John Morton Greene Papers, 1853-1997

John Morton Greene Papers, 1856-1930

8 boxes (41 linear ft.)

Collection number: RG 10

Abstract:

Pastor of Sophia Smith, generally regarded as the originator of the idea of founding Smith College as a college for women. Papers contain biographical information, personal and professional correspondence, recollections, journals, manuscripts, photographs, and published works. There are also articles and clippings pertaining to his life, Sophia Smith, and the early history and founding of Smith College.

Terms of Access and Use: Restrictions on use:

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the John Morton Greene Papers must be requested from the Smith College Archives. When requesting material at the Smith College Archives, see the printed finding aid for specific instructions on completing the call slip.

Smith College Archives
Northampton, MA

Biographical Note

John Morton Greene, Sophia Smith's pastor, is generally regarded as the originator of the idea of founding Smith College as a college for women. Born in Hadley, Mass. on March 12, 1830, he was an 1853 graduate of Amherst College, which also granted him the A.M. in 1856 and D.D. in 1881. In 1857 he married Louisa Dickinson of North Amherst, an 1857 graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary. In the same year, he was installed as the pastor at the Congregational church at Hatfield, where he remained for eleven years. In Hatfield he met Sophia Smith. In 1868 he was called to the pastorate at the Congregational Church at South Hadley, Mass. Two years later he went to the Eliot Congregational Church in Lowell, Mass., where he remained for thirty years. After retiring from regular pastoral duties in 1910, Greene assisted in the establishment of a mission in Maine. He died April 28, 1919.

John Morton Greene was a trustee of Smith College almost continuously from its founding in 1871 until his death. In addition, he served on the board of trustees of Mount Holyoke Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College), 1866-1875; and was president of the board of trustees at the French Protestant College in Springfield, 1885-1889. As advisor to Sophia Smith, he was also instrumental in the founding of Smith Academy in Hatfield, and acted in a similar capacity for Miss Rogers to found the Rogers Hall School in Lowell, where he acted as president of its board of trustees, 1892-1909. For over forty years he was one of the overseers of the charity fund at Amherst College.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The John Morton Greene Papers contain materials including biographical information, personal and professional correspondence, journals, manuscripts, photographs, and published works. There are also articles and clippings pertaining to his life, Sophia Smith, and the early history and founding of Smith College.

This collection is organized into five series:

I. Biographical
II. Correspondence
III. Journals
IV. Publications
V. Scrapbooks

Information on Use

Terms of Access and Use

Restrictions on use:

Preferred Citation

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

John Morton Greene Papers, Box #, Smith College Archives.

Additional Formats

The following information is also available online as part of the Five College Archives Digital Access Project

1. General Correspondence, 1856-1917
2. Personal Journal (entries written 1861-1876 only)
3. "My Notes On Smith College," ca. 1910-1917 (A 129-page booklet of handwritten notes by John Morton Greene recording his recollections of the circumstances surrounding the founding of Smith College.)
4. Scrapbook, 1860-1918 (A 100-page scrapbook consisting predominantly of newspaper clippings related to women's education and academic affairs at Smith College, with particular reference to Greene's role in the College's founding; also, some published articles related to women's education at other U.S. institutions.)
5. Published Writings, 1875-1916 (Writings by JMG published in periodicals: Includes his "Early History of Smith College" [a 12-part series appearing in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, 1891-93], also correspondence related to it; a "Sketch of the Life and Character of Miss Sophia Smith"; "An Inside View of Smith College," published in a Lowell, Mass. newspaper in 1882; and other occasional pieces.)
6. Louisa Dickinson Greene Papers, 1854-1881 (6 letters and 2 other writings by the wife of John Morton Greene.)
7. Obituaries and Retrospectives on John Morton Greene, 1919-1930

History of the Collection

The materials were donated over a period of time by John Morton Greene and his daughter, Helen French Greene.

Processing Information

Processed by Valerie Love, '02

Additional Information

Contact Information

Smith College Archives

Northampton, MA 01063

Phone: (413) 585-2970
Fax: (413) 585-2886

Email: nyoung@smith.edu
URL: http://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/archives

Series I. Biographical Materials
Addresses: Centennial of the Birth of Sophia Smith	1853, 1896	Box 1: folder 1
Biography and Genealogy	1864-1997	Box 1: folder 2
Household Servants	1863	Box 1: folder 3
Obituaries, correspondence re: death of	1919, 1930	Box 1: folder 4
Rogers Hall School	1901-1919	Box 1: folder 5
General: Watch- see artifacts	n.d.	Box 1: folder 6
Greene, Louisa	1904	Box 1: folder 7
Photographs	1860, 1879, n.d.	Box 1: folder 8
Photographs: Portraits	1913, n.d.	Box 1: folder 9
Portrait: Clippings and Correspondence	1894-1938	Box 1: folder 10
Photograph: Emily Dickinson	n.d.	Box 1: folder 11
Professional Employment: Appleton St. Church, Lowell, MA	1870, 1879	Box 1: folder 12
Professional Employment: Eliot Church, Lowell, MA	1881-1948, n.d.	Box 1: folder 13
Professional Employment: Eliot Church, Lowell, MA: Sermons	1887-1909	Box 1: folder 14
Professional Employment: Enfield, CT Church	1866	Box 1: folder 15
Professional Employment: Hatfield: Congregational Church, Hatfield MA	1857-1925	Box 1: folder 16
Professional Employment: South Hadley: First Church, South Hadley, MA	1870	Box 1: folder 17
Smith Charities	1875	Box 1: folder 18
Sophia Smith: Excerpts from journals	1860-1911	Box 1: folder 19

Series II. Correspondence
Index		Box 2: folder 1
from: Burton, Marion LeRoy	1909-1918	Box 2: folder 2
to Alcott, Mr.	1881, 1883	Box 2: folder 3
from: Ames, Henrietta	1916	Box 2: folder 4
to: Brown, Nina Eliza, '82	1917	Box 2: folder 5
to: Caverno, Julia Harwood, '87	1916	Box 2: folder 6
to: Clark, Elizabeth (Lawrence), '83	1911	Box 2: folder 7
to: Clark, Josephine Adelaide, '80	1910, 1914	Box 2: folder 8
to: Cone, Kate (Morris), '79	1910	Box 2: folder 9
to: Dickinson, Mrs. (mother-in-law)	1886	Box 2: folder 10
to: Fuller, Grace P.	1910	Box 2: folder 11
to: Greene, Helen F., '91	1898-1905	Box 2: folder 12
from: Greene, Louisa Dickinson.(before marriage)	1856-57	Box 2: folder 13
from: Greene, Louisa Dickinson to others	1854-81	Box 2: folder 14
from: Greene, Louisa Dickinson to JMG	1866-75	Box 2: folder 15
to: Greene, Louisa Dickinson (wife)	1863, 1864, 1878, 1880	Box 2: folder 16
to: Greene, Louisa (daughter)	1864, 1895, 1899, 1902	Box 2: folder 17
from: Greene, Lulu (Louisa)		Box 2: folder 18
to: Greene, William (brother)	1853	Box 2: folder 19
from: Greene, William S.	1872	Box 2: folder 20
to: Hill, Edith Naomi, '03	1911, 1916	Box 2: folder 21
to: Hubbard, George W.	1868-1879	Box 2: folder 22
to: Jackson, Alice, '98	1904	Box 2: folder 23
to: Jordan, Mary Augusta	1911	Box 2: folder 24
to: Keyes, Bertha A.	1917	Box 2: folder 25
to: Mardus, Mrs.	1916	Box 2: folder 26
from: Mason, John W.	1894	Box 2: folder 27
from: Northrop, B.G.	1888	Box 2: folder 28
from: Noyes, Lucia (Clapp), '81	1917	Box 2: folder 29
to: Park, Edward A.	1979	Box 2: folder 30
to: Parker, Mrs. Henry	1906	Box 2: folder 31
from: Scott, Mary Augusta	1911	Box 2: folder 32
from: Seelye, L. Clark	1881-1918	Box 2: folder 33
to: Smith, Sophia	1869-70	Box 2: folder 34
to Tucker, Charlotte (Cheever)	1891-92	Box 2: folder 35
to Tyler, William S.	1873, 1882-84	Box 2: folder 36
from: Tyler, William S.	1875	Box 2: folder 37
from: Warner, Elisa A.	1882	Box 2: folder 38
from: Wells, D. W.	1893-1916	Box 2: folder 39
to: Whipple, Mrs. Shipman	1910	Box 2: folder 40

Series III. Journals
Journals	1883-1919	Box 3-4
Journal and scrapbook index	n.d.	Box 5: folder 1
Journal excerpts	1861-1917	Box 5: folder 2
Journals	1833-1919	Box 6

Series IV. Publications
Sketch of the Life and Character of Sophia Smith	1875	Box 7: folder 1
Early History of Smith College, Daily Hampshire Gazette	1891-93	Box 7: folder 2
Early History of Smith College, Correspondence	1881-1919	Box 7: folder 3
Early History of Smith College, Typescript	1891	Box 7: folder 4
Happy Wedlock	1900	Box 7: folder 5
Little Things for Little Folk, parts I-IV	1901	Box 7: folder 6
Little Things for Little Folk, parts V-VII	1901	Box 7: folder 7
Looking on the Bright Side	1901	Box 7: folder 8
Friendship	1865	Box 7: folder 9
Semi-Centennial of the Eliot Church, Lowell, MA	1881	Box 7: folder 10
Publications: General	1897	Box 7: folder 11
Inside View of Smith College	n.d.	Box 7: folder 12
Pub. Miscellaneous	1909	Box 7: folder 13

Series V. Scrapbook
Index		Box 8: folder 1
pages 1-10	1872	Box 8: folder 2
pages 11-20	1872-73	Box 8: folder 3
pages 21-30	1875-77	Box 8: folder 4
pages 31-40	1888	Box 8: folder 5
pages 41-50	1873-82	Box 8: folder 6
pages 51-60	1894-96	Box 8: folder 7
pages 61-70	1893-1913	Box 8: folder 8
pages 71-80	1896-1907	Box 8: folder 9
pages 81-90	1906-1916	Box 8: folder 10
pages 91- end	1866-79	Box 8: folder 11
Books pertaining to Smith College- addresses by Seelye, Tyler, etc.
Greene, John Morton: "My Notes on Smith College"	1883	Box 8: folder 12