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Agency History/Biographical note:
Jeannette May Bickford was born on May 23, 1896 in Northwood, New Hampshire. Her father was James A. Bickford, an undertaker. She attended Coe's Northwood Academy in Northwood Center and went to Mount Holyoke College in 1913. In October of that year she withdrew from school due to an illness. She was readmitted in the fall of 1914. After graduating in 1918 with a B.A. in mathematics she taught at several high schools in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In 1923 she received the Harvard Annex Scholarship to study mathematics at the Radcliffe College Graduate School. She continued to teach after receiving her Master's degree in 1924 and became the head of the Mathematics Department at Northwood Narrows High School in New Hampshire. On June 21, 1930 she married Daniel Thurber Bridges. After taking several years off, she returned to teaching. They had two children and settled in Kittery, Maine after living in New Hampshire for a number of years. She died on December 12, 1986 in Kittery, Maine at the age of ninety.

Scope and Content:
The Jeannette Bickford Bridges Papers consist of course records, an account book, memorabilia, a photograph album, biographical information, and photographs. The material chiefly relates to her academic life at Mount Holyoke College, 1914-1918. Bridges' work in English classes that she took during her first year, 1914-1915, is included in the collection. Topics of papers from the fall semester of 1914 include, "The New Work which the High School Girl Takes Up, Upon Entering College," "A Description of Safford Hall," "My First Mountain Day," "The Need of National Parks for Future Use," "Reasons for the Opposition of the Further Extension of Suffrage," "The Montessori System of Education," "Honor in the System of Self-Government in Women's Colleges," and "My Thanksgiving Vacation."  The papers from the spring semester of 1915 chiefly concerns her readings of works by British authors. The papers include the comments by her teacher, Helen Griffith. The collection also contains notes for a basic non-mathematical astronomy course, including notes on "Star Lore" and for a botany course that dealt with the identification of trees in the different seasons. Bridges taped twig samples next to drawings of different plants in her notes for this course. Notes from a mathematics class are also included. Bridges' account book, 1914-1921, is included in the collection. It contains notes on purchases of concert and theater tickets, dormitory furniture and decorations, personal necessities, and food. The book also contains addresses of friends and records of money Bridges repaid to her mother. The memorabilia consists of a "Student Handbook" from 1914 in which she wrote down a song for her sister class, a commencement invitation, and a pamphlet for the Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Club of Boston listing her as a member. The photograph album contains snapshots of classmates, a May Day pageant, the Laurel Parade, and students and faculty at commencement. The biographical information consists of a biographical note from 1924 and a notice of death from 1986. Several photographs of Bridges, including her senior year photograph and her commencement photograph are included, along with several snapshots of the May Pageant in 1918, groups of friends outside Rockefeller Hall, and a picture of members of the Class of 1918 at their 50th Reunion in 1968.

Cite as: Jeannette Bickford Bridges Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

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