Manuscript Group 1080, Julia Keese Nelson Colles (1840 – 1913) Papers 1890 – 1906
Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs
MG
1080
Julia
Keese Nelson Colles (1840-1913)
Papers,
1890-1906
2
linear ft.
New
Jersey Historical Society
Manuscript
Collection
Processed by: Shira Markoff
February,
1999
Introduction
The papers of Julia Keese Nelson Colles span
the years 1890 to1906 and total 2 linear feet. The
collection was processed by Shira Markoff, a student at Rutgers
University, New Brunswick, for a history internship project.
Biographical
Note
Julia Keese Nelson Colles was born in New
Orleans, Louisiana in 1840 to John Peter Nelson and Julia Ann
Keese. Her fathers family was among the early
settlers in Duchess County, New York. Her maternal
ancestors, including her grandfather Richard Keese, were also
prominent in New York, and the town of Keeseville was named for
them. In 1867 Julia Nelson married George Wetmore Colles
(1836-1911), the son of her fathers business partner.
Shortly afterward George and Julia moved to the Colless
family home in Morristown, New Jersey (Morris County).
Julia Keese Colles, a graduate of Abbots
Collegiate Institute in New York City, served as chair of
Social Science at Rutgers Female College in New York City. Colles
was a member of many organizations, including the Daughters of
the American Revolution, the Womens Town Improvement
Association, and the American Historical Association. She
helped found the Womens Branch of
Archives
Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs and a church mission group for boys called Drop in
the Bucket Band. Furthermore, Colles was involved in saving
and preserving the historic Arnold Tavern in Morristown. Her
only published book, Authors and Writers Associated with
Morristown, was printed in 1893 by Vogt Brothers in
Morristown. She presented two unpublished works,
Authors Associated with Newark and A Forgotten
Historical Nook, to the New Jersey Historical Society.
In addition, Colles gave many lectures in private homes in the
Morristown area on topics ranging from Shakespeare and Chaucer to
Martha Washington and castles of the Rhine.
Colles had three children: Gertrude
(1869-1957), the oldest child, a painter and womens
suffrage activist; George Jr., an engineer, whose poem was
printed in his mothers book, Authors and Writers
Associated with Morristown; and Julia Nelson Colles
(1876-1903), the youngest child, a graduate of Wesleyan College
(B.A.) and Smith College (M.A.), was a doctoral candidate at
Columbia and a physics teacher at Barnard College.
Scope
and Content Note
The papers, 1890-1906, of Julia Keese Nelson
Colles contain her notes for lectures given in private homes in
Morristown and surrounding areas. The lecture topics
include famous literary figures, such as Shakespeare, Spenser,
Coleridge, Byron, Milton, and Chaucer.
Colles also lectured on subjects, such as
German literature, early Russian literature, drama, and the art
of conversation. In addition, there are lecture notes on
famous historical figures, such as Alfred the Great, Marie
Antoinette, and Martha Washington, as well as lesser known
figures, such as Marie Louise (1791-1847), Napoleons second
wife, and Hortense (1783-1837), the queen of Holland and mother
to Napoleon III. The collection also includes photographs
of the Rhine River and castles surrounding the Rhine, which
supplemented the lectures on Goethe and castles of the Rhine.
Also included in the collection are newspaper clippings related
to the lectures.
The New Jersey Historical Society has
additional manuscript collections relating to Julia Keese Colles.
These include her research notes for her unpublished manuscript
on authors associated with Newark (MG 1027) and a short
hand-written biography of Colles in an unpublished dictionary,
New Jersey Women Authors, by Margaret Tufts Swan
Yardley (MG 958).
The New Jersey Historical Society library
has two editions of Colless book, Authors and Writers
Associated with Morristown (1893 and 1895, Vogt Brother,
Morristown).
The Morristown Public Library, Local History
and Genealogy Department, has further information on Julia Keese
Colles and the Colles family in two manuscript collections,
Julia Keese Colles Papers and Colles Family
Papers. The New York Public Library also has a
collection of Getrude and Julia Keese Colless papers.
MG
1080
Julia
Keese Nelson Colles (1840-1913)
Manuscripts
(1890-1906)
Container
List
Box
Folder
Title
Date
1 Notes for Lectures Given By Julia
Keese Colles:
1. Hortense
Oct. 27, 1890
2. Marie Louise
1890
3. The Art of Conversation
1890-1894
4. King Alfred and Alfred the Great
Nov. 16, 1891
5. Bonaparte Family
1891
6. Early Russian Writers
1891
7. The Elizabethan Period
1891
8. Madame Recamier
1891
2 Notes for Lectures Given By Julia
Keese Colles:
1. Plays
and Drama
Jan. 25, 1892
2. Coleridge
Feb. 22, 1892
3. Lord Byron
March 15, 1892
4. Castles of the Rhine
March 18. 1892
5. Shakespeare
March 22, 1892
6. Goethe
Nov. 15, 1892
7. The Art of Conversation
1892
8. Early German Literature
1892
9. Goethe
1892, 1893
10. Middle Age of German Literature
1892, 1893
11. Middle Age of German Literature
1892, 1893
12. Chaucer
1892, 1896
3 Notes for Lectures Given By Julia
Keese Colles:
1. German
Literature- Period of the Reformation
Jan. 5, 1893
2. Third Period of German Literature
Jan. 12, 1893
3. German Literature- Heinrich Heine
March 2, 1893
4. Klopstock
1893
5. German Literature
1893
6. Course in German Literature- Schiller
1893
7. The Art of Conversation
1903
8. Balzac
March 8, 1904
9. Martha Washington
Dec. 17, 1906
10. Course in German Literature-Richler
n.d.
11. German Literature- Lessings Poem
n.d.
12. Julie Recamier
n.d.
13. Letitia
n.d.
4 Notes for Lectures Given By Julia
Keese Colles:
1. Marie
Antoinette
n.d.
2. Milton
n.d.
3. Shakespeare, Calderon, and Goethe
n.d.
Box
Folder
Title
Date
4. Spenser
n.d.
5. Wordsworth
n.d.
6. Wrieland and Herder
n.d.
7. Wycliffe
n.d.
8. Photographs of Rhine from Goethe Lecture
Nov. 15, 1892
9. Photographs of Rhine from Goethe Lecture
Nov. 15, 1892
10. Photographs for Castles of the Rhine Lecture
March 18, 1892
1080.
COLLES, JULIA KEESE (d. 1913) author, educator.
Lectures, 1890-1906. 5 ft.
A graduate of the Abbott Collegiate Institute of New York City,
Colles went on to hold the chair of Social Science at Rutgers
Female College, New York. The collection includes lectures
on German and British literature as well as on various topics in
American and European history. For additional writings see MG
1027, for biographical data, see MG 958.
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