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This collection contains 8 letters written to Marcia Coffing Holley and her husband, Alexander Hamilton Holley, by Maria Coffing, Marcia's sister, as well as 1 from Marcia to her brother, Joshua B. Coffing. Most of the letters relate to women's education in the mid-1830s. The collection includes a description of Maria Coffing's experiences at Grove Hall School in New Haven, Connecticut.

This collection contains 8 letters written to Marcia Coffing Holley and her husband, Alexander Hamilton Holley, by Maria Coffing, Marcia's sister, as well as 1 from Marcia to her brother, Joshua B. Coffing. Marcia wrote to her brother from Grove Hall School on February 25, 1834, while he was at Yale, and shared her vision of him poring over his coursework, armed with a copy of Webster's Dictionary and the speeches of Daniel Webster. Maria Coffing wrote the remaining 8 letters, including 6 to her sister and 2 to her brother-in-law, the future governor of Connecticut, and filled them with news of her life at Grove Hall School in New Haven, Connecticut. Maria attended school throughout the summer and fall of 1836, and shared details of her coursework and instructors; she enjoyed her time there and hoped to attend college lectures in the future.

This collection is made up of personal letters to Elizabeth Hollister Lyons, whose friends and family members discussed their lives in Connecticut and Illinois. Some correspondents taught school and others commented on topics such as sewing, religion, and health.

This collection (182 items) is primarily made up of personal letters to Elizabeth Hollister Lyons, whose friends and family members discussed their lives in Connecticut and Illinois. Her correspondents included her sisters Artemisia (18 items, 1851-1902), Clara (20 items, 1852-1862), Emily (6 letters, 1853-1856), and Sarah (27 items, 1847-1871); her brother Lee and his wife Caroline (18 items, 1847-1867); and her parents Horace and Artemisia (18 items, 1849-1864).

Elizabeth's sisters Artemisia and Emily provided news of Salisbury, Connecticut, with additional comments from "Arte" about experiences teaching school. Clara wrote about sewing, dressmaking, and domestic life in Brooklyn, New York; one of her later letters refers to Salisbury residents serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. Lee Hollister and his wife Caroline discussed their life in Illinois, where Lee taught school. Letters by a fourth sibling, Sarah Hollister Walker, pertain to her life in Metamora, Illinois, and to local religious issues. Horace and Artemisia Hollister, Elizabeth's parents, gave news of family and friends in Salisbury, discussed political issues, and mentioned the possibility of moving to Illinois with their children.

The remaining letters, from other family members and friends, concern the writers' lives in New England and the Midwest. Additional items include a printed letter to members of the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Dodge, Iowa; Mary Lyons's diploma from the Normal Institute of Humboldt County, Iowa; a document regarding the disposition of Walter Lyons's estate; and miscellaneous notes.