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The original inspiration for the seal was a pencil drawing created in 1838 by Orra White Hitchcock, prolific illustrator of landscapes, fossils, rocks, and geological strata, and wife of Amherst College president Edward Hitchcock. Featuring palm trees, mountains, an ornate palace, women reading and conversing, and a cornerstone, the drawing illustrated Psalms 144:122—“That our daughters may be as cornerstones polished after the similitude of a palace.” The seal, a simplified rendition of the drawing, was embossed on early diplomas or on a circle of sealing wax attached to a diploma by a blue ribbon.

Over time, the seal has evolved through several phases reflecting changes to the institution’s name— from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (1837) to Mount Holyoke Seminary and College (1888) and finally to Mount Holyoke College (1893).

Though the seal’s design has changed considerably from the original, the main symbols remain. The palm trees suggest fruitfulness, the mountains bespeak strength, and while illustrating the biblical verse, the cornerstone also calls to mind a statement made about Mary Lyon by one of her former pupils: “She aimed to teach her pupils to educate themselves, to show them how to study, to help them lay the foundation of an edifice they were themselves to finish.” With the presentation of this seal to President Pasquerella, the College welcomes a new leader dedicated, as was Mary Lyon, to the principles and purposes of higher learning.

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