ABSTRACT

This article provides an overview of the motivation for digitising Maynard's writings, evaluates the benefits and challenges of reproducing and publishing archives, and considers the implications of greater digitisation. Maynard's writings reveal that she drew on her evangelical belief system as a means of protection and inspiration, and never overcame the concerns of early educationalists to maintain ‘decorum’ and ‘femininity’ in the management of the college. Published and unpublished sources are considered to review Maynard's decision to enter higher education, the inspiration for a Christian college for women, impact of contemporary arguments opposing education for women on Maynard and Westfield College, and Maynard's reaction to the development of a science faculty in the early twentieth century.