Agency History/Biographical note:
Jeanne Yvonne Pinard was born on March 14, 1914 in South Hadley, Mass. She was the only child of Joseph A. and Elvina F. (Maigret) Pinard. After graduating from South Hadley High School in 1931, Pinard entered Mount Holyoke College, where she majored in French. She graduated in 1935 then remained at Mount Holyoke to complete an M.A. in Education in 1936. From September 1936 through July 1937, she worked in South Hadley and in Syracuse, N.Y. as a research assistant for the National Research Project of the Work Projects Administration (WPA). She married George L. Bird of Syracuse, N.Y. in September 1937. In 1950 she and her husband had a son. She died on June 5, 1953 at the age of 39.

Scope and Content:
The Jeanne Yvonne Pinard Bird Papers consist chiefly of a diary kept during a trip to Europe with her husband in from June to September 1939. The diary contains descriptions of the voyage to Liverpool and subsequent travels in Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, England and Scotland. Of particular interest are comments about events and public opinion in Germany and England just before and soon after the outbreak of World War II. Diary entries are frequently accompanied by Bird's pen-and-ink sketches of sights, statues, architectural details and other travelers. Other material in this collection consists of biographical information about Bird, notably newspaper clippings about her and forms that she returned to the Alumnae Association at Mount Holyoke College dating from 1935-1953; an undated watercolor portrait of her (possibly a self-portrait); and several photographs of her taken between 1934 and ca. 1939.

Cite as: Jeanne Pinard Bird Papers, Mount Holyoke College, Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley,  Massachusetts

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

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