John Brownson Ker Papers Inventory (#3901)

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Processed by:

Dwight D. Oland

Date Completed:

May 1970

Encoded by:

Linda Sellars

Descriptive Summary Including Abstract

Title

John Brownson Ker Papers (#3901) 1779-1988

Creator

Ker, John Brownson, 1860-1916.

Extent

About 1000 items (2.5 linear feet)

Repository

Southern Historical Collection

Abstract

John Brownson Ker (1860-1916) was an attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y. He and his wife, Ellen Burke Ker, were both from Louisiana planter families. They were married in 1892. Their son David (1893-1918) served overseas in World War I. Their daughter Elizabeth Ker Schermerhorn (d. 1960) was a volunteer leader in social welfare and mental health projects in the New York City area; organizer of a community development and aid to children project in Jacmel, Haiti, 1956-1959; and a press correspondent in Haiti. Correspondence and other papers of the family of John Brownson Ker and his wife Ellen Burke Ker. Early letters, 1779-1882, are of John Brownson Ker's parents and other Ker and Brownson relatives, most of whom were planters in Louisiana. Most of the earliest letters concern the lower Mississippi River area while it was under Spanish and British control. Papers, 1834-1882, are mainly correspondence of John Brownson's Ker's father, David Ker (1825-1884). Among the papers of the 1850s are bills of sale for slaves, bills for dry-goods, and bills for physician's fees. Correspondence, 1911-1959, includes a items relating to John Brownson Ker and Ellen Burke Ker and their son David Ker and daughter Elizabeth Ker Schermerhorn. Many of these letters document David Ker's life, military service in France, and death in World War I. Much of Elizabeth Ker Schermerhorn's correspondence concerns her views, 1957-1959, on politics and social conditions in Haiti, and her interest in psychoanalysis. Included are more than 30 items of Carl Alfred Meier, with whom she underwent analysis in Switzerland in the 1930s. There are also psychological and sociological writings of Elizabeth Ker Schermerhorn, including reports on the situation in Haiti, 1957-1959; a few financial papers; six notebooks, 1901-1954, containing poems and thoughts of Ellen Burke Ker; clippings; and family photographs.

Administrative Information

Access

No restrictions.

Usage Restrictions

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Provenance

Received from David Ker Schermerhorn in February 1970 and May 1998 (Acc. 98117).

Online Catalog Terms

Brownson family.

Family--Louisiana--Social life and customs.

Family--New York--Social life and customs--20th century.

Haiti--Politics and government--1934-1986.

Haiti--Social conditions--20th century.

Ker, David, 1825-1884.

Ker, David, 1893-1918.

Ker, Ellen Burke.

Ker family.

Ker, John Brownson, 1860-1916.

Meier, C. A. (Carl Alfred), 1903-

Mississippi River Valley--Social life and customs.

Plantation life--Louisiana.

Slave bills of sale--Louisiana.

Schermerhorn, Elizabeth Ker, d. 1960.

Soldiers--United States--Correspondence--History--World War, 1914-1918.

United States. Army--Military life--History--World War, 1914-1918.

Women--Psychology.

Women and psychoanalysis.

Women journalists--United States--History--20th century.

Women social workers--United States--History--20th century.

World War, 1914-1918--France.

Biographical Note

John Brownson Ker (1860-1916) was an attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y. He and his wife, Ellen Burke Ker, were both from Louisiana planter families. They were married in 1892. Their son David (1893-1918) served overseas in World War I. Their daughter Elizabeth Ker Schermerhorn (d. 1960) was a volunteer leader in social welfare and mental health projects in the New York City area; organizer of a community development and aid to children project in Jacmel, Haiti, 1956-1959; and a press correspondent in Haiti.

Collection Overview

Correspondence and other papers of the family of John Brownson Ker and his wife Ellen Burke Ker. Early letters, 1779-1882, are of John Brownson Ker's parents and other Ker and Brownson relatives, most of whom were planters in Louisiana. Most of the earliest letters concern the lower Mississippi River area while it was under Spanish and British control. Papers, 1834-1882, are mainly correspondence of John Brownson Ker's father, David Ker (1825-1884). Among the papers of the 1850s are bills of sale for slaves, bills for dry-goods, and bills for physician's fees. Correspondence, 1911-1959, includes a items relating to John Brownson Ker and Ellen Burke Ker and their son David Ker and daughter Elizabeth Ker Schermerhorn. Many of these letters document David Ker's life, military service in France, and death in World War I. Much of Elizabeth Ker Schermerhorn's correspondence concerns her views, 1957-1959, on politics and social conditions in Haiti, and her interest in psychoanalysis. Included are more than 30 items of Carl Alfred Meier, with whom she underwent analysis in Switzerland in the 1930s. There are also psychological and sociological writings of Elizabeth Ker Schermerhorn, including reports on the situation in Haiti, 1957-1959; a few financial papers; six notebooks, 1901-1954, containing poems and thoughts of Ellen Burke Ker; clippings; and family photographs.

Description

Items Separated

Items separated include: P-3901/1-4.

Related Collections

Mary Susan Ker Papers (#1467)
Ker Family Papers (#4656)