The Ella Reeve Bloor Papers consist of two linear feet of personal and professional correspondence, notebooks and pamphlets, clippings, publications, and printed ephemera.
The collection, divided into 4 series, documents her activities as suffragist, free speech advocate, and labor organizer.
The Correspondence series consists of manuscript letters betweeen Bloor and her family, and correspondence between Bloor and her colleagues.
The majority of the family letters are to/from her children. Her letters, written during her travels, provide information about individuals and events associated with her work. Most of the family letters include the month and day written, but not the year. As a result, the letters are arranged in non-specific order.
Bloor's correspondence with colleagues and organizations are arranged chronologically. Included are letters from various Socialist societies, state and local government offices, newspapers, and labor unions, such as the New York State Committee Socialist Party, United Cloth and Cap Makers, Tailors' Union. In addition, there are handwritten letters from other activists involved in socialist and labor causes (e.g., letter from Joseph W. Sharts, counsel for Eugene V. Debs in his trial at Cleveland, Ohio; Theodore H. Lunde, officer of the Peace Council in Chicago).
The Publications series includes several small booklets, articles, a journal, and a report on the professional achievements of Harold M. Ware.
Ella Reeve Bloor was a suffragist, labor organizer, socialist, and free speech advocate who devoted herself to the cause of industrial workers, farmers, and radical activists. She was a member Socialist Party of America and the Communist Party USA, working to support political prisoners and to organize strike and strike-relief activities among miners, hatters, steelworkers, needleworkers, and others.
She was married three times; to Lucien Ware, Louis Cohen, and Andrew Omholt. She had six children with Ware: Grace, Hamilton (Buzz), Helen, Harold, and Pauline, and Charles, who died in infancy. She had two children with Cohen: Carl and Richard.
Known among workers and fellow socialists by the nickname "Mother Bloor," she was one of the leading female officials in the Communist Party USA.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Reeve_Bloor)
(https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bloor-ella-reeve-1862-1951)
