Miscellaneous manuscripts collection, 1814-2005 (ongoing)
9 boxes; 3 volumes (3.25 linear ft.)
Collection number: MS 226
Terms of Access and Use:
The collection is open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy all copyright holders. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Pages from Clara M. Reed's Dresden travel journal, September 1890
The Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection consists of biographical sketches, correspondence, diaries, genealogies, photographs, photograph albums, memoirs, memorabilia, postcards, scrapbooks, and travel journals dating from 1814 to 1987. This material documents various aspects of the daily lives and activities of women from diverse backgrounds. This collection is made up of individual items or groups of items that are too small to stand on their own as separate collections, but are otherwise unrelated.
About half of the collection dates from the nineteenth century and consists primarily of correspondence, diaries, and unpublished memoirs from unknown, or little known, women. Also included are a few letters from well-known figures such as Susan B. Anthony, Alice Stone Blackwell, Alice Morse Earle, Edward Everett Hale, Julia Ward Howe, and Frances Willard; a photo of Harriet Beecher Stowe; and autographed quotations by William Lloyd Garrison, Isabella Beecher Hooker, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
The twentieth century material is more varied. In addition to correspondence, diaries and memoirs, it includes many photographs (both loose and in albums), some genealogical material, and other miscellaneous memorabilia. Well-known figures represented in the correspondence include Booker T. Washington and Madame Chiang Kai-shek. The letters of Ellen Downes, a Naval secretary, written from Japan, Washington D.C., and Moscow between 1937 and 1948, are accompanied by photos and are very descriptive. A family photo album belonging to a woman identified only as "Gertrude" contains many interesting photographs, including some of Native Americans and some of cross-dressed women, taken in California, Albuquerque, and Canada, circa 1905 to 1913.
The collection is open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy all copyright holders. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Multiple donors have contributed to this collection.
Periodic additions are expected.
Finding aid revised 2010. Introductory text by Kate Weigand. Recent additions may not be reflected in the finding aid.
| Contact Information |
Smith College Special Collections Young Library 4 Tyler Drive Northampton, MA 01063 Phone: (413) 585-2970 Fax: (413) 585-2886 Email: specialcollections@smith.edu URL: https://www.smith.edu/libraries/special-collections |
Lillie Mae Bernice Alston, 1931-: memoir of
her childhood in Mississippi,
| 1972 | Box 1: folder 1 | |
Lucinda Andrus: commonplace book,
| 1837-40 | Box 1: folder 2 | |
Mason Daniel Barrett [See Box 8] | Box
1 | ||
Cornelia Middagh Birdsall, 1835- : memoir of
life in Brooklyn and Quebec Province,
| [?]-1861 | Box 1: folder 3 | |
Alice H. Burbank [See Box 9] | Box
1 | ||
Joan Brumley Cooper: scrapbook [See Box 3] | Box
1 | ||
Clara E. Cotter: commonplace book,
| 1850-56 | Box 1: folder 4 | |
Ellen Downes: letters [See Box 3] | Box
1 | ||
Alice Morse Earle: correspondence,
[See also Books on Shelf] | 1900-10, undated | Box 1: folder 5 | |
Annie C.S. Fenner: Scrapbook [See Box 4] | Box
1 | ||
Carolyn Galbraith | |||
Correspondence | |||
to friends from Grenfell Mission,
Labrador,
| 1926-27, undated | Box 1: folder 6 | |
from teachers and students at Grenfell
Mission, Labrador,
| 1926-35 | Box 1: folder 7 | |
Photographs and memorabilia,
| 1920-27, undated | Box 1: folder 8 | |
Martha Diman Gardner: Diaries,
| 1816-1892 | Box 1: folder 9 | |
Ophelia Hoefling Gleason: memoir, photographs
(mostly photocopies), and memorabilia,
| 1896- | Box 1: folder 10 | |
Louise (Dodge) Goodwin, Household Account
Book,
| 1914-1917 | Box 1: folder 11 | |
Deborah Graff
[see box 11] | |||
Amanda Harwood Ferry Hall,
memoir, begun 1906, and related material | 1828-1916?: | Box 1: folder 12 | |
Julia Ward Howe: letters to Eliza Middleton,
| 5 Mar 1838; and 1 Feb and 4 Mar 1839 | Box 1: folder 13 | |
Lucy Hunting [?]: Diary of a Girl,
| 1887 | Box 1: folder 14 | |
H. Louise Johnson: book of quotes and diary,
| circa 1960 | Box 2: folder 1 | |
Janet Krogh: Scrapbook [See Box 6] | Box
2 | ||
Fanny H. Lackey: commonplace book, circa
| 1863-85 | Box 2: folder 2 | |
Levi Lamb: commonplace book, circa
| 1835-42 | Box 2: folder 3 | |
Harriet McNeil: correspondence,
(includes one 1849 letter from Ely to Harriet Burchard) | 1814-19 | Box 2: folder 4-5 | |
Hedwig Meerman: letters to Margaret St. Julien Childs, and NACHRICHTEN (newsletter),
| 1981-87 | Box 2: folder 6 | |
Maria Terese "Teri" O'Brien (1955-)
[see box 10] | |||
Sarah Parkhurst: letters to her husband,
William H. Parkhurst,
| Apr-Oct 1846 | Box 2: folder 7 | |
Marian Prior: "In the Office" (typescript), and photographs
| Box 2: folder 7a | ||
Katie Putnam: diary,
| 1863 | Box 2: folder 8 | |
Clara M. Reed: European travel journals (2
vols.),
| Jun-Oct 1890 | Box 2: folder 9 | |
Mrs. L.C. Robinson: letters and notes on
religious religion,
| 1850-62 | Box 2: folder 10 | |
Adaline Shaw: letter to Daniel Shaw,
| 28 May 1848 | Box 2: folder 11 | |
Genevieve Bowen Shaw: correspondence (annual Christmas letters), biographical information, memorabilia, and photographs, circa
| 1916-62 | Box 2: folder 12 | |
Lucille Tillinghad, personal account book,
| 1930-35 | Box 2: folder 13 | |
Mary Ulery, diary exerpt,
| 1867 | Box 2: folder 14 | |
Westerberg, Lila Ansell, Peace Corp
Correspondence (Ghana),
| 1964-1966 | Box 2: folder 15 | |
Joan Brumley Cooper: scrapbook of cross-U.S.
trip,
| 1928 | Box
3 | |
Ellen Downes: letters to Leila Wilson and
Downes' mother from Japan, Washington, DC, and Moscow,
| 1938-48 | Box
3 | |
Annie C.S. Fenner: scrapbook of original
correspondence and published version of Rules for Good
Living (WCTU,
| 1895) | Box
4 | |
Anonymous family photographic
album | Box
5 | ||
Janet Krogh (Smith 1934): World War II
Scrapbook,
| 1943-1945 | Box
6 | |
Flynn, Hulda Rees: Psychologist and Social Activist, Smith 1931 | Box
7 | ||
Biographical information, articles, and correspondence, | 1938-2005 | Box 7: folder 1 | |
FBI file, | circa 1943-71 | Box 7: folder 2-5 | |
Mason Daniel Barrett: correspondence
| 1927-45 | Box
8 | |
Alice H. Burbank: correspondence to Esma W. Brown re: travel in Italy
| 1938-39 | Box
9 | |
Deevey, Sharon: self-published books: Pretty Bland: Colorful Cooking for the Gastrointestinally Challenged, 2nd edition (2007); Lesbian Jottings, 1970-2010 (2010); Whines, Opines, and Lesbian Lines: Scattered Writings (2013)
| Box
9 | ||
Maria Terese "Teri" O'Brien | Box
10 | ||
"While I Danced Alone with the Moon Across the Front Yard," manuscript memoir of growing up in Haydenville, MA | Box 10: folder 1 | ||
Family photographs and research materials | Box 10: folder 2-3 | ||
Audio interview on CD with Evelyn C. Nickerson ("Aunt Lolly") | Box 10: folder 4 | ||
Graff, Deborah: Peace Corps service in Costa Rica | |||
General | Box 11: folder 1 | ||
Correspondence (typescript) to family and friends | 1963-1964 | Box 11: folder 2 | |
BOOKS ON SHELF | |||
Earle, Alice Morse, Customs and Fashions in
Old New England | 1893 | ||
Home Life in Colonial Days | 1900 | ||
The Sabbath in Puritan New England | 1891 | ||