Merrill G. Burlingame (1901-1994) joined the faculty of Montana State College (now Montana State University) at Bozeman, Montana, in 1929. He became chair of the history department in 1935 and actively began research into many local history topics in Gallatin County, Montana, including the Gallatin Valley Female Seminary. Mrs. Mary Crittenden Davidson, the former principal of the school, wrote Burlingame a letter on April 19, 1934, giving her memories of the school based on her reminiscence published in 1902. Later, Burlingame interviewed Mary Lee Hunter Doane, whose sister, Lizzie Hunter Rich, had also attended the school. By combining the information from these two sources, Burlingame prepared this essay around 1934, although he preserved the first-person voice of Mary Doane in parts of the work. In 1984, Burlingame completed his definitive essay on the seminary and cited only the 1934 Davidson letter as his source for the list of students.
The essay, "Gallatin Valley Female Seminary" by Dr. Merrill G. Burlingame, records the history of the institution from its establishment in 1872 to its closing in 1878. The essay include lists of former students for 1872 and 1874 and details the activities, curriculum, and physical description of the buildings and location. Burlingame was a member of the history faculty at Montana State College (now Montana State University) from 1929-1969 and actively researched local history topics in Gallatin County, Montana, throughout his career.
This collection is open for research.
A typescript prepared by Merrill G. Burlingame was donated to Montana State University by him in the spring of 1967 after an initial loan of the document to the Museum of the Rockies in 1960.
This collection was processed 2011 November 3
[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT