The Lucy Pepper Putnam Papers contain a letter and ten compositions and poems, all written during her year as a student at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, 1845-1846. The letter, addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Clarke, primarily discusses her travel to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary from New Hampshire and her reaction to her first three weeks at the school. Besides writing about her homesickness, Putnam describes her room in the Seminary Building, the furnishings, the rules, her domestic work, examinations, her schedule, the food, and Mary Lyon. There are six compositions as well as four poems. Two of the compositions, "A Visit to the Insane Asylum," (which describes an attempt to visit an insane asylum in Concord, New Hampshire) and "Character of Queen Esther," are probably creative pieces. The other compositions are entitled "Great Effects from Small Causes," "Female Education," "Early Rising," and "Uncertainty of Earthly Things." The poems are entitled "One Composition," "The Star of Bethlehem," "My Home," and "My Mother."

Material from this collection is available in an online digital format.

This collection is organized into two series:

• Correspondence
• Compositions and Poems