Holley, Sallie, 1818-1893

Caroline F. Putnam was born in Massachusetts on July 29, 1826, and entered Oberlin College in 1848. There, she became involved in the abolitionist movement and met Sallie Holley (1818-1893), a fellow abolitionist who became Putnam's lifelong friend. After their graduation, the two women traveled around the northern United States to raise support for abolitionism, and both grew interested in the welfare of freed slaves during the early years of the Civil War. In 1868, Putnam opened the Holley School in Lottsburg, Virginia, named in honor of Sallie Holley. The school held daytime classes for African American children and evening classes for freed slaves to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic. Putnam ran the school until her retirement in 1903. She died in Lottsburg on January 14, 1917.

From the guide to the Caroline F. Putnam papers, Putnam, Caroline F. papers, 1868-1895, 1868-1877, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)

Sallie Holley, the ninth of twelve children of Myron and Sally House Holley, was born in Canandaigua, New York, on February 17, 1818. Early in her life, she was influenced by her father's antislavery beliefs and religious liberalism. Holley attended Oberlin College, where she met Caroline Putnam, who became a life-long companion. After graduating in 1851, Holley gained appointment as an agent to the American Anti-Slavery Society, for which she traveled and lectured widely.

Following the Civil War, Holley worked for the benefit of former slaves. In 1870, she joined Caroline Putnam at Lottsburgh [Lottsburg], Virginia, where Putnam had established a school for former slaves two years previously, teaching reading, writing, and vocational skills. This school, the Holley School, became Holley's work for the remainder of her life, though she also regularly traveled to New York City to visit friends and attend cultural events. During one such visit in 1893, Holley contracted pneumonia from which she died on January 12.

From the guide to the Letter from Sallie Holley (Lottsburgh, Virginia) to her cousin Harrietta W. Brand (Anchorage, Kentucky), April 8, 1890, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)