Background on Allen B. Cook
Born June 27, 1875 in Petersham, Massachusetts, Allen Bradford Cook graduated from
Massachusetts Agricultural College as a member of the class of 1896. Cook was a member of the MAC
Shakespearean Club, Young Men’s Christian Association, Washington Irving Literary Society, and the
Clark Cadets Band. Immediately upon graduation, Cook began a career with facets as a landscape
gardener, farm manager, tree warden, and state park supervisor. He was a life-long member of the
Grange, active on both the state and national level, and helped to revitalize several Connecticut
chapters. He had a high standards for the properties he managed, relied on current agricultural
research, and had a deep, life-long love for the land and the natural world. Cook spent many years
searching for and documenting Connecticut's 1902 Constitutional Concention pine oak trees.
Cook met his wife, Emma Louise Shepardson, through her brother and Cook’s college friend, William
Shepardson. Emma was living in Amherst at the time, attending Amherst High School and working in the
household of MAC Professor William P. Brooks. Allen and Emma married on July 23, 1899, and had five children. Allen Cook died May 24, 1965 at his home in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Scope of collection
The Cook papers include three oversized photographs of the MAC class of 1896, Shakespearean Club, and the Clark Cadets Band; Cook’s wooden flute and piccolo from his time in the Clark Cadets; two MAC wool felt pillow covers; Cook’s academic reports; and a large set of ephemera, including material from the Shakespearean Club and programs and cards from commencement, class day and military exercises, dances and banquets, and various oratory contests.
Inventory
Academic reports
1892-1895
Box 1: 1
Banquets, dances
1893-1898
Box 1: 2
Commencement programs
1893-1898
Box 1: 3
Cook's diplomas for the B.S. degree and for Military
Department
Exercise programs
1893-1897
Box 1: 4
One black wooden flute with eight nickel keys and box, and one black wooden piccolo with four nickel keys, used by Cook in the Clark Cadets Band.
Pillow covers
ca.1894
Box 2
Two 22-inch square deep red wool felt pillow covers with cut fringe, one with "Massachusetts" on front and MAC monogram on back, and one with "Mass Aggies" on front.
Receipts
1894-1895
Box 1: 5
Photograph - MAC Clark Cadets
Band
ca.1896
Box 2
10" by 13" black and white photograph,
accompanying notation made by Cook identifying members of the band does not match the image and probably corresponds to the 1895 band photograph.
Photograph - MAC Class of
1896
ca.1896
16" by 10" sepia toned photograph in
20.5" by 18" dark oak frame, most likely of the class of 1896. MAC banner behind students and also
held by front center student. Photograph by A. J. Schillare.
Photograph - MAC
Shakespearean Club
ca.1896
13" by 10" sepia toned photograph in
20.5" by 17.5" dark oak frame. Photograph by Hearn, Boston, Mass.
Shakespearean Club
1893-1899
Box 1: 6
Shakespearean Club
1899
Box 1: 7
Speaking contest programs
1893-1898
Box 1: 8
Administrative information
Search terms
Subjects
- Massachusetts Agricultural College--Alumni
- Massachusetts Agricultural College--Students
Contributors
- Cook, Allen B. [main entry]
Genres and formats
- Ephemera
- Musical instruments
- Photographs
Link to similar SCUA collections
