Mary Bartelme papers
Descriptive Summary
- Repository
-
University of Illinois at Chicago,
801 S. MorganChicago, ILUSA
- Repository Number
- MSMBar92
- Creator
- Bartleme, Mary
- Title
- Mary Bartelme papers
- Dates
- 1904-1958
- Quantity
- 7.5 linear feet.
- Abstract
- Part of the Jane Addams Memorial Collection. Part of the Midwest Women's Historical Collection. Mary Bartelme (1865-1954) was the first woman Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County assigned to the Juvenile Court. She held that position from 1923 until her retirement in 1933. Prior to being elected a judge, Mary Bartelme worked in private practice as a probate and real estate lawyer. In 1897, she was appointed Public Guardian of Cook County. She was the first woman to hold that position. From 1913 to 1923 she was the assistant to Judge Merrit W. Pinckney of the Juvenile Court. The collection contains diaries, photographs, articles, speeches, clippings, correspondence, case records, minutes and obituaries. The materials pertain to election campaigns, the Mary Clubs, the St. Charles School for Boys, the Friends of the Juvenile Court, juvenile delinquents, Hull-House and the Bowen Country Club. Finding aid available.
- Language of the Material
- English
Administrative Information
Biography/Profile
Mary Margaret Bartelme, the daughter of Balthasar and Jeannette T. (Hoff), was born on July 24, 1866 in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents owned farmland located on north Halsted Street. Bartelme, along with her two sisters and brother, attended the West Division High School and Cook County Normal School. At age 19 Bartelme graduated and began to teach at Armour Street and Garfield Park schools. She enrolled in law school at Northwestern University in 1892, graduating in probate and real estate law two years later. In 1894 she was admitted to the Illinois Bar.
Bartelme co-founded the Chicago Business Woman's Club in 1894 becoming president of the club in 1902. She also was a member and office holder of the Chicago Suffrage Club. Bartelme retained active membership in the Chicago Women's Club, the Cordon Club, the Women's City Club of Chicago, the League of Women Voters (after 1920), the Friendly Big Sisters League, and the Everyday Club. Bartelme accepted honorary memberships of the Chicago College Club and the Big Sisters.
Illinois Governor John R. Tanner appointed Bartelme to be Public Guardian of Cook County in 1897. She was the first woman to occupy this office, her tenure lasted 16 years. In 1899, Bartelme with Julia Lathrop, Lucy Flowers, the State Board of Charities, and other reformers she lobbied for and established the juvenile court in Chicago. That same year, with Louise deKoven Bowen and Sara Hart, Bartelme established a detention home instead of adult jail for juvenile offenders. Bartelme resigned from her position as public guardian in 1913 to become assistant judge to Judge Merritt W. Pinckney who presided over a growing number of juvenile court cases. In 1914, she established a "Mary Club" in her house as a place for girls to be supervised before their placement in foster care. In 1916 she created a second Mary Club for white girls and five years later she established a separate Mary Club for black girls. By 1923, over 2,600 girls passed through the houses. Elected judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1923, Bartelme was assigned to the Juvenile Court. She included social scientists in the hearing and sentencing portions of court proceedings. Bartelme believed the county should provide public services to juveniles and worked with the Juvenile Protective Association and the Chicago Park District to give juveniles an opportunity to experience city services. In 1925 she organized the Service Council for Girls. Though elected for a six-year term in 1927, the economic depression just two years later undermined public financial support for juvenile services. Bartelme retired in 1933 and moved to Carmel, California with her brother until her death on July 25, 1954.
Bibliography:
Schultz, Rima Lunin and Adele Haste, eds. Women Building Chicago 1790-1950. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. 66-70.
Scope and Content
The Mary M. Bartelme papers consists of material between the years 1890-1954. The collection consists of journals, correspondence, photographs, and articles. Correspondence includes letters between Bartelme and her family as well as communication with women's organizations and groups. Personal photographs depict Bartelme, her family, and friends vacationing in Africa, Europe, and the United States. Judicial correspondence includes memorandums circulated by the Cook County Juvenile Court, letters from former wards, and Bartelme's thoughts regarding the court. Records from her career as Public Guardian of Cook County and her subsequent retirement to Carmel, California are also included.
This collection is arranged into two series:
Series 1. Personal Papers (1890-1954) - 72 files
Series 2. Judicial Papers (1913-1946) - 82 files
Preferred Citation
Mary Bartelme papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago
Indexed Terms
- Cook County (Ill.)
- Juvenile justice, Administration of
- Midwest Women's History
- Bartleme, Mary
- Chicago (Ill.)
- Hull-House (Chicago, Ill.).
Inventory
Series I reflects Mary M. Bartelme's personal life during her involvement with Hull-House.
- Title
- Diary, 1883; Travel Notes
- Dates
- 1897, 1936-1940
- Title
- Speech to Juvenile Court
- Dates
- 1892; 1895; 1934; 1906; 1923; 1950; n.d.
- Title
- Address Book
- Dates
- 1918
- Title
- Adelaide Bartelme travel diary--Europe
- Dates
- 1929
- Title
- Travel Memorabilia from Europe and Africa
- Dates
- 1929
- Title
- Daily Calendar
- Dates
- 1929-1930, 1933-1934
- Title
- Daily Calendar
- Dates
- 1935, 1941, 1946-1947
- Title
- Daily Calendar
- Dates
- 1948-1951
- Title
- Guest Book
- Dates
- 1950-1951
- Title
- Log of letters sent
- Dates
- 1951-1954
- Title
- Program
- Dates
- 1891-1892, 1917, 1944; 1908, 1911, 1917-1919, 1929, 1939 1930, 1936, 1913-1914, 1903-1921; 1941
- Title
- Grace Bartelme Notebook
- Dates
- 1899
- Title
- Jeannette Mary "Jimmie" Bartelme Raymond Correspondence
- Dates
- 1907-1908, 1917-1949
- Title
- Eugene A. "Swats" Bartelme Fraternity Membership Certificate; Correspondence
- Dates
- 1911-1919
- Title
- Adelaide Bartelme Greeting Cards; Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1929-1934
- Title
- Newspaper Clipping
- Dates
- 1918-1953; 1952-1953; 1941
- Title
- Business and personal correspondence
- Dates
- 1920-1952
- Title
- Mary E. McDowell Newspaper Clipping
- Dates
- 1924
- Title
- Bartelme Property Carmel Highlands Correspondence
- Dates
- 1925-1946
- Title
- Invitation
- Dates
- n.d., 1926, 1940; n.d.
- Title
- Program
- Dates
- 1930; 1927
- Title
- Correspondence. Mary Bartelme to Grace and Adelaide Bartelme about trips to Europe and Africa
- Dates
- 1929
- Title
- Program
- Dates
- 1931-1954; 1941, n.d.
- Title
- Boys Club correspondence
- Dates
- 1931
- Title
- Newspaper Clipping
- Dates
- 1931-1953; n.d.
- Title
- Mary Bartelme Biographical Data
- Dates
- 1933
- Title
- Susan Raymond Correspondence
- Dates
- ca. 1935-1953
- Title
- Article
- Dates
- n.d., 1936; 1935; 1935
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1929-1944
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings and Maps
- Dates
- 1948
- Title
- Jeannette "Jimmy" Raymond Foster Correspondence
- Dates
- 1949-1951
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1907-1908, 1917-1949
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1951
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1952
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1953, 1955
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Jeannette "Jimmy" Raymond Foster Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1930, 1941; n.d.; 1948
- Title
- Grace Bartelme correspondence and notebook
- Dates
- January 1899
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1903, 1919, 1921, 1931, 1944, 1947
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1922
- Title
- Mary M. Bartelme Obituary
- Dates
- 1954
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- ca. 1890s
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- ca. 1890s-1929
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1895
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- ca. 1896
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1898
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- ca. 1910
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1910
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- ca. 1920s
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1923, 1934
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1923, 1925, 1927, 1940
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1924
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1924
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1924
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1927, 1934, 1936
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1924, 1927, n.d.
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1927
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1927
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1927-1928, 1934-1935, 1940
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1930, 1934-1935, 1941-1942
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1924
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1935-1936
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1936
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1946-1947, 1949, 1952-1953
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1947
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- 1948
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Glass Slide
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Photograph
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Photographs
- Dates
- n.d.
This series contains correspondence and articles related to Mary M. Bartelme's career within the judicial system of the Cook County.
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1915, 1932; 1927, 1928
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1915, 1932; 1927, 1928
- Title
- Juvenile Court Records
- Dates
- 1920-1933
- Title
- Correspondence, Juvenile Court Records
- Dates
- 1922-1931
- Title
- Bartelme Speeches and radio addresses
- Dates
- 1923, 1925, 1926, 1931, 1933
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1923-1950
- Title
- Correspondence related to election
- Dates
- 1923
- Title
- Judge Arnold questionnaire on treatment of juvenile problems
- Dates
- 1923
- Title
- "A Center of Service," Social Service. Vol.1 No. 2
- Dates
- October 1923
- Title
- Female Juvenile Court
- Dates
- 1923
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 29 March 1924; 1926, 1931
- Title
- Hand-written notes and letters
- Dates
- 7 December 1927; 1925
- Title
- Correspondence from Juveniles
- Dates
- 1924-1932
- Title
- Mary McDowell to Mary Bartelme
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Chicago Women's Club speeches
- Dates
- 1925, 1926
- Title
- Moller, Bertha C. ed. Who's Who Illinois, Women-Makers of History, 1925; G.M. Gilman, Editor-in-chief, "Who's Who Illinois" to Mary Bartelme, 1925; Bertha Moller to Mary Bartelme
- Dates
- 1926
- Title
- Chicago Women's Club Correspondence
- Dates
- 1925, 1929
- Title
- Child study Group
- Dates
- October 1925-January 1926
- Title
- Mary Bartelme to Pension Mothers. Invitation to bus outing
- Dates
- June 1926
- Title
- Mary Club Correspondence
- Dates
- 1927
- Title
- Mary Club Correspondence
- Dates
- 1927
- Title
- Election Letters
- Dates
- 1927
- Title
- Julia Lathrop to Mary Bartelme; Mary Bartelme to Sophonisba Breckenridge; Mary Rozet Smith to Mary Bartelme
- Dates
- 1928
- Title
- People, ex rel., George F. Harding vs. David Matchett, Mary Bartelme et. al. motion for writ of Mandamus
- Dates
- 1927
- Title
- Justice Carter Memorial
- Dates
- 1928
- Title
- Election Speech
- Dates
- 1928
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings, Correspondence, Speeches
- Dates
- 1929, 1930
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings, Correspondence, Speeches
- Dates
- 1929, 1930
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings, Correspondence, Speeches
- Dates
- 1929, 1930
- Title
- Friends of the Juvenile Court Minutes
- Dates
- 1929, 1930
- Title
- Correspondence, Louise deKoven Bowen
- Dates
- 1929, 1930
- Title
- Correspondence, Friends of Juvenile Court
- Dates
- 1930, 1931
- Title
- Juvenile Court Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1931
- Title
- Juvenile Court Minutes
- Dates
- 1930
- Title
- Mary Clubs
- Dates
- 1931
- Title
- Correspondence, Chicago Boys Club
- Dates
- 1931, 1932, 1933
- Title
- Court Correspondence
- Dates
- 1931
- Title
- Conference Correspondence
- Dates
- 1931
- Title
- Correspondence, Chicago Boys Club
- Dates
- 1931
- Title
- Speech and Correspondence, Union League Club
- Dates
- 1932
- Title
- Correspondence, Julia C. Lathrop
- Dates
- 1932
- Title
- Correspondence, Invitation, Jane Addams' Speech
- Dates
- 1933
- Title
- Saint Charles School for Boys Correspondence
- Dates
- 1932
- Title
- Saint Charles School for Boys Correspondence
- Dates
- 1933
- Title
- Correspondence
- Dates
- 1934
- Title
- Correspondence, Chicago Home for Girls
- Dates
- 1939
- Title
- Mary Bartelme Club Invitation
- Dates
- 1952
- Title
- Memorandum. "Problems" n.d. Essay on legal issues related to marriage, delinquency, and pregnancy among young girls
- Title
- Chicago Legal News Articles
- Dates
- 1899, 1900, 1923
- Title
- "A Court for Girls with a Woman Judge," Collier's The National Weekly
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Tracy, Eleanor. "The Mother of Ten Thousand Children," McCall's Magazine
- Dates
- June 1913
- Title
- Laughlin, Clara E. "A Court of Kindly Eyes: Some Unsolved Problems of a Woman Judge," The Metropolitan
- Dates
- January, 1914
- Title
- Juvenile Court for Girls Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1913-1914
- Title
- Juvenile Court for Boys Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1915, 1931
- Title
- Juvenile Court for Boys Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1915
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1922-1935
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1920, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1931
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1923
- Title
- The Austinite. Austin-Chicago Illinois: Pioneer Publishing Company. Vol. XLIV No. 44
- Dates
- 1923
- Title
- "Judge Bartelme," The Chicago Woman's Club Bulletin. Vol. VII, Number 3, pp. 132-133
- Dates
- December, 1923.
- Title
- Northwestern Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc. Anderson, Violette N., "Woman's Place in the Judicial Campaign," The Colored Women's Exchange News. Vol. 1 No. 6
- Dates
- October, 1923
- Title
- "Miss Mary M. Bartelme and the November Election," The Eleanor Record. Vol. 9, No. 11
- Dates
- November, 1923
- Title
- Mary Bartelme Campaign Ads, Chicago Herald and Examiner
- Dates
- 5 November 1923
- Title
- Mary Bartelme Campaign Ads, Chicago Herald and Examiner. 5 November
- Dates
- 1923, 1934
- Title
- Profile of Judge Mary M. Bartelme. Illinois League of Women Voters Bulletin. Vol. IX, No. 1
- Dates
- January 1924
- Title
- Mary Bartelme, Juvenile Court Speeches and notes
- Dates
- 1925, 1931-1932
- Title
- "Educational Method and the Function of Mental Hygiene," School and Society, Vol. XXI, No. 523
- Dates
- 3 January 1925
- Title
- "Women Who Help Boss Us," The Literary Digest
- Dates
- 17 January 1925
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1926, 1927, 1933
- Title
- "Honored by Bench and Bar: Judge Mary Bartelme Re-elected to Circuit Court Bench and Made President of Woman's Bar Association of Chicago--in One Week." Viewpoints: A Magazine for Women. Vol. III., No. 9
- Dates
- July 1927
- Title
- City Club Bulletin Club
- Dates
- 1927
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1928, 1930
- Title
- Bartelme, Mary M. "The Financial Crisis in Cook County and What it Has Meant to the Children of the Juvenile Court," The Young Citizen. 1930. Vol. 1 No. 5
- Title
- Ernest, Gifford. "The Cook County Juvenile Court," Chicago Daily News.
- Dates
- 1930
- Title
- "Six Limelight Chicagoans," The Chicago Visitor.
- Dates
- December 1930
- Title
- Ernest, Gifford. "Juvenile Home Chief Warns of Gangs' Menace," Chicago Daily News.
- Dates
- 8 May 1930
- Title
- Juvenile Court Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- ca. 1932
- Title
- Correspondence. Mary Bartleme to Carroll Binder of The Chicago Daily News regarding guest editorials; Mary Bartelme to Carroll Binder; Editorial on Herbert Hoover (Draft)
- Dates
- 1932
- Title
- Pettit, B.M. "Salvaging Boys," The Cherry Circle; Correspondence. B.M. Pettit to Mary Bartelme
- Dates
- 1932
- Title
- "Honor Woman Judge as She Prepares to Retire," Chicago Sunday Tribune.
- Dates
- 2 April 1933
- Title
- Illinois Bar Journal. Springfield: Illinois State Bar Association. Vol. 22, No.1. p. 26
- Dates
- September 1933
- Title
- Newspaper Clippings
- Dates
- 1939, 1944, 1946
- Title
- Schalek, Alice. "The Two Most Famous American Women,"
- Dates
- n.d.
- Title
- Invitation. Bar None: 125 Years of Women Lawyers in Illinois celebration
- Dates
- 6 March 1998
- Title
- McNamee, Gwen Hoerr. "What's Happened in 125 Years?" The Chicago Bar Association Record. Vol. 12, No. 1
- Dates
- January 1998; January 1998