Does the archives represent Mount Holyoke College as a community?

Meredith C. Reece

The archival collections are made up of the “official records of Mount Holyoke College, founded in 1837, and document the administration, curriculum, and programs of one of earliest women’s colleges in the United States… Personal papers of Mount Holyoke College trustees, presidents, faculty, staff and alumnae. The collection also contains papers and records of some authors, artists, families and institutions not related to Mount Holyoke College (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/library/arch/col/, 1).”

The archives house numerous sources of data, which can be used to categorize a specific community attending Mount Holyoke throughout the course of its history. Within each record, letter home, yellow card, etc. there is a representation of the typical student, her background, height, religion, and more importantly the experience she had while attending here. Archives are public records or documents preserved as evidence of facts; as, the archives of a country or family. The main purpose to of the archive is to locate, preserve and provide a way to reflect on previous histories and communities through the existence of Mount Holyoke.

The archives themselves do not represent Mount Holyoke as a community. It is only when a person (investigator) researches a specific question about a specific era do we only really see a glimpse of what the community was like in previous years. It is only through comparing and contrasting students’ files and documents does one really start to draw conclusions about the smaller communities which were found on campus.

The archives also hold other documents that are records of the society outside of Mount Holyoke, which can be used to compare the college’s community (as a whole) to that of the “outside world.” For example, during time of world war in the early 1900’s if one looked into the archives and the history of some of the women here, one might capture a broader sense of the college and how it dealt with and supported women who were living through this time. On the other hand, in one of Mary’s letters home she reports on Hazing Day. Hazing Day did not affect everyone, but was still a factor that contributed to Mary’s community. By researching this era and other members of Mary’s class one can see a glimpse of the community within the “community” (Mount Holyoke itself).

When reading articles, letters, documents, academic records it is almost as if one is reading them as someone who is a part of the time they were written. Through the archives one can draw factually supported conclusions about the community, society, and the college in the context of the era which aids in the understanding of this institution, its history, traditions and its influence on its students.