ma172 Sabrina Collection, ca. 1860-2006 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Mariah Sakrejda-Leavitt. Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Amherst, MA
© 2007

Amherst College Archives and Special Collections. All rights reserved.

 Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Peter A. Nelson. 2007-09-27 Finding aid written in English Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Sabrina Collection, ca. 1860-2006 Finding Aid Mariah Sakrejda-Leavitt 2006 May Mariah Sakrejda-Leavitt, Archives and Special Collections Assistant 2006 May Mariah Sakrejda-Leavitt, Archives and Special Collections Assistant

© 2007 Amherst College Archives and Special Collections. All rights reserved.

 Collection Overview Sabrina Collection ca. 1860-2006 1 records storage box, 2 archives boxes, 1 flat box (2.5 linear ft.) English Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Histories, correspondence, articles and photographs relating to the statue Sabrina, donated to Amherst College in 1857 and the object of pranks and interclass rivalry for much of the time since. Historical Note

The statue of the water nymph Sabrina was donated to Amherst College by Joel Hayden in 1857. It the frequent object of student pranks in the 1860s and 1870s. In the early 1880s it was removed from campus to the custodian's residence. Students found and stole the statue in 1887, from that time until 1934 the statue was part of a fierce interclass rivalry. It was shown at class banquets and surprise campus appearances, with the guardian even or odd classes attempting to hide and the opposing classes attempting to find and steal it. In 1934, the statue was returned to the College; the students cited danger to life and limb and declining interest in the Sabrina tradition as the reasons for return. From 1934 to 1951 the statue was housed in the Hitchcock Memorial Room in Morgan Hall. The statue was stolen from its base in 1951 by members of the graduating class. It was shown by airplane and car in the following years, but returned to the college in 1955, again due to lack of interest in the tradition. The statue was briefly stolen in 1977 and apprehended at the Turners Fall airport by Campus Police. It was stolen again in 1984, shown by helicopter twice in the following years and returned to the College in 1994. The current location of Sabrina is unknown.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Sabrina Collection contains histories, correspondence, articles and photographs relating to the statue "Sabrina," donated to the College in 1857 and the object of pranks and interclass rivalry for much of the time since.

Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into four series:

General, 1871-1998 Articles and Clippings, 1868-2006 Photographs, ca. 1860-2006 Sabrina Materials of Newton F. McKeon (AC 1926), ca. 1924-1982 Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

There is no restriction on access to the Sabrina Collection for research use. Particularly fragile items are restricted for preservation purposes.

Requests for permission to publish material from the Sabrina Collection for research use should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

 Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

[Identification of item], in Sabrina Collection [Box #, Folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library

 Search Terms Sabrina (Statue) Additional Information Related Material Smith, Winthrop, Halvor Seward and John Gibson, Sabrina, being the chronicle of the life of the goddess of Amherst College. Concord, NH: The Rumford Press, 1921. Shoop, Max, Sabrina, the class goddess of Amherst College. Springfield, Mass.: Loring-Axtell Co., 1910. Series 1: GENERAL 1871-1998

Includes written histories, correspondence and miscellaneous objects, programs, documents and printed material relating to Sabrina and the Sabrina rivalry.

 Sub-Series A: General 1 1 General Sub-Series B: Written Histories 1 2 Written Histories 1910-1950 1 3 Written Histories 1950-1961; n.d. 1 4 "Sabrina recaptured by even classes" W. F. Stearns, Jr., AC 1922 1921 1 5 "Sabrina, a celebration of changing student attitudes at Amherst College, 1857-1998," Greg Schneider [do not photocopy without author's written permission] 1998 1 6 Materials relating to 1990-1991 capture attempts 1990-1991 Sub-Series C: Correspondence 1 7 Correspondence 1918-1975 1 8 Correspondence, news clippings and miscellaneous of Samuel B. Furbish, AC1898 1895-1935 1 9 Correspondence of J. W. Russell, AC1899 1925-1930 1 10 Correspondence of John "Moose" McGrath, AC1951, and Thomas Wyman, AC1951 1951-1973 1 11 Correspondence of John "Moose" McGrath, AC1951 1977-1979 Sub-Series D: Miscellaneous 1 12 J. L. Mott Iron Works Catalogue 1871 1 13 Sabrina Banquet programs 1892-1919 1 14 Sabrina Song, "All hail, Sabrina dear," original manuscript 1893 1 15 Printing block of cartoon 1894 1 16 Addendum to Max Shoop's 1910 Sabrina [1910 or 11] 1 17 Sabrina Agreement 1918 1 18 "Sabrina Constitution" c. 1925 1 19 Memento from 1951 capture (Brattleboro Daily Reformer, June 11, 1951) 1951 Series 2: ARTICLES AND CLIPPINGS 1868-2006

Arranged chronologically.

Includes newspaper and periodical articles and clippings relating to Sabrina.

 1 20 Articles and clippings 1868-1899 1 21 Articles and clippings 1900-1909 1 22 Articles and clippings 1910-1919 1 23 Articles and clippings 1920-1929 1 24 Articles and clippings 1930-1939 1 25 Articles and clippings 1940-1949 1 26 Articles and clippings 1950-1959 1 27 Articles and clippings 1960-1969 1 28 Articles and clippings 1970-1979 1 29 Articles and clippings 1980- 1 30 Articles and clippings n.d. 1 31 Newspaper clippings, originals of articles photocopied for preservation (photocopies integrated into folders 19-29) Series 3: PHOTOGRAPHS 1868-2006

Arranged chronologically.

Includes photographs of Sabrina and Sabrina related activity.

 OS1 1 Oversized photographs c.1869 2 2 Photographs 1875-1885 2 3 Photographs 1886-1900 2 4 Photographs 1901-1929 OS1 2 Oversized photographs 1912 OS1 3 Oversized photographs 1922 2 5 Photographs 1930-1951 2 6 Photographs 1952 OS1 4 Oversized photographs 1952 OS1 2 Oversized photograph 1952 2 7 Photographs 1953-1969 2 8 Photographs 1977-1979 2 9 Photographs 1980- 2 10 Photographs n.d. OS1 5-6 Oversized photographs n.d. 2 11 Photographs, other Sabrinas SERIES 4: SABRINA MATERIALS OF NEWTON F. MCKEON (AC 1926), ca. 1924-1982

Includes correspondence, photographs, a scrapbook and printed matter related to the history of Sabrina. [Accession #2012.014]

 2 1 Photographs 1860-1870 OS1 1 Oversized photographs c.1869 2 2 Photographs 1875-1885 2 3 Photographs 1886-1900 2 4 Photographs 1901-1929 OS1 2 Oversized photographs 1912 OS1 3 Oversized photographs 1922 2 5 Photographs 1930-1951 2 6 Photographs 1952 OS1 4 Oversized photographs 1952 2 7 Photographs 1953-1969 2 8 Photographs 1977-1979 2 9 Photographs 1980- 2 10 Photographs n.d. OS1 5-6 Oversized photographs n.d. 2 11 Photographs, other Sabrinas 3 1 "Sabrina Remembered" - typescript, correspondence, notes n.d., 1961-1970 3 2 Correspondence, photographs, negatives, notes, clipping n.d., 1924-1926, 1982 3 3 Photograph, clippings, printed material n.d., 1920-1986 3 4 Printed material, clippings 1919-1935 3 5 Printed material, clippings 1922-1980 3 6 Photographs n.d., 1924-1925 3 7 Scrapbook c. 1920s