1 box

Agency History/Biographical note:
Clara "Kate" Catherine (Pond) Williams was born on August 28, 1831 in Vernon Center, New York. She attended District Schools and Young Ladies Institute in Pittsfield, Massachusetts before coming to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, from which she graduated in 1857. She then taught at Mount HOlyoke Female Seminary from 1857 to 1864, taught at Harpoot Female Seminary in Turkey from 1864 to 1866, and became a missionary to Turkey and principal of the Home School for Girls, Constantinople, Turkey from 1875 to 1883. She married William F. Williams, had 2 children and 1 step-child. She died on January 23, 1895. Alumnae relatives include Clara Eliza Williams (Class of 1887).

Scope and Content:
The Clara "Kate" Catherine (Pond) Williams Papers include biographical information sheets, obituaries and regrets, compositions, typed transcripts of Pond's journals, and photographs. The compositions in the collection are "The American College for Girls at Scutari, Constantinople. Western Turkey" by Pond, regarding the history of the school, and "Consecrated Kate" by Dorothea Seelye Franck concerning Pond's life as mother, teacher, wife, and principal. Pond's journals are dated January 1865 to June 1865, May 1865 to June 1866, and September 1871 to February 1889. There are also 39 letters within the collection. They are all addressed to Pond's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary classmate Jessie Usher and are dated between September 11, 1857 to April 21, 1863 and August 5, 1877. These letters concern daily life and her admiration of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. There are 4 biographical information sheets in the collection with obituaries and regrets pasted onto them. Also included in the collection is a photograph album containing photographs of Turkish buildings, landscapes, dignitaries, and common  people.

Cite as: The Clara Catherine (Pond) Williams Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

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