Dorothy Stebbins Bowles papers

The materials which constitute the Dorothy Stebbins ("Steb") Bowles Papers cover a brief span of time and relate almost entirely to Dorothy Bowles' public activities and official duties in connection with her husband's public offices. Most of the materials cluster around the years 1948-1953, the richest material dating from 1951-1953 when Chester Bowles was United States Ambassador to India. Also of interest are seven notebooks compiled by Dorothy Bowles while accompanying her husband, then International Chairman of the United Nations Appeal for Children, on a tour of Europe (1948).

The papers are arranged in subject files containing correspondence, memoranda, printed matter, and memorabilia. There is, in addition, some general correspondence including one reel of taped letters concerning domestic arrangements in preparation for Chester Bowles' second ambassadorship to India, 1962. These include routine letters to Mrs. Robert McNamara and Mrs. Kenneth Galbraith. A brief note from Jawaharlal Nehru may be found in folder 6 (1953 Feb 8), and a more substantive letter from Norman Cousins in folder 8 (1952 Jun 30). Other materials include a folder of notes and drafts for speeches given by Dorothy Bowles and a series of engagement calendars for the years 1944-1951.

Material related to these papers may be found in the Chester Bowles Papers, Manuscript Group Number 628. The Dorothy Stebbins Bowles Papers were given to Yale University by Mr. and Mrs. Bowles in connection with the Chester Bowles papers in 1971 and succeeding years.