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Agency History/Biographical note:
Frances E. Haynes was born on September 15, 1870 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts to Stillman Haynes and Harriet M. Kimball Haynes. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1895. After graduating she taught at Ayer (Massachusetts) High School until November of 1896. From 1896-1897 Haynes attended the New York State Library School in Albany, New York. She was Head Librarian at the Levi Heywood Memorial Library in Gardner, Massachusetts from 1897-1901 and from 1901-1936 she served as Assistant Librarian at Mount Holyoke College. During that time she took several leaves of absence to travel in Europe in 1906, the southern United States, 1923-1924, and California, 1932. Haynes was responsible for soliciting faculty and alumnae donations for the completion of the additions to Mount Holyoke College's library in 1935 and for naming the main entrance hall to the library after College Librarian Bertha Blakely. At her retirement in 1936 she was granted the title Assistant Librarian Emeritus. Throughout her life she was an active member of the Class of 1895, attending reunions and holding class office. She was also a member of the Springfield, Massachusetts Alumnae Club and of the American Library Association. In 1937 she moved to Nashua, New Hampshire where she died at the age of eighty-eight on May 3, 1958.

Scope and Content:
The Frances E. Haynes Papers consist of correspondence, a commonplace book, an account book, memorabilia, biographical information, and photographs. The collection relates primarily to Haynes' years as the Assistant Librarian at Mount Holyoke College, 1901-1936 and to her travels in Europe in 1906, the southern United States in 1923-1934, and California in 1932. Correspondence includes letters between Haynes and Mount Holyoke faculty and alumnae regarding the 1935 Library expansion and the campaign to name the main entrance hall after Bertha Blakely, Mount Holyoke College Librarian, 1901-1936. The correspondence also contains several letters to Haynes regarding the death of Emilie Norton Martin, a Mount Holyoke College mathematics professor. One letter from Edith M. Coon, a member of the Class of 1913 and a mathematics teacher and vice principal of the Women's Christian College in Madras, India, is also included. The letter, addressed to "Home People," discusses Coon's impressions of the Indian monsoon season and her work at the College. A commonplace book is also included in the collection; it consists of quotations and her reflections on her five-year reunion at Mount Holyoke College in 1900. Loose items found in the commonplace book include bookplates from the Cambridge Public Library and word game score sheets. Two parodies are also in the collection: one of a country newspaper entitled "The Temple Trumpet" (1902) and one of hotel rules entitled "Horizon House Regulations" (ca. 1902). During Haynes' travels in Europe, she kept a small account book documenting her expenditures on things such as food and "taximetre" services. She also kept some memorabilia from her travels including a paper logo of the Stronachlachar Hotel, a program from the Threlkeld Sheep Dog Trials in England, postcards, and menus from the Leyland Line S.S. "Canadian." A program and a flag from the Class of 1895 fifteen-year reunion at Mount Holyoke College comprise the remaining memorabilia. Biographical information consists primarily of newspaper clippings and other notes related to her work as Assistant Librarian and her travels. Also included are two obituaries and a short note about Haynes' life by a classmate (1958). Photographs consist of Haynes' senior year photograph, ca 1895, along with two photographs of unidentified young women (probably Mount Holyoke classmates) and a photograph of a young man named A.C. Cummings of Ayer, Massachusetts. Photographs of an unidentified house, an interior room of a building, and a photograph of the 1894 fire at the First Congregational Church in South Hadley, Massachusetts are included in the collection.

Cite as: Frances E. Haynes Papers. Mount Holyoke College, Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted.

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