Mary Jane Holmes

The college archives includes several special collections related to local history, one of which has to do with Mary Jane Holmes. She was an popular and successful novelist in the 19th century, living and writing in her home on College Street here in Brockport. She was probably one of the most commercially successful women authors of her day. Her books may seem outdated or stilted to modern readers, but they resonated closely with the desires and issues many women experienced in her day.

Many of her novels, such as Tempest and Sunshine, were not only published as books, but serialized in magazines like the Ladies Home Journal, and even performed as stage shows on riverboats! You can easily find many of her novels online in Google books or in libraries.

Her husband, Daniel Holmes, attended our predecessor school, the Brockport Collegiate Institute, then University of Rochester and Yale Law School. He practiced as a lawyer in Brockport for many years, and was a staunch advocate for the college, serving on the board of trustees for over forty years!

The photograph here is not the usual image of Mary Jane Holmes found online and in contemporary sources, but captures her when younger. The image is from the collections in the Emily Knapp Museum in Brockport NY.