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Williams papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS 0645

Scope and Contents

The Clara "Kate" Catherine (Pond) Williams Papers include biographical information sheets, obituaries and letters, compositions, typed transcripts of Pond's journals, and photographs. The compositions in the collection are "The American College for Girls at Scutari, Constantinople. Western Turkey" by Pond, regarding the history of the school, and "Consecrated Kate" by Dorothea Seelye Franck concerning Pond's life as mother, teacher, wife, and principal. Pond's journals are dated January 1865 to June 1865, May 1865 to June 1866, and September 1871 to February 1889. There are also 39 letters within the collection. They are all addressed to Pond's Mount Holyoke Female Seminary classmate Jessie Usher and are dated between September 11, 1857 to April 21, 1863 and August 5, 1877. These letters concern daily life and her admiration of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. There are 4 biographical information sheets in the collection with obituaries and regrets pasted onto them. Also included in the collection is a photograph album containing photographs of Turkish buildings, landscapes, dignitaries, and common people.

Dates

  • Creation: 1857-1895
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1865 - 1866

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted

Biographical Note

Clara "Kate" Catherine Pond was born on August 28, 1831 in Vernon Center, New York. She attended District Schools and Young Ladies Institute in Pittsfield, Massachusetts before coming to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, from which she graduated in 1857. She then taught at the Seminary from 1857 to 1864, and at Harpoot Female Seminary in Haprut, Turkey from 1864 to 1866, before becoming a missionary to Turkey and principal of the Home School for Girls, Constantinople, Turkey from 1875 to 1883. She married William F. Williams, had 2 children and 1 step-child. She died on January 23, 1895. Alumnae relatives include Clara Eliza Williams (Class of 1887).

Extent

1 boxes (Faculty/Staff Pond)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Williams, Clara Catherine "Kate" Pond, 1831-1895; missionary and teacher. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary graduate, 1857. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary teacher, 1857-1864. Papers consist of correspondence, transcripts of journals, compositions, biographical information sheets, and a photograph album. The bulk of the collection consists of her journals (1865-1866 and 1871-1889) and letters to her classmate Jessie Usher.

Title
Williams Papers, 1857-1895 (bulk 1865-1866)
Subtitle
Finding Aid
Status
Edited Full Draft
Date
© 2004
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English
Sponsor
Encoding funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Repository Details

Part of the Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
50 College Street
8 Dwight Hall
South Hadley MA 01075-6425 USA
413-538-3079