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Ball Family Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MA.00130

Scope and Contents

Personal papers of three Amherst College alumni, the Reverend Albert H. Ball (AC 1866) and his two sons Allan (AC 1892) and Walter (AC 1897). The collection includes alumni notes, notebooks, manuscript writings, and printed matter. Reverend Albert Ball's materials consist of chronicles of his alumni class of 1866 and a commonplace book; Allan and Walter Ball's papers chiefly document their professional lives, as classical teacher/scholar and fiction writer, respectively.

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1869-1931

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

There is no restriction on access to the Ball Family Papers for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.

Conditions Governing Use

Requests for permission to publish material from the Ball Family Papers should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Biographical / Historical

Reverend Albert Horton Ball was born in Amherst, New Hampshire, on March 10th, 1843. He graduated from Amherst College in 1866, and continued his education at Madison University at Hamilton, New York, where he studied Divinity and Theology, graduating in 1869. He married Helen M. Savage in 1870. He died on December 3, 1937.

Albert Ball's son, Allan Perley Ball, was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, on December 17, 1871. He graduated from Amherst in 1892, and received a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1903. He began as a tutor in Latin at the City College of New York in 1901, and was made a professor of classical languages there by 1926. He married Vergie Allen in 1916. His book The Satire of Seneca was published in 1902, and The Essays of Seneca, which he edited, was published in 1908. Allan Ball died on October 9, 1971.

The other son of Reverend Albert Horton Ball, Walter Savage Ball, was born in Windsor, Vermont, on September 20, 1876. He graduated in 1897 from Amherst and received his master's degree in 1902. He worked at the North Adams (Mass.) Transcript, Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican, Sun, Providence Journal, and Evening Bulletin variously as a reporter, staff writer, editor, and chief editor until his retirement in 1931. His novel, Carmella Commands received the Harpers Prize in 1929; he published other works, mainly serial fiction, throughout his lifetime. He married to Marion Kimball Hadley in 1923 and died on May 1, 1937.

Extent

1.25 Linear feet (2 archives boxes, 1 half archives box)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Personal papers of three Amherst College alumni, the Reverend Albert H. Ball (AC 1866) and his two sons Allan (AC 1892) and Walter (AC 1897). The collection includes alumni notes, notebooks, manuscript writings, and printed matter.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into three series:

  1. Series 1: Reverend Albert Horton Ball (AC 1866) Papers
  2. Series 2: Allan Perley Ball (AC 1892) Papers
  3. Series 3: Walter Savage Ball (AC 1897) Papers

Related Materials

  1. Alumni Biographical Files - 1866 - Ball, Albert H.
  2. Alumni Biographical Files - 1892 - Ball, Allan P.
  3. Alumni Biographical Files - 1897 - Ball, Walter S.

Processing Information

Missing Title

Processed:
2003 June
By:
Graham Leach-Krouse '05, Student Encoding Assistant
Finding Aid:
2003 June
Prepared by:
Graham Leach-Krouse '05, Student Encoding Assistant
Edited by:
Peter A. Nelson, Assistant Archivist
Prepared for Web:
2003
By:
Graham Leach-Krouse 05, Student Encoding Assistant
Status
Completed
Author
Graham Leach-Krouse, Peter Nelson
Date
2003
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Repository Details

Part of the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
Robert Frost Library
61 Quadrangle Drive
Amherst MA 01002-5000
(413) 542-2299