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Call No.: 83-M136--86-M15
Repository: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute
Creator: Dorothy (Dunbar) Bromley, 1896-1986
Title: Papers, 1897-1986
Quantity: .42 linear ft. (1 file box, 1 folio folder)
Abstract: Photographs, correspondence, articles, etc., of Dorothy Dunbar Bromley, journalist and writer.

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Acquisition Information:

Preferred citation for publication:

BIOGRAPHY

Dorothy (Dunbar) Bromley, journalist and writer, was born on December 25, 1896, on a farm near Ottawa, Illinois, daughter of Helen (Ewing) Dunbar and Charles E. Dunbar. She graduated from Northwestern University magna cum laude in 1918; during her college years she served as a member of the Signal Corps. She moved to New York City, where she became a widely published journalist; she did publicity and editorial work for Henry Holt and Company (1921-1924), wrote free-lance for magazines (1925-1934), and was a columnist and writer for the New York World Telegram (1935-1937), the New York Post (1938-1940), and the New York Herald Tribune (1942-1952), while continuing to write for various magazines: The Nation, The New Leader, Good Housekeeping, Harper's and McCall's.

As a free lance writer, DDB wrote extensively on such issues as divorce, voting, and criminal law and educational legislation in Britain and France for the The New York Times Magazine. Her regular column at the New York World Telegram dealt with topics pertaining to women, such as marriage and divorce, birth control, sexual stereotyping, women and work, and women and the legal system. A column in the New York Post entitled "Strike a Balance" addressed the political climate in Europe during the rise of Nazism and fascism. DDB was the editor of the Sunday women's page of the New York Herald Tribune and also wrote regularly on Depression era social welfare programs, child and domestic labor, juvenile delinquency, and criminal rehabilitation.

In addition to her work as a journalist, DDB published four books: Birth Control, Its Use and Misuse (New York: Harper, 1934); (with Florence H. Britten) Youth and Sex (New York: Harper and Row, 1938); Catholics and Birth Control (New York: Devin Adair, 1965); and Washington and Vietnam (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana, 1966). From 1952 to 1958, DDB was "conductor" for "Report to the People," a program on radio station WMCA. She served as secretary of the New York State Committee for the White House Conference on Children and Youth (1959-1960), and for many years, beginning in 1937, was on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union. A member of Americans for Democracy and Phi Beta Kappa, DDB was also the recipient of prizes from the New York Newspaper Women's Club in 1936 and 1944.

DDB's first marriage to Donald C. Bromley ended in divorce in 1924 and she married Stanley Ward Walker, an insurance salesman, in 1947. SWW died in 1964. DDB continued to live in New York City until about 1976, when she moved to a retirement community in Pennsylvania; there she served as co-editor of the community newsletter, "The Kendal Reporter." DDB died of pneumonia on January 3, 1986.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection consists of photographs, correspondence, published articles by and about DDB, background material for DDB's articles, and her book, Washington and Vietnam. The correspondence files contain a series of letters (photocopies) from Robert and Elinor Frost (see #9), as well as correspondence documenting a dispute with Eleanor Roosevelt over ER's contention-apparently unfounded-that DDB had misquoted her in a published interview (see #10).Fragile letters have been photocopied; originals are closed to research. Only some of the articles have been retained: those that are in the collection are arranged chronologically by date of publication. Articles returned to the donor are listed in #18. Several issues of "The Kendal Reporter" appear in #19.

There is related material at the Schlesinger Library; see Dorothy Dunbar Bromley Additional papers, 1904-1986 (inclusive), 1931-1986 (bulk) (86-M159--86-M203).

INVENTORY

• 1. Family photographs, 1897-1932, n.d.
  FILED IN PHOTOGRAPH DRAWER.

• 2. Articles re: DDB, 1933(?)-1944, 1986; also autobiographical notes, n.d.

• 3. Passport; certificates re: birth, marriage, divorce, death.

• 4-10: Correspondence
  • 4. 1923-1972; includes letters from Felix Frankfurter, John Kenneth Galbraith, John Galsworthy, Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.
  • 5. 1973-1976
  • 6. 1977-1978, 1984
  • 7. Re: DDB's estate, 1979-1986
  • 8. n.d.
  • 9. From Robert and Elinor Frost, 1921-1924, n.d.
  • 10. Dispute with Eleanor Roosevelt, 1939

• 11-12: Business documents
  • 11. Re: book contracts, royalties, 1934-1969
  • 12. Re: mortgage and insurance, 1940-1981

• 13. Background material for articles, poem, miscellaneous notes; includes notes from interview with Nicholas Murray Butler, 1934.

• 14-20: Published articles
  • 14. May 1927-December 1929
  • 15. July 1930-October 1933
  • 16f. October 1931
  • 17. June 1933-May 1935
  • 18. ca.1938-1939 (photocopies of clippings for which complete citation was not available); also list of fragile items returned to donor.
  • 19. 1940-1982; includes ts., 1952; also "The Kendal Reporter."
  • 20. n.d.; also promotional material re: DDB's books.

• 21. Washington and Vietnam, 1966

Additional catalog entries

SEPARATION RECORD

The following items have been removed from the collection:

• Catholics and Birth Control: Contemporary Views on Doctrine (New York: Devin Adair, 1965)
• Youth and Sex: A Study of 1300 College Students (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1938)
• "Education for College or for Life?" (Harper's, March 1941)
• Fragile articles; for list, see #18.