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Sylvia Plath Special Collections Resources

Collections related to Sylvia Plath in Smith College Special Collections

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where do I find information about Sylvia Plath's time at Smith College and Smith student life in general?

Material related to Sylvia Plath can be found throughout the College Archives in multiple collections, including in files for Smith houses, clubs, and college publications. For guidance on finding this information, check out the Smith College Archives biographical research resources guide.

 

Where can I find digitized content related to Plath?

A significant portion of the Sylvia Plath Collection (MRBC-MS-00045), in addition to material from other related collections, has been digitized. If you would like access to existing digital copies, please email specialcollections@smith.edu. 

For additional information about digitized resources such as College Publications, please read the Smith College Archives biographical research resources guide.

 

Why isn't all digitized content available online?

The majority of the material related to Sylvia Plath in Smith College Special Collections is under copyright and cannot be published online. Material created by Sylvia Plath (even unpublished material) cannot be published online, including books she annotated. For all other material, email specialcollections@smith.edu for digital copies.

 

Where did Sylvia Plath live as a student at Smith?

According to the Smith directories for students, Plath lived in the following places on campus as a student:

  • Haven House (1950-1951)
  • Haven House (1951-1952)
  • Lawrence House (1952-1953) (double)
  • Fall of 1953, absent
  • Spring 1954 Lawrence House (single)
  • Lawrence House (1954-1955) (double)

Sylvia Plath in Lawrence House (Lawrence House Roster: -Roster / Register, 1922-1968)

  • 1952-1953: Room 6 (now 215 A/B) with Mary Bonneville
  • Fall of 1953, absent
  • Spring 1954: Likely Room 6 (now 215 A/B), alone
  • 1954-1955: Room 4 (now 217) sharing a wall with Room 5 (now 216), occupied by Nancy Hunter

 

Where did Plath get the Smith College Pink Memo paper?

The pink memorandum paper was standard for internal operations in Smith College. Plath frequently mentions how the color inspired her creativity, resulting in countless drafts of poetry and prose on the memo paper.

Download a high resolution file of the memo paper here: Smith College pink memo paper.

 Journal entry for March 3, 1958:

"Got a queer and most overpowering urge today to write, or typewrite, my whole novel on the pink, stiff, lovely-textured Smith memorandum pads of 100 sheets each: a fetish: somehow, seeing a hunk of that pink paper, different from all the endless reams of white bond, my task seems finite, special, rose-cast. Bought a rose bulb for the bedroom light today & have already robbed enough notebooks from the supply closet for one & 1/2 drafts of a 350 page novel. Will I do it. Broke the jinx of my first lesson & got a quiz made up & "Ghosts" outlines. Must rip through two plays tomorrow & then to the blinding deluge of Arvins exams."

Journal entry for March 10, 1958:

"Almost asleep in Newton's class: must be up early, to laundry & to steal more pink pads of paper tomorrow."

Letter to Alfred Young Fisher (Smith professor) June 11, 1962:

"I have a crazy favor to ask. Ignore it if it seems unusually crazy. I got so used, at Smith, to scribbling poems on the back of those big pink Smith College Memorandum sheets I have a fetish for them. Do you think I could send a check to someone & buy about a dozen of those pink pads??? My Muse is mad for them!" 

 

Other Resources

 

Local history and publications

Historic Northampton
Searchable digital collections, including photos (esp. the Howes Brothers Collection), objects, artifacts & maps; the Historic House Inventory, indexed plot map of the Old Burial Grounds & full-text of The Hampshire Gazette, 1786+ (in progress).