James A. Garfield II (b. 1894) was the son of James Rudolph Garfield (1865-1951) and Helen Newell Garfield (1866-1930), and grandson of United States President James A. Garfield (1831-1881). He was raised with his brothers John Newell, Rudolph Hills, and Newell, at Hollycroft, the family home in Mentor, Ohio, next to Lawnfield, residence of Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, the widow of the President. He graduated from Williams College in 1916 and served with the 322nd Field Artillery, 1916-1918. He married Edwina Forbes Glenn (b. 1895), daughter of General Edwin and Louise Smythe Glenn, in 1917. They lived in Cleveland and Mentor, while James pursued various business ventures which required frequent travel. Edwina moved to Florida with her daughters, Helen Louise (born 1918) and Elizabeth (born 1921) after the couple divorced in the 1930s.
The James A. Garfield II Family Papers (1869-1965) consist of correspondence, an autographs book, scrapbooks, speech reading lessons, drawings, newspaper clippings, and notebooks of President James A. Garfield, James R. and Helen Garfield, and James A. and Edwina Garfield.
This collection is of interest to scholars of President James A. Garfield, the Garfield family, and to researchers in social history, especially of the 1920s. The papers relating to President James Garfield include a scrapbook compiled in 1874 containing documents which refute charges regarding improprieties in military contract awards; a political tract annotated by Garfield; a collection of Garfield "Maxims", as well as commemorative publications and a scrapbook of condolences sent to the family after his death. This collection includes teaching materials for speech reading (lip reading), which were used by Helen Newell Garfield. She became deaf in 1918, devoted herself to education and rehabilitation of deaf children and adults. She and her husband, James Rudolph Garfield, were founders of the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center, and active in national organizations for the deaf education and rehabilitation. The letters of Edwina Glenn to her husband, James A. Garfield II, discuss concerns of a young, upper class wife of the 1920s, including her volunteer work with the Junior League, house hunting, society gossip, servants, and prohibition. She travelled with her two young daughters in France and Italy, 1927-1928, and her letters contain references to French social customs and manners, literature, the cost of living, and differences in expectations between French and American women. She comments on areas of conflict in their marriage, including birth control, drinking, smoking, religious beliefs, raising children, and her desire to find fulfilling work outside the home.
The collection is arranged in three series.
Photographs, prints, and postcards have been removed to the photograph and print collection.
Processed by Ann B. Ameling in 1991.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4580 James A. Garfield II Family Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Lawnfield, Western Reserve Historical Society, 1988.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.