Collection Description

The Alice Gilbert Smith Bourgoin papers consist of five record cartons that date from 1903 to 1984, with the bulk of material dating from 1930 to 1947. The collection is divided into four series: Correspondence; Personal papers; Writings; and Volumes. The majority of the collection is correspondence. The collection documents Alice's youth and schooling; her travels in the United States, Europe, and Asia; her marriage and divorce; the experiences of both Alice and her husband Jean Bourgoin during World War II; and Alice's social activities and friendships.

The correspondence between Alice and her parents (1903-1941), and Alice and her husband Jean (1931-1950), is particularly rich. The correspondence between Alice and her parents begins with a handful of early childhood letters and continues steadily until J. Foster Smith's death in 1936 and Josephine T. C. Smith's death in 1941. Letters from Alice to her parents document her studies and social activities while at Smith College (1914-1919), her travels in Europe (1919-1932), and life in Hanoi and Hue, French Indochina, following her marriage (1932-1941). Financial and legal documents, as well as print brochures and maps, also provide insight into the couple's life and travels. Alice kept intermittent household accounts and diaries that provide additional details of, and context for, her life during this period. When in Hanoi and Hue, Alice struggled to acclimate to both married life and her role as the wife of a colonial official. Her letters describe chronic ill health--which she attributes to the local climate--and her feelings of isolation and homesickness. She describes her activities managing the household, interactions with servants, and gardening. She also writes of Jean's frequent work-related travel. She reports critically on French customs and culture, as well as the cultures and peoples she encountered while living in Indochina and traveling throughout Asia. A few narrative pieces by both Alice and Jean, about their experiences in Indochina, may be found in Writings. In the latter years of Alice's residency in Indochina, as war broke out in Europe and Asia, she increasingly includes references to the international political and military situation.

Regular letters from J. Foster (1860-1936) and Josephine Smith (1866-1941) to Alice describe family activities, social and business matters, and the couple's travels in Europe and Asia. Letters from Jean to Alice, written in both French and English, report on his work and travels in Indochina and during the war, including descriptions of his wartime activities and requests for money. Correspondence and other papers from 1941-1945 document Alice's efforts to send money to her husband in French North Africa, as well as the couple's negotiations around whether or not Alice should join Jean in North Africa. Alice did travel briefly to Algiers in 1944 but returned to the United States without seeing Jean. Scattered correspondence from Alice's friends and acquaintances include discussion of personal and family life, the arts, and politics. A much smaller volume of material from the 1950s-1990s capture some details of Alice's latter life, family relationships, and friendships following her divorce from Jean in 1950.

Researchers looking for materials related to gender, sexuality, and the family will find Alice's extensive correspondence detailing her marital unhappiness to be of particular interest. Letters indicate that Alice was deeply ambivalent about her marriage, pregnancy, and motherhood, and that the lack of children was a lasting source of tension for the couple. During the early years of her marriage, Alice was candid with her father, particularly, about her belief that the marriage had been a mistake. Annotations on several documents in the collection by family historian Philip Chadwick Foster Smith, Alice's nephew, indicate that in March 1934, while in London, Alice may have had an abortion. Letters exchanged by Alice and Jean between their separation in 1941 and their divorce in 1950 document Alice's deep ambivalence about whether she wished to reunite with Jean, and on what terms, as well as her repeated attempts to discover what his wishes were regarding their postwar relationship.