Guide to the Lucy Maynard Salmon Papers,
1818-1976 (bulk 1887-1927)
Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Biographical Note
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
| Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
|---|---|
| Creator: | Salmon, Lucy Maynard, 1853-1927 |
| Title: | Lucy Maynard Salmon Papers |
| Inclusive dates: | 1818-1976 |
| Bulk dates: | 1887-1927 |
| Quantity: | 30 cubic ft. |
| Abstract: | The Lucy Maynard Salmon Collection includes the personal papers of Lucy Maynard Salmon along with a smaller collection of papers belonging to her mother, Maria Clara Maynard Salmon. The materials relate to her work as an historian and professor at Vassar College as well as her work with the suffrage movement and local political issues. There are also materials relating to her family, education and personal life. |
| Forms of Materials: | Correspondence, manuscripts, printed material, clippings, minutes, reports, notes, and photographs. |
Biographical Note
Lucy Maynard Salmon, historian, was born in Fulton, NY, on 27 July 1853. After attending a local seminary, she entered the University of Michigan in 1872. Upon graduation she taught high school for five years, but tired of the monotony of small-town life and returned to Ann Arbor to earn her master's degree in modern European history, English, and American constitutional history. Following three unhappy years of teaching at Indiana State Normal School, she went to Bryn Mawr for graduate study in American history. In 1887 she became Vassar's first teacher of history and was made a full professor in 1889, remaining at Vassar for the rest of her career.
Modern history was a recent addition to the American college curriculum, and Miss Salmon was one of its most innovative teachers. Conducting her advanced classes as seminars, she encouraged students to do original research and to explore unconventional sources. Miss Salmon was instrumental in liberalizing Vassar's curriculum and administration. She stressed the importance of current affairs and the periodical press, and introduced classes on the newspaper and the use of historical materials, with particular emphasis on scholarly research techniques. Outside the history department she actively worked for a better library, fewer required courses, and greater influence of the faculty on the college administration.
Her publications, which included Domestic Service, The Newspaper and the Historian, and The Newspaper and Authority were expressive of her faith in democracy. Two books published posthumously, Why is History Rewritten? (1929) and Historical Material (1933), reflect her devotion to the "New History" of scholars like James Harvey Robinson. A pacifist and dedicated suffragist, Miss Salmon was a notable participant in local public affairs, in the American Historical Association, and in the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. She continued to be an active scholar and teacher until she suffered a fatal stroke in 1927. A biography, Apostle of Democracy: the Life of Lucy Maynard Salmon (1943), was written by her Vassar colleague, Louise Fargo Brown.
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Chronology
| 27 July 1853 | Born to George and Maria Clara Maynard Salmon in Fulton, NY |
| 1868-1870 | Attended Fulton Falley Seminary (formerly Fulton Female Seminary) |
| 1871-1872 | Attended Ann Arbor High School |
| 1876 | A.B. in history, University of Michigan |
| 1876-1881 | Principal of McGregor High School, McGregor, Iowa |
| 1883 | A.M. in modern European history, English, and American constitutional history, University of Michigan |
| 1883-1886 | Instructor in history at Indiana State Normal School |
| 1886 | Published "History of the Appointing Power of the President" (masters' thesis) |
| 1886-1887 | Fellow in American History, Bryn Mawr |
| 1887 | Appointed as associate professor of history at Vassar College |
| 1889 | Appointed as professor of history at Vassar College |
| 1896-1899 | Member of the Committee of Seven, American Historical Association |
| 1897 | Published Domestic Service |
| 1898-1900 | Leave of absence for study in Paris and Florence |
| 1903 | Founder and President (1904) of the Association of History Teachers of the Middle States and Maryland |
| 1906 | Published Progress in the Household |
| 1912 | Honorary Doctor of Literature Degree, Colgate University |
| 1915-1919 | Member of executive council of the American Histor12.1 ical Association |
| 1923 | Published The Newspaper and the Historian |
| 1923 | Published The Newspaper and the Authority |
| 1926 | Lucy Maynard Salmon Fund for Research established by students and friends |
| 1927 | Honorary Doctor of Letters degree, University of Michigan |
| 14 February 1927 | Died at age 73 |
| 1929 | Published Why is History Rewritten? (posthumous) |
| 1933 | Published Historical Material (posthumous) |
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Scope and Content Note
The Lucy Maynard Salmon Collection includes the personal papers of Lucy Maynard Salmon along with a smaller collection of papers belonging to her mother, Maria Clara Maynard Salmon. Types of material represented in the collection include: incoming and outgoing correspondence; published and unpublished manuscripts; pamphlets, periodicals, news clippings (originals and photocopies), and other printed materials; diaries and journals; reminiscences and genealogies; and photographs.
A substantial portion of the Lucy Maynard Salmon Collection dates between 1887 and 1927, the years during which Lucy Maynard Salmon served on the Vassar College Faculty. Subjects covered by the collection include: the development of the history department at Vassar College; methods of teaching history; the use of original source materials in research; the women's suffrage movement; the University of Michigan; the Fulton Falley Seminary; home economics; domestic service; and other personal, family and profession issues.
There is also information about professional organizations such as the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, American Association of University Women, and the American Historical Association.
Correspondents include Caroline E. Page Salmon, Pomeroy Lyman Salmon, George Salmon, Lucy Ella Maynard Sloss, and other family members, 1859-1926; Henry Noble MacCracken, James Monroe Taylor, Louise Fargo Brown, Eloise Ellery, C. Mildred Thompson, and other Vassar associates, 1887-1927; Edith Rickert, Amelia MacDonald Cutler, Helena Grow Rottschaefer, and other Vassar students, 1890-1927; James Burrell Angell, Katharine Lee Bates, George Lincoln Burr, Alice Freeman Palmer, M. Carey Thomas, Lelia Y. Burt, H.V. Clulow, Rachel Larrabee, Gertrude H. Mason, and other educational and political contemporaries, 1870-1927; Adelaide Underhill, Vassar College Librarian with whom Salmon shared a house, 1894-1927, and condolence letters to Underhill on Salmon's death, 1927-1931; and round-robin letters from student social groups at the University of Michigan, "Q. Ceekers," and at Bryn Mawr, "The Learned Six," 1874-1893.
Papers of her mother, Maria Clara Maynard Salmon, include class notes, ca. 1834, diaries and account books, 1840-1863, and correspondence with Miranda Smith Belden, George Salmon, James B. Maynard, Frederick W. Lyman, and Lucy Piper Maynard, 1831-1861.
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Access and Use
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.
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Subject Headings
Names:
- Angell, James Burrell, 1829-1916.
- Bates, Katharine Lee, 1859-1929.
- Belden, Miranda Smith.
- Brown, Louise Fargo.
- Burr, George Lincoln, 1857-1938.
- Burt, Lelia Y.
- Clulow, H. V.
- Cutler, Amelia MacDonald, 1882-1947.
- Ellery, Eloise, 1874-1958.
- Larrabee, Rachel.
- Lyman, Frederick W.
- MacCracken, H.N. (Henry Noble), b. 1880.
- Mason, Gertrude H.
- Maynard, James B.
- Maynard, Lucy Piper.
- Palmer, Alice Freeman, 1855-1902.
- Rickert, Edith, 1871-1938.
- Rottschaefer, Helena Grow.
- Salmon family.
- Salmon, Caroline E. Page.
- Salmon, George.
- Salmon, Maria Clara Maynard.
- Salmon, Pomeroy Lyman.
- Sloss, Lucy Ella Maynard.
- Taylor, James Monroe, 1848-1916.
- Thomas, M. Carey (Martha Carey), 1857-1935.
- Thompson, C. Mildred (Clara Mildred), 1881-
- Underhill, Adelaide, 1860-
Organizations:
- American Association of University Women.
- American Historical Association.
- Association of Collegiate Alumnae (U.S.)
- Bryn Mawr College--Students.
- Bryn Mawr College. Learned Six.
- Falley Seminary (Fulton, N.Y.)
- University of Michigan--Students.
- University of Michigan. Q. Ceekers.
- Vassar College--Alumnae.
- Vassar College--Faculty.
- Vassar College--Students.
- Vassar College. History Dept.
Subjects:
- Education.
- Family--New York (State) History--Study and teaching.
- Feminism.
- Feminists.
- History--Research.
- Home economics.
- Pacifists.
- Women and peace.
- Women college teachers.
- Women's colleges--Pennsylvania--Bryn Mawr.
- Women's colleges--New York (State)--Poughkeepsie.
- Women's rights.
- Women--Diaries.
- Women--Social conditions.
- Women--Societies and clubs.
- Women--Suffrage.
Places:
- New York (State)--Genealogy.
- United States--Politics and government--19th century.
- United States--Politics and government--20th century.
Document Types:
- Account books.
- Diaries.
- Genealogies.
- Photoprints.
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Encoding Information
Original encoding by Elizabeth Clarke, 2007. Updated by Laura Finkel, 2008.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Lucy Maynard Salmon Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Original processing date unknown. Updated January 2000 and August 2007.
Boxes 42-64 are not processed as thoroughly as boxes 1-41. General descriptions are available for this material, but fine detail is currently not available.
Several items are missing from box 64 after an assessment in August 2007 including two boxes of photographs and three boxes of bibliographies. These items may have been moved in a reorganization in 2000.
Acquisition Information
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Series List
Series I. Correspondence — Outgoing |
|
|---|---|
| Relatives | |
| VC Faculty, Trustees, and Administrators | |
| VC Students and Alumnae | |
| Others | |
| Round-Robin letters: This subseries includes all round-robin letters written by "Q. Ceekers" and "The Learned Six," social groups to which Lucy Maynard Salmon belonged at University of Michigan and Bryn Mawr, respectively. |
Series II. Correspondence — Incoming |
|
|---|---|
| To Relatives | |
| VC Faculty, Trustees, and Administrators | |
| VC Students and Alumnae | |
| Historians | |
| Others |
Series III. Correspondence — To and From Others |
|
|---|---|
| To Adelaide Underhill | |
| From Adelaide Underhill | |
| Others to Others |
Series IV. Writings |
|
|---|---|
| Manuscripts and Notes | |
| Published Material | |
| Correspondence Regarding Publications |
Series V.Biography and Personal |
|
|---|---|
| General | |
| Family and Genealogy | |
| Education | |
| Academic Positions | |
| Death | |
| Miscellaneous |
Series VI. Photographs |
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Series VII. Vassar College |
|
|---|---|
| General | |
| History Department | |
| Publications |
Series VIII. Research and Subject Files |
|
|---|---|
| History and Teaching | |
| Domestic Service | |
| Laundry Lists | |
| Miscellaneous |
Series IX. Maria Clara Maynard |
|
|---|---|
| Letters written to Maria Clara Maynard Salmon are filed alphabetically by author. Multiple letters by a single author are arranged chronologically within this alphabetical arrangement. Letters written by Maria Clara Maynard Salmon are arranged in an alphabetical sequence according to the name of the recipient. Multiple letters to a single recipient are further arranged according to chronology. | |
| Biography | |
| Education | |
| Correspondence |
Series X. Miscellaneous |
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