Sprague Family Papers

The Sprague Family Papers consist of 11.25 linear feet of material documenting the lives and activities of Atherton Hall Sprague (AC 1920), Marion Whittemore Sprague, and Rosemary Sprague. Much of the material, including photographs, journal entries, correspondence, and poetry, touches upon their relationship to the Amherst community, including other faculty families, and to social organizations such as the Tuesday Club.

Marion and Rosemary both wrote diaries and travel journals, and sometimes shared a journal. Writings from both are included in the collection. Both were members of Amherst's long-running Tuesday Club, a women's literary society. Members of the Tuesday Club choose a topic to focus on for the year, and individual members write papers on the topic, which they present at Tuesday teas at members' houses.

In addition, Rosemary wrote poetry, plays, novels, and short stories. She registered copyright for some of these works, but apparently none were published. These are included in the collection in draft and finished form. The correspondence series includes critiques of her writing by friends of hers, including James I. Merrill and David Jackson.

The three family members called each other by pet names, with Rosemary often referred to as "Bunting" by her father, Atherton referred to as "Lim" by friends and family and signing letters to Rosemary as "Horse" or "H," and Marion signing letters "T.L." or "W." The family had stuffed animals and dolls that traveled with them, including Charles, Tubbins, Mr. Plumpy, Julia, and Benjy. They were lifelong dog owners. Some letters, journal entries, and other writings were written either to the dogs and stuffed animals or in the "voices" of the same. In particular, letters from Marion to Rosemary are often addressed to Charles.

Atherton, Marion, and Rosemary were longtime friends of poet James I. Merrill (AC 1947) and his partner, David Jackson. Marion and Rosemary apparently met Merrill through their involvement with Kirby Theater when he was a student at Amherst College. The collection includes letters addressed to Marion and Rosemary from Merrill, Jackson, Merrill's mother, Hellen Ingram Merrill Plummer, and Merrill's step-sister, Beatrice "Betty" Plummer Potts. In addition, the collection includes several photographs of Rosemary with Merrill and Jackson.

Rosemary Sprague attended high school at the Northampton School for Girls, which formally merged with the Williston Academy in 1971 to become the Williston Northampton School. The collection includes photographs of Rosemary with Northampton School classmates, as well as school memorabilia and promotional material for the school.

Also included are a large number of photographs, including portraits of Atherton, Marion, and Rosemary throughout their lifetimes, family snapshots, and disbound photo albums.

The Sprague family lived in at least two faculty houses, 227 South Pleasant Street, and 100 College Street (since torn down), both in Amherst. 227 South Pleasant Street, also called the Fisher House, was also Calvin Coolidge's home during his freshman and sophomore years at Amherst. In a letter to Marion Sprague, James Merrill called 227 South Pleasant Street his "first home away from home." Many photographs of both properties can be found in the collection.

Rosemary was also apparently a hockey fan. The collection includes publicity photographs for Springfield, Mass. hockey teams, as well as correspondence from hockey players and hockey leagues.

The collection also includes genealogical material for the Sprague and Whittemore families, including family trees, research about family members conducted by several different parties, and the typed memoir of one of Atherton Hall Sprague's grandmothers, from 1906.