The Elizabeth Lucy Chapin Papers span the years 1842, and 1859-1861, and consist of correspondence, a photograph, a photocopy of a poem, and a small book. The correspondence series, arranged chronologically, consists of twelve letters written by Lucy while in Georgia and Mississippi, to a sister, Emily ("Em") in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Topics discussed in the letters include being a Northerner in the Deep South on the eve of the Civil War; aspects of a young school teacher's life; expressions of home-sickness; commentary on the pleasant Southern weather; and the unmarriageablity of the local young men. Several of the letters discuss her sister, Roxanna Emily Chapin Gerdine, class of 1854. All of the letters are available digitally online. The undated photograph is a faded oval daguerreotype portrait of Lucy. Her birth and death dates are inscribed on the back, "b. August 27, 1838 Chicopee, Mass d. March 21, 1862 West Point, MS" [a source in Archives and Special Collections indicates her death was actually in October, 1962]. The photocopied poem was written by the head of the Lucy Cobb Institute, Thomas R.R. Cobb, to Lucy on January 1, 1859 in celebration of her arrival at the school. Rounding out the collection is an illustrated copy of The new Robinson Crusoe : designed for youth, published in Cooperstown by H. & E. Phinney, in 1842. A modification of the original story, it is a morality tale that bids parents not to spoil their children and children to obey their parents and avoid idleness.

Correspondence from this collection is available online in a digital format.