Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Biographical Note
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Related Material
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
| Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
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| Creator: | Collier, Laura Brownell |
| Title: | The Laura Brownell Collier Papers |
| Dates: | 1874-1944 |
| Quantity: | 3.5 cubic feet (5 boxes) |
| Abstract: | Material relating to and created by Laura Brownell Collier covering her time at Vassar and beyond. Mostly personal correspondence, notes, and diaries. |
Biographical Note
Laura Brownell Collier was born on January 27, 1851 in Williston, Vermont. A member of a prominent New England family, she was descended from Governor William Bradford and John and Priscilla Alden. Laura's father, Chauncey Wells Brownell, was prominent lawyer and Vermont state senator, and her mother, Laura Chapin Higbee Brownell, had been head of the Williston Academy.
At the age of 13 Laura began teaching in a one-room school in Williston and later taught in the Burlington, Vermont public schools for $1.50 a week. She entered Vassar College as a senior and was graduated in 1874 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After Vassar, she taught at Abbot Academy in Andover, Massachusetts for three years, and then studied at Berlin University from 1877 to 1878.
In 1882, Laura married John Austin Collier, a research chemist who worked on experiments involving sorghum, rice production, and milling. They then moved to Brooklyn, New York where Laura found a job teaching Latin at Packer Collegiate Institute. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Katharine, who attended both Packer and later, Vassar College. From 1902 until 1911, John was the manager of the Vermont and Arizona Copper Company, which was located in Arizona, although Laura and the girls remained in New York. Laura was widowed on September 11, 1920.
Active in various historical and social organizations, Laura was a member of the Alden Kindred Association, the Meridian Club, the League of Women Voters, and other groups concerning the antiwar and woman suffrage movements. She took pride in the fact that she voted at every regular and special election. Laura also wrote a number of editorials for the New York Press, on topics ranging from the Mexican Revolution to the College Settlement movement.
In 1942 she moved back to Vermont with her younger daughter, Katharine, where she remained until her death in 1949.
TopScope and Content Note
Like the rest of the Collier Family Papers, the papers of Laura Brownell Collier tend to be weak on substance and superficial in areas. For example, there is little or no information concerning her teaching career or the program she initiated between Packer Collegiate Institute and Vassar College. The collection's strength lies in the amount of personal correspondence, notes and diaries kept by Laura Brownell Collier, and newspaper articles written by her.
TopAccess and Use
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Librarywithout any additional restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
Permission to quote (publish) from unpublished or previously published material must be obtained as described in the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library.
Related Material
- Researchers interested in more of the personal aspects of Laura Brownell Collier's life are encouraged to examine the Class of 1874 Bulletins, which form part of the Class Box collection as well as the Alumnae/i Biographical Files in the Archives and Special Collections Library.
- The papers of Laura's two daughters, Elizabeth Brownell Collier, VC 1906, and Katharine Brownell Collier, VC 1908, are also available for research.
Subject Headings
Names:
- Brownell, Chauncey W.
- Brownell, Laura Higbee
- Collier, Elizabeth Brownell
- Collier, John A.
- Collier, Katharine Brownell
Organizations:
- Vassar College--Alumni and alumnae
Document Types:
- Diaries
- Photographs
VCL Categories
- Family
- Vassar College
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
The Laura Brownell Collier Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Collection processed by the Vassar College Library and Archives in November 1994. Last updated 29 June 2011
The bulk of this collection is the papers of Laura Brownell Collier; However, Box 4 contains both Laura Brownell Collier and Katharine Brownell Collier, as well as mixed papers that could have originated from either woman.
Acquisition Information
These papers came in three accessions.
Custodial History
This collection was brought to the Vassar College Libraries in the early 1980s by Elizabeth Daniels, the Vassar College Historian, who received them from Mr. Lincoln Brownell, Laura Brownell Collier's closest living relative.
Series List
Series I: PERSONAL CORREPSONDENCE |
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Series II: EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS |
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Series III: ORGANIZATIONS |
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Series IV: NOTES AND NOTEBOOKS |
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Series V: PERIODICALS AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES |
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Series VI: PERSONAL BUSINESS |
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Series VII: PHOTOGRAPHS |
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Series VIII: POSTCARDS |
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Series IX: MEMORABILIA |
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Container List
Return to the Table of Contents
Details
Material relating to and created by Laura Brownell Collier covering her time at Vassar and beyond. Mostly personal correspondence, notes, and diaries.
