Frazer Jones papers of the Robert Kirkwood Society, Children of the American Revolution

The Frazer Jones Papers of the Robert Kirkwood Society, Children of the American Revolution consist of two linear feet of correspondence, clippings, official records, photographs, publications, ephemera, and other materials primarily related to Frazer Jones’s work in the CAR. The collection, spanning 1929-1968 (bulk dates 1955-1965), was a gift of Mrs. Virginia Cooch Hardwick, the founding Junior President of the Robert Kirkwood Society and neighbor of Frazer Jones and his family.

The collection is arranged according to the organizational structure of the CAR, with separate series for material pertaining to the local, state, and national societies. Researchers should note, however, that much of the material in the state and national series remains relevant to the activities of the Robert Kirkwood Society. For example, members of the Robert Kirkwood Society presumably read and used the publications and letters produced by the National Society CAR that are grouped in Series III.

As Frazer and Agnes Jones assembled much of the collection, the content tends to focus on Frazer and his CAR activities and accomplishments in the mid-to-late 1950s. Despite this bias, however, the Kirkwood Society papers offer researchers a vivid depiction of the activities of a local CAR chapter in this period. The collection is a small but rich resource for the student of mid-twentieth-century patriotic or children’s groups. It may also be of interest to historians of Newark, Delaware, as members of many of the town’s oldest families were active in the Robert Kirkwood Society.

The first series of the collection focuses on the local activities of the Robert Kirkwood Society and has been divided into two sub-series, according to Frazer Jones’s participation. The first sub-series covers the early incarnation of the Society, while the second section picks up in October of 1955 when the Kirkwood Society was reorganized with Frazer Jones as Junior President. Both sub-series contain official records maintained by officers of the Robert Kirkwood Society, however these tend to be brief and incomplete. Of these records, the meeting minutes offer the best insight into the activities of the Society. Newspaper clippings, activities papers, and the Society’s yearbooks and scrapbooks are also useful for this purpose. The correspondence consists largely of thank you notes, and, in the second sub-series, letters between Agnes Jones and Delaware CAR Senior President Clara Bird regarding CAR business.

Series II and III, focusing on the Delaware State Society CAR and the National Society CAR, do not offer as well rounded a picture of state and national CAR activities. They are strongest for the activities in which Frazer Jones was involved, including the Delaware State CAR Newsletter and the National CAR American Indian Committee. Some of the more useful papers in Series III include letters distributed by the National Society CAR to local societies, which provide details on nationally mandated CAR programming. Several National Society CAR publications, such as the CAR Constitution and Bylaws, offer insight into the organization’s history and mission. There is also an extensive run of the Children of the American Revolution Magazine.

Series IV is the least relevant to the CAR, but it does reflect the provenance of the collection; much of this series is material related to Frazer Jones’s other activities as a youth. The Robert Kirkwood Society probably used some of the publications in this section, particularly the patriotic and historical pamphlets.

Box 2 contains the Robert Kirkwood Society Scrapbook and numerous publications removed from Box 1, Folders 22, 36, and 41. For more information, please refer to those folder descriptions in the contents list.