Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Whicher Family Papers, 1874-1949

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Claudia Gunter.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2003

Biographical Note

George Meason Whicher was born in Muscatine, Iowa in 1860 and graduated from Iowa College (later known as Grinnell College) in 1882. He studied at Johns Hopkins University, 1884-1885, and earned his A.M. from Iowa College in 1885. He held the following academic appointments: Professor of Greek and German, Hastings College (Nebraska), 1883-1888; principal, Iowa College Academy (Iowa College's prep school), 1888-1889; Classical Master, Lawrenceville Academy for Boys (New Jersey), 1889-1892; Professor of Greek and Latin, Packer Collegiate Institute (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 1892-ca. 1900; Professor of Classics and Archaelogy and head of the Greek and Latin Department, Hunter College (New York, N.Y.), ca. 1900-1924. He also spent one year as the director of the Classical School in Rome and published several books of poetry. In 1887 he married Lillian Hope Frisbie, the daughter of Alvah Lillie Frisbie (AC 1857). Mr. and Mrs. Whicher moved to Amherst after his retirement from Hunter College. George and Lillian's son, George Frisbie Whicher (AC 1910; 1889-1954) was professor of English at Amherst from 1915 to 1954.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Correspondence, photographs, and family memorabilia of the Whicher family, the bulk consisting of correspondence between George Meason Whicher and his wife Lillian Hope Frisbie Whicher during the early and middle years of their marriage. Other correspondents include Alvah Lillie Frisbie and George Frisbie Whicher.

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into three series:

• 1. Correspondence, 1874-1949
• 2. Miscellaneous material, 1898-1935
• 3. Photographs, ca. 1880-1940

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Series 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1874-1949

Series 1, CORRESPONDENCE contains letters written by members of the Whicher family. Primarily written while the family was abroad, the letters in the first series are a continuous register of the Whicher family's political, literary and personal interests. The thirty-nine letters written by George Meason to Lillian give descriptive and historical accounts of his trips to Germany (1892) and Greece (1913). Letters from Lillian to her family and also those written to her son George Frisbie (AC 1910) and his wife Harriet, deal for the most part with the social activity and physical conditions around the Whichers while George Meason taught as a professor at the American Academy in Rome. The correspondence to the Whichers provides a record of family events and some genealogical information since they are written by family members and friends.

Included in this category are those letters written to and from persons other than George Meason or Lillian Hope (Frisbie) Whicher. The items in this series are grouped into four subseries according to the primary correspondent:

Sub-series A: George Meason Whicher

Sub-series B: Letters from Lillian Hope (Frisbie) Whicher

SUBSERIES C: Letters to George Frisbie Whicher

SUBSERIES D: Letters from Alvah Lillie Frisbie (AC 1857)

Series 2: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL, 1898-1935

Series 2, MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL contains the collected personal memorabilia of the Whicher family. Among the various items are programs of the American Academy in Rome and The British and American Archaeological Society of Rome, societies of which George Meason Whicher was a member.

Series 3: PHOTOGRAPHS, ca. 1880-1940

Series 3, PHOTOGRAPHS contains a collection of labeled and dated family photographs.