| Creator | Bratton family |
| Title | Bratton family papers |
| Dates | 1825-1986 |
| Identification | MS 246 |
| Quantity | 6 linear feet (6 manuscript containers, 5 oversized boxes) |
| Collection Abstract | This collection mostly contains the papers and letters of Virginia and Jean Bratton from their time at Simmons College beginning in 1943 until their respective deaths in 1986 and 1973. The bulk of the collection is letters and other written works of Jean during her time in Spain which lasted almost continuously from 1950 to 1973. Photographs of Jean in Spain, and pictures of her travels also figure prominently. Virginia's papers are scattered throughout the collection and largely disappears after her graduation from Simmons in 1947, except for her collection of slides from the 1960s and 1970s. The collection also includes material related to Virginia and Jean's parents, Robert and Ethel Bratton, and their ancestors, Colonel William Bratton and Lazarus Cantel. Documents from numerous family members dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are also present. |
| Historical Abstract | Virginia Louise Bratton born June 26, 1925 and Jean Betty Bratton born May 31, 1926, were the daughters of Robert and Ethel Bratton. Virginia and Jean were both born in Stratford, Connecticut and later moved with their parents to Melrose, Massachusetts where they first attended Melrose High School and then, Simmons College in Boston. Virginia graduated from Simmons College in 1947 and after a brief career as an editor and production assistant for the American Physiological Society, returned to Simmons in 1950 to teach graphic arts, later becoming a full professor and chair of the communications department. Virginia died in 1986. Jean also graduated from Simmons in 1947 and then pursued graduate studies in English at Brown University. Jean spent most of her career as a teacher and journalist in Spain, where she died in 1973. Virginia and Jean have illustrious ancestors on both sides of their family. Robert Bratton's ancestors, Colonel William and Martha Bratton earned reputations as heroes for their exploits during the Battle of Huck's Defeat during the American Revolution. Colonel Bratton's plantation became the namesake of the town of Brattonsville in York County, South Carolina. Ethel Bratton's ancestors included her great-grandfather, Lazarus Cantel, a veteran of Napoleon's army, who fought at Waterloo before immigrating to the United States. Cantel became a leading personality in New York's French immigrant community and patented two devices, a canteen and a casket, both watertight and made of leather. |
| Language | Material primarily in English. Some material in French, Spanish, and Latin. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the College Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], Bratton family papers, MS 246, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
The papers were donated by Sally Duplaix to the College Archives in 2011.
Accession number: 2012.041
Processed by Shane Gellerman, 2012
Supervised by Jason Arthur Wood, 2012
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Jennifer Quan, November 2013.
The Bratton family has a long history, traceable to ancestors who fought in both the American Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Robert Bratton, was the descendent of a powerful southern family who were active supporters of both the American Revolution and the Confederacy during the Civil War. Robert's ancestors, Colonel William Bratton and his wife both earned reputations as heroes for their exploits during the Battle of Huck's Defeat during the American Revolution. The Bratton family's plantation then became the namesake of the town of Brattonsville, in York County, South Carolina. The ancestor's of Ethel (Plummer) Bratton, Robert's wife, were also notable immigrants to the United States from both France and Germany. Ethel's great-grandfather, Lazarus Cantel, was a veteran of Napoleon's army and even fought at Waterloo before immigrating. After Lazarus' arrival, he became a leading personality in New York's French immigrant community, and patented two devices, a canteen and a casket, both watertight and made of leather.
Robert Bernard Bratton was born on March 9, 1897 in McConnellsville, York County, South Carolina to John Bernard and Lula (Love) Bratton. Robert grew up in McConnellsville and as a young man attended Clemson College (now Clemson University) until he was drafted into the military in May 1918. Like his ancestors before him, Robert served his country during World War I. After the war Robert returned to Clemson College to continue his undergraduate studies in mechanical and electrical engineering, graduating in 1920. Circa 1923-1924, Robert married Ethel Plummer, born September 4, 1902, of Bridgeport, Connecticut.(1) During the following fifteen years the Brattons made their home in the state of Connecticut and it was there in the town of Stratford that daughters Virginia Louise (June 6, 1925) and Jean Betty (May 31, 1926) were born. The Bratton family moved to Melrose, Massachusetts in 1939 and four years later, in 1943, both Virginia and Jean graduated from Melrose High School.
Virginia and Jean then enrolled in Simmons College in fall 1943, and completed their studies four years later in 1947 but tragically, Robert Bratton had died in February 1945(2) and did not live to see his daughters graduate. The 1947 Simmons yearbook, Microcosm, lists both Virginia and Jean as being members of Junior Welcome, Baccalaureate, and Commencement clubs, as well as Fen Ways, the campus literary magazine. At Simmons, Virginia was more interested in science, but also studied graphic design and English, while Jean studied English. As an active member of Student Government, Jean wrote a weekly column, "Straight from Stu-G", for the Simmons newspaper during her junior year (1945-1946). The following year, Jean was elected the Student Government President where she was responsible for a number of tasks including the implementation of a "beef box" for student complaints. Jean was also voted "Most Popular" student her senior year and was included in the 1947 edition of Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.
After graduation, Virginia and Jean went on to have very different careers. Virginia worked in Washington, D. C. for the American Physiological Soociety as an editor and production assistant. She then moved back to Simmons College where she became a teacher in graphic arts in 1950. Virginia eventually reached the position of full professor in 1972 and became the chair of the communications department. For a decade at Simmons (1961-1971), Virginia was the director of the Simmons Press, assisting students with her knowledge of publishing and graphic design. She was also an advisor to Microcosm and a design consultant for Simmons publications.
During her career, Virginia worked for a number of other publications including Your Home Magazine, where she worked as an assistant editor, and received an award of merit from the Massachusetts Industrial Editor's Association. She also spent some time as a consultant for Industrial Organs. Virginia even became a co-owner of her own publishing house, Gaye Press, and was included in the directory, Who's Who of American Women. Throughout her life, Virginia was a member of many professional organizations and helped to take care of her ageing mother, Ethel. Her interest in photography, birds and wildlife is demonstrated not just through her membership in the Audobon Society, but also by the many pictures and slides of birds in the wild. When Ethel died in 1982, Virginia was left to close up her affairs, but then Virginia herself died suddenly only a few years later, in 1986, of a heart attack.
Jean took a very different course from Virginia following her graduation from Simmons. Immediately after graduation, Jean began a master's course in English at Brown University, working simultaneously as a teaching assistant and resident assistant while studying. After completing her degree, she became part of the first group of Fulbright fellowship recipients to France, and went on to continue her studies at the University of Paris. Here she helped start a new literary magazine and worked briefly with Orson Welles before moving to Madrid, Spain, to take a teaching position. Jean taught American Civilization and English at the International Girls Institute in Spain, before becoming Director of the Institute from 1951 to 1954. She then resigned her position and was awarded the Encomienda of the Civil Order by King Alfonso X, the highest civilian honor in Spain. Jean was also officially titled "Most Illustrious Senora" and was later awarded an honorary degree in Philosophy and Letters from the University of Madrid.
Jean taught briefly at Smith College before becoming the Director of Smith's Junior Year in Spain program in 1955-1956. While Jean remained a member of the Spanish department at Smith College, she also served as the American member on the Spanish Education Commission. She later worked as a foreign correspondent for the New York Times and the London Observer and was also the Director of the Lisbon-Madrid office of Life-Times news service. Jean would stay in Spain for the next twenty years teaching and working as a journalist, while accumulating numerous honors. During her time there, Jean met her partner, Eva Llores, a Spanish artist who was probably Jean's closest companion for her years in Spain. By the early 1970s, Jean suffered numerous health problems and she passed away on October 6, 1973. Simmons College created a Jean Bratton Award in 1975 to be given to seniors who demonstrate "superior intellectual and human quality" and concentrate their studies on language and literature.(3)
This collection mostly contains the papers and letters of Jean and Virginia Bratton from their time at Simmons College beginning in 1943, until their deaths in 1973 and 1986, respectively. The bulk of the collection is letters and other written works of Jean Bratton during her time in Spain, which lasted almost continuously from 1950 to 1973. The majority of these papers, however, are from her first years there, the early and mid-1950s. Photographs of Jean in Spain, and pictures of her travels also figure prominently. Virginia's work is more scattered through the collection but largely disappears after her graduation from Simmons, except for her collection of slides from the 1960s and 1970s. Her correspondence only emerges in the collection in the 1970s and 1980s.
The collection also includes some material from Eva Llores, as well as important family papers and photographs of the Bratton sisters' ancestors. On their father's side, the Bratton family history reaches back to the colonial era and the heroic exploits of Colonel William Bratton at the Battle of Huck's Defeat during the Revolutionary War. He even became the namesake of the town of Brattonsville, South Carolina, which sprung up around the plantation he owned. Their mother's family can be traced in the collection back to Lazarus Cantel, a French immigrant who fought in Napoleon's army. The collection contains documents from numerous family members through the nineteenth century until the documents of Virginia and Jean.
The collection is arranged in five series, which are separated chronologically, while photos and some oversized material have been removed in order to store in more appropriate boxes. The chronological arrangement best fits this collection because it is the best way to highlight the lives and exploits of Virginia and Jean.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Collection is arranged into 5 series:
This series includes materials passed down from the ancestors of Virginia and Jean on both their mother's and father's sides of the family. On their mother's side, the family papers stretch back to the 1833 immigration form of their great-great-grandfather, Lazarus Cantel, a veteran of the Napoleonic army. Also of note are Lazarus Cantel's two patent certificates for his canteen and casket, as well as a number of photos and newspaper clippings of his business and obituary. Pages of family recipes, in French, are also among Lazarus Cantel's papers. Their mother, Ethel's high school yearbook is also included in this series, along with numerous newspaper clippings about her achievements in high school and her engagement to Robert. On their father's side, are a number of newspaper clippings of obituaries of family members and a 1921 pamphlet detailing the exploits of his ancestor, Col. William Bratton, a Revolutionary War hero. Some of Robert's papers are also included, mostly relating to his business. Tintype and lots of other photographs of assumed, but unlabeled, family members from before Virginia and Jean's birth are also in this series.
Box 1
Box P1
Included in this series are Virginia and Jean's baby books, baptism certificates, high school diplomas, and pictures of the two children with their parents. Jean's birth certificate, as well as her clarinet sheet music and her high school yearbook, with annotations, are also found in this series.
Box 1
Box P1
This series contains all of the materials related to the years Virginia and Jean studied at Simmons College. There are a number of essays, photos, and newspaper clippings of articles both about the Bratton sisters and others written by Jean for the Simmons College school newspaper. Most of the correspondence is related to Jean's position as President of the Student Government, but there is also some personal correspondence of both Virginia and Jean, especially concerning the death of their father, Robert. The sisters' annotated yearbooks, dance cards, and diplomas are also included. While most of the material is directly related to Jean, work by Virginia is also extant. Lastly, this series also contains Jean's transcript and diploma from her program at Brown University.
Box 2
Oversized 1
Box 2
Box 3
Box P1
During this period Jean first began a course of study at the University of Paris, France as part of her Fulbright scholarship grant. This then led her to a number of educational positions in Madrid, Spain, over the following years. This series contains her written works, including essays and letters in English and Spanish, as well as many photographs. However, most of the correspondence is regular letters to her mother. The series also contains some mementos of her travels around Europe and important documentation, like her international drivers license and newspaper clippings about her receiving the Encomienda of the Civil Award, given by King Alfonso X. In addition, the papers of Jean's partner, Eva Llores, are also found in this series, which include letters, sketches, and information about her art shows.
Box 3
Oversized 1
Box 3
Box 4
Box 5
Oversized 2
Box P2
This series includes the letters, cards, photographs, and newspaper clippings about Virginia, Jean, and their mother, Ethel, towards the end of their lives. Jean continued to live in Spain, and during this time she worked as a journalist and frequently wrote and traveled. Her papers in this series are her own written works, as well as a number of articles that she edited or supervised that were published. Certification from the US Consul allowing Jean's body to be brought back to the United States is also included, along with other information about her funeral. Jean's medical and financial papers are also included. The series also contains a lot of photographic slides taken by Virginia over many years of everything from wild birds and pets to landscapes and still-lifes. These are divided into folders to match her initial division in envelopes, slide boxes, and carousels. Undated photographs and negatives are also included in the series along with photographs that can be definitively placed during this time. Ethel's papers are evident in this series, with her financial information, newspaper clippings and passport all present. The correspondence in this series belongs to all three women, and interestingly many of the letters between Jean and Ethel also contain written notes by Eva to Ethel. One unknown document, written in Latin, in calligraphic style is also included at the end of the series. Obituaries for Virginia, Jean, and Ethel are also present.
Box 5
Box 6
Oversized 2
Box P2
Box P3
Box P4
