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Elizabeth Parker McCollester Diaries, 1878-1925Finding AidEncoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.© 2005
Biographical NoteInside cover of Elizabeth Parker McCollester's diary, 1878Lizzie Southgate Parker McCollester was born in Claremont, NH 17 May 1865, daughter of Lovisa Southgate of Bridgewater, VT, the daughter of a textile mill owner who taught for several years before marriage and Hosea W. Parker of Lempster, NH, the son of a subsistence farmer who went on to be a lawyer active as a Democrat in NH state politics, serving two terms in Congress. Lizzie Parker graduated from Stevens High School in Claremont in 1884 and received her A.B. from Smith College in 1888. The following year she married Lee McCollester, a Universalist minister and the young couple moved to Detroit where McCollester served as pastor in that city's Universalist Church. In Detroit Lizzie McCollester was a founder of the Twentieth Century Club; helped organize in the Michigan Smith College Club; and was a charter member of the Fine Arts Society of Detroit. In 1912 Lee McCollester became Dean of the Crane Theology School at Tufts College and the family then moved to Medford, Massachusetts. Lizzie McCollester continued to be active in her new home where her organizational skills were put to use in many settings including the Boston Smith College Club and the Medford Shakespeare Club. Lizzie Parker McCollester gave birth to three children, one of whom died in infancy. She died in Medford, Massachusetts of cancer 1 April 1928. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Contents of the CollectionDiaries kept from 1878 to 1925 (some gaps) are all "line-a-day"s. While there is little in the way of introspective prose, the diaries do record the activities of an involved club woman and include some description of Smith College life, Claremont (NH), Detroit, and Medford (Mass.) Each diary also includes a financial record in back and a few inserts including photographs and notes. NOTE: NOTE: There is no container list for this collection. Contact the Sophia Smith Collection for more information. Return to the Table of Contents Search TermsReturn to the Table of Contents |
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