
Margaret Perry (1876-1970) was the eldest of three daughters of editor-translator-critic Thomas Sergeant Perry and artist Lilla Cabot Perry. The Perrys lived abroad and in Japan and maintained residences in Boston and at “Flagstones” in Hancock, New Hampshire. Margaret and her sisters formed friendships with Edwin Arlington Robinson through her parents’ close relationship with the poet, who visited for extended periods. Margaret died in her Hancock home in July 1970.
MARGARET PERRY AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Margaret Perry became associated with Colby College through her close relationship with Ruth Robinson Nivison, the niece of poet Edwin Arlington Robinson, who deposited an extensive collection of Robinson materials in 1940. Margaret Perry was a founding member of the Edwin Arlington Robinson Birthplace, Inc. – a corporation established to maintain the house and contents at poet’s birthplace home in Head Tide, Maine after his death in 1935.
Perry’s gift of her father’s personal library was announced in 1948. A room dedicated to housing the Perry Library was completed in 1963 as a condition of the gift. Additional donations through the 1960s established our collections for both her father Thomas and mother Lilla. She also added significantly to the James Family and other associated collections.
Works consulted:
Colby Library Quarterly. Waterville, ME: Colby College Library. Print and web.
Margaret Perry donor file. Colby College Special Collections.
ASSOCIATED COLLECTIONS
Lilla Cabot Perry – primary collection