Sabrina Collection, ca. 1860-2006
General International Standard for Archival Description
Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Peter A. Nelson. 2007-09-27
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Sabrina Collection
1 records storage box, 2 archives boxes, 1 flat box
Biographical History for: Sabrina Collection
Historical Note The statue of the water nymph Sabrina was donated to Amherst College by Joel Hayden in 1857. It the frequent object of student pranks in the 1860s and 1870s. In the early 1880s it was removed from campus to the custodian's residence. Students found and stole the statue in 1887, from that time until 1934 the statue was part of a fierce interclass rivalry. It was shown at class banquets and surprise campus appearances, with the guardian even or odd classes attempting to hide and the opposing classes attempting to find and steal it. In 1934, the statue was returned to the College; the students cited danger to life and limb and declining interest in the Sabrina tradition as the reasons for return. From 1934 to 1951 the statue was housed in the Hitchcock Memorial Room in Morgan Hall. The statue was stolen from its base in 1951 by members of the graduating class. It was shown by airplane and car in the following years, but returned to the college in 1955, again due to lack of interest in the tradition. The statue was briefly stolen in 1977 and apprehended at the Turners Fall airport by Campus Police. It was stolen again in 1984, shown by helicopter twice in the following years and returned to the College in 1994. The current location of Sabrina is unknown.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Sabrina Collection contains histories, correspondence, articles and photographs relating to the statue "Sabrina," donated to the College in 1857 and the object of pranks and interclass rivalry for much of the time since.
Sabrina (Statue)
lcsh
series
Series 1: GENERAL
Creation of Series 1: GENERAL
Time of Creation of Series 1: GENERAL
Includes written histories, correspondence and miscellaneous objects, programs, documents and printed material relating to Sabrina and the Sabrina rivalry.
subseries
Sub-Series A: General
General
Sub-Series B: Written Histories
Written Histories 1910-1950
Written Histories 1950-1961; n.d.
"Sabrina recaptured by even classes" W. F. Stearns, Jr., AC 1922 1921
"Sabrina, a celebration of changing student attitudes at Amherst College, 1857-1998," Greg Schneider [do not photocopy without author's written permission] 1998
Materials relating to 1990-1991 capture attempts 1990-1991
Sub-Series C: Correspondence
Correspondence 1918-1975
Correspondence, news clippings and miscellaneous of Samuel B. Furbish, AC1898 1895-1935
Correspondence of J. W. Russell, AC1899 1925-1930
Correspondence of John "Moose" McGrath, AC1951, and Thomas Wyman, AC1951 1951-1973
Correspondence of John "Moose" McGrath, AC1951 1977-1979
Sub-Series D: Miscellaneous
J. L. Mott Iron Works Catalogue 1871
Sabrina Banquet programs 1892-1919
Sabrina Song, "All hail, Sabrina dear," original manuscript 1893
Printing block of cartoon 1894
Addendum to Max Shoop's 1910 Sabrina [1910 or 11]
Sabrina Agreement 1918
"Sabrina Constitution" c. 1925
Memento from 1951 capture (Brattleboro Daily Reformer, June 11, 1951) 1951
Series 2: ARTICLES AND CLIPPINGS
Creation of Series 2: ARTICLES AND CLIPPINGS
Time of Creation of Series 2: ARTICLES AND CLIPPINGS
Includes newspaper and periodical articles and clippings relating to Sabrina.
Articles and clippings 1868-1899
Articles and clippings 1900-1909
Articles and clippings 1910-1919
Articles and clippings 1920-1929
Articles and clippings 1930-1939
Articles and clippings 1940-1949
Articles and clippings 1950-1959
Articles and clippings 1960-1969
Articles and clippings 1970-1979
Articles and clippings 1980-
Articles and clippings n.d.
Newspaper clippings, originals of articles photocopied for preservation (photocopies integrated into folders 19-29)
Series 3: PHOTOGRAPHS
Creation of Series 3: PHOTOGRAPHS
Time of Creation of Series 3: PHOTOGRAPHS
Includes photographs of Sabrina and Sabrina related activity.
Oversized photographs c.1869
Photographs 1875-1885
Photographs 1886-1900
Photographs 1901-1929
Oversized photographs 1912
Oversized photographs 1922
Photographs 1930-1951
Photographs 1952
Oversized photographs 1952
Oversized photograph 1952
Photographs 1953-1969
Photographs 1977-1979
Photographs 1980-
Photographs n.d.
Oversized photographs n.d.
Photographs, other Sabrinas
SERIES 4: SABRINA MATERIALS OF NEWTON F. MCKEON (AC 1926), ca. 1924-1982
Includes correspondence, photographs, a scrapbook and printed matter related to the history of Sabrina. [Accession #2012.014]
Photographs 1860-1870
"Sabrina Remembered" - typescript, correspondence, notes n.d., 1961-1970
Correspondence, photographs, negatives, notes, clipping n.d., 1924-1926, 1982
Photograph, clippings, printed material n.d., 1920-1986
Printed material, clippings 1919-1935
Printed material, clippings 1922-1980
Photographs n.d., 1924-1925
Scrapbook c. 1920s