Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Mary Lyon Collection, ca. 1778-

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Elaine D. Trehub and Patricia J. Albright.

© 2007

Biographical Note

Mary Lyon, educator and founder of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College), was born on February 28, 1797, in Buckland, Massachusetts. Her parents were Aaron Lyon, a farmer, and Jemima Shepard Lyon. After her father's death in 1802 and her mother's remarriage 1810, Lyon remained on the family farm as a housekeeper for her brother. She started teaching in 1814 and continued her own education by attending Sanderson Academy in Ashfield, Massachusetts, Amherst (Massachusetts) Academy, and Byfield (Massachusetts) Seminary. She opened the Buckland (Massachusetts) Female School in 1824 and taught the summer term classes at Adams Female Academy in Derry (now East Derry), New Hampshire with Zilpah Grant. In 1828, she began teaching full time at Ipswich (Massachusetts) Female Seminary. During this period, she also attended lectures at Amherst College and spent a few weeks studying at what is now Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 1832, she began developing plans for a new school for adult women that would own its own property and not be a for-profit venture. She spent the summer of 1833 traveling through Pennsylvania and New York State to Detroit, Michigan purchasing scientific equipment for Ipswich Seminary and visiting schools and colleges. She resigned from the Ipswich school in 1834, returning later to serve as acting principal during Grant's temporary absence, and assisted with the planning of Wheaton Female Seminary (now Wheaton College) in Norton, Massachusetts. With the help of male advisers she began raising funds for a school that was chartered on February 11, 1836 as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Mount Holyoke opened on November 8, 1837 and Lyon served as principal for almost twelve years. She also taught chemistry classes and organized the domestic work system by which students and teachers took care of cooking and housekeeping chores in order to avoid the expense of hiring paid staff. Lyon died of erysipelas, an acute streptococcus disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, on March 5, 1849 and is buried on the Mount Holyoke grounds.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Mary Lyon Collection consists of letters by and to educator Mary Lyon, her published and unpublished writings, biographical information about her and memorabilia associated with her, books that were in her personal library, materials about the Lyon family and the Massachusetts towns closely associated with her early life, and portraits and other likenesses of her. The collection primarily documents Lyon's activities as a pioneering educator of women and her work as the founder and first principal of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Correspondence (1818-1849, n.d.) contains letters by and to relatives, friends, and colleagues concerning her work, particularly at Mount Holyoke, and aspects of her personal life. Correspondents include educators Zilpah Grant Banister and Eunice C. Cowles, L.T. Guilford, and other Mount Holyoke graduates, Lyon's niece, Abigail Moore Burgess, missionary Justin Perkins, and Laban and Elizabeth Wheaton, founders of Wheaton Female Seminary. Writings (circa 1827-1849, n.d.) include pamphlets that Lyon wrote to publicize Mount Holyoke, the Missionary Offering (1843) which reflects her support of missionary work, and many unpublished documents such as her student compositions, her notes for lectures, and her journal describing travels in Pennsylvania, New York State, and Michigan in 1833. Notes on Lyon's Remarks (circa 1837-1849) were compiled by Mount Holyoke students and teachers and reflect her views about religion, the purpose of education, character, and other subjects. Biographical Material and Memorabilia (circa 1778-) consists of articles, newspaper clippings, and papers about Lyon's life, jewelry, textiles, and other items that belonged to her and others, and items once used to furnish the Mary Lyon Room at Mount Holyoke. These materials include information about the many posthumous honors conferred upon her. Lyon's Library (1809-1847) consists of books that she owned and includes writings by Catharine Esther Beecher, Amos Eaton, Edward Hitchcock, and John Milton. Lyon Family materials (circa 1836-) chiefly consist of published and unpublished genealogies about various branches of the family both in the United States and Europe. There is also a photograph album that appears to contain portraits of Lyon's brother, Aaron E. Lyon, and his relatives. Places Associated with Lyon (circa 1849-) consists of publications, notes, postcards, and photographs concerning Ashfield, Buckland, and Byfield, Massachusetts. Portraits and Other Likenesses (1832-) contains prints of a daguerreotype, a ferrotype, and paintings of Lyon taken or completed during her lifetime as well as later paintings and drawings of her. Lyon's correspondence and writings were microfilmed in 1987 and the collection includes four sets of the film and related user guides. Oversize (Folio) Material (circa 1827-) in the collection is boxed separately.

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 organized into ten series:

• Correspondence (1818-1849, n.d.)
• Writings (circa 1827-1849, n.d.)
• Notes on Lyon's Remarks (circa 1837-1849)
• Biographical Material and Memorabilia (circa 1778-)
• Lyon's Library (1809-1847)
• Lyon Family (circa 1836-)
• Places Associated with Lyon (circa 1849-)
• Portraits and Other Likenesses (1832-)
• Microfilm and Guides (1987-)
• Oversize (Folio) Material (circa 1827-)

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Correspondence 1818-1849, n.d. 5 boxes

Correspondence (1818-1849, n.d.) consists of letters by and to Lyon that concerning her activities as an educator, particularly her work as founder and principal of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, and aspects of her personal life. Numerous letters describe the search for a location for the school, efforts to funds, and design, construction, and furnishing of the Seminary Building. Many other letters are by and to women who wished to attend Mount Holyoke or individuals recruiting teachers and missionaries to work in schools in the United States and other countries. There are also letters from Lyon's former pupils, often describing their experiences as teachers. Personal letters in the collection concern Lyon's religious views, her finances, and events affecting members of her family, such as the mental illness of her sister, Lovina Lyon Putnam. Correspondents include her friends and colleagues Zilpah Grant Banister and Eunice C. Cowles; Mount Holyoke trustee William Tyler; Hannah Porter (wife of Trustee Andrew Porter); L.T. Guilford (a Mount Holyoke graduate who established a school for girls in Cleveland, Ohio); Thomas White of Ashfield, Massachusetts (Lyon's friend and financial adviser) and his daughter, Hannah White; Lyon's niece, Abigail Moore Burgess, who served as a teacher at Mount Holyoke and a missionary in India; Laban and Elizabeth Wheaton (founders of Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts); the Reverend Charles C. Beatty (principal of a school in Steubenville, Ohio); and Justin Perkins (missionary to the Christian Nestorians in Persia).

Arranged chronologically in two sequences: letters by Lyon and letters to Lyon.

Writings, circa 1817-1849, n.d. 3 boxes

Writings (circa 1827-1849, n.d.) contains Lyon's published works and her unpublished lists, notes, and other documents. Her publications consist of pamphlets that she wrote between 1834-circa 1840 describing the goals, location, curriculum, requirements, regulations, application process, and domestic work system at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. The collection also includes her 1843 book, the Missionary Offering, which reflects her commitment to supporting the work of foreign missionaries. Some of the unpublished materials date from her studies at Byfield Seminary (1821) and Sanderson Academy (1827-1828). These documents consist of her compositions and lecture notes as well as her hand-drawn map of the United States. Unpublished writings from her years as a teacher and administrator at Ipswich Female Seminary date from about 1830-1834 and include notes for her religious instruction of and talks to students, her lectures on "intellectual philosophy," notes for teachers' meetings, and lists of books, chemicals, and other supplies at the school. Writings relating to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (circa 1833-1848, n.d.) include plans for the Seminary Building, financial records, lists of applicants, and notes about the domestic work system. The remaining materials in this series consist of documents organized into subject categories (circa 1833-1849, n.d.). These items include a journal the she kept during her travels in Pennsylvania, New York State, and Michigan in 1833, notes reflecting her ideas about education and teaching, her comments on some of her readings, a list of members of her family, and descriptions of her personal property.

Arranged by form of material.

Notes on Lyon's Remarks, circa 1837-1849 1 box

Contains notes by Mount Holyoke Female Seminary students and others on Lyon's lectures and talks on religious and secular subjects, circa 1837-1849. Topics of her remarks include religious faith, humility, charity, service to others, behavior,character, fashion and dress, the purpose of education, and teaching methods.

Arranged by categories of transcribers.

Biographical Material and Memorabilia circa 1778- 7 boxes, 66 volumes

Biographical Material chiefly consists of reminiscences, books, articles, newspaper clippings, and unpublished papers and essays dating from 1849 to the present that concern Lyon's life and work. These materials include the sermon preached at her funeral in 1849 and on the one hundredth anniversary of her birth in 1897, biographies of her by Edward Hitchcock (1851) and Elizabeth Green (1979), recollections by her by Mount Holyoke alumnae (1905-1908) and articles relating to the United States postage stamp issued in her honor in 1987. Other honors conferred upon Lyon are documented by materials relating to her selection to the Western Massachusetts Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame (2005) and to a sculpture of her by Lu Stubbs (2006). An audiocassette in this series is of a radio program concerning Mary Lyon, Woman Educator (1937). There are also bibliographies of writings by and about Lyon and chronologies listing events during her life. Memorabilia dates from circa 1778 to the present and consists in part of items that Lyon owned, such as her eye glasses, writing desk, and the green velvet bag that she used to collect donations for Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. These materials also include examples of her weaving, scraps of her dresses, and jewelry that incorporates locks of her hair. Other memorabilia consists of jewelry and other objects not directly relating to Lyon. Some of these items were once part of the Mary Lyon Room established at Mount Holyoke in 1904 and dismantled at a later date. Memorabilia also includes the medal from her induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame (1993) and two portraits of Lyon: an ivory miniature from 1832 and a watercolor by Katharine Baldwin Sullivan from 1893.

Arranged by form of material.

Mary Lyon's Library 1809-1847 28 volumes

Mary Lyon's library consists of books that she owned. These volumes reflect her interest in astronomy, botany, geology, history, physiology, and religion and include works by Catharine Esther Beecher, Amos Eaton, Edward Hitchcock, and John Milton. This series also includes a biography of Lyon's teacher and mentor Joseph Emerson.

Arranged by surname of author or title of work.

Lyon Family 1836- 1 box

Lyon Family material consists of manuscripts relating to members of Mary Lyon's family as well as articles and genealogies about the Lyon family in the United States and Europe. Materials concerning Lyon's brother, Aaron Lyon, consist of a list of his children (1839) and a letter that he and one of his sons wrote to another son in 1836 discussing family matters. Genealogical material includes charts showing the ancestries of Lyon's parents and several books and articles about the Lyon/Lyons family. There is also a photograph album (circa 1860s-circa 1900) that appears to contain portraits (including tintypes) of Mary Lyon's brother, Aaron E. Lyon, and his relatives.

Arranged by form of material.

Places Associated with Mary Lyon 1849- 1 box

Contains pamphlets, newspaper and magazine article, maps, postcards, drawings, photographs, and other material relating to Ashfield, Buckland, and Byfield, Massachusetts. These items include histories of Ashfield and Buckland and an abstract of title to the Mary Lyon birthplace property in Buckland. Drawings and photographs of that site including an 1883 engraving and copies of a 1905 painting by Edwin Romanzo Elmer. A publication entitled Historical Sketches of the Times and Men in Ashfield, Massachusetts, During the Revolutionary War mentions Lyon's father, Aaron Lyon. Postcards and photographs include images of the one-room schoolhouse that she attended in Buckland and the room that she used while loving with the Thomas White family in Ashfield.

Arranged by name of town and form of material.

Portraits and Other Likeness 1832- 1 box

Consists of prints of formal photographs and portraits of Lyon dating from her lifetime as well as likenesses created after her death. Includes reproductions of an ivory miniature painting (1832), a daguerreotype (1845) and a ferrotype (circa 1845) of Lyon, and copies of portraits of her by Joseph Chandler (1844) and Louise Rogers Jewett (1906).

Arranged by type of image

Microfilm and Guides 1987- 3 boxes

Most of Lyon's correspondence and writings in this collection were microfilmed in 1987 as part of a project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. There are four sets of the microfilm (four reels per set) in the collection, along with guides and other documents relating to the use of the film. The documents include photocopies of letters by and to Lyon acquired by the Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections after the completion of the microfilming project.

Arranged by form of material.

Oversize (Folio) Material circa 1827- 3 boxes

Contains oversized items described as part of other series in the collection. In the container list, descriptions of these items include an indication that they are shelved in Folio.

Arranged by form of material

Correspondence 1818-1849, n.d. 5 boxes

Writings circa 1817-1849, n.d. 3 boxes

Notes on Lyon's Remarks circa 1837-1849 1 box

Biographical Material and Memorabilia circa 1778- 7 boxes, 66 volumes

Mary Lyon's Library 1809-1847 28 volumes

Lyon Family 1836- 1 box

Places Associated with Mary Lyon 1849- 1 box

Portraits and Other Likeness 1832- 1 box

Microfilm and Guides 1987- 3 boxes

Oversize (Folio) Material circa 1827- 3 boxes