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Helen S. Judson Collected Sherwood Select School Papers

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Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. 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 Sheldon Judson was born November 22, 1885, in Vernon, New York, to Salmon Sheldon Judson and Helen Lydia Dean Judson. She had two younger brothers, James and Sheldon. Helen Judson graduated from Vernon High School in 1903 and spent the next school year studying in the home of her Aunt Cornelia Frances Dean Merritt and her husband Arthur H. Merritt, who was a professor at Trinity College in Durham, North Carolina. In 1904, she entered Wellesley College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1908.

In 1909, she joined the staff of Sherwood Select School. Sherwood Select School was established in 1871 at the request of Elizabeth and Samuel Otis. Their children previously had been taught at home, but now they were ready for high school. The Otises provided a house to serve as the school and hired Hepsibeth Hussey as the first principal. Initially only the children of Wilburite Friends were to attend, but there weren’t enough in the area to form a class, so the children of other neighbors were invited. Fourteen pupils studied at Sherwood the first year, but by 1882, the population had grown so large that a new building was necessary. Emily Howland, (1827-1929) who had served as the school’s primary benefactor since its opening, provided the new building.. She was a Quaker humanitarian and educator particularly known for her work with formerly enslaved people in Virginia during and after the American Civil War. Starting around 1895, attendance dropped off because the school was not under the jurisdiction of the State Regents. In 1906, most of the school closed, although one class continued for an additional year.

The School was reorganized under the New York State Regents requirement and reopened in 1909 under Principal Louise Billyard. She hired Helen Judson as her assistant. During her time at Sherwood, Helen taught algebra, ancient history, geography, spelling, and biology. She also served as principal for two years. Around 1919, Helen Judson became a teacher at Syracuse Central High School, where she taught biology until her retirement in 1956. Helen S. Judson died August 5, 1973, at the age of 87 at the Presbyterian Nursing Home in New Hartford, NY.

Although Emily Howland paid Sherwood’s annual deficit for almost forty years, she became concerned about the future of the School as she became very elderly. In 1926, Sherwood combined with six other schools to form a consolidated public school which was named Sherwood Central School. Emily Howland served on the first board of education, and Miss Phebe King, who had been a student, teacher, and principal at Sherwood Select, became the first principal of the new school.

This collection contains the papers of Helen S. Judson, including correspondence while at the Sherwood Select School and from Emily Howland. It also contains typed transcripts of writings by Emily Howland, 1836-1929, and Sherwood Select School memorabilia.

Organized in 3 series: 1. Correspondence; 2. Typed transcripts of the writing of Emily Howland and memorabilia; 3. Sherwood School Memorabilia.

Gift of Sheldon Judson, 1997-98, nephew of Helen S. Judson.

Correspondence and papers were organized, put in folder boxes, and placed in RG 5. One of the two copies of A Historical Sketch of Sherwood Select School (1871-1911) by Lucy Jacobs was removed from the collection and added to PG 2, Schools. Individual photographs of Emily Howland were removed to FHL Individual Portraits. Photographs of students and teachers of the Sherwood School remain in Series 3 for ease of access.

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.

Collection Inventory

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence concerning Helen S. Judson’s application to teach at Sherwood School, 1909.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Letters of recommendation for Helen S. Judson., 1909-1921.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence from Helen S. Judson at Sherwood School to her mother Helen Dean Judson., 1910-1912.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence to Helen S. Judson at Sherwood School from her mother Helen Dean Judson., 1912-1913.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Correspondence to Helen S. Judson from Emily Howland., 1913-1925.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous correspondence to Helen S. Judson., 1936, 1959, & 1960.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Miscellaneous Letters and Essays (transcripts), 1836-1929.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Commencement Addresses at Sherwood and Interesting Quotes from Diaries (Transcripts), 1849-1928.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Letters and Diary from Miss Miner’s School, Washington, D.C., and Letters from Heathsville, Va. (transcripts), 1857-1870.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Journal, Report, Reminiscences, and Letters from Contraband Camp. (transcripts), 1863-1866.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Speeches about Temperance, Woman’s Suffrage, and Peace (transcripts), 1874-1924.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Historical Sketch of Friends in Cayuga County, N.Y., 1882.
Box 1
Scope and Contents

1964 reprint of 1882 edition.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Transcript of an unfinished letter from Emily Howland to Ramabai of India, 1888.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Program for the 62nd Convocation of the University of the State of New York, 1926.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Beneficiaries of Emily Howland’s Will., 1929.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. An Unforgettable Person – Emily Howland (1827-1929) , n.d.
Box 1
Physical Description

2 copies

Archival Resource Key. Class Lapel Pin, Isabel Howland’s bookplate (Emily Howland’s niece), 1909; n.d.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Photographs of persons associated with the Sherwood School, ca. 1911-1959.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Includes individual portraits of Lucille Robertson, Isabel Howland, Helen Judson, and Phebe King; teachers at Sherwood School picnic in 1911, at a Sherwood School reunion, and in 1959

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Speech by Principal Louise Billyard at the Alumni Association Meeting., 1910.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. A Historical Sketch of Sherwood Select School (1871-1911), 1911.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Grade Book of Helen S. Judson, 1912-1913.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. The Owl (Yearbook), 1913.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Commencement Programs, 1913 & 1919.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Commencement Speech by Emily Howland, 1920.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Memorials and biographies of Helen S. Judson, Isabel Howland, and Emily Howland, 1929-1973.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. MS by Helen Judson, “What Kept Miss Emily Young,”, 1909, 1973.
Box 2
Scope and Contents

Photocopy. Given at P.T.A. meeting in 1909 after the Sherwood School was reopened; also a cover letter from Phebe King describing Miss Judson.

Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Program from the Sherwood Central School Dedication Ceremony., 1955.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Transcript of testimonial dinner for Phebe King., 1965.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Newspaper clippings re: Sherwood School and its former teachers., n.d. & 1966.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Archival Resource Key. Report of the Committee on the Emily Howland Memorial to the members of the Board of Education of Sherwood Central School., n.d.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

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