1 box

Agency History/Biographical note:
Cora Isabella Riggs was born in Center, Wisconsin, and grew up in Santee Mission, Nebraska. Riggs was a non-graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary and College, Class of 1891. She married doctor Frank S. Waples in 1892, had three children, and taught in Yankton, South Dakota, from 1888-1892. Riggs was a missionary in North China, and returned to the United States in June, 1898, settling in Battle Creek, Michigan. Riggs died on November 1, 1951. Her grandmother Mary Anne Longley Riggs and great aunt Lucretia S. Longley were students of Mary Lyon's in Buckland, Massachusetts.

Scope and Content:
The Cora Isabella Riggs Waples Papers include letters; a book, articles and compositions; biographical information sheets; and photographs. There are two collections of letters within these papers. One is "Longley/Riggs Letters 1832-1869", transcribed by Elizabeth Riggs Gutch and Maida Leonard Riggs, and the other is "A Small Bit of Bread and Butter, Letters from the Dakota Territory 1832-1869", edited by Maida Riggs. There is also a letter dated March, 1938, to the Mount Holyoke College correspondence secretary regarding the address of Mary Moody (x-Class of 1896) and a reply to that letter; a letter to the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association from Rachel Waples Stevenson regarding her mother (Cora Riggs') death, dated April, 1952; and letter extracts. Two articles are included in the collection: "The Father of the Sioux" on Alfred Longley Riggs (father of Cora Riggs) by A.C. Warner, dated 1891, and "Those Remarkable Riggses" by Rudolf Hertz, undated. There is also an essay containing photographs entitled "Mary Ann's Background, 1813-1836" by Maida Riggs; a note from Maida Riggs regarding her books; two compositions written by Mary Anne C. Longley in Buckland, Massachusetts and entitled "Memory" (dated February 14, 1829) and  "Faith and Hope, or the Twin Sisters" (dated February 27, 1830). Also included is a poem by Lucretia S. Longley in Buckland, dated October 18, 1828, and the title page of "Born for Liberty - A History of Women in America" by Sara M. Evans. Biographical material in the collection consists of 3 biographical information sheets about Cora Riggs, 2 undated and one dated 1941; an obituary of Robert Baird Riggs; a note to Anna Edwards dated November 12, 1904 in reply to biogrpahical information questions; and address verification cards. Also included are two photographs of Cora Riggs.

Cite as: The Cora Isabella (Riggs) Waples Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

Copyright © 1998, Mount H olyoke College. This page created by LITS and maintained by P. Carini. Last modified on October 28, 2002