Ina Mary Parsons was born in New Portland, Maine, in 1873. At Bates she won the prize for excellence in scholarship her freshman, sophomore, and junior years, was the class valedictorian, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1896. She was an instructor at Claremont High School in New Hampshire from 1896 to 1904, teaching French and Latin. She married her classmate George W. Thomas in 1904, and they moved to New York City. They had three children, all of whom graduated from Bates (Charles '36, Howard '41, and Kathryn '37). Ina's brother William L. Parsons also graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Bates, in 1905, and had a long career as a lawyer in Boston, while serving as a Trustee for the College from 1939 to 1970. Her father Albert attended Maine State Seminary from 1860 to 1863, and later her cousin William S. Parsons attended Nichols and graduated from Bates in 1898. She died in 1938 in New York City, age 65, from injuries sustained in a fall.
This collection contains correspondence, diaries, photographs, and a scrapbook documenting Parsons' four years at Bates. In addition there is a chemistry textbook used by her brother while at Bates.
NOTES ON THE DIARIES: The diaries were transcribed by Megan Billings, and edited by Billings and Pat Webber. First names of Bates-related people (only) are provided at their first appearance in the diaries. Recurring family members include her father, siblings Cora, Mabel, and "Lewie" (William L.), as well as cousin "Willie" (William S.). Editorial additions to the transcripts are indicated in brackets, as [ ]. Names and words that could not be transcribed are indicated by a question mark, as [?]. Pagination of the diaries has been maintained, even though not every diary included page numbers. Ina's use of paragraphs was often difficult to determine, so best guesses were regularly made during transcription.