Helen Loring Barnes was born on June 15, 1887 in Plymouth, Massachusetts to Henry W. Barnes and Hannah Loring Barnes. She attended public schools in Plymouth, then went to Mount Holyoke College between 1905-1909 where she majored in Latin. After receiving a B.A. degree she returned to Plymouth and worked at the town's high school between 1909-1916 as a teacher of Latin, German and ancient history. On October 11, 1916 she married Edward Ralph Belcher, the President of Plymouth National Bank, and they had six children. She died in Plymouth at the age of ninety-two on May 10, 1979.

The Helen L. Belcher Papers consist of a scrapbook, course records, a marriage announcement, obituaries, and three photographs. The material in the collection relates mainly to her years as a Mount Holyoke College student, 1905-1909. The scrapbook contains programs for lectures, concerts, receptions, and parties, invitations, greeting cards, menus, notes, and examinations for courses in Latin, German, mathematics, Biblical literature, and other subjects. Course records consist of notes for courses in Bible study taught by Lilla Frances Morse, Edward E. Nourse, and E. Olive Dutcher. The postcards are chiefly of places in Massachusetts and views of the Mount Holyoke campus. The collection also includes an announcement of her marriage, obituaries for her, and photographs of Belcher and family members.

This collection is organized into five series:

• Scrapbook
• Course Records
• Postcards
• Biographical Information
• Photographs