Cowles, Eunice C.
Cowles papers,
ca. 1821-1903.
Manuscript Collection: MS 0718
1
box
Agency History/Biographical note:
Eunice Caldwell was born on February 4, 1811, in Ipswich,
Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Captain John Caldwell and
Eunice Stanwood Caldwell. Her father, a sailor, drowned in the
Kennebec River in 1835. She attended Ipswich Female Seminary from
1828 to 1829, where she met and began a lasting friendship with Mary
Lyon, a teacher and an assistant to Zilpah P. Grant, the school's
principal, from 1828 to 1839. She graduated from Ipswich in 1829 and
was a teacher there from 1830-1835. She served as the first
principal of Wheaton Female Seminary (later Wheaton College) in
Norton, Massachusetts in 1836. She left her position at Wheaton for
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, where she was Associate Principal from
1837-1838. She married the Reverend John Phelps Cowles in 1838 and
followed him to Oberlin College, where he was professor of Hebrew. In
1844 they returned to reopen Ipswich Female Seminary which they ran
until it closed in 1876. The Cowles's had three daughters. Cowles
died at the age of ninety-two on September 10, 1903 in Ipswich,
Massachusetts.
Scope and Content:
The Eunice Caldwell Cowles Papers include correspondence, writings,
biographical information, Caldwell and Cowles family papers, and a
photograph. Much of this material concerns Cowles's connections to
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary and to Ipswich Female Seminary, where
she spent most of her career. The correspondence, dating from 1833
to 1888, includes letters by and to Cowles. Some early letters in
the collection are addressed to friends and family members. Other
letters concern Mount Holyoke Female Seminary at its inception,
including a letter, dated March 8, 1838 and entitled "Washing Day at
Mount Holyoke Seminary," that describes the students' weekly cleaning
routine. Later letters by Cowles are more general in nature and are
addressed mainly to friends. Also included are letters written by
Mary Lyon to Cowles. One letter, dated July 3, 1836, concerns
Cowles's appointment as associate principal at Mount Holyoke.
Another, dated November 29, 1855, concerns a student at Ipswich
Female Seminary. The writings include two journals that Cowles kept
while she was a student at Ipswich Female Seminary from 1831-1832.
One describes her academic routine and makes reference to Mary Lyon,
her teacher at Ipswich. The other journal contains Bible passages.
Also included in the writings is a pamphlet by Cowles entitled "Our
Maidens," from a lecture she delivered in 1879 at a meeting of the
Women's Board of Missions in Boston, Massachusetts. The pamphlet
discusses the training of women missionaries and Mary Lyon's role in
this field. Also included are documents written by Mary Lyon but
apparently copied by Cowles. These documents include spiritual
writings, letters, a ledger of cash received from Mount Holyoke for
furniture, and some compositions on education. The biographical
information consists of an obituary and a biographical note, ca.
1903. The family papers include a notification, dated July 30, 1835,
of the drowning death of Cowles's father, Captain John Caldwell. The
series also includes two receipts belonging to Cowles's husband, John
Cowles, as well as a short note from Mary Lyon to Cowles's mother,
Eunice Caldwell. The photograph is a formal portrait of Cowles,
possibly dating from the 1850s. It appears to be a copy of a
photograph that was published in a newspaper or magazine.
Cite as: Eunice C. Cowles Papers, Mount Holyoke College
Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley,
MA.
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
Series List:
- Correspondence
, 1833-1888
, 2 folders
- Writings
, ca.1821-1879
, 3 folders
- Biographical Information
, ca.1903
, 1 folder
- Family Papers
, ca. 1830s, 1835, 1850, 1879
, 1 folder
- Photograph
, ca. 1850s
, 1 folder
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