Jeannette Marks was a professor of English and theater at Mount Holyoke College until her retirement in 1941. She was also the partner of Mary Emma Woolley, who served as the 11th president of the college from 1900–1937, for 50 years.

Upbringing

Due to her well-to-do parents being estranged, Jeannette -- known as "Gussie" to her family -- spent her childhood moving between Chattanooga, Philadelphia, their home on Lake Champlain, and Europe. Along with her sister Mabel, who would later become known as the acclaimed hotelier Mabel Marks Bacon, she attended a boarding school in Dresden, Germany while recuperating from rheumatic fever. Upon returning to the U.S., she attended Dana Hall and then matriculated at Wellesley, from which she received her B.A. in 1900.

Career

While at Wellesley, she met Mary Emma Woolley, a young professor there. They became partners, and when Woolley took a position at Mount Holyoke, Marks followed her to South Hadley.

At Mount Holyoke, Marks progressed from being an instructor in the English department to its chair. She founded the Play and Poetry Shop Talks lecture series to bring authors and poets to campus. In 1928, she created the Laboratory Theatre, which became her primary focus until retirement. She published The Family of the Barretts, a biography of the family of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and The Life and Letters of Mary Emma Woolley. She also had a special interest in researching narcotics and wrote several books on addiction.

Outside interests

Politically active, Marks was a member of the National Woman's Party, which existed largely to support the Equal Rights Amendment. She donated to local and national socialist causes in the 1920s, supported Eugene Debs, and advocated for the rights of Sacco and Vanzetti.

Partnership with Woolley

Though the women never publicly acknowledged being lesbians or having a partnership, there was some resentment at the college over the alleged favoritism Woolley granted to Marks. When Woolley retired in 1937, she moved to Marks' family home in Westport, New York, where Marks later joined her. In 1944, Woolley became partially paralyzed by a cerebral hemorrhage; Marks cared for her until her death in 1947.

Their relationship has been the focus of much attention in recent years, including being the subject of the Bryna Turner play Bull in a China Shop and a special collection of the Mount Holyoke archives entitled "Mary Woolley & Jeannette Marks: Life, Love, & Letters."

Sources

• Wikipedia: Mary Emma Woolley
• Mary Woolley & Jeannette Marks: Life, Love, & Letters
• https://alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/blog/bryna-turners-12-bull-in-a-china...
• https://commons.mtholyoke.edu/marywooleyjeannettemarks/mary-and-jea...
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabel_Marks_Bacon
• https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10315-937824-/jeannett-a...