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27 linear feet
Last Updated: 1996/06/19
Agency History/Biographical note:
Mary Lyon was born on February 28, 1797, in Buckland, Massachusetts. She
started teaching school in 1814. She attended Sanderson
Academy in Ashfield,
Massachusetts, Amherst Academy in Amherst, Massachusetts and the Byfield Female
Seminary in Byfield Massachusetts. In 1824, she opened a girls'
school in Buckland called the Buckland Female School and at the same time she
taught the summer term classes at Ipswich Female Seminary under her friend Zilpah
Grant. In 1828, she began teaching full time at the Ipswich Female Seminary.
She resigned in 1834, with the intention of starting her own school.
For the next couple of years Mary Lyon toured around the country visiting various schools. Finally in 1837, she returned to Massachusetts and founded Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Lyon served for twelve years as principal, teacher, and the organizer of the domestic work system. She died on March 5, 1849, in South Hadley.
Scope and Content:
Correspondence, notebooks, essays, biographies, pamphlets, memorabilia, portraits, and photographs. Lyon's own papers, 1818-1849, provide detailed information on her personal and professional life, her religious philosophy, her ideas on education, particularly women's education, as well as a broader picture of women's lives in early to mid-nineteenth century New England. Much of her correspondence and writings relate to the planning and operation of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary as well as other seminaries such as Sanderson Academy, Ipswich Female Seminary, and Wheaton Female Seminary. Also includes Lyon's personal library. Material about Mary Lyon includes books, articles, poetry, reminiscences, genealogies, in addition to information on the towns of Ashfield, Buckland and Byfield, Mass., where she lived.
Cite as:Mary Lyon Collection, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collection, South Hadley, MA.
Access Restrictions:Unrestricted
Series List:
Correspondence, 1818-1849
Writings and Documents of Mary Lyon, 1821-1848
Notes on Mary Lyon's Remarks
Biographical Materials
Lyon Library
Lyon Family
Places Associated with Mary Lyon
Portraits of Mary Lyon