Rhea Maxine Bosworth deCoudres Peterson was born on November 5th, 1906, in East Hartford, Connecticut to Minnie Mary Bosworth and Thomas Hart deCoudres, Brown University class of 1890, who served as the superintendent of schools in East Hartford and Putnam, CT, respectively. DeCoudres has one younger sister, Ruth deCoudres (Holingworth).
DeCoudres and her family moved throughout New England during her childhood, including to Grafton, Massachusetts, Bristol, Rhode Island, and Putnam, Connecticut. DeCoudres studied at home until 1920 when she entered Putnam High school as a Sophomore. She entered Pembroke College in Brown University as a "special student" in approximately 1925, completing a non-degree bearing two-year course of study in 1927.
During her time at Pembroke College, deCoudres lived as a "city girl" - or someone who lives off campus - in a local apartment with her mother. She is noted as having won an academic award for excellence in French in 1926-1927, sat on the Brun Mael yearbook and Sepiad board, served as Chairman of the 1927 Spring Day Committee, played tennis, and was a notable poet. Her picture appears in the Brun Mael yearbook with the graduating class of 1927.
In 1931, deCoudres married Dr. Thomas H. Peterson, who became an orthopedic surgeon at Mass General Hospital. Together they had four sons; Hart, Bruce Bigelow, Mark Bosworth, and Joel Quentin Peterson.
DeCoudres was a stay-at-home-mother as well as a writer who worked as book reviewer for the Providence Journal Co. Her reviews centered children's literature but also included adult fiction and non-fiction titles. She furthermore published original poetry in the Providence Journal and was a prolific poet in her private life.
DeCoudres lived with asthma, survived breast cancer, and endured ill health due to long standing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). She later died from complications stemming from COPD and other age-related ailments on January 12, 1986.
Her children discovered her papers after her death and subsequently donated the collection to the Pembroke Center Archives in 2023.
This collection contains the personal papers and professional writings of Rhea Maxine deCoudres, Pembroke College in Brown University "special student" who completed her studies along with the graduating class of 1927. She later became a book reviewer for the Providence Journal. The collection includes remembrances from her surviving children as well as photographs, correspondence, published and unpublished poetry, and Providence Journal book reviews by deCoudres. Materials date from 1917 – 2023 and are arranged alphabetically by record type.
Note: this collection guide refers to Rhea Maxine deCoudres by her maiden name. This reflects the name she used as a published journalist.
All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Rhea Maxine deCoudres papers, MS-2024-013, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by record type.
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Gift of Mark Peterson beginning in 2023