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The Alexander family papers document the family, life, and early career of pianist Margaret June Alexander (also known as Vonya Alexandre) throughout the early 1900s. The collection is made up of two journals kept by her mother, Myrilla M. Anderson, plus letters, writings, artwork, family photographs, printed programs, sheet music, and other materials related to this Decatur County and Indianapolis, Indiana, family.

The Alexander family papers document the family, life, and early career of pianist Margaret June Alexander (also known as Vonya Alexandre) throughout the early 1900s. The collection consists of two journals kept by her mother, Myrilla M. Anderson, plus approximately 1 linear foot of letters, writings, artwork, family photographs, printed programs, sheet music, books, newspaper clippings, and other materials related to this Decatur County and Indianapolis, Indiana, family.

Margaret's mother, Myrilla Anderson Alexander, wrote two journals during Margaret's early life and stages of her musical career. The first, kept between 1894 and 1896, documents Myrilla's experiences during Margaret's infancy and a list of musical lessons, associated fees, and required books. The second journal covers 1907 to 1917, and focuses primarily on Margaret's musical performances, complemented by enclosed newspaper clippings, correspondence, and programs.

The Alexander family papers include Myrilla M. Anderson Alexander's sketchbook of ink, watercolor, and charcoal illustrations. A hand bound book appears in the collection, written for Myrilla Alexander by R. E. Sylvester, which contains poetry and sketches.

The collection includes 4 letters by Myrilla Alexander, picture postcards, calling cards, 2 blank living wills from the state of Florida, and a 1945 marriage certificate for Carl F. Grouleff and Vonya Kurzhene. A typed document titled "Remembrances of Anna Stover and Edith Surbey" recounts the friends' lives from their early education through their ongoing religious charity work. Other items include a handwritten description of Margaret June Alexander's 1913 performance at Carnegie Hall, a list of quotations, and a certificate regarding the eligibility of Mary Alexander Tarkington and Caroline Anderson Haugh to join the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Approximately 110 photographs depict Margaret June Alexander, her performance partner Mischel Kurzene, and members of the Alexander, Anderson, and Tarkington families. An address book kept by Myrilla Alexander includes addresses and birthdays of family and friends.

The collection's printed items include programs for musical events, sheet music, newspaper clippings, and two books. Approximately 50 programs reflect Margaret June Alexander's musical career between 1907 and 1927. Obituaries for members of the Alexander and Tarkington families appear within the collection's newspaper clippings. Multiple copies of an undated, printed advertisement for "Dr. Alexander's Effervescing Headache Powders" are also present. The collection's 2 books are G. W. H. Kemper's A Medical History of the State of Indiana (Chicago: American Medical Association Press, 1911) and Joseph Tarkington's Autobiography of Rev. Joseph Tarkington (Cincinnati: Curts & Jennings, 1899).

This collection is made up of manuscript essays and writings, original artwork, and printed proof sheets by Edwin Whitefield, an artist who specialized in bird's-eye views and landscapes in North America. The manuscripts largely concern Whitefield's travels in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakota Territory, as well as Whitefield's interest in the Bible.

This collection (approximately 200 items) contains 24 manuscript essays and writings, original artwork (approximately 40 items), and around 140 printed proof sheets by artist Edwin Whitefield between the 1840s and 1880s. The collection also includes 2 autograph albums that Mabel Whitefield kept between 1876 and 1883.

The Manuscripts series (24 items) contains essays, charts, notes, and fragments; a draft of Edwin Whitefield's The Bible Its Own Interpreter; and 2 autograph albums kept by Mabel Whitefield. The essays mainly relate to Whitefield's travels in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakota Territory in the 1840s and 1850s; Whitefield described landscapes, and some of his writings refer to specific drawings. A series of essays concerns immigration to Minnesota, including several short pieces about opportunities for settlers. Whitefield's other writings include an argument for increasing workers' wages; a letter about his son's conduct; notes about the Bible; 2 manuscript tables of the populations of major U.S. cities at each national census between 1790 and 1890; and a copied extract from the Encyclopedia Britannica about Moses.

Edwin Whitefield's The Bible Its Own Interpreter manuscript (approximately 220 pages) is made up of notes and clippings about passages from scripture and Biblical subjects. The volume contains a preface, index, and printed title page. Mabel Whitefield kept her 2 autograph albums, which contain inscriptions and poetry from family and friends, between 1876 and 1883.

The Original Artwork series is made up of Edwin Whitefield works, including 2 oil paintings; approximately 35 graphite, ink, and watercolor sketches; and 2 sketchbooks. One oil painting (1885, 20"x16") is a country landscape with a man herding cows over a bridge. The other painting (undated, 30"x20") is a mountain landscape, with a man and cows resting beside a river or lake. Approximately 35 individual graphite, ink, and watercolor sketches depict houses, bridges, landscapes, and buildings. Whitefield identified many of the views as locations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Edwin Whitefield's 2 sketchbooks contain illustrations of buildings, persons, and bird's eye views of cities and landscapes.

The Printed Items series includes proof sheets from the 1880, 1882, and 1889 editions of The Homes of Our Forefathers (approximately 75 colored or tinted lithographs), approximately 65 colored lithographs of botanical specimens by Whitefield, and one printed view of Newburyport, Massachusetts.