Mary Isabella Gozzaldi, Papers, 1844-1952
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Series Description and Folder Listing
5 document boxes, 2 ½ document boxes
3 linear feet
Processor: Michelle Williams
Date: May 2002 -updated January 2006
Acquisition: Gift of the estate of Mary Isabella Gozzaldi after her death in 1935.
Access: There are no restrictions to items in this collection.
Permission to Publish: Requests for permission to publish from this collection should be made to the Executive Director.
Copyright: The Cambridge Historical Society does not hold copyright on the materials in the collection.
Mary Isabella Gozzaldi was born in 1852 in Burlington, New Jersey. She was the first child of Isabella Batchelder and Thomas Potts James, a well-known professor of botany who specialized in the study of mosses. Mary Isabella had three younger siblings, two brothers and a sister. Although the James family lived in New Jersey and Philadelphia when Mary was a young girl, they later moved to Cambridge, Mass. and lived in the Vassall House at 94 Brattle Street.
Gozzaldi was educated at the Berkeley Street School and later traveled abroad to study painting and languages, including Italian and German. While in Europe, Mary met and became engaged to Silvio de Gozzaldi, then a captain in the Austrian army. Soon after their marriage, the Gozzaldi’ s moved to Switzerland where they had three children, a daughter and two sons. When the children reached school age, the family returned to Cambridge. Silvio de Gozzaldi, now a Colonel, divided his time between Cambridge and Austria until his retirement, he then became an American citizen and settled permanently in Cambridge with his wife and family.
Gozzaldi had a lifelong interest in genealogy and early American history. She was a founder and Vice President of the Cambridge Historical Society, established in 1905, and this collection includes genealogical forms on members of the Society whom she researched. Genealogical information on the James family is also included. Gozzaldi was a very active member in the Hannah Winthrop Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Through her membership in these societies she wrote several articles on early settlers of Cambridge, contributed to the Guide to Cambridge, written by the D.A.R., and wrote an index to Paige’s History of Cambridge. Her research notes for these publications as well as her personal correspondence to her husband, friends, and family are included in this collection. Mary Isabella de Gozzaldi died in her Cambridge home on Sunday, April 6th, 1935.
Sources:
The James Family Papers, 1833-1909 are held by the Schlessinger Library, Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Mass. and includes correspondence of three generation of the James family including Mary Isabella Gozzaldi.
The Morris L. Parrish Collection of Victorian Novelists, 1806-1958 is held by the Manuscript Division, Princeton University Library and includes several pieces of correspondence written by Gozzaldi regarding the use of a chess board for exhibition.
The Cambridge Historical Society Records, 1905-present, are maintained by CHS and more fully document the history of the organization.
The collection contains information on the personal life of Mary Gozzaldi as well as her research notes on the history of early Cambridge residents and houses. It also contains genealogical information on early 20th century members of the Cambridge Historical Society. The collection is comprised of five series: I. Personal Correspondence, II. Cambridge Historical Society Papers (CHS), III. History of Cambridge Research Notes, IV. Photographs, and V. Miscellaneous.
The personal correspondence series contains letters documenting the courtship and marriage of Mary Gozzaldi and her husband, Silvio de Gozzaldi, correspondence between Mary and her children, her siblings and friends, and grade school compositions completed by Gozzaldi, including a few essays and transcriptions of religious hymns. Two folders contain postcards, ranging from 1875 to 1920, sent from Europe to the United States from Silvio, his sister, and Mary Gozzaldi. Additionally, folder one contains letters written to Isabella Batchelder James, Mary’s mother, during the years before Mary’s birth, 1844-1851.
Series II, CHS Papers (1905-1947), includes correspondence collected by Gozzaldi as both vice president and as an active member of CHS. It includes requests for donations, information on activities of CHS and remarks from a lecture on the history of Cambridge. Also included in this series are genealogical forms containing information about CHS members between the years 1905-1920, including research on the history of the James family. A scrapbook (Box 7) that serves to document the early years of CHS, maintained by Gozzaldi, was located in 2006 and added to the series. Although the scrapbook has been dissected due to preservation issues, the original order of the material has been maintained.
Series III contains research notes and drafts of her articles on the early settlers of Cambridge, the Supplement and Index to Paige’s History of Cambridge, and the Guide to Cambridge History are also present. The items range from notes written on scrap paper and envelopes to drafts of various articles. Notes on the early settlers of Cambridge contain genealogical research on famous early Cantabrigians and their descendents, including two Civil War era court martial documents. Also included is Gozzaldi’s research on early New England homes. In 2006, one folder of additional correspondence, news clippings, and notes was added to this series, having been removed from Gozzaldi’s personal annotated copy of the Supplement and Index. It is located at the end of the series.
Series IV contains eight folders of photographs, including photographs of both Mary
and Silvio di Gozzaldi, their friends and family, and their travels to Italy, Almeria, Spain, Wales, and England. The photographs also include unidentified houses and two pictures of the Barrett House in New Hampshire where Isabella Batchelder James, Gozzaldi’s mother, was born. Unfortunately, many of the photographs of the Gozzaldi acquaintances are also unidentified and undated.
Series V contains bookmarks, newspaper clippings, and photocopies of newspaper
clippings. The newspaper clippings are miscellaneous in scope, ranging from historical articles to obituaries, and represent the wide range of Gozzaldi’s interests.
Library of Congress Subject Headings:
- James, Isabella Batchelder, 1819-1901 — Correspondence.
- Gozzaldi, Silvio de — Correspondence.
- Daughters of the American Revolution. Hannah Winthrop Chapter (Cambridge, Mass.)
- Patriotic societies — Massachusetts — Cambridge.
- Women — Massachusetts — Cambridge — Societies and clubs.
- Cambridge (Mass.) — Genealogy.
- Cambridge (Mass.) — History.
- Cambridge (Mass.) — History — Societies, etc.
- Photographs. lcsh
- Women historians — Massachusetts — Cambridge. lcsh
Gozzaldi, Mary Isabella Papers, 1844-1952
[table colwidth=”5%|5%|90%”]
Box|Folder
||Series 1. Personal Correspondence
1|1|Letters of Isabella Batchelder James, 1844-1851
1|2| Early Compositions of Mary Isabella James, 1866-1868
1|3| Personal Correspondence, 1882-1884
1|4| Personal Correspondence, 1884
1|5| Personal Correspondence, 1884
1|6| Personal Correspondence, 1885-1889
1|7| Personal Correspondence, 1900-1909
1|8| Personal Correspondence, 1910-1912
2|9| Personal Correspondence, 1913-1916
2|10| Personal Correspondence, 1917-1921
2|11| Personal Correspondence, 1922-1926
2|12| Miscellaneous Correspondence (undated & incomplete letters)
2|13| Postcards, 1875-1920
2|14| Postcards, 1875-1920
||Series II. Cambridge Historical Society Papers
3|15|Cambridge Historical Society Correspondence, 1899-1912
3|16|Cambridge Historical Society Correspondence, 1913-1922
3|17|Cambridge Historical Society Genealogical Research Forms (Bigelow to Gozzaldi)
3|18|Cambridge Historical Society Genealogical Research Forms (Hall to Vosburgh)
7|46|CHS Scrapbook – Cover
7|47|CHS Scrapbook – Page1
7|48| CHS Scrapbook – Page2
7|49| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 3-4
7|50| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 5-6
7|51| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 7-8
7|52| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 9-10
7|53| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 11-12
7|54| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 13-14
7|55| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 15-16
7|56| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 17-18
7|57| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 19-20
7|58| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 21-22
7|59| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 23-24
7|60| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 25-28
7|61| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 29-34
7|62| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 35-36
7|63| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 37-38
7|64| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 39-49
7|65| CHS Scrapbook – Pages 50-51
||Series III. History of Cambridge Research Notes
3|19|Paige’s History of Cambridge Index
3|20|Early Settlers of Cambridge Research Notes
3|21|Early Settlers of Cambridge Research Notes
3|22|Early Settlers of Cambridge Research Notes
4|23|Early Settlers of Cambridge Research booklets
4|24|History of Cambridge Research Notes
4|25|History of Cambridge Research Notes
4|26|History of Cambridge Research Notes
4|27|History of Cambridge Research Notes
4|28|History of Cambridge Research Notes
5|29|History of Cambridge Research Notes
5|30|History of Cambridge Research Notes
5|31|History of Cambridge Research Notes
5|32|Research Notes on New England Houses
5|33|Guide to Cambridge, Draft
5|34|Guide to Cambridge, Draft
5|34a|Items removed from annotated Supplement and Index
||Series IV. Photographs
6|35|Barrett House (Isabella Batchelder birth place). 2 photographs.
||4.01 MG – Barrett House, New Ipswitch, New Hampshire, 1904
||4.02 MG – Barrett House, New Ipswitch, New Hampshire, ca. 1904
6|36|Gozzaldi friends & family, 1868-1887. 12 photographs.
||4.03 MG – Unidentified individuals in automobile, ca. 1904
||4.04 MG – Unidentified man in uniform [Wenderoth & Taylor], ca. 1865
||4.05 MG – Mary Isabella James [Maler Buchner], 1878
||4.06 MG – Batchelder, ca. 1870
||4.07 MG – Unidentified woman, ca. 1880
||4.08 MG – Nellie C. Day [Richardson], ca. 1880
||4.09 MG – Isabella James [M. Scherer & H. Engler], 1878
||4.10 MG – Mrs. Com. Thompson [Broadbent & Phillips], 1868
||4.11 MG – Kate Curwin? [G. Brunel], ca. 1880
||4.12 MG – Amy Frances Gozzaldi [F. Solza], 1887
||4.13 MG – Fernando Barone [A. Zanon], 1914
||4.14 MG – Unidentified children, ca. 1890
6|37|Silvio di Gozzaldi, 1890-1910 (?). 6 photographs.
||4.15 MG – Colonel Silvio De Gozzaldi [Merick Renolds], ca. 1920
||4.16 MG – Silvio De Gozzaldi [G. Scotto], ca. 1890
||4.17 MG – Unidentified Italians with oar, ca. 1890
||4.18 MG – Unidentified Italian regiment, ca. 1910
||4.19 MG – Unidentified Italian regiment, ca. 1910
||4.20 MG – Unidentified Italian? hunting party, ca. 1880
6|38|Mary Gozzaldi, 1880(?)-1886. 2 photographs.
||4.21 MG – Mary James Gozzaldi & Brother [Kaldori & Co], ca. 1880
||4.22 MG – Mrs. Silvio Gozzaldi in Florence, 1886||
6|39| Mary & Silvio Gozzaldi, 1886. 2 photographs.
||4.23 MG – Mary and Silvio De Gozzaldi, ca. 1886
||4.24 MG – Mary and Silvio De Gozzaldi in Florence, 1886
6|40| Unidentified houses. 6 photographs.
||4.25 MG – Unidentified building with figure (Italy?), ca. 1890
||4.26 MG – Unidentified house, ca. 1890
||4.27 MG – Home of John Montgomery, Haverhill, Mass (half of stereoview), ca 1880
||4.28 MG – Barrett House, New Ipswitch, New Hampshire (negative), 1904
||4.29 MG – Unidentified house (negative), ca. 1904
||4.30 MG – Unidentified church (negative), ca. 1904
6||Travel photographs, England & Wales, 1890’s(?). 10 photographs.
||4.31 MG – Quakers’ Prison & Town Hall tower, Welsh Pool, Wales, ca. 1890
||4.32 MG – New Radnor Old Gaol & Eagle Hotel (where Quakers were confined), ca. 1880
||4.33 MG – Penyford Bridge, swing bridge at end of village, ca. 1880
||4.34 MG – Bird’s-eye view of New Radnor, old church in distance, ca. 1880
||4.35 MG – Old Radnor Church, ca. 1880
||4.36 MG – Side view of Gaol, New Radnor, ca. 1880
||4.37 MG – Back of Ancient Gaol at New Radnor, ca. 1880
||4.38 MG – Alpine rocks near Handrundod Wells, ca. 1880
||4.39 MG – Welsh landscape looking from the Castle New Radnor toward Whimble Mt., ca. 1880.
||4.40 MG – House 300 years old, entrance onto Radnor Forest and Glascom out of New Radnor, ca. 1880
||4.41 MG – 3 ½ miles from New Radnor, entrance into Wales from England, Fingerposts, ca. 1880
6|42|Travel photographs, Almeria, Spain, 1910’s (?). 11 photographs.
||4.42 MG – View of the harbor and the canopic from the Alcazar, ca. 1910
||4.43 MG – Group of school boys at Almeria, ca. 1910
||4.44 MG – On the streets of Almeria, ca. 1910
||4.45 MG – Overlooking Almeria from the fortress, ca. 1910
||4.46 MG – Spanish types, ca. 1910
||4.47 MG – Street scene in Almeria, ca. 1910
||4.48 MG – An Almerian by-way, ca. 1910
||4.49 MG – A primitive drayage outfit, c. 1910
||4.50 MG – Interior of the bull ring at Almeria, ca. 1910
||4.51 MG – Casks of Malaga en route, ca. 1910
||4.52 MG – Unidentified woman with two dogs (negative), ca. 1910
||Series V. Miscellaneous
6|43| Bookmarks
6|44| Newspaper Clippings
6|45| Photocopied Newspaper Clippings
[/table]