Collections : [Connecticut Museum of Culture and History]

This collection was initially divided into four categories: correspondence, financial papers, stock papers and documents pertaining to the sale of the company to the American Bridge Company. Those four categories have, for the most part, been retained. The bulk of the collection covers the period roughly between 1892 and 1902. The handful of earlier documents, having to do with the Corrugated Metal Company, date back to 1878 and there are also some documents from the period 1903-1905. Some entries in the stock ledger are from 1871.

The collection consists of tax records, business correspondence, minutes of various meetings, financial statements, and other reports. Of the twelve boxes, three contain general ledgers of assets, liabities, and revenues. The collection also contains a picture file of the Broad Brook Company and the surrounding area. Finally, the collection contains phonograph albums of radio broadcasts.

The records are arranged in ten series. Series I consists of organizational records including articles of incorporation, tax exempt certificates, and minutes of meetings. Series II contains records of projects and awards. These include civic projects, flower shows, etc. The Club’s publications are organized in Series III while photographs can be found in Series IV. In consecutive order, the final series contain clippings and scrapbooks; questionnaires and answers; miscellaneous materials; records and publications of the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut; records and publications of the Garden Club of America; and notices, circulars and other published materials from assorted gardening organizations.

The Koopman Family Collection contains a wide range of diverse materials associated with G. Fox & Co. and the Fox, Auerbach, and Koopman families. From correspondence, travel journals, newspaper clippings and scrapbooks to account books, bank statements, expense reports and legal documents, the family papers help to illuminate the private lives of these public figures. Of particular note in this half of the collection is Series 2, which contains those materials created by or about Beatrice Fox Auerbach. Her travel journals, correspondence, guest books, and even her academic notebooks, create a more complete and intimate portrait of this retail dynamo. One of the highlights of this part of the collection is the correspondence between Beatrice Fox Auerbach and Eleanor Roosevelt. When this part of the collection was donated, photocopies of Roosevelt’s letters to Beatrice Fox Auerbach had already been made. The donors also procured photocopies of Beatrice Fox Auerbach’s letters to Eleanor Roosevelt that are not part of this collection. Those letters not at the Connecticut Historical Society are most likely housed at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York, which has at least three folders of correspondence from Beatrice Fox Auerbach to Eleanor Roosevelt. The two sets of photocopies (those copied from originals in this collection and those from the Roosevelt Library) have been interspersed chronologically to provide context to the correspondence. The original letters from Eleanor Roosevelt in this collection have been separated from the photocopies and are restricted for preservation reasons. If the originals are necessary for your research, please speak with the Research Center Staff about how to obtain permission to use them.