Lithgow papers

The Marion Irene Lithgow Papers consist of a scrapbook, correspondence, biographical information, and a photograph. The material chiefly relates to her time as a student at Mount Holyoke College, 1918-1922. In weekly letters written home to her mother during her junior and senior years (1920-1922), Lithgow frequently discusses clothing, asking her mother to clean, alter, dye, and mend various items so that she can attain the most current fashions. Almost all of the letters also discuss her expenses and request items and money to be sent from home. In addition, she describes her social activities, including long hikes with friends, shopping expeditions, and motion pictures that she saw. She discusses Mount Holyoke College traditions such as the Senior-Freshman Reception, Junior Show, Mountain Day, and the interclass volleyball, basketball, and baseball games. Her May 4, 1921 letter about Junior Prom covers almost thirty pages, discussing the men, clothing, food, dancing, and other activities that surrounded the event. She also mentions searches for chaperones, assigned seating in the dining rooms, curfews, and chapel regulations and makes occasional references to political issues. For example, she urges her mother to vote for Warren G. Harding in the 1920 presidential election and mentions a freshman with a "Bolshevistic temperament." She periodically discusses academic matters, too, including her relationships with some professors and her grades. Her scrapbook dates from 1919-1922 and contains photographs of College administrators including President Mary Emma Woolley and Dean Florence Purington, notes from classmates, quotations, songs, images of celebrations, and newspaper clippings. Biographical information consists of a biographical note (1922) and her obituary (1992). The collection also contains a photograph taken during her senior year at Mount Holyoke.