Lucy M. Curtis was born in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. She attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary from 1838 to 1840 and returned to complete her studies in 1843. She taught at Mount Holyoke from her graduation in 1844 to 1847 and from 1848 until her death in late April of 1849 in West Brookfield, Massachusetts.

The Lucy M. Curtis papers consist of correspondence, a commonplace book, and a photograph. Most of this material relates to the years of her association with Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, 1838-1849. There are eight letters in the collection written between 1842 and 1849. In her six letters to Mrs. Hannah Kingsbury Porter (wife of Mount Holyoke trustee Andrew Porter), Curtis mentions the death of student Sarah Wingate in 1849 and describes in detail the illness of Mary Lyon in the same year. The collection also contains a letter written to Lyon discussing the merits of a potential student for the Seminary. A later letter to Lyon expresses her admiration and affection for Miss Lyon. The letters contain indications of Curtis' religious beliefs. The commonplace book contains original compositions and copied articles by Mount Holyoke students from the classes of 1838 to 1849, part of writings at the school known as "Seminary Literature". The biographical information includes a note by Anna C. Edwards (Mount Holyoke Class of 1859) concerning Curtis' life, probably dating from ca. 1900. The collection also contains a photograph of Curtis probably taken while she was at Mount Holyoke.

Arranged in 4 series: Series 1. Correspondence. Series 2. Commonplace Book. Series 3. Biographical material. Series 4. Photograph.

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

L. M. Curtis Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.