Writer Ben Ames Williams (1889-1953) was born in Mississippi. His family moved to Ohio when he was a few months old. His father owned and edited a newspaper, served in the Ohio state senate. At age 15, the family move to Massachusetts and then, in 1905, to Cardiff, Wales where his father was appointed U S Consul. In 1906, Williams entered Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. After graduation, he became a reporter for the Boston American. Eventually mastering the formulas for writing popular fiction, Williams sold his first story in 1915 to Smith’s Magazine and then began to publish regularly in popular journals.

Williams left his newspaper job in 1916 to write fiction full time. The Saturday Evening Post serialized “The Making of Susie Oakes” in 1917. By 1919 he was one of the most prolific and successful short story writers in the country. Many of his stories were set in rural Maine, where he and his family spent summers at their farm in Searsmont, a place tied to William’s writing. His Maine stories feature Chet McAusland, a character based on Williams” Maine friend, Bert McCorrison. When McCorrison died in 1931, he bequeathed his Searsmont farm, Hardscrabble, to Williams, who came to use it as a retreat.

Splendor, published in 1929, was the first of Williams’ many historical novels. By the 1940s, he had moved away from short stories to longer pieces of fiction. House Divided (1947), set in the Civil War, was among the best received of his historical novels. Leave Her to Heaven (1944) is considered his most popular novel. Williams died in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1953 while competing in a curling tournament and he is buried in Maine.

A biographical sketch of Ben Ames Williams, written by his wife Florence Tapley Williams, is included in the September 1963 issue of the Colby Library Quarterly.

BEN AMES WILLIAMS AS DONOR

Williams received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Colby in 1942. His close association with the Saturday Evening Post, edited by George Horace Lorimer, was another tie with the college. Lorimer was the benefactor of Colby’s Lorimer Chapel on Mayflower Hill, completed in the early 1940s. Williams’ long time personal and professional friendship with Kenneth Roberts, honorary degree recipient in 1935, is also relevant. Roberts donated to the Treasure Room his editions of Williams’ novels, inscribed to Roberts and his wife.

In 1943, Curator Weber exhibited first editions of William’s books along with a manuscript of his novel, Time of Peace, that was given by the author. After Williams’ death, his wife Florence began sizable donations to Special Collections that continued through the 1960s.

Our extensive Ben Ames Williams collection contains letters, manuscripts and galley proofs, notebook, scrapbooks, and photographs. Published materials  include clippings, first appearances and the contents of Williams’ personal reference library.

Additional works consulted:

“Ben Ames Williams.” American National Biography Online. Web. 19 March 2015.

Ben Ames Williams donor file. Colby College Special Collections.

HIGHLIGHTED DONORS FOR THIS COLLECTION

In addition to primary donors Ben Ames Williams and Florence (Mrs Ben Ames) Williams:

Julius Seelye Bixler

Colby Library Associates

James Augustine Healy

Carl Jefferson Weber

The James Family collection at Colby is a collection of correspondences, manuscripts, and published materials from the family of philosopher/psychologist William James (1842-1910) and novelist/critic Henry James (1843-1916) as well as biographies and writings about its members. The collection offers insight into the personal lives and relations of a Victorian family gifted with literary talent and plagued by mental and physical ailments.

Student scholarship: Read brief biographies of James Family members by 2016 summer research assistant Rose Nelson ’16.

COLLECTION DETAILS

The March 1970 issue of the Colby Library Quarterly focuses on the content and provenance of our James Family collection. A finding aid is in progress.

HIGHLIGHTED DONORS FOR THIS COLLECTION

Julius Seelye Bixler – primary donor

Colby Library Associates – primary donor

H Bacon Collamore

Margaret Perry

Irene Cooper Willis

Mary Ellen Chase (1887-1973) was born in Blue Hill, Maine. She received a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Minnesota and taught at Smith College from 1926 to 1955. Chase wrote more than 30 books, many using her cherished Maine heritage as the setting. Her most famous of these works include Mary Peters, Silas Crockett, Windswept, and Edge of Darkness. She is regarded as one of the most important regional literary figures of the early twentieth century.

See “Mary Ellen Chase; Teacher, Writer, Lecturer” (Colby Library Quarterly, March 1962) for details on Chase’s career.

Our collection contains letters, manuscripts, notebooks, journals, photographs, and published works.

MARY ELLEN CHASE AS DONOR

The relationship between Mary Ellen Chase and Colby College began formally when she received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters at Commencement in 1937. Subsequently, she gave addresses at the college including the 1958 Commencement Address.

Curator Carl Weber developed a professional relationship with Chase in the 1950s as he built a rare book and manuscript repository that complemented the cornerstone collections of Thomas Hardy and Edwin Arlington Robinson. Their shared interest in Hardy facilitated this relationship, which was continued by Curator Richard Cary. Correspondence with Cary in the 1960s reveals a personal and professional friendship based on mutual academic respect and a shared interest in Maine literature, especially that of Sarah Orne Jewett. Cary indicates that Chase is well-represented in the Rare Book Room by 1960, through her gifts of books and manuscripts. She continued to give published and unpublished materials for the collection through the 1960s.

Cary’s proposal to devote the March 1962 issue of the Colby Library Quarterly to Chase’s life and work, commemorating her Diamond Jubilee (75th anniversary), was gratefully accepted. Chase contributed a reflection on her Maine-based writings. Cary completed a bibliography of Chase’s published writings for the issue with her assistance, although she confesses she has not kept accurate records. He consulted the Smith College archives to complete the lists. The correspondence leading up to the March 1962 issue is a mix of bibliographic corrections and discussion of additional gifts of unpublished materials and memorabilia for the collection. Chase returned Cary’s interest in her work by reviewing his volume on letters of Sarah Orne Jewett, published by the Colby College Press. In 1968, Cary expressed interest in editing a volume of Chase’s letters and was given permission.

Additional works consulted:

The Colby Echo. Waterville, ME: Colby University/Colby College. Web. 19 March 2015.

Mary Ellen Chase donor file. Colby College Special Collections.

HIGHLIGHTED DONORS FOR THIS COLLECTION

In addition to primary donor Mary Ellen Chase:

Julius Seelye Bixler

Richard Cary

Colby Library Associates

Robert Edward Lee Strider II

Celia Laighton Thaxter (1835-1894) was a poet and prose writer from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Her first poem, “Land-locked,” was published in 1860, and was an immediate success. She enjoyed visits from prominent artists, literary figures, and musicians at her family’s resort on Appledore Island, and was published in Harper’s, Scribner’s, and the Atlantic. She is best known today for An Island Garden and Among the Isles of Shoals.

The December 1964 issue of the Colby Library Quarterly features articles on Celia Thaxter’s life and work.

COLLECTION DETAILS

We have letters, poems, prose fragments, an unfinished novel, scrapbooks, and first appearances in print. Our Celia Thaxter Collection is described in detail online.

HIGHLIGHTED DONORS FOR THIS COLLECTION

Rosamond Thaxter – primary donor

Colby Library Associates

Margaret Perry

Theodora Sarah Orne Jewett (1849-1909) was born in the small town of South Berwick, Maine, near the New Hampshire border. Many of Jewett’s works take place in the area and derive their importance from her careful descriptions of local color. In 1901 she became the first female recipient of an honorary degree in literature from Bowdoin College. She died at the age of 59 in her birthplace of South Berwick. Jewett’s works include: Mr. Bruce, Deephaven, A Country Doctor, A White Heron, Country of the Pointed Firs, The Dulham Ladies, and The Tory Lover.

The September 1959 issue of the Colby Library Quarterly features articles on Jewett’s life and work, marking the 50th anniversary of her death.

Additional work consulted:

“Theodora Sarah Orne Jewett.” American National Biography Online. Web. 19 March 2015.

COLLECTION DETAILS

We have letters by and about Jewett, holograph manuscripts, periodicals containing her short stories, and books.

A finding aid and descriptive information for the Jewett Collection is available online.

HIGHLIGHTED DONORS FOR THIS COLLECTION

Colby Library Associates – primary donor

H Bacon Collamore – primary donor

Patrick Ferry – primary donor

Rosamond Thaxter – primary donor

Richard Cary

Laura E Richards

Margaret Perry

Irene Cooper Willis