Sylvia Plath and Marcia Brown entered Smith College as freshman in the fall of 1950, both assigned to live in Haven House; they became fast friends. Even though Plath eventually graduated with the class of 1955, one year after Marcia, they maintained a close relationship through letters and visits, until Plath’s death on February 11, 1963. Marcia Brown Stern gave twenty-one of Plath’s letters to her, dating from June 1951 until February 1963, to the Mortimer Rare Book Room. They are housed in our significant Sylvia Plath archive, including a total of more than 100 unpublished letters written by Plath, as well as many other books and manuscripts.

In January 2009, associate curator of Special Collections Karen Kukil taught an interterm course in editing Plath’s letters. Each student transcribed and annotated one of Plath’s letters to her friend Marcia. Mrs. Stern visited the class to answer questions about the content of the letters and to provide her unique perspective on being Plath’s personal friend. A selection of these letters, accompanied by excerpts from her journals and photographs of Plath and Stern, are on exhibition. “Dearest Marty”: Letters from Sylvia Plath to Marcia Brown Stern has been curated by graduating senior Lois Jenkins. See the Libraries' FYI to read more about the exhibition.

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Autograph letter from Sylvia Plath to Marcia Brown, July 1, 1951.
In the summer of 1951 both Plath and her Smith classmate and friend Marcia Brown worked as mother’s helpers on Boston’s north shore. In this 3-page letter to Marcia, Plath writes about her job and her chance to rest a bit by visiting her own home and seeing her brother there. Plath often embellished her letters with drawings.

Enid Epstein studied both literature and art at Smith College, marrying Eugene Mark a week after her graduation in 1954. She was a printmaker and painter and began to create artist’s books in 1983 in large part due to a chance encounter with Ruth Mortimer, then curator of rare books at Smith. Enid went on to found The ELM Press and to illustrate and publish many limited edition books for the next 25 years. She died in September 2008 with yet another book well on the way to completion.

Enid, and her husband Gene, have been long-time friends of the Mortimer Rare Book Room, and the rare book collection includes many of Enid’s books. This retrospective exhibition of her work—books and prints—is presented in her memory and on the occasion of the 55th reunion of her class at Smith College. See the Libraries' FYI to read more about the exhibition.