"Surprising Revelations: Intimacies in the Letters Between Dr. Eliot, George B. Dorr, and JDR Jr." Jesup Memorial Library, August 10, 2016 9/15/21, 3:48 PM Surprising Revelations: Intimacies in the Letters Between Charles W. Eliot, George B. Dorr & John D. Rockefeller Jr. Jesup Mem. Anchor to the Past Chart to the Future Jesup Memorial Library Enter keywords to search for X Q Recent Items Help Advanced Search About the Jesup Browse Items Surprising Revelations: Intimacies in the Letters Between Charles W. Eliot, George B. Dorr & John D. Rockefeller Jr. 1 Citation "Surprising Revelations: Intimacies in the Letters Between Epp - Ronald H. Epp, Charles W. Eliot, George B. Dorr & John D. Rockefeller Jr." Ronald H. Epp. Ph.D. "Surprising Revelations: Jesup Memorial Library Intimacies in the Letters August 10, 2016 Between Charles W. Eliot, Earlier this year I proposed to Ruth Eveland several topics for a centennial presentation at the Jesup Memorial Library. The topic George B. Dorr & John D. of intimacies in the letters of the most prominent park founders was strongly preferred. Rockefeller Jr.," Jesup This is not a subject I discussed in my biography of George B. Memorial Library, accessed Dorr. Indeed, preparation of forced my reopening of research materials which proved more challenging than I September 15, 2021, expected. 1 needed relaxation after fifteen years of research and writing, not re-immersion in the difficult craft of writing. But the https://jesuplibrary.net/digit topic was rich in potential dake Mr. Dorr I embrace the notion of persistence. alarchive/items/show/3383. So here I am in mid-August in one of four surviving island Item 8375 physical structures that bear the design imprint of Mr. Dorr (the others being Oldfarm's Storm Beach Cottage, the park office at COA, and the park Abbe Museum). I am not here to talk about external manifestations of Dorr's impact: nor will I enter here into the emphasis that other local historians have given to the Save this item as a PDF differences between Dorr, Eliot, and Rockefeller. Frankly, my research has shown that their personalities were more similar file than the dissimilarities promoted by Sargent Collier, R.W. Hale Jr., Judith S. Goldstein, and H. Bliot Foulds. All of us agree lon one point, however, that these park founders appreciate the achievements of one another, exchanged ideas, offered https://jesuplibrary.net/digitalarchive/items/show/3383 1/2 9/15/21, 3:48 PM Surprising Revelations: Intimacies in the Letters Between Charles W. Eliot, George B. Dorr & John D. Rockefeller Jr. Jesup Mem IDENTIFIER: 8375 TITLE: Surprising Revelations: Intimacies in the Letters Between Charles W. Eliot, George B. Dorr & John D. Rockefeller Jr. TYPE: Publication, Literary, Speech, Lecture SUBJECT: People NAMED Eliot - Charles Willam Eliot (1834- PERSON: 1926) Dorr - George Bucknam Dorr (1853-1944) Rockefeller - John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960) DESCRIPTION: Text of the lecture given by Ronald H. Epp on August 10, 2016, at the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, Maine. CREATOR: Epp - Ronald H. Epp PUBLISHER: Jesup Memorial Library DATE: August 10, 2016 RIGHTS: Copyright Not Evaluated C 2021 Jesup Memorial Library Created by AvantLogic - Login https://jesuplibrary.net/digitalarchive/items/show/3383 2/2 1 "Surprising Revelations: Intimacies in the Letters Between Charles W. Eliot, George B. Dorr & John D. Rockefeller Jr." Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. Jesup Memorial Library August 10, 2016 Earlier this year I proposed to Ruth Eveland several topics for a centennial presentation at the Jesup Memorial Library. The topic of intimacies in the letters of the most prominent park founders was strongly preferred. This is not a subject I discussed in my biography of George B. Dorr. Indeed, preparation of this talk forced my reopening of research materials which proved more challenging than I expected. I needed relaxation after fifteen years of research and writing, not re-immersion in the difficult craft of writing. But the topic was rich in potential and like Mr. Dorr I embrace the notion of persistence. So here I am in mid-August in one of four surviving island physical structures that bear the design imprint of Mr. Dorr (the others being Oldfarm's Storm Beach Cottage, the park office at COA, and the park Abbe Museum). I am not here to talk about external manifestations of Dorr's impact; nor will I enter here into the emphasis that other local historians have given to the differences between Dorr, Eliot, and Rockefeller. Frankly, my research has shown that their personalities were more similar than the dissimilarities promoted by Sargent Collier, R.W. Hale Jr., Judith S. Goldstein, and H. Eliot Foulds. All of us agree lon one point, however, that these park founders appreciate the achievements of one another, exchanged ideas, offered 2 encouragement, and expressed candid feelings about a wide array of topics. Especially during the years 1917-1923, each was indispensable to the others. instead, I want to draw your attention to selected examples of a much favored and rarely used term of an earlier era. That is, the word "intimate." Its usage in letters written by Dr. Eliot, George B. Dorr, and John D. Rockefeller Jr. at the end of the Gaslight Era provides previously unexplored biographical insights. The concept of intimacy is historically associated with couples, more commonly with those of an opposite gender involved in a sexual relationship. An Internet search of this concept discloses tens of thousands of references that relate predominantly to couples therapy. Indeed, it is not surprising for couples to state that there is intimacy in verbal, written, and body language where the unstated is a form of innermost disclosure. That is why the intimacy language in correspondence between males a century ago caught my attention. What significance should a historian assign to it? Is it employed casually or with restraint? What does it connote? When JDR Jr. writes of his "intimate association" with Dorr, can we discover the core elements that underlie his use of a term that we might suppose he reserved for his family? Even in its explicit absence, is intimacy implied contextually and over time? I assume here that men have no less a need for intimacy than women, regardless of the gender of the partner. Yet throughout western culture, male expression of intimacies is commonly suppressed or denied; in the Gaslight Era when intimacy language was used by males, quiet concerns about the effeminacy of the speaker usually followed. Rarely are intimacies 3 expressed verbally without metaphorical diversions. Even in our own day, when private feelings and convictions are given the solidity of the written word there is the tacit acknowledgement that something akin to courage has been added. Why? Because words in a document have a standing in law and history not rivaled by undocumented verbal expression. Moreover, since all three relied on secretaries to transcribe dictated or written comments, there is no extreme concern with privacy. A case in point is this specific talk, exploring the words preserved in archives across the county. In my research, I wondered if Dorr, Eliot, and Rockefeller were consciously writing for posterity, crafting letters to secure public approbation. Let us assume that intimacy refers to close acquaintance, familiarity, or association with another involving the sharing of one's innermost character (be it mental or emotionally-based). The interpersonal term also connotes trust, friendship, love, and privacy. But as we ponder our own relationships, are we intimate with others in a comprehensive sense of the word? That is, does intimacy refer to expressions about the whole of one's inner life? Keep this question in mind as we look at how Dr. Eliot and Mr. Rockefeller expressed their beliefs about one another--and Mr. Dorr. We might be surprised to learn that in the surviving letters the expression of innermost feelings does not range far and wide-instead, they are quite subject specific. In behaving this way, they might not be all that different from the rest of us. The large number of letters exchanged which reflect intimacy issues cannot be catalogued tonight. It will have to suffice that I concentrate here on Mr. Rockefeller's letters to Eliot and Dorr, in part because his archive is the most comprehensive and he sent more letters to the two than he received from them. 4 February 1915 should be considered the nexus of the Dorr-Eliot- JDR relationship. Dr. Eliot is in the last decade of his life, JDR is rapidly expanding his carriage roads and purchasing properties that he deems worthy of preservation, and Dorr prepares a lengthy summary for Eliot of Trustee property acquisitions-and financial needs for further preparation of title and property histories for the federal government. (Harvard University. CWE Papers. B.95. Dorr to Eliot. 2.24.15) Their correspondence is formal but Eliot reframes Dorr's summary within the context of the history of the HCTPR and the VIA's, requesting $15,000 for national monument expenses. Partial support is secured. The Eliot-JDR relationship deepens. In 1919, shortly after securing national park status, Eliot again writes to JDR about the expenses of securing deeds and titles for lands west of Somes Sound. But now the letters are less formal and more familiar, Eliot expressing admiration for Dorr's extensive knowledge of island history, flora and fauna, and the status of properties being pursued; but Eliot's efforts to procure lists of Dorr's works in progress have "totally failed," which he describes as a "hopeless case," for Dorr "lives in such a preposterous way as respects the care of his health, and takes so many absurd risks in rushing about the Island that we are likely to lose him any day by disease or accident." (Rockefeller Archive Center. III.2.I. B. 59.f.441. Eliot to JDR. 9.3.19) Familiarity is again manifest when Eliot expresses concerns that he will not be able to adequately support his "children, grandchildren, and GGC, when my pension ceases." As the months pass letters between the three become more familiar, more complementary, and more directly concerned with Dorr's well being even as Dorr repeatedly authorizes JDR "to do work along any such lines on your behalf as I may feel disposed 5 to do." (Sawtelle Archives and Research Center. Acadia National park. B.45.f.1.9.18.22) JDR writes of his "genuine satisfaction and pleasure" found in cooperating with Dorr's "splendid work." He concludes with atypical written praise: "I cannot close this letter without expressing my appreciation of the unselfish, untiring and devoted service which you have rendered in bringing the Park into being and are continuing to render in its upbuilding and development." On the other hand, letters between Eliot and Rockefeller about Dorr are few and far between. They focus on concern for Dorr's well-being and his departures from standard administrative practices. If this be taken as criticism such comments are always balanced by praise for Dorr's conspicuous virtues as when Eliot defends Dorr to criticism of his administrative practices by Ellen Bullard, the daughter of Eliot's sister Elizabeth. (See R. Epp, Creating Acadia National Park, p. 171) There is a series of Eliot letters just two years shy of his death to Interior Secretary Hubert Work that provide a final statement of what Dorr meant to Eliot. When certain islanders objected to continuing "intrusion" into the mountainous core of the Park, an important Washington DC hearing was held in March 1924. Eliot wrote in support of the Dorr-Rockefeller plans, describing Dorr as "a man of extraordinary public spirit...[who] expended a considerable fortune which has now all gone into public and semi- public undertakings. [yet as] a public official he has one defect against which precautions can be easily taken. He is liable to talk too long about any business which interests him." (Eliot Papers. B.95. 2.1.1924) 6 Seven weeks later just as the hearing is to open, Eliot writes a 500-word letter on "the quality and character of George B. Dorr." This document qualifies as an expression of intimacy because it reflects more than seven decades of Eliot-Dorr family interaction and contains Eliot's own reference to his "intimate relations" [with Dorr] for at least thirty years. I know of no other extended private expression by Eliot that rivals its expansiveness. Suffice it to report that therein Dorr is described as "a man of the highest probity and the keenest sense of ..incapable of any disloyalty to friend, employer, or official superior, or any disingenuousness towards critics or opponents." (Eliot Papers. B. 95. 3.22.1924) If this strikes one as lacking specificity, compare it with Rockefeller's "somewhat belated" note to Eliot on his 90th birthday for "you have been an example and an inspiration to me in many ways. The uniform dignity and courtliness of your bearing your unfailing courtesy, your splendid self control, your enormous capacity for work, the painstaking exactness with which you study the details of every problem upon which you pass judgment, your magnificent breadth of view, your clear insight and your keen vision have long commanded my profound admiration. I have counted it a high privilege to have the more intimate association with you which life on the Maine coast has made possible." In hindsight, we might regard these expressions as lacking emotional force. Rockefeller understands the matter differently, for he states that this "personal tribute [reflects] the deep feeling of regard and esteem" in which he has held Eliot for many years. (RAC. B. 59. f.441. 4.8.24) I know of no document in the massive Rockefeller Archive Center that is comparable-as a personal tribute-to the aforementioned quote! 7 No less an authority on the Harvard's president than philosopher Ralph Barton Perry described Eliot as "a man of exquisite tenderness of feeling towards those of his own family circle. A quality of homeliness and simplicity was deeper in him than that lawful aspect of dignity which he wore in his public appearances." Paraphrasing Perry, it is fair to judge a man by what he admires as well as by what he is. ("Charles William Eliot," New England Quarterly, 1931) Eliot's 1903 essay on a "New Definition of the Cultivated Man," contained an unconscious statement of his personal ideal that comes remarkably close to the Eliot that Dorr and Rockefeller had known intimately: "He is not to be a weak, critical, fastidious creature [but] a man of quick perception, broad sympathies and wide affinities; responsive, but independent; self-reliant, but deferential; loving truth and candor, but also moderation and proportion; courageous, but gentle; not finished, but perfecting." (Present College Questions [New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1903]). While we have no way to know whether Eliot here is deliberately self-referential, we might well infer that these are qualities in other men that attracted him, that cultivated intimacy over time. But bear in mind, this essay is a public pronouncement. Eliot well recognized the differences between public and private statements. Between face-to-face utterances and the more deliberative drafting in solitude of one's innermost thoughts. Mr. Rockefeller makes a similar point about the inflated value of the written word when he writes to Dorr that "I am committed to nothing [regarding park development] except as such commitments have been or may be made in writing." (RAC. B. 85.f. 839. 8.14.22) While Rockefeller's biographers note his economy with verbal expression, there is little economy in his 8 official and personal correspondence with Dr. Eliot and Mr. Dorr. To the contrary, he provides information, analysis, and statements of significance that convinced me that Rockefeller placed great stock in the worth of the recipient; otherwise, he would have opted for brevity or delegated this responsibility to someone in the Rockefeller organization rather than committing personal time and energy to enlarging the understanding of one of his intimates. David Rockefeller's 2002 autobiography explains that "the procedure Father preferred whenever we had something important to deal with, especially an issue with significant emotional content, was an exchange of letters even when we were living under the same roof." (Memoirs, p. 18) This method was applied to other Rockefeller intimates, perhaps in part because unlike the spontaneity of the spoken word, the written word-even when dictated-can be refined, clarified, and more deeply reflect conscious intent. Frankly, in my research I was routinely overwhelmed by the magnitude of Rockefeller's attentiveness to all manner of issues relating to the development of the park and to those most closely responsible. Like Rockefeller's biographer-Raymond B. Fosdick- I too wondered where Rockefeller found the time amid all his projects for such narrative productivity? Fosdick says that even in his youth Rockefeller "was a master of detail. And it must be admitted that he loved it. He was a perfectionist, with an abhorrence of anything that was shoddy or second-rate...[And Acadia was] the kind of project which appealed to him strongly. It was a virgin enterprise, and to a perfectionist ..this meant that the work would not be hampered by the 9 precedent of inferior standards nor would the scope of the project be limited by a preconceived plan...More than any other park to which Mr. Rockefeller has contributed, Acadia bears the marks of his own persistent care and effort." (R. Fosdick, John D. Rockefeller Jr. A Portrait (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956, pp. 304-305) This care dovetailed with the establishment of the NPS and as we have seen the new Interior Department organization has always been in "a relatively weak position in securing congressional authorizations and appropriations, it very much needed private sector support, and Junior became by far the leader in providing it...[That is, his] devotion to conservation. [was] in consonance with the Progressive era...[and] in aiding the development of tourist facilities and carriage roads at Acadia, his purpose was to bring the public in to enjoy the park under proper conditions that would preserve its beauty, not to create a protected haven for the exclusive use of wealthy summer residents." (John Harr & Peter J. Johnson, The Rockefeller Century [New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988, pp. 199-200) That heightened degree of engagement is evident a decade earlier (1900-1910) when Fosdick recalls that "the mass of...duties and functions is almost unbelievable...business and philanthropic problems on a gigantic scale [and] the gradual assumption of leadership in family matters as both his father and mother seemed to lean on him increasingly for advice and counsel in intimate questions relating to the domestic circle." (John D. Rockefeller Jr., p. 106) Notice Fosdick's implication that the concept of "intimacy" ranges beyond domesticity. 10 In 1929-three years after Eliot's death, it is noteworthy that Rockefeller uses the expression "intimately" in a non-emotional context when he writes to an Olmsted architect (H.V. Hubbard) a 2,000 word letter and therein describes Dorr as "a man of great personal magnetism, extraordinary culture, splendid background, and my warm personal friend." The comment that follows is most germane: that is, that "Dorr's projects and my projects are very intimately inter-related and inter-dependent. Neither of us can develop our ideas most fully or most satisfactorily without the complete cooperation of the other. For many years I have enjoyed a close friendship, with Mr. Dorr, and we have cooperated most fully, cordially, and harmoniously in developing these common plans.. [for] Acadia National Park." (RAC. B.110.f. 1097. JDRJr. to Henry V. Hubbard. 9.18.29) But surely prefacing "inter-related and inter-dependent" with the term "very" and "intimately" adds something. What? All that we can logically infer is that Rockefeller was consciously trying to convey the depth and breadth of their freely chosen co- dependency, especially since the remaining paragraphs stress road development sites where he and Dorr are not of one mind. He clearly wants Olmsted architect Henry Hubbard to realize that these issues are subordinate to the relationship between Dorr and Rockefeller. Shortly after the death of Stephen Mather, as Dorr approached his 80th birthday, Rockefeller reiterates his concerns to attorney Harry Lynam about Dorr's reluctance to prepare an inventory of his "personal real estate holdings as well as property owned by the Wild Gardens, the Park, and JDR Jr. He urges Lynam to "work together. to help Mr. Dorr so arrange his affairs that what he really desires to have done with this property after he passes on will be done." And then Rockefeller adds, "His lack of experience 11 in matters of this kind may result in his not knowing how best to accomplish that end." Now, this can be taken as paternalistic, administratively presumptive, or even intrusive. But taken within the context of all relevant correspondence, it is rightly understood as an expression of intimacy. (RAC.B. 85.f.840. 5.4.33) As a counterpoint, following a summer illness, Junior writes Dorr two months (August 2, 1933) later that he should take care to "not do any more imprudent things like sliding down Green Mountain in the snow drifts, as I saw you do some years ago. [For] You are greatly needed in this world and particularly on this island. I would not know what to do without you here and you and I must live at least to see the projected automobile [loop] road completed and then for a long time thereafter to plan other worthwhile development of the island." A year later on his 81st birthday, Dorr receives from Rockefeller a letter which disparages "milestone" letters and yet affirms that "Mrs. Rockefeller and I count our friendship with you as one of the happiest of the many delightful things that have come into our lives as a result of our having made MDI our summer residence. [I cannot think] of any other person with sufficient patience, kindliness and tact to have accomplished so difficult an undertaking [as the establishment of ANP]...During these many years [contact with you] has been a constant pleasure and happiness to me." Dorr surely was more reserved in the written expression of intimacies. While the scope of this talk limits references to these expressions, there is an indication that unlike Mr. Rockefeller, the spoken word conveyed momentary intimacy. In a September 1940 letter to JDR Jr. he remarks philosophically that he "...has 12 been living, of late especially, in the great tragic drama of the world whose every passing stage comes to us so wonderfully through the radio, which gives it an immediate reality no printed word can do." (RAC. B. 85.f.840. 9.28.1940) Yet as I've shown in my biography, Dorr embodied the FDR maxim of "Action, and action now!" A telling little known example of this is revealed in a September 1939 letter typed on Oldfarm stationary, a follow up to a conversation a day or two earlier when Rockefeller offered the name of one of his sons in response to Dorr's question about which son would "most likely...take permanent interest in the work that we have done [here on Mount Desert]." Thirty-one year old Nelson was the father's response. Dorr then gives Nelson a cherished eight-foot high Sheraton-style Mahogony clock that Dorr received several decades earlier from Mrs. John Innes Kane (he was a great grandson of John Jacob Astor), who--with her husband--had given Dorr for the future national park Dry (later Dorr) mountain, the Tarn below, and the Gorge beyond. Dorr recalls the personal importance of time- keeping throughout his life and concludes that "as my journey ends that this gift of Mrs. Kane's shall find place with the on- coming generation and carry on to it, and others still, the memory of the Park's formation." Other than a few gifts demarcated in the Dorr's will, this gift appears to have had singular importance; since no gift could possibly rival the possessions of the father, Dorr enlists JDR Jr. in selecting Nelson as the conservation torch-bearer. More so, Dorr thinks that Nelson's membership in the Dorr Foundation would be one way to accomplish ongoing conservation 13 goals. Rockefeller again compliments Dorr for preserving the island "for the enjoyment of all the people [for] no one knows better than I do how important it is and how unselfishly you have given of your time, your thought, your strength and your means to the accomplishment of the desired end. I rejoice in what you have done and am proud to have been your silent partner in some phases of the work..... shall think of you often, and always with admiration and affection." (RAC. B. 85. f. 840. 9.9.39 & 9.15.39) In the end, Dorr exhausted his fortune to assemble the properties that became Acadia National Park. It is no small irony that in Mr. Rockefeller, he found a partner for over three decades who was charmed as well by the beauty of the Mount Desert Island. As with Eliot, in their collaboration important choices were made and paths followed that would not have been pursued had each followed a solitary course. Rockefeller's "actions are curiously symbolic-writes their contemporary conservationist, Fairfield Osborn-for much of the wealth that has made his munificent contributions for the purposes of conservation has been derived from the [oil extracted] from the depths of the earth. This wealth has, in turn, been distributed for the preservation of resources. on the surface of the earth [by his son]. He is part of a self-created epic that expresses the completion of a cycle." Friends of Acadia former president W. Kent Olson seized upon the the financial backing that Mr. Rockefeller provided, the vision of Dr. Eliot, and the "tireless" benefaction of George Dorr. Many others have stressed other character traits that contributed to their joint success. What I've tried to show here is that there is sound evidence in their letters that above and beyond singular attributes was the implicit acceptance by each of a personal ideal that Eliot described in his 1911 "Cultivated Man" essay: "broad 14 sympathies and wide affinities; responsive, but independent; self- reliant, but deferential; loving truth and candor, but also moderation and proportion not finished, but perfecting." These were the core character traits that framed their success in developing Acadia National Park. As intimate friends, these attributes could be expressed- -- but more often than not, were not. In this lies their humanity. Intimacies_Jesup_9.16 Contact: dorr1853@gmail.com 9/13/2016 XFINITY Connect XFINITY Connect eppster2@comcast.net + Font Size - Re: Epp August talk From : Marie Yarborough Tue, Sep 13, 2016 09:24 AM Subject : Re: Epp August talk To : Ruth Eveland Cc : Ronald Epp Thank you Ron! I have printed a copy for our archives~ Best, Marie On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 5:14 PM, Ruth Eveland wrote: I am delighted to receive this. I'm going to ask Kathy to include a printed copy in our Special Collection material. Even though it is on the page, I heard your voice throughout as I read it! Thanks, Ruth Ruth A. Eveland Director Jesup Memorial Library 34 Mt. Desert Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 207/288-4245 (library); 207/610-2355 (cell) reveland@jesuplibrary.org www.jesuplibrary.org Jesup Memorial Library: "Anchor to the Past; Chart to the Future" On Sat, Sep 10, 2016 at 4:22 PM, Ronald Epp wrote: Dear Ruth, Attached is the slightly revised copy of my August 10th talk. I am also putting in snail mail copies of three letters exchanged between George Dorr and Thomas DeWitt Cuyler-- a fellow Pennsylvanian, owner of a Northeast Harbor cottage, and nephew of Mrs. Jesup--concerning the Jesup Memorial Path. These have not been seen by the public and supplement the groundbreaking work of Margie Coffin Brown in her Pathmakers (2006). I found these in the Chapman Archive (B. 143. D52) and think that they belong in your special collections until the originals are under your roof. All the Best, Ron Epp From: "Ruth Eveland" To: "Ronald Epp" Sent: Friday, September 9, 2016 1:52:11 PM Subject: Re: copy of your August talk? Ron, We did indeed have a solid series of programs this summer. Catch your breath and I look forward to receiving your revised remarks. I will think about any points that have been ongoing food for thought for me or from others. Ah, yes, the CLIR application. As the visitor season winds down that will wind up. So much of my time now is channeled toward our development work, but that is critical to our future so I will make sure it happens. Fingers crossed that Bill's work will yield additional boxes for future endeavors as well. Thanks, Ruth https://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=388654&tz=America/New_York&xim=1 1/3 9/13/2016 XFINITY Connect Ruth A. Eveland Director Jesup Memorial Library 34 Mt. Desert Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 207/288-4245 (library); 207/610-2355 (cell) reveland@jesuplibrary.org www.jesuplibrary.org Jesup Memorial Library: "Anchor to the Past; Chart to the Future" On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 12:43 PM, Ronald Epp wrote: Hi Ruth, I just returned home over the Labor Day weekend. I was greeted by six copies of the Islander that accumulated in my absence and I intended to write to you about what I've discovered in reading past issues: that I missed far too much at the Jesup because of conflicts with the seven other talks I gave locally in August and my reluctance to stay on MDI for evening events and face the hour drive "home" to Blue Hill. The Jesup programming was spectacular! Indeed, I will send a copy of my Jesup talk over the weekend. First I need to make a few editorial corrections. I'm pleased that some of the language dovetails with donor advancement efforts. Which reminds me that I need to locate the Jesup Friends of the Library application you handed me. Since we last spoke, I've received invitations to speak to the Maine Historical Society and the incomparable Massachusetts Historical Society. I'm considering how I can introduce the intimacy theme into those talks. If you have any ideas about what resonated well at the Jesup, please let me know. And then there is the next CLIR application. All My Best, Ron From: "Ruth Eveland" To: "Ronald Epp" Sent: Friday, September 9, 2016 12:17:59 PM Subject: copy of your August talk? Ron, I know that you and Annie, our fundraising consultant, had talked about your sharing a copy of your August talk with us. There was some language in it that we particularly would like to build on as we craft our approach to some of our potential donors. If you could send it when convenient we'd be grateful. This must be the year for biography - we had 90 people here last night to hear our two Pulitzer authors! Hope you survived August! Thanks, Ruth Ruth A. Eveland Director Jesup Memorial Library 34 Mt. Desert Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 207/288-4245 (library); 207/610-2355 (cell) reveland@jesuplibrary.org www.jesuplibrary.org Jesup Memorial Library: "Anchor to the Past; Chart to the Future" Marie C. Yarborough https://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=388654&tz=America/New_York&xim= 2/3 9/23/2015 XFINITY Connect XFINITY Connect eppster2@comcast.net + Font Size - Re: Library Programming Request From : Ruth Eveland Wed, Sep 23, 2015 04:42 PM Sender : ruth eveland Subject : Re: Library Programming Request To : Ronald Epp Cc : Mel Rice Ron, Some great choices. Mel gets back at the end of the week, and she and I will talk and get back to you. I'm partial to #3 or #4, personally. Thanks, Ruth Ruth A. Eveland Director Jesup Memorial Library 34 Mt. Desert Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 207/288-4245 (library); 207/610-2355 (cell) reveland@jesuplibrary.org www.jesuplibrary.org Jesup Memorial Library: "Anchor to the Past; Chart to the Future" On Wed, Sep 23, 2015 at 3:36 PM, Ronald Epp wrote: Dear Melinda, Ruth advised me to email you about some ideas for a talk that I would like to give at the Jesup Library in August 2016. I'm fleshing out my calendar as an Acadia Centennial Partner and would like you to consider whether one of the following topics might best resonate with your community: 1. Once Again, the Preservation Legacy of Charles W. Eliot (an appreciation of Harvard's Rev. Peter Gomes 2007 FOA address in NEH) 2. Five Years after the Creation (of Acadia National Park) 3. The Prince of Altruists: Two decades of Living with--and Writing about--Mr. Dorr 4. Surprising Revelations: Intimacies in letters between G.B. Dorr, C.W. Eliot, and J.D.R. Jr. I'd very much like to tentatively settle on a topic within the next couple of weeks, in part so that I can post it on the ACP website and generate interest. These will not be readings from the Dorr biography. Please suggest available dates. I believe we met one another when Ruth hosted a Monday meeting at the Jesup back in mid-August. Thank you for this opportunity, Ronald Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. 532 Sassafras Dr. Lebanon, PA 17042 717-272-0801 eppster2@comcast.net https://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=323661&tz=America/New_York&xim= 1/1 6/15/16 "Artimaces First notes" Characteristics Shared: reach decisions, Indernine Capacit to take the lead, to that indometable with persistance well c ideas jabstractions ability to pursue a multifocated goal pharmant capacit for work parentsky exactment in analyzy the details of wey expensive freentation or breadth of new Challenge. men apart, each despite persistent actust each was "neech alare curry men, what Rollo Waltu brow 1925) calls "a " now apart, a fighter who sowthe odds agaest him (referency (WE). restrunt, a difficult In being effective (see R.B. Peuyi "CWE: Fersional Tloitst Essential Creat") Each was what Wne Josee called "healthy minded and "touch-mended", too inecerally Save toptimestic to the suffer June "sizhsoul" or to seeh attonement y suffering (Pery Each was "this would courned @ the duety to pursue happen and to mohe other hape in the here and now Future tapics for paper Duris Influence on FDRIr Eleat's " " " JORE " " Dorr referen DianellsGuire "Serein or 'The Moust' -2 Conder, sometimes ee as a lack of tact. Would not tsmperthe truth for the purpon of pleasing be takence companious The was see as a hed of hardness in he ways of activy, a shallowers@the complexities of behaver Inglination of aboofness followed Televance, a wither peto make allowances, especial for thomue th whom he felt most in tomate All are Carr 3 3/13/13 CWE @ GBD. Litt to Cng Houston GBD " a man of great publac spirit. "Interests not all commercial [wont h make good lase of the applied-sweme subjects in the provet of public welfare." rete Will not ufen to public permanentents, eep. correspondance while thy My have be were the enlogizing lavguage out private expressive than even I will also not refer to converts @ each of the pavate conservated inletter to - therd party. Or bod want to make a exception with Eleat to Serety Interia (1914), Yet, will aelerin convers within the Trumminate. A. JDR GBD @ CWE B. CWE JDR@ GBD C. GBD in CWEC JDR JDR Jr. May have attached greater value to written "intinualies" than vechal 7u be 580 the "I an committed to nothing [repeady park development J except as such consultrates have been or mg be made in writing." 8/14/22 RAC III 2 I. S-85. f. 839. Relations between the there grew ai intoking overtake, nutach problemposh them closer together Carr. -5 Each voiced appreciation for the other achevents, gave moral everrogent islees, data, and feelings. For some you (917-1923) thy were indespensible to over aesther again, Fould's states Cp.326, Courage Roads) that letter does not reved a friendsleep beyond the need for colleboration. Indeed cheels E. Peterson recalls, wg thy were rivals, seen most accurate." Dard Lockfeller write in her nevoers (2002) that JDRF. "wouted life to follow an orderf pattan He liked to know what he wa goey to do and in what order, with whom ad now. d. who someone proposed a new activity The responded but we planed smethyelse." " Both cut & CHOorr had eldet zon die in your leave secury sore. Relection or reford-to speak of their never lives to others JDRL "corlect not know what to do without you here " 8/2/ 33 Express very deep regard + was affection "for 6BD- 1/23/2016 XFINITY Connect XFINITY Connect eppster2@comcast.net + Font Size Re: Dorr and the Jesup From Ruth Eveland Sat, Jan 23, 2016 01:11 PM Sender : ruth eveland Subject Re: Dorr and the Jesup To : Ronald Epp Cc Mel Rice Ron, I hope you are weathering the storm - we, apparently, will miss the whole thing. While I don't enjoy the destructive aspect of such a storm, it would be fun to have an excuse to retreat to the couch with a stack of books. While I have other emails dating back to then, for some reason I can't find the list you had provided previously. If you could send it again I'd be grateful. It would be very helpful to be able to delve into your records. We have been trying to pull together all our historical records, although as you know it is an appallingly small collection. We have a small group pondering some kind of acknowledgement of our founding process. That's as far as they have gotten. The historical value of the library is one of the items cited in the study done by our fundraising consultants so we will need to find an optimal way to celebrate that. When the publication frenzy ebbs a little it would be nifty to talk with you about coaxing your notes into a more robust format. Chebacco would, I agree, be an excellent venue. I'll be seeing those folks next Monday at the Centennial kickoff bean suppah, and will drop an inquiry if such an opportunity arises. I look forward to making time in the next couple of days to read your notes (am on the circ desk at the moment). Thanks, Ruth Ruth A. Eveland Director Jesup Memorial Library 34 Mt. Desert Street Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 207/288-4245 (library); 207/610-2355 (cell) reveland@jesuplibrary.org www.jesuplibrary.org Jesup Memorial Library: "Anchor to the Past; Chart to the Future" On Fri, Jan 22, 2016 at 9:22 PM, Ronald Epp wrote: Ruth, I've attached a slightly revised version of the notes I used for my May 20, 2011 talk at the Jesup. I can't recall if I gave you or Nancy a version. These are only the notes, not a well-constructed essay. I have a graphics announcement that the library prepared to market my talk. Let me know if this is helpful. It could be developed as a historical position paper for your archive, presentation, or publication. Frankly, I'd like to see an account of the Jesup published in Chebacco, if you have any strings you can pull. I also came across a paper copy of an email I sent you on 7/20/2010 itemizing the copies of primary Jesup documents that are in my collection, about a dozen items tracking back to the M. Jesup 1899 obit. If you no longer have this email and want a copy of it let me know. When I next visit in April I can bring along my file for you to review and copy items not in your archives. Interested? By then I might have some ideas on how this information will best serve your capital campaign. But right now my head is still filled with the seemingly endless revisions of galley drafts of the Dorr biography. Snowing here. Blizzard conditions have not yet arrived but we expect to receive at least 18 inches by Saturday night. https://web.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/h/printmessage?id=348943&tz=America/New_York&xima 1/2 5/27/2021 Gmail - Adding "Surprising Revelations.. " to the Digital Archive Gmail Ronald Epp Adding "Surprising Revelations " to the Digital Archive 3 messages Isabella Connelly Tue, May 25, 2021 at 3:36 PM To: "dorr1853@gmail.com" Cc: Ruth Eveland Hi Ron, I hope you've been well (and enjoying the warmer spring weather!) since we met a few weeks ago. We have a copy of the text of the August 2016 talk you gave at the Jesup, "Surprising Revelations: Intimacies in the Letters Between Charles W. Eliot, George B. Dorr & John D. Rockefeller Jr.", and we'd like to upload it to the Digital Archive; would that be all right with you? I attached the version we have, in case you want to review it. I also noticed that the email address listed at the end of the document is different than the one I have; do you prefer one over the other? Thanks, Isabella Isabella Connelly Collection & Digital Archive Manager Jesup Memorial Library iconnelly@jesuplibrary.org 207-292-7555 Intimacies_Jesup_9.16.docx 36K Ronald Epp Tue, May 25, 2021 at 5:27 PM To: Isabella Connelly https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=7c5f299744&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1700760264125117409&simpl=msg-f%3A170076026412.. 1/3 5/27/2021 Gmail - Adding "Surprising Revelations to the Digital Archive Isabella, How wonderful to hear from you after our first meeting two weeks ago to this day. I am most pleased that you will transfer the printed copy of my August 2016 Jesup talk to the "Digital Archive." Please explain where this will be preserved since there are many digital repositories that are linked from the Jesup pages. I have read anew this paper and am pleased with its language and argument. Of the several talks I have given at the Jesup, this is my favorite! It was given four months after the Jesup hosted the book launch for Creating Acadia National Park (4/7/2016). This talk was filmed and then put on the Jesup Facebook page. I never looked at it until a few months ago when I tried unsuccessfully to recover it there. Do you have access to a copy that you can share with me? The email at the end of the paper is no longer mine. Please remove it and substitute : dorr1853@gmail.com. I very much look forward to working with you as we move closer to the gift of the Dorr Archive to the Jesup. All the Best, Ronald Epp [Quoted text hidden] Isabella Connelly Thu, May 27, 2021 at 5:05 PM To: Ronald Epp Ron, Thank you! The talk will be part of the History Trust's Digital Archive project, available through both the Jesup-specific site (www.jesuplibrary.net) and through the History Trust site that aggregates the Digital Archive materials of participating organizations (www.historytrust.net). When we start digitizing the Dorr Archive, it will available through both those sites as well. Here's a link to your lecture, now on the Digital Archive: https://jesuplibrary.net/ digitalarchive/items/show/3383 I will track down the recording and send it to you, as well. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=7c5f299744&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1700760264125117409&simpl=msg-f%3A170076026412. 2/3 5/27/2021 Gmail - Adding "Surprising Revelations. 11 to the Digital Archive Thanks, Isabella Isabella Connelly Collection & Digital Archive Manager Jesup Memorial Library iconnelly@jesuplibrary.org 207-292-7555 [Quoted text hidden] htps://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=7c5f299744&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-f%3A1700760264125117409&simpl=msg-f%3A170076026412. 3/3 30 May 2021 Spoke at length with Ralph Holibaugh this afternoon. Two weeks had lapsed since our last conversation and much had transpired on both ends. I had sent him a new link to the Jesup Digital Archive for the talk I gave there in August 2016: "Surprising Revelations" about the language of intimacy that GBD, CWE, and JDRJr. used in some of their written communication, a talk prompted by comments made by Ruth Eveland as I sketched for her some of my research. The writing of this was undertaken three months after the book launch for Creating Acadia National Park, at a time when I was busy giving talks along the Maine coastline. I had not read the paper since then and was most pleasantly surprised when Ralph extolled its merits: the artistry of the language, the psychological insights, the depth of feeling-above the level of other talks of mine he had read. So I will read it anew and see if I can discern what he uncovered. Made my day !!!