Title: Noel A. Gillespie Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1891-1955, 1970-1972

Creator:

• Gillespie, Noel Alexander, 1904-1955

Call Number: Wis Mss UR; Micro 447

Quantity: 3.2 c.f. (9 archives boxes) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of Noel A. Gillespie, a British anesthetist who became a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin. Included is correspondence by and relating to Dr. Albert Schweitzer, 1922-1952; letters from T. E. Lawrence, 1913-1921; and letters and diaries of Gillespie's mother, Emily Rieder, lecturer on the Middle East and on women's and humanitarian movements. Gillespie worked with Schweitzer in Africa in 1924 and wrote detailed letters to his mother during his months there. Also included are letters, 1970-1972, between editor William C. Haygood and scholars, mainly in Switzerland, concerning Schweitzer-Gillespie letters in the possession of the Wisconsin Historical Society and other institutions; including various publications relating to Schweitzer archives and societies.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000ur

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Noel A. Gillespie was born December 25, 1904, in Crownbrook, Mayrow Road, Sydenham, England. He was christened Noel Alexander Rieder but on October 10, 1918, he legally changed his name to Noel Alexander Gillespie, after his grandmother Gillespie. His father, Andre Rieder, was a native of France but very little information is found about him in this collection, probably due to the fact he died on January 23, 1912, when Noel was seven. His mother, Emily (Farber) Rieder, was originally from New York, became a naturalized English citizen, and upon the death of her husband again took up her American citizenship but resided in England.

Mrs. Rieder was a world traveler, linguist, and lecturer active in women's and humanitarian movements. Her interests included the International Alliance of Cultural Relations and the feminist movement. Her lyceum lectures on the Near and Middle East concerned social and political questions. She died on January 22, 1935, having lectured in many countries between 1912 and 1924. It is because she and her son corresponded so faithfully that one is able to learn of the activities of both.

As a young boy, Noel Gillespie attended Peekskill Military Academy and the Elms at Colwall, England. His college and university days were spent at Oxford. At the age of nineteen he took a break from his studies and journeyed to Africa with Doctor Albert Schweitzer, working there with him from January to October, 1924. A detailed account of his time spent with Schweitzer is recorded in Noel's correspondence to his mother while he was there.

Gillespie returned to Oxford and continued to study, in 1931 receiving his highest degree as a medical doctor. He was appointed an anesthesiologist at London Hospital on May 30, 1934. Also in the 1930s, Gillespie traveled to the U.S. for a visit and spent some time in Madison, Wisconsin. Eventually, in May of 1939, he returned to the University Hospitals in Madison, having resigned from London Hospital in March 1939. At Wisconsin, Gillespie was a professor in the Anesthesiology Department of the medical school, where he became well known in his field.

It may be noted that N. A. Gillespie was devoted to the Anglican and Episcopal churches and had very close friendships with several clergymen, especially with Philip T. B. (Tubby) Clayton, probably due to his activities in Toc H and boy scouting in England. Gillespie never married, and died October 22, 1955 in Madison, at the age of fifty-one.

The Noel A. Gillespie collection includes much correspondence, dating from 1899 to 1955. The bulk of letters are exchanges with his mother (Emily Rieder) but also present is correspondence with T. E. Lawrence (a friend of the family), Albert Schweitzer, Tubby Clayton, and other friends and relatives. There are also some business transactions documented.

The correspondence is arranged chronologically except for the letters from Dr. Albert Schweitzer and letters from Noel Gillespie when he was serving as Dr. Schweitzer's assistant and secretary in Africa in 1924. These folders are set apart, in Box 7, as “Albert Schweitzer material”. The letters from T. E. Lawrence are found with the general correspondence (Box 1) within the years 1913-1921.

The collection includes printed articles written by Gillespie on Ralph Milton Waters and Sir William Osier; and there is one article on the position of an American doctor in the war. There are newspapers and magazine clippings and thirty-five volumes of diaries and notebooks of N. A. Gillespie and Emily Rieder.

Added to the collection in 1972 are letters, 1970-1972, between William Haygood and several scholars and Schweitzer enthusiasts, mainly in Switzerland. Haygood was editor of the Wisconsin Magazine of History and was working on the publication there of the Schweitzer-Gillespie letters in this collection (in Volume 54, Spring 1971). The discussions center on Gillespie's life and character and on the location of other Gillespie and Schweitzer materials. Included are various publications relating to Schweitzer archives and societies in Europe and the United States. Three publications containing German translations of Gillespie's African letters and other materials on Schweitzer were added to the above materials in 1978.

Acquisition Information

Original materials presented by the Noel Gillespie estate, Madison, Wisconsin, circa 1955. Haygood letters presented by William C. Haygood, Madison, Wisconsin, March 1, 1972. German publications presented by Dr. Irwin Jacobi, Zurich, Switzerland, July 19, 1974. Accession Number: M72-46, M74-315

Wis Mss UR	Correspondence
Box   1	1899-1922, September
Box   2	1922, October-1926, October
Box   3	1926, November-1931, October
Box   4	1931, November-1936
Box   5	1937-1950
Box   6	1951-1955, November; undated
Box   6	Miscellaneous notes
Box   6	Articles, sketches, and other memorabilia
	Articles
Box   7	“Albert Schweitzer”
Box   7	“The effects of the War on the position of the American Anaesthetist”
Box   7	“Tubby”
Box   7	“Ralph Milton Waters: a brief biography”
Box   7	“Sir William Osier”
	Albert Schweitzer Material
Box   7	Letters from N. A. Gillespie, 1924, while with Schweitzer in Africa
Box   7	Letters from Schweitzer, 1922-195[2]
Micro 447 Reel   1	Microfilm Copy of Letters
Wis Mss UR Box   7	Miscellaneous, articles, notes, and photographs
Box   7	Haygood Letters, 1970-1972
Box   7	Newspaper and magazine clippings
Box   7	Printed Material
Box   7	Photographs
	Noel A. Gillespie Bound Volumes
Box   8 Volume   1	Grandmother's Estate, 1912-1923
	Diaries
Box   8 Volume   2	1914-1919, 1921, 1931
Box   8 Volume   4	1924
	Investments
Box   8 Volume   3	1918-1927
Box   8 Volume   5	1924-1928
Box   8 Volume   7	1927-1929
Box   8 Volume   8	1928-1929
Box   8 Volume   6	On Scouting, 1925
	Emily Rieder Bound Volumes
	Diaries
Box   8 Volume   9	1891-1900
Box   8 Volume   10	1899-1900
Box   8 Volume   11	Concerning son Noel, 1904-1916
Box   8 Volume   12	1907
Box   8 Volume   13	1909
Box   8 Volume   14	1910
Box   8 Volume   15	Holy Land, 1912
Box   9 Volume   17	1914-1932
Box   9 Volume   18	1918
Box   9 Volume   20	1920
Box   9 Volume   21	1922
Box   9 Volume   22	1923
Box   9 Volume   23	1924-1925
Box   9 Volume   26	1925-1926
Box   9 Volume   27	1927
Box   9 Volume   29	1928
Box   9 Volume   30	1928
Box   9 Volume   31	1928
Box   9 Volume   32	1931
Box   9 Volume   33	1933
Box   9 Volume   34	1934
Box   9 Volume   16	Copies of letters written to “Mr. Woodward” regarding financial matters, 1912
Box   9 Volume   19	Notebook, 1919-1921
Box   9 Volume   24	Notebook, 1924-1928
Box   9 Volume   25	Letter copy book, 1924-1934
Box   9 Volume   28	Holdings in Stocks and Bonds, 1927-1934
Box   9 Volume   35	Address Book, undated