O'Connor Family Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: 2018-029

Staff Only

Content Description

Clippings of Joseph O'Connor's "Rochesterian" columns (with index); personal writings and papers of Joseph and Evangeline O'Connor; personal paperwork and writings of Evelyn O'Connor (their daughter).Letters and other correspondence from national politicians and local Rochester businessmen.

Dates

Creation: 1880 to 1953.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use in any current or future manifestations must be obtained in writing from the Rochester Public Library Local History and Genealogy Division.

Biographical / Historical

Joseph O'Connor (born Tribes Hill, Montgomery County, New York, December 17, 1841; died Rochester, New York, October 9, 1908) graduated from the University of Rochester in 1863 and was admitted to the bar in 1869. While studying law, he was the editor of the Rochester Democract.

During 1874 and 1875 he was editor of the Indianapolis Sentinel and an editorial writer for the New York World from 1875 to 1879. Between 1879 and 1886 he worked on the Buffalo Courier. In 1886, he became the editor for the Rochester Post Express, with a brief period working as the editor of the Buffalo Enquirer from 1896 to 1896. His column for the Post Express was titled "The Rochesterian". In 1911, a collection of Joseph O'Connor's editorials, poems and articles were compiled and published into books also under the title "The Rochesterian".

Evangeline M. O'Connor was born in Rochester in February of 1843 with the maiden name Johnson. She had two sisters, Emily A. Johnson and Caroline Seymour. Evangeline, like her husband, was prone to writing, with most of her written works focusing on societal commentary, religion and education.She taught in Cincinnati, Ohio for some time before her marriage in 1877 to Joseph O'Connor. They then lived together in New York City for a year and a half and for 6 months in Buffalo in 1885. She and her husband finally settled down back in Rochester in 1912 for the remainder of her life. She lived on what is now Plymouth Avenue, formerly Frank Street. Evangeline and Joseph had one child, a daughter named Evelyn.

Extent

9.16 Linear Feet (16 boxes [6 banker boxes, 5 letter size boxes, 2 shoe boxes, and 3 individually enclosed journals].)

2 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection includes the published and personal works of Joseph O'Connor, his wife Evangeline O'Connor, and their daughter Evelyn O'Connor. In addition to personal journals, letters, and other paper ephemera, this collection includes newspaper clippings from 'The Rochesterian', 'The Indianapolis Sentinel', The Rochester Post Express', and 'The Buffalo Courier'. Many of the handwritten works by Joseph and Evangeline O'Connor in this collection were transposed to type in the 1940s for easier reading.

Arrangement

This collection consists of 16 boxes divided into 4 series

Series I: The Rochesterian Articles, 1888-1909

Sub-series A: The Rochesterian Articles A-E

Sub-series B: The Rochesterian Articles H-S

Series II: Other Articles by Evangeline and Joseph O'Connor

Sub-series A: Joseph O'Connor Articles

Sub-series B: Evangeline O'Connor Articles

Series III: Personal Papers of the O'Connor Family

Sub-series A: Personal Papers of Joseph O'Connor

Sub-series B: Personal Papers of Evangeline O'Connor

Sub-series C: Personal Papers of Evelyn O'Connor

Series IV: Index Articles

Sub-series A: Buffalo Courier Index Slips

Sub-series B: Indianapolis Sentinel Index Slips

Sub-series C: Rochester Post Express Index Slips

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection has been shelved within the Local History and Genealogy division at the Rochester Public Library since the 1940s. Previous provance is unknown. [Accession number 2018.017].

Bibliography

Univerisity of Rochester. "Collection Overview: Joseph O'Connor Papers."Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation.

Condition Description

Good.

Processing Information

A large portion of this collection was orginally separated into multiple bound, black-leather binders. Due to the state of these binders, materials within were removed and properly rehoused in order to better preserve the materials.

The Rochesterian Articles were extracted from their original binding and placed within folders holding the same title as the ones found on the cover of the binding. These same titles are present at the 'file' level description within the finding aid. The titles were then placed into groups according to a common genre at the 'Sub-group' level.

In regards to the articles and written works by Evangeline O'Connor, there a many iterations of the same written piece. There are the orginal handwritten works, in partial or whole form, as a published newpaper clipping or as a transposed copy to machine type. These machine typed copied often have two dates, one date that states when the written piece was originally used/read and another date which states when the work was copied to type. As such there are multiple container and folder instances of the same work, with most of the original works being contained to box 6 and the transposed to type copies being contained to box 9.

Boxes 11 and 12 hold the index slips from three different newspaper publishers. They were removed from their origingal paper wrapping and rehoused in acid-free paper. Any information written on the original paper wrapping was copied on to the new acid-free wrapping and placed into the finding aid at the 'item' level.