BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL

Biographical materials, 1952, 1968-1969, 1987 and undated; diary, January 1, 1928-February 3, 1929, and August 3-28, 1941; "character book, " 1914-1915, filled in by friends; miscellaneous correspondence, 1923-1968 and undated; scattered press clippings, 1922-1963 and undated; three educational certificates, 1918-1923; and school papers, 1913-1922 and undated. Also correspondence, 1968-1970 and undated, received by Lois Morris (an assistant at the Clinton Farms facility) after Mahan's death and research materials gathered (chiefly from sources in California) by Mahan's biographer Mary Q. Hawkes.

Mahan's earlier diary volume was kept at first in or near Boston (until mid-August 1928) and then in New Jersey. It contains regular entries which are generally brief, but which are often somewhat longer later in the volume, after she had begun her new job at the New Jersey State Reformatory for Women. The entries pertain to both Mahan's professional career and her personal life, including her relationship with fellow corrections official Frank Loveland, who remained in Massachusetts after she moved to New Jersey. The later diary volume is a vacation journal pertaining to a visit to California which begins with very brief entries (written several days later?) relating to her travel across the country.

Among the correspondents represented by letters received is television talk show host David Susskind (1 letter : 1964).

Mahan's school papers pertain to both high school and college, but primarily consist of course materials, student exercises and ephemera from the University of California. Among the items present is a paper by Mahan entitled "Progress Made in California for the Education of Feeble-Minded Children." Also included are notes on abnormal psychology (dated July 1913) that were evidently recorded by someone else.