Helen A. Sargent Family Papers, 1858-1930s, n.d.
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Administrative/Biographical History
Helen A. Sargent was born in November 17, 1872 in Jasper, New York, the daughter of Jason Sumner and Anstis Maria Whiting Sargent. After she graduated from Jamaica High School (NY), she received her B.A. degree from Oberlin College in 1900. She taught German, English and Latin at York Collegiate Institute (PA) for two years, then in 1903, she accepted a position as Professor of Classics in Huguenot College in Wellington, South Africa. She continued graduate work in absentia and was granted a Master of Arts degree from Oberlin in 1905. She also received a Master of Arts degree from the University of the Cape of Good Hope in 1906. Except for furloughs spent in the United States, she continued to teach at the same post, and after retirement she remained in Wellington where she died on July 12, 1954 of cancer.
She was a member of the Executive Committee of the Students’ Christian Association of South Africa and President of the Teachers’ Christian Association. She was also on the Ladies’ Committee of the Wellington Board of the Sudan United Mission, and president of the Huguenot Missionary Society.
Sources Consulted
Helen A. Sargent, Student File, Alumni Records
Author: Tyler Cassidy-Heacock Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
The Helen A. Sargent Papers document her career as a teacher and missionary in South Africa. The Papers are arranged into Series 1. Biographical; Series 2. Correspondence; Series 3. Miscellaneous Items; and Series 4. Photographs. The correspondence series contains letters to and from her aunt Sabra Sargent, James Sumner Sargent (father), and letters written by Helen A. Sargent to various other people. Most of these letters, many having traveled between New York and South Africa, reveal family relationships. There is also correspondence with close friends. The Sargent Record book in Series 1 contained letters regarding the family history; these are sleeved and filed with the book.
The Miscellaneous Items series consists of a penmanship exercise book of her brother’s, and personal belongings of Helen A. Sargent such as an academic hood, diplomas and a certificate. The photographs in Series 4 were taken in South Africa and the United States, of family and friends, buildings, and views of cities and countryside. Two oversize, mounted photographs, taken by professional photographers, depict large groups, possibly convention participants, including Helen Sargent.
Of particular interest, in Series 1. Biographical, is a diary written by Sargent on her boat trip to South Africa in 1909, in which she describes her time traveling on the boat, time spent in London en route to South Africa, and the conditions as they neared their destination.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Biographical, 1894-95, 1899, 1909, 1921-25, n.d.
This series contains personal material reflecting Helen A. Sargent’s life and information on her family, particularly the time she spent in South Africa. Included are her passport, checks, receipts, and brochures from various commercial enterprises that reflect the environment and the era. The series includes a published Sargent family record book, with letters concerning the family history, and Helen Sargent’s diary written during her boat trip to South Africa in 1909.
Series 2. Correspondence, 1858-90, 1906-25, n.d.
The bulk of the correspondence in this series is personal in nature, and details the everyday affairs of Helen A. Sargent’s life, and the lives of her family members and close friends. The series includes correspondence to and from Sargent’s aunt, (Sabra Sargent), her parents, (James Sumner and Anstis Sargent), and letters to Helen A. Sargent from a variety of friends and associates.
Series 3. Miscellaneous Items, 1900, 1905, n.d.
This series consists of memorabilia from different periods of Sargent’s life and includes her academic hood, a penmanship book, , and diplomas and a citation from Oberlin College and the University of Cape of Good Hope.
Series 4. Photographs, ca. 1890s, ca. 1900s, 1910, ca. 1920s-30s, n.d.
The photographs consist of family groups, Helen A. Sargent with others, buildings, city and country views taken in South Africa and the United States, not all of which are identified. Two professional, oversize group portraits appear to have been taken at conferences in the 1920s and 1930s.