2 boxes

Agency History/Biographical note:
Emily Kellogg Beach was born in Windsor Locks, Connecticut on June 7, 1871, to J. Wickliffe Beach and Maria Talcott Beach. Her father was a Congregational minister and founder, principal, and classics teacher at the Robbins School in Norfolk, Connecticut. Her mother was a member of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary Class of 1858. Beach attended Hillhouse High School from 1885-1889. She graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary and College with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in 1893; her sister, Grace, graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1900. Beach worked as a teacher at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut from 1894-1898. She took classes at Yale University from 1897-1898 and 1909-1910. She taught at Stratford High School from 1901-1903 and at Miss Baird's Private School in Norwalk, Connecticut from 1903-1905. She was an executive secretary for the Young Woman's Christian Association (YWCA) National Board in Worcester, Massachusetts from 1907-1908. She was the assistant editor for the statistical atlas of missions for the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh in 1910. She also assisted in compiling maps for Dr. William E. Stamps' work on missions. She resumed teaching math, science, history, Latin, and Greek at Hillhouse High School in 1914 and taught until her retirement in 1936. Beach did American Red Cross work during World War I. She was involved in the YWCA, the Society of Mayflower Descendents, the Mount Holyoke College Club of New Haven, and her Congregational Church throughout her retirement. She died in New Haven on May 26, 1955, at the age of eighty-three.

Scope and Content:
The Emily Kellogg Beach Papers consist of a scrapbook, writings, memorabilia, biographical information and photographs. Of particular interest is a scrapbook compiled by Beach between 1880-1910. This volume contains a wide variety of materials that reflect Beach's  activities and interests. Most documents and photographs concern her student years at Mount Holyoke Seminary and College, 1889-1893. These items include an "Anthropometric Card" that contains "measurements and tests" of Beach dated 1888, a "Library Card" listing the titles of books that Beach may have read, and Glee, Banjo and Mandolin Clubs concert programs. Other documents relate to the Robbins School in Norfolk, Connecticut, and the Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut, 1884-1888. Also contained in the scrapbook are a Woman's Christian Temperance Union pledge card from 1880 and Prohibition Party material, 1892. The prohibition material reflects Beach's involvement in a mock political convention at Mount Holyoke and includes the Prohibition Party campaign textbook, a letter from the National Headquarters, two campaign pins, and an official Mount Holyoke ballot for the United States presidential election of 1892. This scrapbook also contains programs concerning events and institutions in New York City. This material includes the program from the first United States production of Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" in 1885, the program of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886, and the 1887 "Catalogue" of the Eden Musee, a waxwork museum. Other programs, clippings, and invitations highlight events in Norfolk, New Haven, and Hartford, Connecticut. There are several documents reflecting Beach's interest in missionary work between 1884-1892. The scrapbook includes a few photographs taken at Mount Holyoke and elsewhere. The writings consist of a pamphlet about the Robbins School, written by Beach and published in 1935. Rounding out the collection are Beach's Mount Holyoke graduation pin, a Mount Holyoke postcard, her obituary, and two copies of her Mount Holyoke senior photograph, 1893.

Cite as: Emily K. Beach Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

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