William E. Mead papers

The Mead papers consist primarily of diaries, with one volume for each year from 1880 to 1944, with the exception of 1887 and 1922 for which no volumes exist. These volumes are arranged chronologically in Series I, Boxes 1-8, folders 1-30.

Mead inserted, pasted, or paper-clipped correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other such items into his diaries. Until about 1920, few such items appeared and they have usually been left in place, especially if the item was small and related to the diary entry for a particular day. After 1920, Mead inserted more things into the front or back covers of the diary. These loose items, especially folded correspondence, programs, and clippings, were removed from the diary and placed in Series II in chronological order.

For 1891, the year that Mead traveled to Iceland, there is one separate two-volume journal and one photograph album covering the period 1891 July 8 to September 1. These items are housed in Series III, Box 9, folders 58-60. For the period before and after the Iceland trip in 1891, there is an 1891 diary housed in Series I, Box 1, folder 4. The diaries provide insight into the daily life style of a well-established Wesleyan faculty member. Entries relate to weather, visitors and visiting, travel, and reading. Some entries mention his wife, but for the most part, they are concerned with what William did. When traveling, many of the entries give a location with the date.

The Mead diaries are noteworthy for recording the amount of traveling that Mead did both before he married Kate, and throughout their married years, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. In a May 1922 article for the Wesleyan Alumnus, Mead writes about their travels to Paris, Rome, Cairo, and Jerusalem. They were again on a world tour after Meads retirement from Wesleyan in 1925. This tour lasted about five years. They spent much of 1926 touring Europe, London, Spain, Francis, Tunis. An article in the December 1926 issue of the Wesleyan Alumnus mentions that Professor and Mrs. Mead have postponed their visit to China. (The Meads did not travel to China until 1936.) In 1927, they journeyed to the Canary Islands, Naples, Pompeii, Athens, Tripoli. In 1928, they were in Rangoon, Bombay, Athens; and 1929 London, Paris Rome. They returned home to Haddam on October 4, 1929. Another item of note that appear in the collection is a ten page typescript by Kate, dated May 30, 1932, (Box 8, folder 49) giving an account of a trip soth to New Orleans. Diaries entries give location where the entry is written: Haddam, at sea, etc. Traveling continued until Kate’s death.

In 1936, the Meads traveled to China. They began their journey from Connecticut to China on January 4 when they drove from Haddam to New Haven and took a train to New York. By the morning of January 7, they crossed the Mexican border at the Rio Grande at Laredo. On January 8, they were in Mexico City, and on the 24th they boarded the President Hoover in San Francisco, and arrived in Honolulu on the 29th. On the 28th of February the Meads were in Shanghai where they were met by John McGregor Gibb, Wesleyan Class of 1904, who was in the exporting business. The Meads were in Canton in early March. They had dinner with E.K. Smith, Wesleyan Class of 1895, on March 23 and visited the Great Wall on March 24. William’s diary provides a daily record of the China trip from the time he and Kate left Haddam in January until they returned home to Haddam on May 17.

The summer of 1937 found the Meads in London, Paris and Amsterdam. In April 1938, William broke his hip. There was not much traveling until May 1939 when they drove cross country. In July 1940 through August, the Meads drove to Canada and Nova Scotia. William notes in his diary that he is now 80 years old.

Although Mead was associate principal of Ansonia high school for only two years, he seemed to maintain contact and interest in the school. In the correspondence files, there is a copy of a graduation program for March 28, 1884 and photograph of students and teachers dated 1883 (Series II, Box 8, folder 31). An article about the retirement of Mary E. Lathrop as Librarian of Derby High School, from the Ansonia Evening Sentinel, dated July 29, 1932, is filed in the 1932 correspondence folder (Series II, Box 9, folder 49). The 1933 folder (Series II, Box 9, folder 50) contains an article from The Observer titled, “1933 Looks Back to 1883,” by Lois Davidson about the first class to graduate Ansonia High School in 1883 that mentions Mead.

The collections contains some family correspondence especially with Kate’s sister, Mabeth Hurd Paige. Mabeth was a member of the Minnesota state legislature. Her husband, James Paige, died on February 4, 1940. Mabeth had two daughters, Emma and Elizabeth. Kate’s brother, Randolph Campbell Hurd (1872-1956) was a member of the Wesleyan Class of 1895, but left school in his sophomore year. He received an M.D. degree from Harvard in 1897.

Kate Mead seemed to forsee her death. In November 1940, on a trip to New York with her sister, Mabeth Hurd Paige, Kate discusses how William should be cared for in the event of her death. Shortly after Kate’s death, Mabeth typed up a document outlining Kate’s wishes that William signed. This "contract" appears near the front cover of the 194l diary. With Kate’s death, William appeared to decline quickly. His handwriting deteriorated, entries became shorter, and he did not travel or want travel. His last diary entry is for April 5, 1944, five years before his death: "Haddam Overcast . . . ? Read as usual." William died in 1949 at the age of 88.