The Louise Eleanor Fruen Barnett Papers contain letters written during her freshman year at Mount Holyoke College (September 17, 1945-April 30, 1946). Letters were addressed to her parents and other family members and chiefly reflect her social and academic activities. She discusses her courses and teachers, especially introductory English and philosophy classes with Constance Meadnis Saintonge and Roger W. Holmes and physiology laboratories with Charlotte Haywood. She also mentions Mount Holyoke President Roswell Gray Ham, classmates, and an "extremely boring talk" at the College by Eleanor Roosevelt (October 20, 1945). Many letters discuss food, dating, dances, her expenses, and her job in a campus kitchen. There are also descriptions of a trip to the Outing Club Cabin (November 2, 1945), bicycle trips to Amherst, Massachusetts and visits to Smith College. Also of note is a reference to "8 or 10 Negro students" (September 24, 1945) a mention of writing to President Harry Truman about making "the atomic secret known to the other countries" (November 2, 1945), and a description of her volunteer work at a settlement house in Holyoke, Massachusetts (April 7, 1946). In addition, the letters describe Mount Holyoke traditions such as Mountain Day, College songs, hazing, May Day, Founder's Day and Junior Show.

This collection is organized into one series:

• Correspondence