Mary Louise Howard Nicoll collection

Collection

Identifier: MSD-1941-060

Scope and Contents

The Mary Louise Howard Scrapbook is contained in loose sheets of browning contact paper. The collection includes: Personal photographs, records, notes, and letters; news clippings involving friends, family, and Alpha Phi sorority; napkins and other party favors; Alpha Phi Quarterly, October 1939; Rector Hall instructions to its residents; map of DePauw University campus; postcards; YWCA membership card and YWCA Geneva Witnesses Subpoena, June 1938; Pullman passenger's check; other memorabilia. The collection is in fair condition with its pages torn and deteriorating and many loose items.

Dates

Creation: 1937 - 1941

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with the Archives and Special Collections, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN. All requests to publish or quote must be submitted to Archives and Special Collections.

Biographical Note

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Mary Louise Howard Nicoll was born on March 25, 1920, in Mount Vernon, Illinois, to parents Harold J. Howard and Janie Garrot Howard. She graduated from Mount Vernon Township High School in 1936. During high school, Mary Howard was active in the school newspaper, school plays, and pep club. After high school, she attended DePauw University from 1937-1941. At DePauw, Mary Howard was very involved in her sorority Alpha Phi, as well as the Young Women's Christian Association. She studied French and economics, graduating with distinction in 1941. After graduating from DePauw, Mary Howard worked as a secretary in the War Department in Washington D.C., and was in that position when the United States entered World War II. She held this job from August 1941 to December 1942. She left the War Department to marry William Nicoll in 1942. She had previously met William at DePauw, but it was not until they had both graduated that they started a serious relationship.

In 1944, Mrs. Nicoll returned to her alma mater and began working at DePauw as an assistant to the registrar. Meanwhile, William served in World War II as an Army captain. During this period, Mrs. Nicoll was involved with an Alpha Phi alumnae group, an Officer’s Wives club, and at Gobin Methodist Church. After the war, in 1946, William and Mary Nicoll left Greencastle for Boston, where Mary worked as a secretary for a nuclear scientist at Harvard University.

After a few years, the Nicolls moved to northern Illinois, where they resided for the majority of their lives. The couple had two children, Dale and Jane. Mrs. Nicoll worked as a secretary to the president of the alumni association at the University of Chicago and she was said to have loved this position. Her family remembers her as being fiercely independent, supportive, and committed to everyone in her life.

Mary Howard Nicoll passed away on August 21, 1981, at the age of sixty-one in Chicago, Illinois, due to spinal meningitis.

Sources:

Ancestry.com. “Mary Howard in the U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900 - 2016,” U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012, MT Vernon Township High School, U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016.

Ancestry.com. “Mary Howard Nicoll in the Cook County, Illinois Death Index, 1908-1988.” Cook County, Illinois Death Index, 1908-1988.

Hoosier State Chronicles. “It Waves for All.” The Daily Banner. Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana. April 16, 1946.

Jane Nicoll Stover. Phone Interview by Author. November 25, 2024.

Mary Louise Howard Nicoll collection, Archives and Special Collections, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana.

This biographical note was created by Rebecca Knight and Libby Ruff as part of the HIST278: Women's History from 1890-Present course during the fall 2024 semester. It was revised by Professor Sarah Rowley and the Coordinator of Archives and Special Collections Bethany Fiechter.