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University of Michigan William L. Clements Library

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Florence Romaine collection, 1822-1985 (majority within 1843-1907)

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Summary

Creator:
William L. Clements Library
Abstract:
The Florence Romaine collection is comprised of correspondence, documents, genealogies, photographs, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings related to the Brossard, Draper, and Smith families throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and to the acting career of Florence Smith Romaine.
Extent:
0.75 linear feet
Language:
French
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Clements Staff, May 1990, and Erin Platte and Meg Hixon, April 2013

Background

Scope and Content:

The Florence Romaine collection (1 linear foot) is comprised of correspondence, documents, genealogies, photographs, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings related to the Brossard, Draper, and Smith families throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and to the acting career of Florence Smith Romaine.

The Correspondence series (59 items) contains personal letters between members of the Brossard, Draper, and Smith families; many are written in French. Most of the material is dated from 1843-1907; the collection also includes 3 early letters to members of the Brossard family, as well as postcards that Florence Smith Romaine wrote to Grace Maxwell from 1962-1963. The series includes letters to Claude Ferdinand de Brossard from various correspondents; to Ferdinand de Brossard and Jenny de Brossard Draper from their mother, Elizabeth de Brossard; to Elizabeth Brossard from her sister-in-law, Julie de Brossard; to Jenny de Brossard Draper from Seth Enos Smith; and to Florence Smith Romaine from her mother, Jenny Draper Smith, and grandmother, Jenny de Brossard Draper. Other items include 6 letters to C. C. Randall.

The Writings series consists of 3 items by Florence Smith Romaine: a rumination on night written around 1905, a play entitled "The Silver Bell of Hat-Shep-Sut's Cat," and Whistling Bill, a children's book published in 1937.

Documents are divided into three subseries: Legal Documents (7 items), Business Documents (3 items), and Awards and Diplomas (2 items). Legal documents include birth certificates, marriage certificates, and passports related to Claude and Elisabeth Brossard and their descendants, as well as a copy of Florence Smith Romaine's will. Business documents are related to Brossard family accounts. The award and diploma concern Jenny Draper's academic achievements at the Chegaray Institute and a Brossard family member's receipt of the Fleur de Lys.

The Photographs series has two subseries: Photograph Album and Loose Photographs. The photograph album (26 pages) contains 104 cartes-de-visite and tintype studio portraits, including portraits of members of the Brossard, Draper, and Smith families. Two pages from a photograph album of the Romaine family are housed separately. Loose photographs (32 items), including 2 cased items (one housed in the Graphics Division), mostly show Florence Romaine in theatrical costumes; several photographs show members of the Smith and Draper families.

Two Scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, programs, notes, and other items regarding Florence Romaine's acting career, as well as articles, children's stories, and puzzles that she wrote for The Christian Science Monitor in 1924 and 1925. The Newspaper Clippings (3 items) concern the career of Worthington L. Romaine and the deaths of Seth and Seth E. Smith.

Genealogies and Family Histories consist of a pamphlet about the descendants of Henry and Elizabeth Smith, including Seth Enos Smith and Florence Smith Romaine; manuscript and typed notes pertaining to the Draper and Stull families and to the life of Florence Romaine; and pages from Thomas Waln-Morgan Draper's 1892 genealogy The Drapers in America.

Miscellaneous Items and Fragments (17 items) include notes and poetry (in French), 2 invitations, a copy of a recommendation letter for Father Marie-Joseph de Geramb to the governor of Cairo, and a promotional pamphlet for "Florence May Smith."

Biographical / Historical:

Claude François Ferdinand de Brossard, a native of France, married Elisabeth Rosalie Pestel on January 10, 1826. Their daughter, Jeanne Josephine Elisabeth de Brossard ("Jennie" or "Jenny"), was born in France in June 1828. She attended Miss Draper’s Young Ladies Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, and later married Caleb Ellis Draper (1806-1855). Their daughter, Jeanne de Brossard Draper ("Jenny") (b. January 5, 1852), married Seth Enos Smith (1848-1936), the son of Seth and Hannah Smith of Detroit, Michigan. Seth E. Smith received an M.A. from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and worked as college instructor in Racine, Wisconsin, and as a lumber dealer in Detroit, Michigan, before retiring in Grosse Isle, Michigan. He and Jenny de Brossard Draper had one surviving daughter, Florence Frisbie Smith, who was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 9, 1882. Florence Smith became a pianist, vocalist, and actress. She married Oscar Worthington Stull (known professionally as Worthington L. Romaine) on November 8, 1906, and afterward used the name "Florence Romaine." She died on February 14, 1964.

Acquisition Information:
Donated, Grace Maxfield and Roberta Copenhauer, 1985-2010. M-2233, M-2265, M-4810 .
Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.

Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in the following series:
  • Series I: Correspondence
  • Series II: Writings
  • Series III: Documents
    • Subseries I: Legal Documents
    • Subseries II: Business Documents
    • Subseries III: Award and Diploma
  • Series IV: Photographs
    • Subseries I: Photo Album
    • Subseries II: Loose Photographs
  • Series V: Scrapbooks
  • Series VI: Newspaper Clippings
  • Series VII: Genealogy and Family Histories
  • Series VIII: Miscellaneous and Fragments
Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

Florence Romaine Collection, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

Florence Romaine collection, 1822-1985 (majority within 1843-1907)
Total components 23
Last indexed 2025-02-09