A graduate of Smith College (Class of 1899), Carolyn Adelia Boynton was, according to the Alumnae Biographical Register, 1935, a teacher in various states in the decade following graduation, then settled in New York City, where she lived at the Women's University Club on East 52nd Street and taught in Flushing. In 1918 she went abroad to work for the Y.M.C.A. in Paris and Nice, returning in August 1919. In subsequent years, during summers and semester leaves from the Flushing school, she seems to have travelled intermittently with a friend and/or met others along the way. During her travels she collected dolls in native costumes and stamps for members of her family. The 1936 correspondence and passport indicates she was going to retire in September 1937 and travel more extensively.