Summary Information
Samuel Kirkham Ratcliffe Papers
1913-1958
- Ratcliffe, Samuel Kirkham, 1868-1958
England Mss E
0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Samuel Kerkham Ratcliffe, a British journalist who lectured widely in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. Included are diaries, 1913-1939; miscellaneous articles; biographical material; clippings; and correspondence concerning his lectures, 1913-1958.
English
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Biography/History
S. K. Ratcliffe, British journalist and lecturer, was well known to American audiences throughout the first half of the twentieth century. Beginning in 1914 he lectured in the United States and Canada for twenty-eight successive seasons; speaking, often extemporaneously, to university and college audiences, business groups, and literary forums. As a student of social change and political movements, he interpreted England and Europe to America, and discussed America before British audiences.
Born in England in 1868 to poor parents, Samuel Kerkham Ratcliffe left school at fourteen and at eighteen was working in a London warehouse. However, his constant reading, excellent memory, and keen insight led him into journalism. In his late twenties he became a regular contributor to The Echo, a London evening paper, and eventually its editor.
In 1902 he went to India where he was editor of The Statesman in Calcutta during the opening years of the Indian Nationalist Movement. He returned to England in 1907 to write and lecture authoritatively on conditions in India, working at first for the Daily News and then for the Manchester Guardian. Between 1910 and 1917 he also edited the Sociological Review. For more than forty years he was on the panel of lecturers for the South Place Ethical Society in London, and when in New York was a frequent visitor at the offices of the New Republic. In America he was often asked to appear on radio panel discussions, and served as special correspondent for the London Observer and The Spectator. When in England he was a frequent speaker for the British Broadcasting Corporation.
S. K. Ratcliffe died at the age of ninety, having been active until his sight failed him in 1954. In 1902, in Bombay, India, he had married Katie M. Jeeves, a graduate of London University. They had one son and two daughters.
Scope and Content Note
This collection is composed chiefly of typewritten copies of the diaries that S. K. Ratcliffe kept while on his numerous lecture tours in the United States between 1913 and 1939. Because he spoke to groups such as the Town Hall in New York and the Institute of Arts and Science at Columbia University, and delivered lectures at leading universities and clubs, his diaries make frequent reference to well known Americans. These include journalists, social thinkers, literary figures, law professors, and ministers. The diaries are filled with comments on conditions in the United States, descriptions of meetings in which he took part, and records of conversations. For instance, a glance at his diary for a single year, 1917, reveals references to Alfred Noyes, Felix Frankfurter, Robert Frost, E. A. Ross, Richard T. Ely, Harold Laski, and Sir Horace Plunkett.
In addition to the typewritten copies of the diaries, the papers contain a number of original pages from these diaries, but these are neither in sequence nor complete. One folder contains miscellaneous articles and lectures by Mr. Ratcliffe, both typewritten and printed. In a final folder may be found biographical notes written by his widow when she presented a talk about him, obituaries, clippings, and several letters of comment concerning the worth of his lectures, 1913-1958.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Miss Margaret Ratcliffe, London, England, July 22, 1965.
Processed by Margaret R. Hafstad, January 3, 1966.
Contents List
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Diaries Typescripts
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Box
1
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1913-1934
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Box
2
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1935, 1938-1939, undated
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Box
2
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Partial Manuscript of some diaries
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Box
2
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Misccellaneous articles by S. K. Ratcliffe
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Box
2
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Biographical material, clippings, obituaries, comments on his lectures, 1913-1958
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