mshm038 Caroline A. Henderson Papers, 1908-1967. MS 0547 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Finding aid prepared by Lori Satter. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections
50 College Street 8 Dwight Hall South Hadley, MA, 01075-6425 413-538-3079 archives@mtholyoke.edu
2011 This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-06-20T11:31-0400 Caroline A. Henderson Papers MS 0547 Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections English 3.5 linear feet (7 boxes) 1946-1965 1898-1965 Henderson, Caroline Agnes Boa, 1877-1966; Secondary school teacher. Mount Holyoke College graduate, 1901. Papers consist of letters, articles, biographical information, and six letters written by her daughter, Eleanor; primarily documenting her daily activities and difficulties, including the Dust Bowl, on the family farm in Oklahoma. LD 7096.6 1901 Boa Henderson, Caroline A. (Caroline Agnes), 1877-1966 Biographical Note

Caroline Agnes Boa was born on April 7, 1877, in Wisconsin. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1901 and taught high school English and Latin in Red Oak, Iowa until 1903. She then taught in Des Moines, Iowa until 1907. Henderson took up a "claim" to land in the panhandle of western Oklahoma, not far from the New Mexico border. On May 7, 1908 she married Wilhelmine Eugene Henderson, a farmer. They lived on a farm in Eva, Oklahoma and had one daughter, Eleanor in 1909. Eleanor enrolled at the University of Kansas and completed a BA and MD at the university. In order to help finance her education, Caroline went to Lawrence and shared an apartment with Eleanor, while teaching school part-time. Caroline also enrolled in graduate courses in English and in 1935 received a Masters of Arts degree. Caroline and her husband lived in Oklahoma through the worst years of the Great Depression and their farm was located in the heart of the "Dust Bowl" region. Caroline's work on the farm included housekeeping, canning, cooking, tending the vegetable and flower gardens, ironing, as well as caring for chickens. In the final years of her life, Henderson suffered from an injured wrist and deteriorating eyesight. As a result of health issues, she and her husband relocated in the winter of 1965 to live with Eleanor in Arizona. Caroline A. Henderson died on August 4, 1966, in Phoenix, Arizona.

 Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Caroline Agnes Boa Henderson Papers consist of Correspondence, Writings, an Herbarium, Biographical Information and a Photograph. The Correspondence series chiefly contains letters written to friends, especially Rose Alden, Mount Holyoke College class of 1901, describing not only the yearly struggles with crop production and natural disasters on the family farm in Eva, Oklahoma, but also family matters, including the development of Henderson's daughter, Eleanor. Of particular note are Henderson's letters regarding the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. The second body of correspondence includes letters Caroline and Eleanor exchanged between 1948 and 1961. The content of these letters details news about Eleanor's son David, who was born in 1947 and her family's life in Phoenix, as well as her medical work, Caroline's travels to the West, domestic issues, the weather and books. Writings include published articles in the April 13, 1913 edition of the "Practical Farmer" and "The Ladies' World", in which Henderson had a regular column entitled "Our Homestead Lady". The articles principally discuss crop harvesting and seasonal changes related to farm life. Caroline Henderson's herbarium makes up the third series and contains approximately 30 samples of local flora and fauna native to Iowa and South Hadley, Massachusetts. Biographical Information includes an account of Rose Alden's visit to Henderson's farm in 1940 as well as the sub-series: Eleanor Henderson Materials that document Eleanor's time at the University of Kansas including handwritten notes and typescript drafts of an essay Eleanor wrote on March 20, 1930 while at the University as well as materials from her medical career. The fifth series: a Photograph includes an image of Caroline's nine-year-old grandson David Eugene Grandstaff dressed as a frontier doctor for a Sunday school pageant.

 Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into five series:

Correspondence 1898-1965 Writings 1912-1955 Herbarium Biographical Information ca. 1930-1960 Photograph Conditions Governing Access note

Unrestricted

 Conditions Governing Use note

Unrestricted

 Preferred Citation note

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

Caroline A. Henderson Papers, Mount Holyoke College, Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, Massachusetts

 Processing Information note

Original arrangement and finding aid by Patricia Albright, 2003. Updated arrangement and finding aid by Lori Satter, 2011.

 Alden, Rose, 1878-1961 Henderson, Caroline A. (Caroline Agnes), 1877-1966 Henderson, Eleanor, b. 1909 Henderson, Wilhelmine Eugene, d. 1966 University of Kansas - History - Sources College students -- Kansas -- Correspondence correspondence Dust storms -- Oklahoma -- Eva -- History -- Sources Eva (Okla.) -- Description and travel -- Sources Farmers -- Oklahoma -- Eva -- History -- Sources Marriage -- United States -- History -- Sources Mothers and Daughters -- United States Mount Holyoke College -- Students Oklahoma -- Description and travel -- Sources Women -- United States -- Social conditions -- Sources Women college students -- Kansas -- Correspondence Correspondence (5.0 boxes) 1898-1966, n.d. Scope and Contents note

This series consists of letters written to and from Carolina Boa Henderson between 1898 and 1965. The majority of the letters were written between Henderson and her daughter Eleanor between 1930 and 1960. The contents of the letters include the weather, farming conditions, travel, Eleanor's education and medical practice, as well as comments about Caroline's deteriorating health.

 Related Archival Materials note

View digitized content for this series

 Correspondence 1898-1919 Box 1:1 Correspondence ca. 1930-1939 Box 1:2-5 Correspondence 1928-1932 Box 1:6 Correspondence 1933 Box 1:7 Correspondence 1934-1936 Box 1:8 Correspondence 1937 Box 1:9 Correspondence 1938-1939, 1942-1949 Box 1:10 Correspondence ca. 1950-1959 Box 1:11-12 Correspondence ca. 1950-1959 Box 2:1-2 Correspondence 1950 Box 2:3 Correspondence 1951 January-April Box 2:4 Correspondence 1951 May-June Box 2:5 Correspondence 1951 July-September Box 2:6 Correspondence 1951 October-December Box 2:7 Correspondence 1952 January-March Box 2:8 Correspondence 1952 April Box 2:9 Correspondence 1952 May-August Box 2:10 Correspondence 1952 September-December Box 2:11 Correspondence 1953 January-April Box 3:1 Correspondence 1953 May-August Box 3:2 Correspondence 1953 September-December Box 3:3 Correspondence 1954 January-August Box 3:4 Correspondence 1954 September-December Box 3:5 Correspondence 1955 Box 3:6 Correspondence 1956 January-April Box 3:7 Correspondence 1956 May-December Box 3:8 Correspondence 1957 January-March Box 3:9 Correspondence 1957 April-June Box 3:10 Correspondence 1957 July-September Box 3:11 Correspondence 1957 October-December Box 3:12 Correspondence 1958 January-March Box 4:1 Correspondence 1958 April-May Box 4:2 Correspondence 1958 June-September Box 4:3 Correspondence 1958 October-December Box 4:4 Correspondence 1959 January-May Box 4:5 Correspondence 1959 June-September Box 4:6 Correspondence 1959 October-December Box 4:7 Correspondence 1960 January-March Box 4:8 Correspondence 1960 April-July Box 4:9 Correspondence 1961-1963 Box 4:10 Correspondence 1964 Box 4:11 Correspondence 1965 January-April Box 4:12 Correspondence 1965-1966 Box 4:13 Undated Box 5:1-3 Writings (4 folders) 1912 - 1955 Scope and Contents note

This series includes articles Caroline Henderson wrote that were published between 1912 and 1914, in the Practical Farmer, as well as an advice column published monthly between 1915 and 1917 in the Ladies World magazine. Henderson's essays The Woman who Raised her hand: a true story from life, in a letter to the Editor, propounding a problem in ethics which readers will please help to solve, Bringing in the Sheaves, Loneliness, and Raising Turkeys are also included in this series.

 Writings 1912-1915 Box 5:4 Writings 1916-1918 Box 5:5 Writings 1927, 1931, 1955, undated Box 5:6 Publications based on Caroline Boa Henderson's Writings 1980-1981 Box 5:7 Herbarium (1.0 Box) 1898 Box 6 Biographical Information (2.0 Folders) circa 1940 September 15 Scope and Contents note

This series contains a typescript account fellow Mount Holyoke College classmate, Ruth Alden wrote after visiting Caroline Boa Henderson on her farm in Oklahoma in September 1940.

 A visit to the home of Caroline Boa Henderson ca. 1940 Box 7:1 Eleanor Henderson Materials 1929-1960 Box 7:2 Photographs (1.0 Folder) 1956 Box 7:3 Scope and Contents note

This series contains a single photograph of Caroline Boa Henderson's grandson David Eugene Grandstaff aged nine years old dressed as a frontier doctor for a Sunday school pageant.