Contents


Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Contents List

Letter to Priscilla Maxwell, 1837

Lecture Notes, 1837-1838

Biographical Information, n.d.

Photograph, n.d.

Letter to Priscilla Maxwell, 1837

Lecture Notes, 1837-1838

Biographical Information, n.d.

Photograph, n.d.

Nichols Papers, 1837-1838.

Finding Aid

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 2003

Collection Overview

Creator: Nichols, Bethiah A. Miller, 1815-1865.
Title: Nichols Papers
Dates: 1837-1838.
Abstract: Nichols, Bethiah Avery Miller, 1815-1865; Student. Attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary 1837-1838. Papers contain a letter, lecture notes and a photograph. Primarily documenting her experience at Mount Holyoke and her interactions with Mary Lyon, including a visit she made to Heath, Massachusetts requesting funds for the Seminary. Housed in control files; two letters from John Kirkland Clark, grandson of Priscilla Maxwell, to Mary Woolley, regarding a letter written to his mother by Bethiah Miller Nichols.
Extent: 1 box(2.5 linear in.)
Language: English.
Identification: MS 0677
Location: LD 7096.6 x1839 Miller

Biographical Note

Bethiah Avery Miller was born in Heath, Massachesetts on February 14, 1815 to The Reverend Moses Miller and Bethiah Ware Miller. She came to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1837 and remained at the school for one year. She is considered a non-graduating member of the Class of 1839. She married the Reverend Washington Adams Nichols in 1838. She died in Lake Forest, Illinois in 1865.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Bethiah Miller Nichols Papers consist of a letter, lecture notes, biographical information, and a photograph. The material primarily relates to her year at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, 1837-1838, and her opinions on religion and education. Nichols wrote the letter to Pricilla Maxwell on January 16, 1837, and it describes Mary Lyon's visit to Heath, Massachusetts. During this visit, Lyon persuaded the residents of Heath to donate $1,200 in support of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Nichols' letter conveys surprise at Lyon's ability to bolster support for the Seminary from the people Heath. The letter also discusses death of a mutual friend from consumption (tuburculosis), and Nichols' religious beliefs have a heavy influence on all issues discussed in the letter. Notes on the history of ancient Greece, entitled "Abstracts from general history," taken on December 7, 1837, "Items from Miss Lyon's lectures on education," taken in 1838, and an undated set of notes from a lecture entitled, "Of Intellectual Habits" are included in the collection. The notes depict how Mount Holyoke Female Seminary students were taught in several subjects during the first year the seminary was open. The biographical information consists of a page of brief notes about Nichols, 1865, and one photograph of her husband, Reverend Washington Adams Nichols.

Material from this collection is available in an online digital format.

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is arranged in four series:

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Contents List

Letter to Priscilla Maxwell, 1837 1 folder

This series consists of one item, a typed transcription of a letter from Bethiah Miller Nichols to Priscilla Maxwell. In the letter Bethiah Miller refers to Ipswich Female Seminary where Priscilla Maxwell was a student. She also discusses Mary Lyon's 1837 fundraising lecture in Heath, Massachusetts.

Lecture Notes, 1837-1838 1 folder

This series contains Bethiah Miller Nichols notes from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary titled "Abstracts from General History," "Items From Miss Lyon's Lectures on Education," and "Of Intellectual Habits."

Arranged chronologically.

Biographical Information, n.d. 1 folder

This series contains one brief page of notes about Bethiah Miller Nichols, compiled by Anna C. Edwards, Class of 1859.

Photograph, n.d. 1 folder

This series contains one small photograph of Bethiah A. Miller Nichols husband, Washington Adams Nichols. The back of the photograph contains brief handwritten biographical notes.

Contents List

Letter to Priscilla Maxwell, 1837 1 folder


Box

Folder

1 1
Letter to Priscilla Maxwell

Lecture Notes, 1837-1838 1 folder


Box

Folder

1 2
Lecture Notes

Biographical Information, n.d. 1 folder


Box

Folder

1 3
Biographical Information

Photograph, n.d. 1 folder


Box

Folder

1 1

4
Photograph