Mount Holyoke College circa 1893

History

This album has 17 large format cyanotypes and a handpainted cover with a cyanotype of the Hockanum ferry over the Connecticut River between South Hadley and Northampton. The only clue to the album's owner was an inlaid postcard of founder Mary Lyon, mailed from South Hadley in June 1936 and signed with the initials F.L.H. Unfortunately, there were no alums or professors with those initials living in South Hadley at the time. But since the postcard was mailed around reunion week, it may have been an alum who sent it. The recipient of the card (Helen Todd) was not an alum, nor does she appear to be the daughter of an alum. So, for now, the album remains anonymous.

The photos date between 1881, when the Observatory was built, and 1894, when Village Church burned down. But I date it to approximately 1893 because that's the year Mount Holyoke transitioned from Mount Holyoke Seminary and College to Mount Holyoke College.

I had fun tracking this album down. I heard through a rare book dealer that a Mount Holyoke related album would be offered in an live auction in Portsmouth NH in January 2011. I attended and examined the lot, and found this album with the inlaid postcard grouped with several other items I didn't want. Still, if it wasn't too expensive, I was interested. I stayed through the long auction and unfortunately, the lot sold for far more than I wanted to spend. The buyer was a young woman, so I thought she must be a Mount Holyoke alum and wanted it for herself. I kept an eye out on eBay, just in case I was wrong and she was wanting to resell it, but no such luck. Finally, in March 2011, I found her set up at a paper show in Greenwich CT, and the album was on display for sale. I ended up getting it for about half the price of the auction lot, so the story has a happy ending.