Elizabeth A. Drew was born in Singapore on December 17, 1887 and educated in England. Before her career at Smith College, she taught English at Girton College, Cambridge, England from 1916-19, and the University of Cambridge from 1934-37. She also taught in the summer at the Breadloaf School of English in Middlebury, Vermont from 1940-46. She survived the V-2 bombings of London during World War II and soon relocated to the U.S. Shortly after arriving from England, Drew gave a lecture at Smith, and using a letter of introduction from college dean Ada Comstock, embarked on a lecture tour. She joined the Smith College faculty in 1946 as a lecturer in English. By her later life she had become a well-known author, critic, and lecturer, having published numerous books on poetry, modern literature, and drama. She retired from Smith in 1961 and received an honorary Litt.D. degree at the 1962 Commencement. Drew died in April 1965 at the age of 77 and in her will left the college a bequest of more than $100,000 to be used by the English Department.

The collection contains biographical material, correspondence, photographs, and lecture notes and is separated into four series as follows:

• Series I: Biographical Materials
  • This part of the collection contains biographical materials for Elizabeth Drew, both personal and professional.
• Series II: Correspondence
  • This part of the collection consists of correspondence both personal and professional.
• Series III: Photographs
  • The collection has one folder of photographs containing photos ranging in date from 1936 through 1962.
• Series IV: Subjects
  • The largest series of the collection, this section consists of several binders and folders of lecture notes, speeches and publications.

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

Elizabeth A. Drew Papers, Box #, Smith College Archives.

The Elizabeth A. Drew Papers were donated over a period of time to the Smith College Archives from a variety of sources.