mshm194 Coon Papers, ca. 1913-1939. Finding Aid Encoding funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections

South Hadley, MA

Finding aid generated in MARC format from database, then encoded using Perl scripts and XSL stylesheet. 2003-05-20 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mshm194 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Coon Papers, ca. 1913-1939. Finding Aid MS 0525 Encoding funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Coon, Edith M. (Edith Marion), 1889-1939. Coon Papers ca. 1913-1939. MS 0525 LD 7092.8 Coon 1 box (2.5 linear in.) Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections

South Hadley, MA

Coon, Edith Marion, 1889-1939; teacher and school administrator. Mount Holyoke College graduate, 1913. Mount Holyoke College faculty member, 1914-1916; Women's Christian College teacher and administrator, 1916-1939. Papers consist of letters, writings, biographical information and photographs, chiefly documenting her work as a science teacher and administrator and her travels in south Asia. English. Biographical Note

Edith Marion Coon was born on March 1, 1889 in Springfield, Massachusetts, the daughter of E. Brownell Coon. She graduated from Springfield High School and attended Mount Holyoke College from 1909-1913, where she majored in mathematics and physics. She was an instructor and reader in mathematics at Mount Holyoke from 1914-1916 and received a M.A. in mathematics from the College in 1916. That same year she left to teach at Women's Christian College in Madras, India, where she was the first American to serve on the school's staff. She worked there as a mathematics teacher, head of the Physics Department and Vice-Principal until her death in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on June 1, 1939 at the age of fifty.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Edith M. Coon Papers consist of correspondence, writings, biographical clippings, letters, and photographs. The papers pertain primarily to her years as a teacher and administrator at Women's Christian College in Madras, India (1916-1939). Her correspondence concerns many aspects of the College including enrollment, curriculum, finances, living arrangements, celebrations and language difficulties at the school. She also discusses social and political conditions in India, interactions with missionaries in the region, and vacations to Ceylon and Kashmir. Writings consist of articles by her concerning the condition of girls in India, the administration of Women's Christian College, an article on differential equations, and a speech about her work in India given in June 1922. Biographical information consists of letters, newspaper clippings and magazine articles chiefly about her work in India. The collection also includes two formal portraits and two snapshots of Coon, all probably dating from her years at Mount Holyoke.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into four series:

Correspondence Writings Biographical Information Photographs Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

Unrestricted.

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Edith M. Coon Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, Massachusetts

Search Terms Coon, Edith M. (Edith Marion), 1889-1939. Women's Christian College (Madras, India) - History - Sources. Science - Study and teaching (Higher) - India - History - Sources. Women - Education - India. College teachers - India. Women college teachers - India. Voyages and travels. Missionaries - India. India - Description and travel. India - Social conditions - 20th century. India - Politics and government - 1919-1947 - Sources. Letters. Photographs.