Judith Raymo Collection of Sylvia Plath at Smith College

Judith Raymo (Smith College Class of 1953) collected Sylvia Plath’s work for three-decades before donating the collection to the Mortimer Rare Book Collection at Smith College. Raymo met Sylvia Plath as undergraduate students attending Smith College and several years later, after reading Plath’s posthumous publications, Raymo developed an interest in collecting Plath’s published and unpublished writings. Raymo identified with Plath’s struggles in balancing a professional career alongside the expectations associated with marriage and motherhood in the mid-twentieth century. Raymo’s late husband, Robert Raymo, was an avid book collector and medieval scholar who encouraged her pursuits in finding and purchasing the rare materials. She bought Plath’s unpublished manuscripts as well as books and periodicals that featured Plath’s work. In 2017, Raymo hosted a Grolier Club exhibition titled, This Is the Light of the Mind: Selections from the Sylvia Plath Collection of Judith G. Raymo.

Judith Raymo is a published author and editor of books and articles on women in the academic workplace. Her works include, Shattering the Myths: Women in Academe (1999) and Unfinished Agendas: New and Continuing Gender Challenges in Higher Education (2008). She received a doctorate in higher education from New York University and is professor emerita of education at Long Island University.

Source: Raymo, Judith G. “Girl on a Train,” Smith College Alumnae News, March 17, 2021. Accessed July 12, 2022. https://www.smith.edu/news/2021-saq-sp-judith-raymo-mary-ventura-plath