Series IV: Raymond Robins and Margaret Dreier Robins

Subseries A contains the correspondence of Raymond Robins and Margaret Dreier Robins as well as occasional letters from Elizabeth Robins to Raymond Robins. Raymond Robins wrote faithfully to ER for most of their lives. His letters describe his social and political activism as well as his opinions of American politics and politicians. They also address family matters and reminisce about childhood experiences. Raymond Robins's interest in settlement work and the problems of the homeless is expressed in letters he wrote while involved with Chicago Commons and the Northwest University Settlement. A few typescripts of his speeches are filed at the end of Subseries A.

Raymond Robins also occasionally sent Elizabeth Robins letters he received and considered noteworthy. One example of this practice is the 1901 letter from Jane Addams about Abraham Isaak. On the back of this letter is a note written by Isaak, while it prison, to Robins written from prison (See Box 1, Folder 2).

Margaret Dreier Robins's correspondence begins in 1905, the year she married Raymond Robins, and continues regularly until 1924. Thereafter, her letters appear sporadically from 1932-1945. Margaret Dreier Robins only occasionally wrote to ER about the progress of American suffragists and her impressions of Chicago politics. Her letters deal mainly with the beauty and workings of the Chinsegut Hill property in Florida and her husband's health. Subseries B also contains one folder of letters from Margaret Dreier Robins to Raymond Robins that are primarily love letters.

Invitations to speak comprise much of the general correspondence in Subseries C. In addition, there are a few letters from Raymond Robins's father, Charles E. Robins (Folder 1) and sporadic letters from Vernon Robins and the Dreiers. There are some early letters showing Raymond Robins's interest in women's suffrage (Folder 1) and a 1911 letter on the subject of lynching, signed by five black ministers (Folder 3). Also in this subseries are letters from Leonora O'Reilly (Folder 2), Theodore Roosevelt (Folders 3 and 4), Harold Ickes (Folders 4 and 6), Salmon O. Levinson (Folder 6), telegrams from Robert LaFollette and Medille McCormick (Folder 3) and two letters from Trotsky.

Subseries D contains printed material and ephemera.