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 |
|---|---|
| Creator: | Collier, Elizabeth Brownell |
| Title: | Elizabeth Brownell Collier Papers |
| Dates: | 1895-1968 |
| Quantity: | 0.2 cubic feet (1 box) |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, notes, transcripts, and photographs related to Elizabeth Brownell Collier's turn-of-the-century childhood, as well as her time at Vassar and beyond. |
Biographical Note
Elizabeth Brownell Collier was born on December 30, 1883. Her mother, Laura Brownell Collier (VC 1874), was a member of a prominent New England family and her father, John Austin Collier, was a scientist. When she was a young girl, the family moved to Brooklyn, where Laura Collier taught at Packer Collegiate Institute, a private, all-girls academy. Both Elizabeth and her younger sister Katharine attended Packer. Elizabeth graduated from Packer in 1902 and spent a year at the University of Vermont before transferring to Vassar College.
Elizabeth did well at Vassar, where she was named to Phi Beta Kappa and awarded the Furness Prize for best essay on a Shakespearean or Elizabethan subject. In 1909 she found a job teaching English at Hunter College in Manhattan. Elizabeth earned her Master of Arts from Columbia University at 1911 and spent a year studying in Oxford, England.
When she was not at work, Elizabeth spent much of her time doing civic work. She was involved in the suffrage movement, and after women gained the vote, she was appointed Vice President of the New York City League of Women Voters, and Vice Chairman of the Brooklyn Republican Party. Among others, she worked closely with Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia.
After her retirement, Elizabeth moved to Highland, New York, where she lived with an invalid friend, a Miss Grace Roberts. She returned often to visit the Vassar College campus. Elizabeth died on November 30, 1968, in a fire which destroyed her home.
TopScope and Content Note
The collection contains material related to Elizabeth Brownell Collier's turn-of-the-century childhood, as well as her time at Vassar and beyond. Compared to the rest of the Collier Family Papers, this collection is very small. Most or all of the material was probably saved by Elizabeth's sister Katharine or her mother Laura, since whatever she owned at the time was probably destroyed in the fire in which she died. Elizabeth appears to have been an active and colorful figure who grew eccentric in her old age.
TopAccess and Use
Access
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without 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 1906 Bulletins, as well as the Alumnae/i Biographical Files in the Archives and Special Collections Library:
- The papers of Elizabeth's sister, Katharine Brownell Collier (VC 1908), and mother, Laura Brownell Collier (VC 1874), are also available for research:
Subject Headings
Organizations:
- Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn
- Vassar College--Alumni and alumnae
Document Types:
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Photographs
- Printed ephemera
VCL Categories:
- Family
- Vassar College
Encoding Information
Encoded by Madeleine Amodio, June 2011. Updated by Emma Gronbeck, June 2025.
TopAdministrative Information
Preferred Citation
Elizabeth Brownell Collier Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Collection processed by the Vassar College Archives in May 1994. Last updated 28 June 2011.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Lincoln Brownell, circa 1980-1984.
Series List
Series I. PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1910, 1925 |
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Series II. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, 1895-1946 |
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Series III. WRITINGS, circa 1960s |
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Series IV. NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, 1906-1968 |
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Series V. PHOTOGRAPHS, undated |
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Container List
Return to the Table of Contents
Details
Correspondence, notes, transcripts,
and photographs related to Elizabeth Brownell Collier's turn-of-the-century childhood, as well as her
time at Vassar and beyond.
