The Sarah Caswell Angell papers primarily consist of her her diaries and correspondence, as well as records of her father, Alexis Caswell, and other family members. While much or the correspondence is personal in nature (specifically to her friends and family), the collection includes a folder with materials focused on her work with the Chicago World’s Fair as well as the Ann Arbor chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The diaries included within the collection document some of Angell’s daily activities as well as describe her trips to China and Turkey with her husband.
Sarah Caswell Angell was born on July 25, 1831 to future Brown University president, Alexis Caswell and his wife Esther Thompson Caswell. She was raised in Providence, Rhode Island where she received extensive education from private schools. Sarah Caswell married James B. Angell in 1855 while he was a professor at Brown. She served on the Women’s Board of the Chicago Exposition, the Browning Club, as well as spending time as the president of the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society of Congressional Church. After James Angell became the president of the University of Michigan, Sarah Caswell Angell became active within the university and local community as a member of Collegiate Sorosis and the Ann Arbor chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which was named in her honor posthumously. Angell passed away on December 17, 1903.
