Patricia Ella Perreault Bennett, a high school teacher and graduate of Mount Holyoke College, was born on December 5, 1950 in Holyoke, Massachusetts to Roger Rene Perreault, Deputy Chief Police Sergeant of the South Hadley, Massachusetts Police Department, and Elizabeth G. Gyrisko Perreault. She attended South Hadley High School then went to Mount Holyoke College from 1968- 1972, graduating with a degree in mathematics. Between 1972-1980 she worked as a mathematics teacher and athletics coach at Pittsfield Junior/Senior High School (Pittsfield, New Hampshire), Cohasset Junior/Senior High School (Cohasset, Massachusetts), and Framingham (Massachusetts) High School. During this time, she was also a cheerleader for the New England Patriots Football team. She left teaching in 1980 and became and actuarial assistant for the Wyatt Co., of Washington, D.C. In 1981, she married William P. Bennett, a Washington, D.C trial lawyer for the U.S. Postal Service. The Bennetts had two daughters.

The Patricia E. P. Bennett Papers consist of scrapbooks, photograph albums, course records, documents and photographs relating to reunions of the Mount Holyoke College Class of 1972, a program autographed by playwright Wendy Wasserstein, newspaper clippings about Bennett, and a photograph of her. The materials relate chiefly to Bennett's years as a student at Mount Holyoke College 1968-1972. Five scrapbooks compiled during that period reflect Bennett's activities during her freshman, sophomore, and senior years. These volumes contain holiday cards from friends, programs for college events, and other mementoes. Three photograph albums contain photographs of students and the campus as well as Bennett's photographs from reunions of the Class of 1972. Other photographs taken of members of the Class of 1972 at reunions held between 1977-2002 are also part of the collection. Materials within the scrapbooks and photograph albums document many college traditions and events, including President David B. Truman's inauguration, Fathers' Day, Convocation, Commencement and the 1972 Laurel Parade. There is also a copy of the Class of 1972 Junior Show script. Course records date from 1968-1972 and consist of examinations for courses in economics, mathematics, psychology, and sociology classes. Three calendars contain the dates of Bennett's daily activities from 1968-1972. The program signed by Wasserstein is for a production of her play, The Heidi Chronicles, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in the spring of 1991. The newspaper clippings concern Bennett's cheerleading career as well as her engagement to William P. Bennett. The collection also includes a photograph of Bennett during her senior year at Mount Holyoke, 1972.

This collection is organized into eight series:

• Scrapbooks (1969-1972)
• Photograph Albums (1969-1992)
• Course Records (1968-1972)
• Calendars (1968-1972)
• Class of 1972 Material (1971-2002)
• Program (1991)
• Biographical Information (1981, n.d.)
• Photographs (1972, 1977-2002)

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

Patricia E.P. Bennett Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.