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Helen Wright Prince family papers regarding Westtown School
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Held at: Westtown School Archives [Contact Us]975 Westtown Road, West Chester, PA, 19382
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Westtown School Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Helen Alice Wright Prince entered Westtown School, a prominent Quaker boarding school in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1922 and graduated in 1929. Born in Columbus, New Jersey in 1911, her parents were William Wright (Westtown class of 1905) and Ione Hankins Wright. While at Westtown, she was very involved with student activities, playing on varsity teams for hockey, swimming, and basketball. She also served on student council and on some student committees. She was in art and music clubs, played a leading role in a student presentation of "As You Like It," and was a finalist in an elocution contest.
After graduating from Westtown, Helen received a teaching degree and taught in elementary schools in several areas of Pennsylvania for more than 30 years. In the 1950s, Price taught a combined class of 1st through 8th graders at East Cutchogue Migrant Labor Camp. She and her husband, Frederic "Hummer" Corwin Prince, settled in Southold, Long Island, New York. An avid gardener, local historian, and genealogist, Helen was also an active member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). She passed away in 2013.
Helen's brother Herbert Ellis Wright entered Westtown School at the same time as his sister. Though a bit of a trouble-maker, he engaged in student activities and served as class Fire Chief. Herbert was active in the student hiking club, and also participated in Ataraxa, Bostonians, Rustic, Latin club, and junior varsity soccer.
Bibliography:
"Helen Wright Prince." Obituary in The Suffolk Times, May 14, 2013. Accessed October 4, 2013. http://suffolktimes.timesreview.com/2013/05/39676/helen-wright-prince/
Westtown School yearbooks.
The collection consists primarily of materials collected and created by Helen A. Wright Prince while a student at Westtown from 1922-1929. It includes correspondence, much of which is with her mother (originals annotated and transcribed) as well as a scrapbook, autograph album, reports, various ephemera, and some school notebooks. There are some materials from Helen's brother Herbert (letters to mother annotated and transcribed); and father William E. Wright (letters and photos, 1904-1909). Also included is one school textbook.
Gift of Helen Wright Prince in 1996 and 1999. Accession # 1996.10.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Westtown School Archives directly for more information.
People
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Westtown School Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Faith Charlton through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact Westtown School Archives for information about accessing this collection.