Arthur and Mayce Seymour Collection

Collection — Box: 1079;OversizeFolders1-3

Identifier: MSS 82-5

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Arthur and Mayce Seymour Collection, in addition to containing correspondence between them, other family members, and friends, has articles written by the Seymours and many poems by Mayce. A major portion of the collection consists of photographs taken by the Seymours during their trips to India and China in the 1920s. Numerous paintings and sketches made by Mayce during these travels are also included.

Dates

Created: 1899-1965

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

Dr. Arthur Romeyn Seymour was recognized as an outstanding and dedicated teacher of foreign languages. He received his Ph.D. in foreign languages from the University of Wisconsin in 1907, where he also served as advisor to foreign students. In 1926, he became a professor of French at Florida State College for Women and served as Head of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages until 1946. In the late 1920s, the Seymours traveled to China and reorganized the curriculum of Tung Lu University. He died January 2, 1955.

Arthur's wife, Mayce Fries Seymour, was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was recognized for the literary excellence of her poetry and prose compositions. While she and Arthur were living in Illinois, she became very interested in the study of world religions. Her particular interest in the religions of India were stimulated by the coming to the University of Illinois of Roti, son of the poet Rabindranath Tagore, in 1906.

After Roti returned with his father in 1912, Dr. and Mrs. Seymour became deeply engrossed in the writings and philosophy of Tagore. With friends they founded the Tagore Circle to read and discuss the poet's published and manuscript works. Throughout her life, Mayce was a dedicated scholar of all great religions. In her last few years, she wrote and recorded for the Voice of America and the government of India an essay on some of the contributions of Rabindranath Tagore. She died March 29, 1961.