Edith McClees May was born in Boston, MA in 1877 to Samuel May Jr. and Helen (McClees) May. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1897 and then taught at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, MA. In 1904, she founded a school in France and Italy named the Travel School for American Girls, which she operated until the outbreak of World War I. During the war, May worked for relief organizations in France, including the American Red Cross, the French Wounded Emergency Fund, and the Anglo-French Society. For a time she served as Head of Dispensaries in France under the American Red Cross and the Rockefeller Foundation.
In 1921, May was one of twelve women selected by Jane Addams to act as a social worker among the women of Czechoslovakia. During this time, May began planning to open an educational institution for American and European women college graduates. In 1928, she founded the Villa Collina Ridente, a Center for European and International Study, in Florence, Italy. She operated this institution until World War II, when the property was bombed and looted.
The institution was never rebuilt after the war and May settled in her family home at the end of Cold Spring Lane in Wickford, RI. She lived there until she passed away in 1970.
This collection is open under the rules and regulations of the North Kingstown Free Library.
Copyright has not been assigned to North Kingstown Free Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be obtained by the researcher from the copyright holder.
[item title], Edith May collection, 1983.12, North Kingstown Free Library. North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
This collection consists of one scrapbook, seven photo albums, photographs, postcards, books, maps and two awards, all of which belonged to Edith May. The photographs primarily document May's time in Europe from approximately 1904-1940, although some photographs were taken in locations in the United States and elsewhere. Most of the photos and albums contain little contextual information. Of particular significance is a photo album documenting May's relief work in France during World War I. May wrote captions to several of the photos in this album and the photos give a first-hand account of conditions in France during wartime. Other albums and photos, show May's work at the Villa Collina Ridente which was a unique international educational institution of that time.
The scrapbook, photo albums and award are arranged chronologically in boxes 1-3. Other materials are arranged chronologically in box 4. One item, the Medaille de la Reconsaissance Francaise award, is unboxed.
Gift of Mildred Kulic, 1983.
The collection was processed by Tom Frawley in 2020-2022.
No accruals are expected.
Correspondence, photographs, and other papers of Edith May are available in the following collection: Edith May Papers. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.