Mary A. (Mary Augusta) Jordan Papers, 1885-1931
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Smith College Archives Northampton, MA
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Deborah A. Richards. 2006-08-18
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Mary A. (Mary Augusta) Jordan Papers
Creation of Mary A. (Mary Augusta) Jordan Papers
Time of Creation of Mary A. (Mary Augusta) Jordan Papers
Jordan, Mary A. (Mary Augusta), 1855-1941
Biographical History for: Mary A. (Mary Augusta) Jordan Papers
Biographical Note Mary Augusta Jordan was born on July 5, 1855 in Ironton, Ohio. She was the daughter of Edward Jordan, who was appointed Solicitor of the United States Treasury by President Lincoln, and Augusta Woodbury Ricker Jordan. Mary was the eldest of four children. Mary was known since childhood for her exceptional intelligence and love of the English language. She was one of Smith College's star English instructors and her passing was greatly mourned by the academic world she left behind with her death on April 14, 1941. When her father retired from public office and the family moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey, Mary enrolled in Vassar College where she graduated in 1876, Phi Beta Kappa at the age of twenty-one. She continued with her education at Vassar and received her M.A. in 1878. She was first a librarian (1877-1880) and later an English instructor at Vassar until her departure in 1884. Mary left Vassar in order to teach at the recently founded Smith College at the behest of President Seelye. Known for her independent nature, Mary was soon a well recognized figure in Northampton and on the college campus. She was a much loved and well-respected instructor in Rhetoric and English, and known for her well intended but sharp wit and constructive criticism. Her home was always open for students to gain access to her extensive library or her ready advice. Although she published few articles, she was known as the star of the English Department and quickly ascended to be first the head and later the chairman of the English Department. Smith College awarded her the honorary degree, Doctor of Human Letters, in 1910. Her independent nature and love of learning lead her to devote her entire life to teaching. She was briefly engaged to her cousin, David Starr Jordan, but the relationship did not last. She instead spent her life galvanizing her students' love of learning. She spent a great deal of her time away from the school on extended stays in the homes of friends and family. She made her home at Hatfield House while at Smith. Mary Augusta Jordan retired from Smith in 1921, after thirty-seven years of service. She continued to remain active however, and concerned herself with the affairs of Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut, the area which she moved to after retirement. She was a deeply religious person, although nonsectarian, and the affairs of the Roman Catholic school interested her deeply. It was at 42 Lincoln Street in New Haven, Connecticut, near the home of her niece where Mary fell ill. She died soon after on April 14, 1941, at the age of sixty-five. She left behind an extensive legacy at Smith College, and in 1922 after her retirement, was remembered by Smith College in three ways. There is a Smith house, located in the quad, named Jordan in her honor. The English department also named the Mary Augusta Jordan professorship in remembrance of their colleague. The prize, which is now defunct, was a small scholarship for students who excelled in English literature, named the Mary Augusta Jordan Prize.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Mary Augusta Jordan Papers contain biographical information, correspondence, writings photographs and memorabilia documenting her career at Smith as both student and professor of English Languages and Literature. Of particular interest is a history of the English Department written by Jordan in 1925.
Biographical Material and Smith College Material
Biographical Material-General
Biographical Material-Education
Biographical Material-Education, Vassar College
Biographical Material-Miscellaneous
Biographical Material-Obituaries 1941
Smith College Material-Miscellaneous
Smith College Material-Hatfield House
Smith College Material-Lecture Notes
(see also Box 883)
Smith College Material-Mary A. Jordan Professorship
Smith College Material-Recommendations
Smith College Material-Retirement, general
Smith College Material-Retirement, Tributes
Smith College Material-Retirement, A Tribute of 40 Years
Correspondence A-PE
A-BE, miscellaneous
Abbott, Lyman n.d.
Bacon, Josephine Daskam 1904-1921
Bates, Katherine Lee 1895-1915
BI-CA, miscellaneous
Booth, Maud B. 1896-1915
Branch, Anna Hempstead 1897-1934
Brearly, Samuel, Jr. 1885-1897, n.d.
Bridges, Robert Seymour 1895-1900
Briggs, Le Baron Russell 1900-1910
Burroughs, John 1887, n.d.
Cable, Eva Stevenson n.d.
CH-CZ, miscellaneous
Clark, Marguerite Dixon 1925-1928, n.d.
Clemens, Samuel Langhorne 1889
Cleveland, Rose E. 1899-1904, n.d.
Cravath, Paul D. 1915
Cutler, Anna Alice 1928
D-F, miscellaneous
Dickinson, Lavinia 1895-1897
Drennan, M.J. 1890-1898
Dunton, Edith Kellog 1922, n.d.
Edwards, Hilda Blanche 1911-1928
Ellsworth, Helen J.S. n.d.
Ellsworth, William W. 1897
Folger, Henry Clay 1912-1935
Ford, M. Eleanor 1914-1915
Franchot, C. Pascal n.d.
G-HE, miscellaneous
Gallen, P.H. n.d.
Gardiner, Harry Norman 1892-1927, n.d.
Garrison, Wendell Phillips 1894-1898
Gaylord, Emma P. 1914, n.d.
Gibson, Emily H. 1885-1888
Gilbert, Simeon 1893
Greet, Ben n.d.
Hadley, Arthur Twining 1897-1900
Harrison, Bertram n.d.
HI-K, miscellaneous
Hyde, George P. 1928
James, William 1891, n.d.
Jordan, David Starr 1899, 1913
Kearns, Elsie Herndon 1914, n.d.
L-MA, miscellaneous
Lathrop, Clara W. 1899, 1901
Leach, Abby 1900, 1905
Macmechan, Archibald M'Kellar 1897-1900
McNely, Ruth 1913
ME-PE, miscellaneous
Meid, Ella n.d.
Meyer, Annie Nathan 1910, n.d.
Peck, Ludella L. 1886, n.d.
Correspondence PH-Z
PH-R, miscellaneous
Poland, William Carey 1892-1899
Prescott, Henry Lee 1899-1900
Pruyn, Eva Jenison 1910-1915
Rockefeller, John D., Jr. 1916
Rose, Henry T. 1912, n.d.
S-V, miscellaneous
Santayana, George 1899, n.d.
Sharp, Martha n.d.
Shaw, Adele Marie 1914, n.d.
Shoop, Max n.d.
Short, Frank Lea 1910-1911
Steinberg, Mary B. 1899-1900, n.d.
Stoddard, F.H. 1885, n.d.
Taylor, James M. 1899-1900
Thomas, M. Carey 1899-1900, n.d.
Thwing, Charles F. n.d.
Tucker, H. St. George 1921
Ventura, L.D. 1885
W-Z, miscellaneous
Ward, William Hayes 1912
Watts, Martha Emma 1914, n.d.
Whipple, George N. 1899, 1915, n.d.
Whitney, Margaret F.G. 1900, n.d.
Withington, Robert 1923-1931
Woolley, Mary Emma 1909-1915
Young, Alfred 1908-1910
Young, Starck n.d.
Speeches and Writings
Miscellaneous
"Assets and Liabilities of Present Day English" n.d.
"A Dressy Bookseller" n.d.
"The College for Women" Atlantic Monthly 1892 Oct
"Harry Norman Gardiner" Memorial Service 1927
"Higher Education" Association of Intercollegiate Alumnae 1886 Oct 30
"The Higher Education, A Social Necessity for Women" Association of Collegiate Alumnae 1892 Nov 5
"Influential Fallacies About Education" New England Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools in School Review (Vol 12, No 2) 1904 Feb
"L. Clark Seelye" Smith College Monthly 1910 Jun
"Life and the Classroom: 37 Years of It" Smith Alumnae Quarterly 1921 Jul
"Ludella L. Peck" Smith Alumnae Quarterly and Memorial Service 1913 Feb
"Noblesse Oblige" Pamphlet No. 36 of the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women 1901
"The President-Elect of Vassar College and His Problems" Vassar Miscellany 1915 Feb 26
Reviews, miscellaneous
"The Return of Nature" n.d.
"The Setting of A College Admission Paper in English" School Review n.d.
"Shakespeare and the Presumptions" n.d.
"Smith College" New England Magazine 1887 Jan
"The Teaching of English in Smith College from President and Professor Seelye to President and Professor Neilson" [manuscript] 1925 Jun
"The Teaching of English in Smith College from President and Professor Seelye to President and Professor Neilson" [typescript] 1925 Jun
"Vassar's Jubilee" Smith Alumnae Quarterly 1915 Nov
Correct Writing and Speaking by M.A. Jordan. The Women's Home Library (N.Y.: A.S. Barnes and Co.), 1904
Photographs and Sketches
Portraits, early pre-1890
Portraits after 1890
Portraits-Endeau Portrait c1901
Snapshots n.d.
Hatfield House
Teaching class-Katherine McClellan, photographer 1904
Sketches n.d.
Oversize Materials
Lecture Notes (card file)
Diary 1899 Jan-Mar 6
News clippings/Notes on Education and English n.d.
Sketch Notebook
Memorabilia Book of European trip
Scrapbook-photographs of works of art
Small notebooks (3), miscellaneous notes