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  • Classification number: 3P
  • Title of Record Series: Ada M. Coe Papers
  • Record Group: Faculty
  • Sub Group: Individuals
  • Date: February 20, 2007
  • Accession Number: A74-43; A76-019; A86-043
  • Source: Ada M. Coe and existing Spanish Department files
  • Restrictions: None
  • Volume: 1 box
Biographical Note

Ada M. Coe was born December 1, 1890, in Milford Center, Ohio. She spent her childhood in Warren, Pennsylvania. She attended Ohio Wesleyan University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Mount Holyoke College in 1913. She was an instructor at the Colegio Internacional in Barcelona from 1913-1916. Coe arrived at Wellesley in 1917 as an instructor. In 1918, she introduced the first course in Spanish American Literature to be taught at a college on the East Coast. Coe received her Masters degree from Wellesley College in 1922. She continued with her graduate work at Columbia University, the University of Toronto and the University of Madrid.

Coe moved progressively through faculty ranks, becoming assistant professor in 1924, associate professor in 1935, and full professor in 1947. She served as department chair 1936-1937 and 1951-1956. Coe retired from Wellesley College in 1956. A year later she was elected a full member of the Hispanic Society of America.

Ada M. Coe died on December 13, 1983, in Warren, Pennsylvania.

Scope and Content Note

Personal papers of Ada M. Coe date from 1927 to 1976. The 0.5 linear feet of records were compiled from records of the Spanish Department and transfers of records by Ada M. Coe to the archives (see the list of accessions at the beginning of the finding aid). Notes on research interests from Diario de Madrid and Doña Inés de Castro were removed from Accession A86-043. "Statement read in Boston to the corporation of the International Institute for Girls in Spain" by Pedro Salinas in 1936 was removed and placed in 3L Spanish Department records.

Papers consist of letters, newspaper clippings, Hispanic Society of America correspondence, biography of Archer M. Huntington, notes on research interests from Diario de Madrid and Doña Inés de Castro, and the manuscript for Notes on Colegio Internacional which includes photographs. Also included are newspaper clippings of items of personal interest to Ada M. Coe. Notable correspondents include Archer M. Huntington, Pedro Salinas and Jorge Guillén.

Source materials for Ms. Coe's Notes on Colegio Internacional include annual reports, pamphets and letters about the International Institute for Girls in Spain, pamphlets and information on Colegio Internactional, and a book titled The Story of the American Board.

Records of the Spanish Department should be consulted in conjunction with these papers.

Processing of this collection was made possible through a generous gift in memory of Janet Meyers Hennick, Wellesley Class of 1952.

Container List

Box 1
  • General
  • Correspondence 1927-1970
  • Diario de Madrid: Notes
  • Doña Inés de Castro: Notes
  • Hispanic Society of America and Archer M. Huntington
  • Notes of Colegio Internacional 1875-1930 (1875-1973)
  • Source Material for Notes on Colegio Internactional I
  • Source Material for Notes on Colegio Internactional II

Created By: Dorothy Brown '09 || Maintained By: Jane Callahan and Ian Graham || Date Created: January 10, 2008 || Last Modified: October 15, 2012