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© 2003 Mount Holyoke College. All rights reserved.
Dorothy Beatrice Gleason was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on April 16, 1905 to Albert J. Gleason and Emma Searle Gleason. Her father owned and operated Drake Secretarial Colleges in New Jersey. She attended Bergen School for Girls in Jersey City from 1916-1920, then went to the Beard School for Girls in Orange, New Jersey from 1920-1923. She entered Mount Holyoke College in 1924. In 1928, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She recieved her Master of Arts degree in English from Columbia University in 1935. From November 1929 until August 1931 she worked as a hostess and secretary at the Mayflower Apartments in Jersey City. From approximately 1939 until her retirement in 1968, she was the owner and president of the Drake Secretarial Colleges. She married William Cecil Moore on September 3, 1938 in Tigrett, Tennessee. Her husband worked at Teaneck High School in Teaneck, New Jersey, first as an English teacher and later as the chairman of the English department. Their daughter Dorothy Anne was born on December 13, 1939. She died on February 13, 1993 at her home in Teaneck, New Jersey, at the age of eighty-seven.
The Dorothy Beatrice Gleason Moore Papers include a diary, correspondence, memorabilia, a scrapbook, biographical information, and photographs dating from 1924-1993. Most of this material relates to her 1926 trip to England, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Switzerland, France, Latvia, and Lithuania. These documents include a travel diary, letters and postcards to and from Moore, itineraries, guidebooks and other memorabilia, and photographs. The scrapbook reflects her activities as a student at Mount Holyoke College, chiefly in 1924-1925. It includes comments about faculty members and the campus, class songs and yells, lists of "favorite things," social functions, "memorable trips," and "dates and doings." Biographical information consists of newspaper clippings, an invitation to her wedding in 1938, and copies of her obituaries. Photographs are of Moore and some of her friends, including several Mount Holyoke College classmates.
This collection is organized into six series:
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Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Dorothy Gleason Moore Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.
Arranged chronologically.
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This series consists of a travel diary entitled "My Walking? Tour around the Baltics with Variations" with entries from June 19-August 28, 1926. The volume describes her daily activities during a tour of Europe in 1926. It includes information about her travels in Sweden, England, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Switzerland, France, Latvia, and Lithuania. Her observations include such commentary as "June 21. Spent the day on deck. Fooled around with several Amherst men and one Harvard youth who can't seem to remember his own name. Had a regular skein of german beer which does not appeal to me. My trip: sea - blue - glorious; sleep - necessary, overcoming; men - inebriated, disgustingly foolish; moon - sublime; Food - at all hours, all kinds; Crew - German, friendly; Date with Dick - adorable."
Arranged chronologically.
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This series consists of letters and postcards written to and by Moore, 1926-1990. Of particular note are documents relating to her trip to Europe in 1926. These items include postcards that she sent to her mother and letters from people whom she met during the trip (including an Estonian man who wrote a love letter to her, 15 August 1927).
Arranged by type of material.
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This series consists of materials relating to Moore's 1926 tour of Europe, including her passport, travel itineraries, a map of the tour route, postcards, and guidebooks. The guidebooks include a publication entitled "Poland's Access to the Sea and the Claims of East Prussia," published in 1926.
Arranged chronologically.
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Consists of newspaper clippings about Moore and her friends. These clippings include obituaries. The series also contains an invitation to Moore's wedding in 1938.
Arranged chronologically.
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This series consists of a scrapbook Moore kept as a student at Mount Holyoke College, 1924-1928. The volume primarily contains a list of friends, comments about faculty members and the campus, class songs and yells, lists of "favorite things," social functions, "memorable trips," and "dates and doings," 1924-1925. It also includes some memorabilia such as ticket stubs, photographs, and a program for a 1924 football game between Columbia and Syracuse.
Arranged chronologically.
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This series contains photographs of Moore as well as several of her Mount Holyoke College classmates. These primarily consist of photographs taken while she was a student at Mount Holyoke, 1924-28. There are also some later photographs of several of Moore's classmates.