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The “Good Speech Movement” at Smith: A History of the Spoken English Department: Collections at Smith

Guide to the history of the Spoken English department and its college-wide voice correction campaign. Written by Sonia Carroll '24, Reference Assistant.

Spoken English Department Records in Smith College Special Collections

Materials related to the Spoken English Department are found in Smith College Archives, one of three main collections in Smith College Special Collections: the Mortimer Rare Book Collection, the Smith College Archives and the Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History.

Read the “Scope and Contents” and the "Biographical/Historical" notes in the finding aids for more information on each individual collection.

College Archives

Department of Theatre records

The Department of Theatre oversees a wide variety of courses, productions and lectures at Smith. A large part of the collection includes production files, but it also contain chairperson files, exams, syllabi, general department files, scrapbooks, posters, set and costume designs, and photos. In addition, the collection includes records of the former Department of Spoken English and Department of Speech, as well as records relating to the Department of Dance prior to its separation from the Department of Theatre in 1976.

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Office of President William Allan Neilson Files

The Office of President William Allan Neilson files document his official duties as president of Smith College. The collection includes correspondence, subject files, and organization files. Neilson's collaboration with trustees is demonstrated in the correspondence files. His involvement in the development of the curriculum, alumnae relations, construction of buildings, and the basic running of the college is highlighted in the subject files. Of particular interest in the organization files is information on donors to Smith College.

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Emily Hale Papers

The Emily Hale papers contain biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings covering Hale's career as a faculty member at Smith College and other aspects of her personal life.

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Ethel Hale Freeman Papers

Much of the collection is from Freeman's time as a professor at Smith. The information regarding her personal life is largely confined to her correspondence with her family during two trips to Europe, the first in 1905-1906 and the second in 1908-1909. A large portion of the collection contains correspondence and materials documenting her involvement in various organizations, particularly the Lend-a-Hand Dramatic Club. Other materials include classnotes, plays, photographs, memorabilia books, music scores, and sketches.

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Faculty and staff biographical files

Materials include photographs, news clippings, biographical material. Some include personal papers: class notes, publications, research notes, correspondence, journals, etc.

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