Thyra Edwards papers, 1932-1953

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accession # M1970.0031

Thyra Edwards papers (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item

Correspondence, articles, scrapbook with photographs, and other papers of Thyra Edwards, a social worker at the Abraham Lincoln Centre in Chicago, Ill. Included are Edwards' observations on workers' education and social conditions in Europe and her feelings as an African American when traveling there; material relating to her work on behalf of the Loyalists during the Spanish Civil War, the tour of the Negro People's Ambulance donated to the Loyalist cause (photographs in scrapbook), and the resettlement of refugees in Mexico; articles on African American life in Chicago; and materials relating to the Chicago Venereal Disease Control Program, ca. 1941-1942.

Thyra J. Edwards was born in 1897 and grew up in Houston, Texas, where she began her career as a school teacher and social worker. She later moved to Gary, Indiana and then to Chicago, where she worked as a social worker at the Abraham Lincoln Centre. In addition to social work, Edwards also worked as a journalist, labor organizer, and advocate for women's and civil rights. In the 1930s and 1940s, Edwards wrote about international affairs for black newspapers, including the Chicago Defender, and became an open supporter of the Communist Party and publicly supported the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. In 1938, she organized an ambulance tour of the U.S. to raise money for the American Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy and the North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy In her role as a journalist, she traveled to Europe, Mexico, and the Soviet Union. During World War II, Edwards married Murray Gitlin, an official with the philanthropic organization United Jewish Appeal. After World War II, Edwards moved to New York City. She spent the last five years of her life in Italy. Edwards died in 1953 at the age of 56.

Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include some Thyra Edwards correspondence in the Claude A. Barnett papers.

• Subject
  • African American women -- Illinois -- Chicago -- 20th century
  • African Americans -- Illinois -- Chicago -- 20th century
  • Working class -- Illinois -- Chicago -- 20th century
  • Working class -- Europe -- 20th century
  • Social workers -- Illinois -- Chicago -- 20th century
  • Sexually transmitted diseases -- Study and teaching -- Illinois -- Chicago -- 20th century
• Names
  • Gitlin, Thyra Edwards
  • Edwards, Thyra, d. 1953 -- Archives
  • Abraham Lincoln Centre (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Chicago Venereal Disease Control Program (Chicago, Ill.)
• Geographic Coverage
  • Chicago (Ill.) -- Social conditions -- 20th century
  • Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939 -- Participation, American
  • Spain -- Description and travel -- 20th century

The collection is arranged in one series.

Series 1. Correspondence and other papers (box 1-2, unboxed volume)

This series contains correspondence, articles, a scrapbook with photographs, and other materials relating to Edwards' life and work in social work and political causes, including a substantive amount on her work with the Chicago Venereal Disease Control Program. The scrapbook documents her ambulance tour campaign to raise funds for the Spanish Loyalists.