"Joseph Barnard's Account Concerning his Grandson", undated

The Phillips Family papers document a period in the young-adulthood of the four sisters, Edith, Philena, Hannah, and Sallie.  The bulk of the collection is personal correspondence written by Edith and Philena to various family members.  Many of the letters describe student life both, in the case of Edith, at Central College in McGrawville, New York, in 1850, and from all the sisters at Oberlin Preparatory and College between 1852 and 1855. Of special interest are Edith’s descriptions of student life at Central College, including being quarantined through the 1850 small pox epidemic that swept the campus; her fond and detailed descriptions of the African-American professor of rhetoric, William G. Allen; and descriptions of campus visits by Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) and Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), “these abolitionists of the Empire State,” whom Edith described as “rugged, determined looking people.”  Also of special interest are the sisters’ descriptions of travel through upstate New York, including their 1153 mile trip by water, rail and stage to Oberlin; their graphic descriptions of the town of Oberlin, their housekeeping arrangements and the cold weather; notes on the Ladies Literacy Society and comments on speakers of the day, including President Charles G. Finney, Henry Ward Beecher, and Antoinette Brown. Philena’s letters include an especially rich description of the 1853 [Robert] Burns Festival at Oberlin.

Also preserved are a series of essays and orations, some written by Philena at Oberlin, and some not identified as to author or location.  The essays reflect student life, and cover topics such as “The Head and the Heart,” Greek mythology, and an analysis of American author Grace Greenwood’s (Sara Jane Lippincott, 1823-1904) book, History of My Pets.  Two of the essays, both on symbolism and nature, were delivered as orations, one at the Oberlin Ladies Literary Society in 1852, and the other at McGrawville in 1854.

The collection is divided into three series.  Series 1 contains the correspondence of the four sisters.  Series 2 contains the correspondence of other Phillips family members, sometimes written to the sisters, and sometimes mentioning news of them. Series 3 consists of essays and orations, five by Philena Phillips, and seven unidentified.