Mount Holyoke College War Collection, 1860-present
General International Standard for Archival Description
Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Patricia J. Albright. 2008-04-24
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Mount Holyoke College War Collection
Mount Holyoke College
Biographical History for: Mount Holyoke College War Collection
Historical Note The Mount Holyoke College War Collection brings together a wide range of materials that show how students, faculty, administrators, and alumnae of the College responded to various wars from the United States Civil War (1861-1865) to the Iraq War (2003-present). Most of the collection consists of records created by College departments, offices, and committees, including the Office of the President, the Appointment Bureau, the News Bureau, the Public Relations Office, and the Alumnae Association. The collection also includes newspaper articles, records of local, national, and international war-related committees, and materials received from alumnae and other donors.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Mount Holyoke College War Collection documents the impact of various wars on Mount Holyoke students, administrators, faculty, and alumnae. Materials date from 1860 to the present and are arranged in nine series for the following conflicts: the United States Civil War (1861-1865), World War I (1914-1918), the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), World War II (1939-1945), the Korean War (1950-1953), the Vietnam War (1961-1973), the Persian Gulf War (1991), the Afghan War (2001-present); and the Iraq War (2003-present). United States Civil War Materials consist of copies of newspaper articles (1860, 1864) concerning the elections of Abraham Lincoln as United State President and the patriotism of Mount Holyoke students. There are also recollections (1908, 1912) by two alumnae, Sarah Pomeroy Parsons and Anna C. Edwards, about life at the school during that war. World War I Materials (1914-1919, 1937, 1942, 1944-1945) consist of reports, correspondence, minutes, articles, notices, course descriptions, certificates, and photographs. These materials describe work done by students on the College Farm; the extra-curricular war emergency courses that provided special training to students; measures undertaken to conserve fuel and food; and campaigns to raise money in support of the war efforts. Some documents concern war relief work done by students under the direction of Romance Languages professor Mary Vance Young. These materials include Young's correspondence with members of the Commission for Relief in Belgium and the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief as well as letters (most in French) to Young or Mount Holyoke students from Belgian soldiers and civilians. There are also letters exchanged by Mount Holyoke's Dean, Florence Purington and representatives of the Intercollegiate Committee on Women's War Work Abroad, which was established to collect and classify information regarding the opportunities for War Service Aboard for women college student and alumnae. These letters chi! efly con cern alumnae who served with the American Red Cross and other organizations in France, England, and the Near East. In addition, the collection contains correspondence, course descriptions, articles, and photographs relating to a training course given at Mount Holyoke during the summer of 1918 for health officers serving women who worked in industrial plants,. Materials dating from 1937, 1942, 1944-1945 consist of reports and articles summarizing activities and programs at the College during World War I. Spanish Civil War Materials consist of an announcement from 1939 for a mass meeting at Mount Holyoke to discuss reasons why the United States embargo on Loyalist Spain should be lifted. The meeting was sponsored by the American Student Union, the Faculty-Student Committee to Aid Republican Spain, and the International Relations Club. World War II Materials (1939-1948, 1962-2005) consist of reports, correspondence, minutes, articles, brochures, manuals, course descriptions, newsletters, scrapbooks, lists, notes, certificates, and photographs. Materials dating from before the United States entered the war in December, 1941 primarily concern war preparedness activities at the College and students' support of war relief efforts. There are also documents from December 1940-January 1941 concerning a Federal Bureau of Investigation of four Mount Holyoke faculty members suspected of being Nazi sympathizers. Materials from the war years concern air raid precautions (A.R.P.), changes in the curriculum, farm work done by students, and Red Cross and first aid training. The A.R.P. materials include bulletins, instructions, and other records of the Committee on Public Safety of South Hadley (1941-1944). There are materials relating to special programs held at the College, including an E.S.M.D.T. (Engineering, Science, Management, and Defense Training) summer course in industrial supervision (1942), National Youth Administration Industrial War Training Programs to train young women in the use of meta! l workin g tools (1942, 1943), and an International Service Work Camp through which young women assisted with farm work and child care in local communities (1942). Other correspondence, publications, articles, and photographs concern training programs on the Mount Holyoke campus for WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and Women Marines from 1942-1944. These materials include issues of Sounding Off, a weekly newspaper edited for the personnel of the Women's Reserve of the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps in training at the Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School (WR) at Northampton and South Hadley, Massachusetts. Materials dating from during and after the war concern three ships (the U.S.S. Lyon, the S.S. Mary Lyon, and the S.S. Mount Holyoke Victory) used during the war . War-related activities of alumnae are documented by World War II Job Reports (1946) completed by members of the classes of 1879-1946. These questionnaires describe alumnae reactions to their war time jobs and include information about the post-war plans of these women. There are also letters, lists, and articles concerning the Mount Holyoke College group of the Universities Committee on Post-War International Problems, which encouraged faculty members to develop suggestions for dealing with issues such as the nature of the peace settlement and economic reconstruction of countries affected by the war. In addition, notes from 1975 describe cryptology courses given under the strictest confidence by faculty member Roger Holmes during the war. Materials about the Korean War (1951) consist of correspondence, articles, and press releases. These documents concern discussion of whether the Mount Holyoke would offer a summer session of study for students and the possibility of a volunteer registration program for women to encourage support of work that supported the war effort. Vietnam War materia! ls (1965 -1972) consist of correspondence, articles, publications, newsletters, announcements, memoranda, and photographs. These materials primarily document opinions about war on the part of students, faculty, administrators, and alumnae. Most of the materials relate to the nationwide students' strike in May, 1970 to protest the war and its extension into Cambodia. These items include copies of Consider These Are The Days, a study prepared by the Five College Research Committee of issues relating to the strike. Other documents concern the Vietnam Moratorium in October, 1969 held to organize community sentiment against the continuation of the war. Persian Gulf Materials (1991) are comprised of announcements, articles, questionnaires, audio cassettes, and a photograph. These items primarily concern students' reactions to the war and include questionnaires completed by participants in a Gulf Crisis Survey conducted by the Student Government Association. Some materials relate to various Five College programs concerning the conflict, including a Teach-In on the Gulf Crisis held on February 14, 1991. The photograph is of students who were part of a protest march against the war. Materials relating to the Afghan War (2001-present) and Iraq War (2003-present) consist of newspaper articles discussing responses to those conflicts by members of the Mount Holyoke Community. Many of these articles concern anti-war protests. Material from this collection is available in an online digital format.
Women college students--Massachusetts--South Hadley.
lcsh
Women college students--Massachusetts--South Hadley--Political activity.
World War, 1914-1918--Massachusetts--South Hadley.
World War, 1914-1918-Women.
Intercollegiate Committee on Women's War Work Abroad.
Spain--History--Civil War, 1936-1939.
World War, 1939-1945--Massachusetts--South Hadley.
World War, 1939-1945--Women.
United States. Naval Reserve. Women's Reserve.
United States--Armed Forces--Women.
Women marines.
Air raid defenses--Massachusetts--South Hadley.
War relief--History--Sources.
Warships.
Universities Committee on Post-War International Problems.
Korean War, 1950-1953--Massachusetts--South Hadley.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Massachusetts--South Hadley.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Protest movements--Massachusetts--South Hadley.
Student strikes--Massachusetts--South Hadley.
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Massachusetts--South Hadley.
Afghan War, 2001- -- Massachusetts--South Hadley.
Iraq War, 2003- -- Massachusetts--South Hadley.
Edwards. Anna C. (Anna Cheney), 1835-1930.
lcnaf
Young, Mary Vance, 1866-1946.
Parsons, Sarah Pomeroy, 1845-1916.
Mount Holyoke College.
Mount Holyoke College--Alumni and alumnae.
Mount Holyoke College--Students.
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary--Student life--1861-1865.
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary--Recollections.
Massachusetts--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
aat
series
United States Civil War Materials 1860, 1864, 1908, 1912
Articles, recollections 1860, 1864, 1908, 1912
World War I Materials 1914-1919, 1937, 1942, 1944-1945
Articles, notices 1917
Reports, correspondence, articles, notices 1918
Reports, correspondence, articles, notices 1919
Report and articles about Mount Holyoke College during World War I 1937, 1942, 1944-1945
Liberty Loan flag (shelved in Folio) 1919
Photographs of Armistice Day celebration 1918
Farm work: committee records, articles 1917-1918
Farm work: photographs 1917-1918
Intercollegiate Committee on Women's War Work Abroad: correspondence 1918
Intercollegiate Committee on Women's War Work Abroad: correspondence 1919
Training Course for Health Officers: correspondence April-June 1918
Training Course for Health Officers: correspondence July-November 1918
Training Course for Health Officers: photographs 1918
War emergency courses: course descriptions 1917-1919
War emergency courses: photographs 1918
War relief work: articles, correspondence 1914-1919
War relief work: Commission for Relief in Belgium 1915
War relief work: certificates (shelved in Folio) 1915-1916, 1918
War relief work: correspondence, publications, financial records 1916-1919
War relief work: photograph of encampment where Christmas parcels sent by Mary Vance Young were received 1917
Spanish Civil War 1939
Announcement 1939
World War II 1939-1948, 1962-2005
Reports, correspondence, articles 1939-1941
Reports, correspondence, articles 1942
Reports, correspondence, articles 1943
Reports, correspondence, articles 1944-1947
Scrapbook compiled by the Alumnae Association of articles concerning war-related activities and events (shelved in Folio) 1939-1935
Lists of alumnae in the services 1943-1946
Certificates from United Service Organization (USO) and World Student Service Fund (shelved in Folio) 1946
Memorandum concerning Cryptology courses at Mount Holyoke College taught by Roger Holmes during World War II and later and article about student life at Mount Holyoke during the war March 13, 1975, July 8, 1985
Photographs students participating in war relief work, war emergency courses, and wartime conservation activities circa 1942-1948
Air Raid Precaution (A.R.P.): correspondence, articles, lists 1941
A.R.P.: instructions, announcements, lists 1942
A.R.P.: instructions, announcements, lists 1942-1943
A.R.P.: Notes by Boardman Bump, College Comptroller, compiled while attending the Massachusetts Air Raid Precaution School1941
A.R.P.: Notes by Boardman Bump, College Comptroller, compiled while attending the Massachusetts A.R.P School for Industry 1941
A.R.P.: Air Raid Warden Instructors' Manual 1942
A.R.P.: Committee on Public Safety of South Hadley records 1941
A.R.P.: Committee on Public Safety of South Hadley records 1942
A.R.P.: Committee on Public Safety of South Hadley records 1943-1944
A.R.P.: photographs of students participating in A.R.P. drills 1942
British War Relief: reports, articles, memoranda 1940-1941
British War Relief: reports, articles, memoranda, certificate (certificate shelved in Folio) 1942-1945, 1983
British War Relief: photographs of students engaged in war relief work circa 1940-1945
Course work/curriculum: articles, course descriptions 1940-1945
Course work/curriculum: statements by departments describing courses that would equip students to participate in war service work November 1942
E.S.M.D.T. Course in Industrial Supervision: lists, articles 1942
Farm work: reports, correspondence, articles 1941-1942
Farm work: reports, correspondence, articles 1943-1945, 1990
Farm work: photographs circa 1941-1943
Industrial War Training Program: reports, articles 1942-1943
Industrial War Training Program: scrapbook of documents concerning the program at Mount Holyoke College (shelved in Folio) 1942
Industrial War Training Program: photographs circa 1942
International Student Service Work Camp: lists, articles 1942
International Student Service Work Camp: Mount Holyoke Campus Communique newsletter written by camp participants (shelved in Folio) 1942
Red Cross/First Aid: reports, articles 1940-1944
Red Cross/First Aid: photographs circa 1940-1944
Ships - U.S.S. Lyon: correspondence, photograph 1990-1995
Ships - S.S. Mary Lyon: correspondence, articles, photographs 1943-1957, 1996
Ships - S.S. Mount Holyoke Victory: correspondence, articles 1945-1948, 1996-1997, 2005
Ships - S.S. Mount Holyoke Victory: photographs 1945
Summer schools: reports, correspondence, brochures, articles 1942-1945
Universities Committee on Post-War International Problems: correspondence 1942-1945
WAVES: correspondence, articles 1942
WAVES: reports, correspondence, brochures, articles 1943
WAVES: correspondence, articles 1944-1946
WAVES: articles, excerpts from books 1962, 1987, 2000
WAVES: certificates (shelved in Folio) 1942, 1944
WAVES: Sounding Of newspaper (shelved in Folio) 1943-1944
WAVES: photographs 1942-1945
Women Marines: articles 1943, 1997, 2003
Women Marines: photographs 1943-1944
Women Marines - 25th anniversary celebration: correspondence, articles, lists, certificate (certificate shelved in Folio) 1968
Women Marines - 25th anniversary celebration: photographs 1968
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps: brochures 1942
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps: photographs circa 1943
Work-Study Program: brochures, articles 1943
Work-Study Program: photographs 1943
World War II (WW II) Job Reports by alumnae: index to reports, notes 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1879-1895 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1896-1900 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1901-1903 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1904-1905 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1906 (A-M) 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1906 (N-Z) 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1907-1908 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1909 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1910-1911 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1912-1913 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1914 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1915 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1916 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1917 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1918 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1919 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1920 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1921 1946
WWII Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1922 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1923-1924 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1925 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1926 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1927 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1928 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1929 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1930 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1931 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1932 1946
WWII Jon Reports by alumnae, Class of 1933 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1934 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1935 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1936 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1937 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1938 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1939 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1940-1941 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1942 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Class of 1943 1946
WW II Job Reports by alumnae, Classes of 1944-1946 1946
Korean War 1951
Article 1951
Vietnam War 1965-1972
Correspondence, articles 1965-1969
Correspondence, articles January-April 1970
Student strike: correspondence, publications, articles May 1970
Student strike: newsletters May 1970
Student strike: correspondence, publications, articles May-December 1970
Consider These Are The Days (3 copies) May 1970
Correspondence, articles 1971-1972
Photographs
Persian Gulf War 1991
Announcements, articles 1991
Teach-In on the Gulf Crisis: audiocassette tapes February 14, 1991
Survey of campus opinion circa February 1991
Photograph of anti-war protesters 1991
Afghan War 2001-
Articles 2001-
Iraq War 2003-
Articles 2003-
Oversize (Folio) material relating to World War I and World War II 1915-1919, 1939-1946, 1968
Oversize (Folio) material concerning the Industrial War Training Program and International Student Service Work Camp at Mount Holyoke College 1942