William Van Duzer Lawrence, born in 1842 on a farm outside Elmira, New York, established Lawrence Park in Bronxville, New York, a housing development that catered to the artistic community in 1890. In 1908, Lawrence donated $250,000 to the building of a new hospital in Bronxville, named Lawrence Hospital after its benefactor. Upon the death of his wife, Sarah, in 1926, Lawrence decided to donate $1,250,000 and his residence in Bronxville, to the establishment of an all-girls junior college devoted to preparing young women for marriage. The school was named Sarah Lawrence College in honor of Lawrence’s late wife. William Van Duzer Lawrence died in 1927, less than a year after the initial founding of Sarah Lawrence College.
Sarah Bates Lawrence, born in 1846 in Monroe, Michigan, never pursued a college education, but always emphasized higher education for young women in her lifetime. Upon moving to New York, with her husband, in 1889, Sarah Bates Lawrence became active in the New York Exchange For Women’s Work serving on its Board of Managers before becoming President of the organization. In 1916, the Lawrences bought a summer home in Daytona, Florida where Mrs. Lawrence became actively involved in African American educator Mary McLeod Bethune’s Bethune-Cookman College. Sarah Bates Lawrence died in 1926.
William and Sarah Lawrence were survived by their three children: Louise Lawrence Meigs (1871-1965), Anna Lawrence Bisland (1872-1950), and Dudley Bates Lawrence (1880-1970).
The Lawrence Family Collection consists of biographical sketches of both William Van Duzer Lawrence and Sarah Bates Lawrence. Two family Genealogies are included in the papers, the first written in 1858 and the second in 1932. In addition, several revised family trees are available up to 2001. Short stories and poetry written by William V. Lawrence are included as well as correspondence between family members and former college Presidents along with proposals for the founding of Sarah Lawrence College. Several news clippings spanning the years 1906-2001 are available. The majority of these are marriage announcements and Lawrence Family obituaries. A folder is included with information on Lawrence Ferlinghetti, adopted son of Anna Lawrence Bisland and Poet Laureate of San Francisco, California (1998). Lastly, a user copy of a scrapbook of obituaries for William V. Lawrence is in box 1. The original scrapbook is restricted due to its fragile state and is housed separately in box 2.
See also: Lawrence Family Holy Bible; A Diary and Reminiscences Portraying the Life and Times of the Author, William Van Duzer Lawrence; Sketches of Lawrence Enterprises, 1888-1934, Lucia Meigs Andrews; Switchback 1899-1979, Lucia Meigs Andrews, housed in the book collection of the archives.
1. Correspondence of Clifford, Margery Meigs, Granddaughter of William and Sarah Lawrence, 1952-1978
2. Correspondence with Constance Warren concerning scholarship donation, 1941-1945
3. Correspondence with Esther Raushenbush, 1966
4. Correspondence with Harold Taylor, 1949-1959
5. Correspondence with Harrison Tweed, 1959-1960
6. Correspondence with Paul Ward, 1960-1965
7. Ferlinghetti, Lawrence, 1998
8. Lawrence, Bates, and Van Duzer Genealogies by Anna Lawrence Bisland, 1932
9. Lawrence Family Newspaper Clippings, n.d., 1906-2001
10. Lawrence Family Trees, 1938-2000
11. Lawrence Family Genealogy by Thomas Lawrence, 1858
12. Lawrence, Sarah Bates- biographical, 1923-2001
13. Lawrence, William Van Duzer biographical material, n.d., 1922-1980
14. Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Correspondence, 1901-1927
15. Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Last Will and Testament, n.d.
16. Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Letters to William Lawrence after announcing the foundation of Sarah Lawrence College, n.d., 1926
17. Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Letters to William Lawrence after announcing the foundation of Sarah Lawrence College, 1927
18. Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Obituary Scrapbook (User Copy), 1927
19. Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Poetry and short stories, n.d.., 1908-1914
20. Proposals for the foundation of Sarah Lawrence College, 1929-1929
Lawrence, William Van Duzer- Obituary Scrapbook (original), 1927
(RESTRICTED)