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, 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 had three children, all of whom graduated from Bates. Ina's brother William L. Parsons also graduated from Bates, in 1905, and her father attended Maine State Seminary in the 1860s. She died in 1938 in New York City, age 65.
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 cousin while at Bates.