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Ethel Palmer Breitenstein was born on June 9, 1887 in Watervliet, New York to George P. Breitenstein and Caroline Stoneman Breitenstein. She attended State Normal High School in Albany, New York. She entered Mount Holyoke College in 1907 and majored in zoology and economics and earned a B.A. degree in 1911. From 1912-1914 she did office work. She married Lloyd Nash Robinson, an electrical engineer, on January 27, 1914. They had two children. Robinson was a housewife for much of her life, although in 1946 she did secretarial work for a medical society in Seattle, Washington. She also lived in California and Massachusetts. She died on November 14, 1964 in Seattle, Washington at the age of seventy-seven.
The Ethel Palmer Breitenstein Robinson Papers consist of a scrapbook, two notebooks, newspaper clippings, an invitation and a birth announcement, photograph albums, and photographs. Of particular note are the scrapbook, photographs, and notebooks. The scrapbook primarily covers her time spent at Mount Holyoke College, 1906-1911, and chiefly contains items such as photographs of friends and schoolmates, programs, schedules, and invitations. Also of particular note are the photographs albums, dating from circa 1893-1962, which include three albums with photographs of herself, her husband Lloyd Nash Robinson, her children, and grandchildren. Also of note are two zoology notebooks that Robinson compiled for zoology courses she took while at Mount Holyoke. The notebooks include notes and sketches, some initialed sketches by Zoology Department faculty members Louise Baird Wallace, Julia B. Moody, Alice A. Noyes, Cornelia M. Clapp, or Mary A. Clark. Completing the collection is biographical information, consisting of newspaper clippings, wedding and birth announcements, and Robinson's obituary.
This collection is organized into four series:
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Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Ethel Breitenstein Robinson Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.
Arranged chronologically.
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The scrapbook, 1906-1913, was made by Robinson and contains class memorabilia, Mount Holyoke College directories, concert programs, Amherst College football schedule, tickets, photographs of students and campus scenes, receipts, envelopes, state election ballots, 1908, valentines, and invitations. Scrapbook also includes "Mountain Mail" sent to Robinson on Senior Mountain Day. This volume also includes a program for Class of 1911 banquet in 1913 and programs and photographs concerning Lloyd N. Robinson while he was a student at Union College, Schenectady, New York, 1906-1910.
Arranged chronologically.
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The notebooks consist of two books prepared by Robinson as a student at Mount Holyoke College. Both are for courses in invertebrate zoology. One notebook was for zoology 1 and 2, 1908-1909 taught by Louise Baird Wallace, Julia B. Moody, and Alice A. Noyes. The other notebook is for zoology 3 and 4, 1909-1910. These courses were in comparative anatomy of vertebrates and embryology, taught primarily by Cornelia M. Clapp and Mary A. Clark. Both notebooks contain detailed drawings (some of them in color) with occasional comments by teachers.
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The biographical information is made up of notes from the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly, her marriage invitation, a birth announcement for one of her children, and obituaries for both herself and her husband.
Arranged chronologically.
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The photographs consist of a large picture of Lloyd Nash Robinson's Union College graduating class of 1911, and three photograph albums. According to a note by the Robinson's son, Theodore, the first album chiefly consists of snapshots of his parents during their college years, 1907-1911. Of particular note are a photograph of the Mount Holyoke College Class of 1911 basketball team and snapshots of a steam ship probably on Lake George or Lake Champlain. This album also includes a photograph of Ethel B. Robinson at the age of six, circa 1893. The second album dates from 1914-1934. It begins with portraits taken of Lloyd and Ethel Robinson at the time of their marriage in 1914 and two clippings about their wedding. The remaining photographs concern the Robinson's travels, homes, children, and grandchildren. The third album consists of parts of at least three albums dating 1945-1962. These photographs are chiefly of Robinson family members.