This series contains personal correspondence of Mary Reynolds Babcock. The bulk of her correspondence consists of letters and telegrams of sympathy following the September 1951 death of her uncle, William N. Reynolds.

Other letters of note include Reynolda-related material from 1935 centered on the purchase of pony carts; 1947-1948 letters regarding the construction of the Babcock’s home in Roaring Gap, North Carolina; and a 1951 letter from Ralph Hanes of Winston-Salem on the cold weather’s affect on box trees and shrubs at his home and, presumably, at Reynolda as well.

While living in New York City in 1931-1932, Babcock took a Home Study Course with The New York School of Interior Decoration. This series contains several lessons from that course (study materials and examination questions), addressing subjects such as Period Styles English and American, Pottery and Porcelain, and Modern Decoration. Most of the lessons include Babcock’s notes on the examination questions and five of them include a response from the School with comments on Babcock’s answers.

This series also contains 1917-1920 correspondence of Babcock’s mother, Katharine Smith Reynolds. Most of this material was from family and friends concerned for the health of her husband, R. J. Reynolds. The bulk of the undated letters, on the same subject, likely date to 1918 as well. Correspondents include North Carolina Governor T. W. Bickett (undated). Following R.J. Reynolds’ death in 1918, Katharine sent biographies of his life to publication houses. This series includes copies of those letters along with copies of the biographies as well.