Ina Parsons Papers

The collection finding aid can be seen here. Photographs from the collection can be seen here.

Ina Mary Parsons was born in New Portland, Maine, in 1873. Before Bates she attended New Portland and Cony High Schools. While 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 Stevens High School in Claremont, New Hampshire, from 1896 to 1904, primarily teaching French and Latin. She married her Bates classmate George W. Thomas in 1904, and they lived in New York City, where he had a law practice. They had three children, all of whom graduated from Bates (Charles '26, Howard '31, and Kathryn '37). Ina's brother William Lewis Parsons also graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Bates, in 1905, and had a long career as a lawyer in Boston while also serving as a Trustee for the College from 1939 to 1970. Her father Albert attended Maine State Seminary from 1860 to 1863 (as did several of his siblings). Later, her cousin William Sherman Parsons attended Nichols Latin School and graduated from Bates in 1898. Ina Parsons Thomas 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 in the transcripts, 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. Original punctuation and spelling have been changed only for clarity.

It should also be noted that some Bates-specific terms are used repeatedly in the diaries. "Decs" refers to declamations, or public speaking events, that were usually held between the various classes or at other public events. The abbreviations "Polym" and "Euro" refer to the Polymnian and the Eurosophian clubs, which were two popular literary societies at the time. As Bates did not have fraternities or sororities, clubs like these were places where students could mingle at social events (often called "sociables" by Ina) or as forums for public speaking.