Fonds P217 - Kate Williams Fonds

4 cm of textual records

The fonds contains chiefly of family correspondence between members of the Penfield and Chester families, as well as clippings and correspondence regarding Wilder Penfield's autobiography "No Man Alone" and correspondence regarding posthumous honours for Wilder Penfield. Family correspondence includes a 1917 letter from Helen Kermott (later Helen Kermott Penfield) accepting Wilder Penfield's marriage proposal. Much of the family correspondence is between Wilder and Helen Penfield and their daughter Priscilla and her husband William M. (Bill) Chester Jr., as well as Bill Chester's parents William (Sr.) and Alice Chester. There are incoming letters and many carbon copies of outgoing letters. A series of 1949 letters congratulates the young couple (Bill Chester and Priscilla Penfield) on their engagement. One letter is also between Wilder Penfield and George Chester. A few materials are related to posthumous honours for Wilder Penfield, such as the naming of a building after him at John Abbott College (letter to Wilder Penfield Jr.) and a 1982 speech given by Priscilla at the Penfield Children's Center (typescript copy). There is also correspondence between Bill Chester and William Feindel. One 1976 carbon copy of a letter (1976) details the period following the death of Priscilla's father, Wilder Penfield, while the couple was in Japan. Materials related to "No Man Alone" include clippings from journals and newspapers of reviews and book announcements, as well as two copies of the book jacket and some related correspondence.