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Bethiah Avery Miller was born in Heath, Massachesetts on February 14, 1815 to The Reverend Moses Miller and Bethiah Ware Miller. She came to Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1837 and remained at the school for one year. She is considered a non-graduating member of the Class of 1839. She married the Reverend Washington Adams Nichols in 1838. She died in Lake Forest, Illinois in 1865.
The Bethiah Miller Nichols Papers consist of a letter, lecture notes, biographical information, and a photograph. The material primarily relates to her year at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, 1837-1838, and her opinions on religion and education. Nichols wrote the letter to Pricilla Maxwell on January 16, 1837, and it describes Mary Lyon's visit to Heath, Massachusetts. During this visit, Lyon persuaded the residents of Heath to donate $1,200 in support of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Nichols' letter conveys surprise at Lyon's ability to bolster support for the Seminary from the people Heath. The letter also discusses death of a mutual friend from consumption (tuburculosis), and Nichols' religious beliefs have a heavy influence on all issues discussed in the letter. Notes on the history of ancient Greece, entitled "Abstracts from general history," taken on December 7, 1837, "Items from Miss Lyon's lectures on education," taken in 1838, and an undated set of notes from a lecture entitled, "Of Intellectual Habits" are included in the collection. The notes depict how Mount Holyoke Female Seminary students were taught in several subjects during the first year the seminary was open. The biographical information consists of a page of brief notes about Nichols, 1865, and one photograph of her husband, Reverend Washington Adams Nichols.
Material from this collection is available in an online digital format.
This collection is arranged in four series:
Unrestricted
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Bethiah A. Miller Nichols Papers, Mount Holyoke College, Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.
Images from this collection are also available online as part of the
Unrestricted
This series consists of one item, a typed transcription of a letter from Bethiah Miller Nichols to Priscilla Maxwell. In the letter Bethiah Miller refers to Ipswich Female Seminary where Priscilla Maxwell was a student. She also discusses Mary Lyon's 1837 fundraising lecture in Heath, Massachusetts.
Arranged chronologically.
Unrestricted
This series contains Bethiah Miller Nichols notes from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary titled "Abstracts from General History," "Items From Miss Lyon's Lectures on Education," and "Of Intellectual Habits."
Unrestricted
This series contains one brief page of notes about Bethiah Miller Nichols, compiled by Anna C. Edwards, Class of 1859.
Unrestricted
This series contains one small photograph of Bethiah A. Miller Nichols husband, Washington Adams Nichols. The back of the photograph contains brief handwritten biographical notes.