Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Mary McHenry Papers, 1933-1996

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Danielle Ryan.

© 2006

Biographical Note

Mary Elizabeth Williamson Murphy McHenry, Mount Holyoke College graduate and Mount Holyoke College professor of English, was born on January 23, 1933 in Washington DC to Alphonso Williamson, a supply officer at the Library of Congress, and Elizabeth Bennett Williamson, a teacher. She attended high school at the Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie, New York from 1946-1950, Mount Holyoke College from 1950-1954 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English, received a master's degree in English Literature from Columbia University in 1960 and did graduate work beyond the master's level at George Washington University from 1961-1964. She married Harry Saunders Murphy, Jr. on July 31, 1954 and divorced circa 1959. She married Donald F. McHenry circa 1962 and divorced on August 18, 1976. She had one son with Murphy and two daughters with McHenry. McHenry taught as an instructor of English at Howard University from 1960-1963 and at George Washington University from 1964-1969. She was a Professor of English at Federal City College (now the University of DC) from 1969-1974. McHenry was an English professor at Mount Holyoke College from 1974-1998 and was also a member of the American Studies and the Black (later African-American) Studies departments.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The papers of Mary Elizabeth Williamson Murphy McHenry (1933- present) span the years 1933-1996 (bulk dates 1946-1954 and 1972-1993) and are organized into the following series: correspondence, writings and speeches, course records, yearbooks, calendars and planners, subject files, family papers, biographical information, memorabilia, photographs, scrapbooks. The correspondence and course records are the largest and most complete portions of the collection. The bulk of the collection details her time as a student at the Oakwood School and Mount Holyoke College and her professional career at Mount Holyoke College. The collection is primarily in English, with some correspondence in French.

The Course Records detail McHenry's education from elementary school through the graduate level with transcripts, graded work and notebooks, as well as documenting her career as a professor at Federal City College (1969-1974) and Mount Holyoke College (1974-1998) with syllabi, notes and graded student work from courses she taught.

The Correspondence series is mainly personal before 1960 and professional thereafter. The bulk of the series is personal correspondence detailing her time as a student at the Oakwood School and Mount Holyoke College. This personal correspondence includes letters to and from her parents from her childhood through adulthood, as well as many letters from other family members including her husbands and children. The professional correspondence in the series documents her career and includes letters and memos to and from her bosses, colleagues and students.

The Family Papers contain biographical material in the form of resumes, obituaries and diaries of several of McHenry's family members. The Biographical Information contains McHenry's birth certificate, academic transcripts, resumes, job applications and newspaper articles about her. The Memorabilia contains mementos saved by McHenry from piano recitals she gave, events she participated in and honors she was awarded such as a script from the 1952 Mount Holyoke College Junior show and a Phi Beta Kappa initiation sign. The Yearbook series contains McHenry's high school yearbooks. The Calendars and Planners series contains daily planners from McHenry's time as an undergraduate. The Subject Files contain programs from symposia she attended, instructions for grading Education Testing Services exams and lists of people and addresses arranged by McHenry. The Scrapbook contains birthday cards from her birth through age 10. The Photographs series contains photographs of McHenry and others 1933-1990s.

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

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Search Terms

The following terms represent persons, organizations, and topics documented in this collection. To find additional materials use these headings to search this web site, the Five College Library Catalog, or other library catalogs and databases.

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into eleven series:

• Correspondence (1940-1996, n.d. [bulk 1946-1954 and 1973-1991])
• Writings and Speeches (1952-1987)
• Course Records (circa 1944-1996, n.d. [bulk 1946-1954 and 1974-1993])
• Yearbooks (1946-1950)
• Calendars and Planners (1946-1954)
• Subject Files (1950s-1980)
• Family Papers (1917-1980s)
• Biographical Information (1933-1985)
• Memorabilia (1940s-1970s)
• Photographs (1933-1990s)
• Scrapbooks (1933-1943)

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Correspondence 1940-1996, n.d.

The Correspondence Series contains both professional and personal correspondence from elementary school through her career at Mount Holyoke College including letters to and from her parents, letters from her children, her husbands, friends, students and colleagues. There are some letters to her parents from other people and to each other.

Letters from the 1940s through 1954 mainly detail her life as a high school and college student through correspondence with her parents. This portion of the correspondence series is particularly extensive. Topics from this time period including her adjustment to the schools, her academic progress, her social life and her courtship with Harry Saunders Murphy, Jr.. There are also letters to her parents detailing her experiences living with the family of a wealthy doctor and then with the family of a miner during her 1950 trip to France through the "Experiment in International Living" program.

Letters from 1954 through the 1960s are mainly addressed to friends and family members and describe her adjustment to married life and motherhood, the difficulties and concerns of juggling family and career, her search for teaching jobs and her struggle to gain graduate education while caring for a family.

Letters from the 1970s through the 1990s primarily describe her professional career, first at Federal City College and more extensively at Mount Holyoke College. There is also correspondence detailing her weeklong 1972 visit to Mount Holyoke College as an "alumna in residence." The correspondence from her career at Mount Holyoke includes letters to many faculty and staff, often about standard college and departmental news and information, but also discussions of topics such as the status of African-American students, the general campus environment and the role of women's colleges in higher education. Additionally, there is much correspondence with students including praise of her teaching, updates about their lives after graduation and requests for recommendations. The material from this time span also includes personal correspondence such as letters to and from her daughters Christina and Elizabeth, her parents, Donald McHenry and many other friends and family members.

Arranged Chronologically

Writings and Speeches 1952-1987

The Writings and Speeches series contains unpublished essays and manuscripts by McHenry as well as a speech she delivered at the Oakwood School and two speeches she delivered as a professor at Mount Holyoke College events. These materials include her 1953 writings in Mount Holyoke College's Tempo Magazine, a report given at Federal City College about the English placement exam, notes; draft and a manuscript of a style guide co-authored by McHenry in 1972 (apparently unpublished), drafts of a work called "My Black Childhood," McHenry's proof reading corrections to a manuscript of John Irving's The World According to Garp, a small written work titled "Why I teach," a speech given by McHenry at the Oakwood School in 1952 about her trip to France, a transcript, program and sound recording of a speech given by McHenry at the 1972 Mount Holyoke College conference "Escape from the Circle: An Exploration of the Effect and Effectiveness of Education in Determining the roles of Women," and a speech given by McHenry at the conferring of an honorary doctoral degree to Maya Angelou.

Arranged chronologically and by subject.

Course Records circa 1944-1996, n.d. (bulk 1946-1954 and 1974-1993)

The Course Records contain documents both from McHenry's time as a student and from courses she taught as a professor of English. McHenry's student records document her elementary education through her master's work at Columbia. These records include graded work, notebooks, report cards and transcripts. The records of classes taught by McHenry span her early career at Federal City College, Howard and George Washington through her time at Mount Holyoke from the 1970s-1990s. These records include syllabi, her notes from the classes and graded student work.

Arranged by subject and then by course number for courses McHenry took as an undergraduate at Mount Holyoke College, arranged chronologically and then by subject and course number for all other material.

Yearbooks 1946-1950

The yearbooks series contains McHenry's 1946-1948 and 1950 yearbooks from the Oakwood School.

Arranged chronologically.

Calendars and Planners 1946-1954

The Calendars and Planners Series contains a 1946 telephone and address book, a daily planner from 1949, and daily planners of the 1950-1954 academic years which record assignments and events.

Arranged chronologically.

Subject Files 1950s-1980

The subject files series contains programs and information from events attended by McHenry including the 1979 Consortium on Financing Higher Education: Conference on Campus Climates for Minorities, the 1972 Education Policy Symposium, and Speech 101 at Southern Illinois University, instructions and policy regarding grading exams for Educational Testing Services and lists of people and addresses arranged by McHenry.

Arranged alphabetically.

Family Papers 1917-1980s

The Family Papers Series contains biographical information about several of McHenry's family members. This material includes telegraphs of sympathy and the funeral registry related to the death of McHenry's maternal grandfather Franklin Bennett, a diary, eulogy and passport of McHenry's paternal aunt or great aunt Sarah Williamson Coleman, an elementary school transcript, teaching evaluations, pamphlet about the "Futurist Club" (which she co-founded) and a brief, handwritten memoir by McHenry's mother Elizabeth Bennett Williamson, college transcripts and employment applications of McHenry's second husband Donald F. McHenry, grades, articles and school information about McHenry's daughter Elizabeth McHenry and some financial information and travel planning information belonging to McHenry's parents Alphonso and Elizabeth Williamson.

Arranged alphabetically by name.

Biographical Information 1933-1985

The Biographical information Series includes McHenry's 1933 birth certificate, transcripts of her academic work from elementary school through college, a marriage license for her marriage to Harry Saunders Murphy, Jr., a divorce summons for her divorce from Donald F. McHenry, letters of inquiry and applications for numerous teachings jobs in the 1950s, different versions of her resume from 1970-1973, forms indicating her official acceptance of and/or resignation from jobs at the Library of Congress, Federal City College and Mount Holyoke College, an evaluation of her teaching at Federal City College in 1972 including descriptions of her courses, a self-evaluation and an evaluation of her students, applications for Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Whitney Foundation and newspaper and magazine articles about McHenry from the 1950s-1980s with topics as varied as notices of her marriages and awards she won in college to profiles and interviews about her experiences teaching at Mount Holyoke

Arranged alphabetically by material type.

Memorabilia 1940s-1970s

Memorabilia contains programs from McHenry's childhood piano recitals in the 1940s, pamphlets and souvenirs from a 1950 trip to France, programs from the Mount Holyoke college Freshman, Sophomore and Junior shows 1950-1953 in which McHenry performed, church bulletins announcing McHenry's gifts to the Calvary Episcopal Church and All Saints Church in honor of her grandfather, an announcement for McHenry's 1954 graduation from Mount Holyoke College, a Phi Beta Kappa sign from McHenry's initiation in 1954, a script for the 1952 Mount Holyoke College Junior Show, a small, hand-made book containing a humorous poem about McHenry called "A Book for MEW," a program from the 1973 Black Alumnae Conference and a program from the 1976 Mount Holyoke College reunion.

Arranged Chronologically.

Photographs 1933-1990s

Contains photographs of McHenry from infancy through 1983, photographs of McHenry with other people and photographs of friends, family and colleagues including her parents, husbands and children.

Arranged by category and chronologically.

Scrapbooks 1933-1943

This series contains one scrapbook with birthday cards for McHenry from family and friends from her birth through age 10.

Correspondence 1940-1996, n.d.

Writings and Speeches 1952-1987

Course Records circa 1944-1996, n.d. (bulk 1946-1954 and 1974-1993)

Yearbooks 1946-1950

Calendars and Planners 1946-1954

Subject Files 1950s-1980

Family Papers 1917-1980s

Biographical Information 1933-1985

Memorabilia 1940s-1970s

Photographs 1933-1990s

Scrapbooks 1933-1943