Contents
Collection Overview
Administrative Information
Historical Note
Scope and Contents of the Collection
Organization of the Collection
SERIES I. Photographs of Otto Plath and Siblings
SERIES II. Photographs of Sylvia Plath and her family
SERIES III. Other photographs
|
Helle Collection of Plath Family Photographs, 1910-1963
Finding Aid
Finding aid prepared by Karen V. Kukil.
2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
Title:
|
Helle Collection of Plath Family Photographs |
|
Dates:
|
1910-1963 |
|
Abstract:
|
This collection of Plath family photographs includes photographs of Otto Plath and his siblings, of Aurelia Schober Plath, Warren and Sylvia Plath and various other Schober relatives.
|
|
Extent:
|
1 box(.5 linear ft.) |
|
Language:
|
English |
|
Identification:
|
MS 273 |
The Plath Family Photographs were donated by Anita Helle, daughter of June Johnson Helle, to the Mortimer Rare Book Room in 2006.
Related materials can be found in these other repositories: Sylvia Plath Collection, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana; Ted Hughes Papers, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Processed by Karen Kukil, 2006
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Helle Collection of Plath Family Photographs, Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.
The photographs are open to research according to the regulations of the Mortimer Rare Book Room.
The Helle Collection of Plath Family Photographs is the physical property of the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors and photographers of the works or their legal representatives.
Return to the Table of Contents
Otto Emil Plath (1885-1940) was a German instructor and biology professor at Boston University, 1922-1940. Born in Grabow, Germany, on April 13, 1885, to Theodore and Ernestine Kottke Platt, he was the eldest of six children. Otto Plath was educated at Northwestern College, Wisconsin (A.B., 1910), University of Washington (M.A., 1912), Harvard University (M.S., 1925; Sc.D., 1928). In 1932 he married Aurelia Frances Schober (1906-1994) who later became an associate professor in the College of Practical Arts and Letters at Boston University, 1942-1971.
They lived at 24 Prince Street, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, until 1936 when the family moved to 92 Johnson Avenue, Winthrop, Massachusetts, to be near Aurelia's parents-Frank Schober (1880-1965) and Aurelia Greenwood Schober (1887-1956)-and Aurelia's siblings Dorothy Schober Benotti (1911-1981) and Frank Richard Schober (1919- ). Otto Plath died on November 5, 1940 from complications of diabetes.
Otto and Aurelia Schober Plath had two children: Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) and Warren Joseph Plath (1935- ). In 1942, Aurelia Plath moved to 26 Elmwood Road, Wellesley, Massachusetts, with her daughter, son, and her parents.
Sylvia Plath graduated from Smith College (B.A., 1955) and Newnham College, Cambridge (M.A., 1957). Warren Plath graduated from Harvard College (A.B. 1957) and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1964). He was a Fulbright student at the University of Bonn, 1957-1958.
On June 16, 1956, 1956, Sylvia Plath married English poet Ted Hughes (1930-1998). Plath and Hughes honeymooned in Benidorm, Spain, visiting Paris en route where they met Warren Plath. Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes had two children: Frieda Rebecca Hughes (1960- ) and Nicholas Farrar Hughes (1962- ). Frieda Hughes was born on April 1, 1960 at home at 3 Chalcot Square in London near Primrose Hill. Nicholas Hughes was born on January 17, 1962 at home at Court Green in North Tawton, Devonshire, England. Before her death on February 11, 1963, Plath published The Colossus & Other Poems and her novel The Bell Jar. Her Collected Poems, published posthumously in 1981, won the Pulitzer Prize.
Return to the Table of Contents
The Helle Collection of Plath Family Photographs was assembled by June Johnson Helle with additions from her mother, Martha Plath Johnson, and her aunt, Frieda Plath Heinrichs, who were sisters of Otto Emil Plath. Some of the photographs were originally sent by Aurelia Plath to her sister-in-laws Frieda Plath Heinrichs and Martha Plath Johnson. June Johnson Helle served as executor for the personal belongings of her mother and aunt Frieda Plath Heinrichs. The photographs are annotated by Otto Plath, Aurelia Schober Plath, Sylvia Plath, and June Johnson Helle.
The collection is arranged as follows:
Series I. Photographs of Otto Plath and Siblings (1910-1930s) contains 8 items. These photographs of Otto Plath and his brother Hugo Plath and sister Frieda Plath are arranged in chronological order.
Series II. Photographs of Sylvia Plath and others (1933-1963) contains 51 items. These photographs of Sylvia Plath, Aurelia Schober Plath, Otto Plath, Warren Plath and their Schober relatives are arranged in chronological order.
Series III. Other photographs contains one postcard of Berck-Plage.
Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents
This collection is organized into three series:
Return to the Table of Contents
SERIES I. Photographs of Otto Plath and Siblings
|
|
Studio photograph of Otto Plath
[ca. 1910] Black and white photograph. 7 x 13.7 cm.
|
|
|
Postcard photograph of Otto Plath with his classmates at Northwestern College
[ca.1910] Black and white photograph. 13.8 x 8.7 cm.
|
|
|
Studio photograph of Otto Plath in cap and gown
1910 Black and white photograph. 7 x 14 cm.
|
|
|
Studio photograph of Otto Plath in cap and gown
[1910] Black and white photograph. 9.8 x 15 cm.
|
|
|
Studio photograph of Otto Plath
[ca.1911] Black and white photograph. 6.5 x 12 cm. in a folder 8 x 14.5 cm.
|
|
|
Studio photograph of Frieda and Hugo Plath
1917 Black and white photograph. 12.5 x 20 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Otto Plath with a colleague, [1920s] Black and white photograph.
8.3 x 11 cm.
|
|
|
Studio photograph of Otto Plath
[1930s] Black and white photograph. 10 x 14.5 cm. in a folder 16 x 23.5 cm.
|
SERIES II. Photographs of Sylvia Plath and her family
|
|
Anonymous. Baby Sylvia Plath sitting on her mother's lap
April 1933 Black and white photograph. 7.2 x 9.8 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Baby Sylvia Plath laughing
[May 1933] Black and white photograph. 7 x 9.3 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous.
Baby Sylvia Plath
[May 1933] Black and white photograph. 47 x 9.3 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous.
Baby Sylvia Plath with her grandmother and mother
July 1933 Black and white photograph. 6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous.
Plath Family (Aurelia, Sylvia, and Otto Plath)
July 1933 Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous.
Baby Sylvia Plath
July 1934 Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 8.7 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous.
Warren and Sylvia Plath
December 1935 Black and white photograph.
6.2 x 8.7 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath pushing her brother in a stroller
December 1935 Black and white photograph.
6.2 x 8.7 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous.
Sylvia Plath and her mother at Winthrop Beach
ca. July 1936 Black and white photograph.
6 x 8.7 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous.
Sylvia Plath with her mother and aunt at Point Shirley, Winthrop, Massachusetts
ca. 1936 Black and white photograph. 11.5 x 8 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous.
Sylvia Plath at Winthrop Beach
ca. July 1936 Black and white photograph.
6.2 x 8.7 cm.
|
|
|
Studio portrait of Sylvia and Warren Plath
1937 Black and white photograph.
12.2 x 20.2 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Warren and Sylvia Plath on a swing
August 1937 Black and white photograph, with deckle edges.
18 x 10.5 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath and her mother
August 1937 Black and white photograph with deckle edges.
8 x 10.5 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Warren and Sylvia Plath sledding
[February 1939] Black and white photograph with deckle edges.
8 x 10.5cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath on the beach
July 1939 Black and white photograph with deckle edges.
8.5 x 12.2 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia and Warren Plath on a sailboat in Winthrop, Massachusetts
August 1940 Black and white photograph, trimmed.
6.5 x 11.2 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath nursing her doll
September 1940 Black and white photograph with deckle edges.
8 x 10.8 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous.
Wedding photograph of Joseph and Dorothy Benotti with Warren and Sylvia Plath
April 19, 1941 Black and white photograph with deckle edges.
11.5 x 8.2 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Warren and Sylvia Plath holding a cat
August 1941 Black and white photograph with three holes at the top.
38.5 x 11 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Wedding photograph of Frank and Louise Schober flanked by Warren and Sylvia Plath
June 27, 1942 Black and white photograph with deckle edges.
8 x 10.5 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Wedding photograph of Frank and Louise Schober flanked by Warren and Sylvia Plath
June 27, 1942 Black and white photograph, trimmed.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath in Wellesley
fall 1945 Black and white photograph.
9 x 6.5 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia and Warren Plath
Christmas 1945 Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Warren Plath (photographer). Aurelia Plath
April 21, 1946 Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath sunbathing in the backyard at Wellesley
June 1946 Black and white photograph.
9 x 6.5 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath holding G.I. (dog)
[October 1946] Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia and Warren Plath holding G.I (dog)
[October 1946] Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Warren and Sylvia Plath
May 1947 Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath in the garden
May 1947 Black and white photograph. 6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Aurelia Schober Plath
May 1947 Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath sunbathing
August 1947 Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Warren and Sylvia Plath
September 1948 Black and white photograph.
9 x 6.5 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Plath family home, Wellesley, Massachusetts
[?September 1948] Black and white photograph with deckle edges. 13 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Warren and Sylvia Plath
September 1948 Black and white photograph with deckle edges.
13 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Warren and Aurelia Schober Plath, May 1949. Black and white photograph.
9 x 13 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Aurelia flanked by Sylvia and Warren Plath
September 1949 Black and white photograph.
9 x 13 cm.
|
|
|
Studio portrait of Sylvia Plath
1950 Black and white photograph.
10 x 14 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath, September 1950. Black and white photograph.
9 x 13 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath, January 1951 Black and white photograph.
7.5 x 9.5 cm.
|
|
|
Studio portrait of Sylvia Plath
November 1952 Black and white photograph.
6.5 x 9 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Greeting card with photograph of Wellesley house in the snow
[?1954] Black and white.
14 x 10.7 cm.(card); 7 x 7 cm. (photograph)
|
|
|
Anonymous. Christmas card with photograph of Warren and Sylvia Plath
1955 Black and white. 214 x 10.7 cm. (card); 5 x 7.5 cm.(photograph)
|
|
|
Anonymous. Sylvia Plath, September 11
1955 Black and white photograph.
9 x 13 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Warren and Aurelia Plath in front of a Christmas tree
December 31, 1955 Black and white photograph. 9 x 13 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous (?Ted Hughes). Warren and Sylvia Plath, Paris, August 1956. Black and white photograph. 9 x 13 cm.
|
|
|
Ted Hughes. Aurelia Schober Plath
September 1958 Black and white photograph. 4.5 x 7.5 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous (?Ted Hughes). Sylvia Plath and baby Frieda
1960 Black and white photograph. 6.5 x 6.5 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous (?Ted Hughes). Sylvia Plath and baby Frieda
January 1961 Black and white photograph. 6.2 x 6.4 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Aurelia Plath
January 1961 Color photograph. 9 x 14.7 cm.
|
|
|
Anonymous. Aurelia Plath
August 1963 Color photograph. 9 x 9 cm.
|
SERIES III. Other photographs
|
|
Carte Postale of Berck-Plage-L'Hôpital Vincent
n.d
|
|