Z 1139.001
WOODWARD (ELLEN SULLIVAN) PAPERS, ACCRETION


Biography/History:

Ellen Sullivan (Mrs. Albert Y.) Woodward (1887-1971) was born in Oxford, the daughter of U. S. Senator William V. Sullivan. In 1907 she married Judge Albert Y. Woodward in Memphis. In 1925 Mrs. Woodward was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives, the second woman ever to serve in that body. From 1926-1933, she was secretary and executive director of the Mississippi State Board of Development. In 1933 Mrs. Woodward was appointed assistant administrator to Henry Hopkins, head of the Federal Works Progress Administration. She was in charge of the Women's Division when, in 1938, President Roosevelt appointed her to the three member Social Security Board, on which she served until 1947. At this time, Mrs. Woodward was appointed Director of Inter-agency and International Relations of the Federal Security Agency. She retired from her public work in 1954, and continued to live in Washington, D.C.

Scope and Content:

This collection contains general correspondence as follows: n.d., April 1, 1925, to July 11, 1961. Included in this correspondence are letters from President and Mrs. Roosevelt, William Alexander Percy, Archibald MacLeish, Frances Parkinson Keyes, and other prominent people of the New Deal. Also there is a box of special correspondence concerning certain staff members and others, arranged alphabetically. One box contains biographical material on Mrs. Woodward. Correspondence and papers concerning the various positions held by Mrs. Woodward are included in the above mentioned general correspondence, but there is also correspondence and official papers, speeches, news releases and miscellaneous papers, grouped together as follows: Mississippi State Board of Development, 1926-1933; White House Conference on Children's Health and Protection, 1930; the Democratic National Committee; Works Progress Administration, 1933-1939; Social Security Board, 1938-1947; Federal Security Agency, 1947-1953; Mississippi State Society; American Tung Oil Association; United States Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 1943-1947; Business and Professional Women's Club. Also included are newspaper clippings, photographs, and printed matter. In the printed matter are WPA reports and material and printed copies of Mrs. Woodward's articles and speeches.