MacLaren Papers, 1919-2002 (bulk 1919-1935): Scope & Contents of the Collection

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Katharine H. MacLaren Papers consist of correspondence, diaries, a scrapbook, memorabilia, an obituary, and photographs. This material chiefly reflects her experiences and activities as a student at Mount Holyoke College from 1922-1926. In letters to her parents she discusses friendships and dates, parties and dances, sports events (such as the first horse show at Mount Holyoke held in May, 1923), traditions such as Mountain Day and Junior Show, clothing, her expenses, and room choosing. She describes her service on various College committees, including the judicial board of the Student Government Association, and mentions social and political interests of students. She also refers to students bobbing their hair and breaking regulations such as a ban on smoking. Her letters from January, 1923, refer to the fire that destroyed Rockfeller Dormitory. In addition, she frequently discusses her studies, particularly in economics and English, and often mentions faculty members Margaret Ball, Jeannette Augustus Marks, Amy Hewes, Ethel Barbara Dietrich, Alzada Comstock, Leslie Gale Burgevin, and dormitory head Sarah Lois Staples. Included is her correspondence with friends and family during her post-graduation European Tour entitled "Around the Baltic," arranged by the International Confederation of Students. She visited Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. Her diary dates from 1922-1926 and contains brief descriptions of her activities and references to her health. She also mentions "crushes and mashes" and discussions about sex among students, offers more details about her relationships with men than her letters provide, and refers to the decline of religious life at the College. Her travel diary depicts a student tour of Europe in the mid-1920s written by a buoyant and enterprising college student. Her scrapbook dates from 1922-1928 and contains a chart of her body measurements from freshman year as well as programs and notes reflecting her social and academic activities. Other material in the collection consists of her letters to her family from Pine Tree Camp in Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania, where she stayed in July 1919. The collection also includes letters, original poems, and drawings sent to MacLaren by a boyfriend named Samuel H. Bryant, as well as letters from her parents, her husband, Allan B. MacLaren, and several Mount Holyoke classmates, particularly Josephine Fellows, Helen Wismer Thurber, Anne A. Noble McKeachie, M. Adelaide Lehan, Mary Elizabeth Steinmetz, and Margaret B. Ream. Of note is Ream's letter from July 12, 1924 in which she explains that she wanted to keep at a distance to avoid a "possible crush" between the two women. Rounding out the collection are programs and other memorabilia circa 1922-1938, and photographs of MacLaren alone, with friends and relatives, and from her European trip, circa 1922-1926, 1994.