950.

After her success at Brown she went to work on Providence, taking on a number of projects that included establishing an annual tree fund, which led to the planting of 3,000 new trees and the ongoing commitment by the city to maintain and expand its tree-planting initiatives. Perhaps her most ambitious project was the creation of a waterfront recreation area at India Point Park in the early 1970s. She donated $153,000 and raised much more from the city and privately to convert a dilapidated shipyard into a tree-lined park with a promenade, boathouse, playgrounds, picnic areas, and bike paths.

Mary Sharpe continued to work to make Providence beautiful until just before her death in 1985, having celebrated her 100th birthday in style just months before.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Brown University Library. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Mary Elizabeth Sharpe papers, Ms. 2005.34, Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	These papers were a gift of Mary Sharpe's son Henry Sharpe. The files (A 2001-24) were deposited in 1988 and formally accessioned in 2001. The bulk of the correspondence (Boxes 19-22; A 2009-36) was accessioned in 2009. Information about the Mary Elizabeth Sharpe House, 84 Prospect Street was donated in 2019 (A2019-004).
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Gaelen Phyfe Adam.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-01-26.
Descriptive rules:	Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Additional Information

Inventory

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