mnsss343 Upton Family Papers, 1853-1937 Finding Aid Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College

Northampton, MA

Finding aid exported into EAD from InMagic DB/Textworks 7.01. Encoded by Margaret Jessup and Jennifer Smar. 2006-04-07 Finding aid written in English. Sophia Smith CollectionSmith College Upton Family Papers, 1853-1937 Finding Aid MS 164 2005 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Upton family Upton Family Papers1853-1937 MS 164 7 boxes (2.5 linear ft.) English Sophia Smith Collection

Smith College Northampton, MA

The Upton Family Papers include correspondence, diaries, and notes by Cornelia Upton which document her travels in America, Hawaii, Alaska, Africa, and the Far East (1876-1927). Bacteriologist Margaret Upton and librarian Eleanor Upton's papers include documents of a children's club in Providence, RI, to which they belonged. Biographical Note

"The Quier Kyds" in their play based on Lucretia Hale's Peterkin Papers, June 1899. Left to right: Meril Bevin, Avis Danforth as Mrs. Peterkin, Eleanor Upton as Agamennon, Ernest Bevan as Mr. Peterkin, and Margaret Upton as Solomon.

Cornelia A. (Babcock) Upton was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1854 and graduated from Providence, Rhode Island High School in 1874. In 1882 she married Winslow Upton, professor of astronomy at Brown University. The couple had two daughters, Eleanor and Margaret (see below). Upton's "chief interest" was the Auxiliary Board of Missions of the Episcopal Church. Following the death of her husband in 1931, she lived with her daughter Eleanor in New Haven, Connecticut; she died there in 1941.

Eleanor Stuart Upton was born in Lebanon Springs, New York in 1886. She graduated from Smith College in 1909, obtained an M.A. from Brown University in 1910, and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1930. Between 1910 and 1914 she worked for a variety of social welfare organizations in Boston and Providence; as a tutor from 1914-16; and as a librarian at the John Carter Brown Library in Providence from 1916-21. She became an assistant librarian at Yale University in 1921 and was a cataloger at the Forbes Library in Northampton, Massachusetts from 1952 to 1962. She died in Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1974.

Margaret Frances Upton was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1890. She graduated from Smith College in 1912, obtained an M.A. from Brown University in 1914, and a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1925. She taught science and bacteriology on the secondary and undergraduate level, and worked as a lab technician and research assistant, primarily at St. Luke's Hospital in Newburgh, New York and at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Massachusetts. She died in Hadley Massachusetts in 1967.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Upton Family Papers consist of biographical material, club records, correspondence, diaries, memorabilia, photographs, and writings. Included are correspondence, diaries, and notes by Cornelia Upton which document her extensive travels (1876-1905), as well as correspondence from missionaries in a variety of locations (1899-1927). The lives of Margaret and Eleanor Upton are documented through the records of the "Quier Kyds" (1897-1900), a children's club in Providence, RI, to which they belonged; as well as Eleanor's line-a-day diaries (1896-1920, 1924-26) and her dissertation, "Guide to Sources of English History, 1603-1660."

NOTE: The container list for this collection is available in the Sophia Smith Collection. Please contact us to request a copy.

Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.

Copyright to unpublished materials may be owned by the creator, or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Upton Family Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

Search Terms Upton family Upton, Cornelia A. Babcock, 1854-1941 Upton, Eleanor Stuart, 1886- Upton, Margaret Frances, 1890- 1967 Smith College--Students--History--Sources Episcopal church--Missions--History--Sources Family--United States--History--19th century--Sources Hawaii--Description and travel--Sources Latin America--Description and travel--Sources Missionaries--Africa--Biography--Sources Missionaries--Alaska--Biography--Sources Missionaries--China--Biography--Sources Missionaries--Japan--Biography--Sources Missionaries--Middle East--Biography--Sources Oceania--Description and travel--Sources United States--Description and travel--Sources Women scientists--United States--Biography--Sources Upton, Cornelia A. Babcock, 1854-1941 Upton, Eleanor Stuart, 1886- Upton, Margaret Frances, 1890- 1967 Additional Information