Letter, 1908 April

The papers consist mainly of letters Mabel wrote to her family while a student at Oberlin College. She lived in Stewart Hall, Lord Cottage and Talcott Hall, and thus tells of life in a girls dormitory. The subjects she writes about include parties and “spreads,” her friends, a few teachers (Professor of German, Arletta M. Abbott, for example), rules broken (4-8-06), lectures by Dean of College Women, Florence M. Philip (1908), being entertained by two faculty wives (3-4-08), a winning debate and the celebration that followed, plays, stunts, literary society activities, trouble in a sociology class caused by a student assistant, celebration after a debate (3-7-09), and the senior prom (5-9-09). There are also several letters written from Cortland (1908) plus a few letters that Mabel received from members of her family.

Note: Entry taken from William E. Bigglestone’s unpublished “[preliminary] Guide to the Oberlin College Archives,” which was prepared as individual entry sheets in a three-ring binder during the early 1980s.