Julia Valentine Dobbs Briggs papers, circa 1875 -- 1919

Summary

Creator:
Briggs, Julia Valentine Dobbs, 1848-1933
Abstract:
Julia Valentine Dobbs Briggs was an accomplished musician and wife of Charles Augustus Briggs. The collection contains three scrapbooks with clippings about the Briggs family.
Extent:
0.5 linear feet 0.5 linear feet; 1 box
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Item description, UTS1: Julia Valentine Dobbs Briggs Papers, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains three scrapbooks ostensibly created by Julia Valentine Dobbs Briggs. The first contains poetry from approximately 1875; the second contains newspaper clippings about the Briggs family, including Mrs. Briggs, Agnes Briggs (deaconess), Emilie Grace Briggs, and Herbert W. Briggs; the third contains clippings about Julia's husband, Charles Augustus Briggs.

Biographical / historical:

Julia Valentine Dobbs was born March 23, 1848 in New York, NY. Both of her parents were from New York, although their names are unknown. At the age of 17, she married Charles Augustus Briggs on October 19, 1865. They had seven children, five of whom were alive at the time of Charles Brigg's death in 1913: Emilie Grace Briggs, Agnes Briggs (Mrs. Philip Ketteridge), Alanson Tuthill Briggs, Herbert Wilfrid Briggs, and Olive M. Briggs. Julia was active in the Salvation Army and was an accomplished musician. After marriage to Charles, they lived in both New Jersey and Manhattan, New York. She traveled internationally with Charles Briggs, being issued a passport in 1907; they returned to the United States in 1912. Her passport application in 1907 indicated she was 5'3" with brown hair, a fair complexion and blue eyes. After Charles' sudden death in 1913, Briggs continued to live in New York. In the 1920 census, she was living with her daughter Emilie Grace in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. In 1930, she was living in New York City as a lodger at the Hotel Holley, 36 Washington Square West, with her daughter Olive. Julia Valentine Dobbs Briggs died October 17, 1933 at the age of 86.

Acquisition information:
The exact provenance of this collection is unknown. It may have been donated by Julia's daughter, Emilie Grace, who donated her own papers to Union Theological Seminary in 1941.
Processing information:

Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. The finding aid was created by Brigette C. Kamsler in 2015 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2020.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in one chronological series.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

The following boxes are located offsite: Box 1. Please note that requests for use of boxes held in offsite storage must be made three business days in advance.

Terms of access:

Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.

Preferred citation:

Item description, UTS1: Julia Valentine Dobbs Briggs Papers, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Location of this collection:
Union Theological Seminary
3041 Broadway
New York, NY 10027, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
(212) 851-5606
burke@library.columbia.edu