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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).

The Ella Curtis family correspondence is made up of 71 letters, predominantly incoming to Ellen "Ella" Curtis from her sisters Elizabeth "Lizzie" Curtis Plimpton and Ada Curtis Bridge, father Henry B. Curtis, and other friends and family members. The correspondence covers a wide range of topics, such as Lizzie's life in an apartment complex in New York City in the 1850s; Ada's letters from New York City and East Wareham, Massachusetts, pertinent to childbirth, child rearing, depression, and her alcoholic abusive husband; and other letters related to life in Ohio, love, marriage, sisterly advice, and additional subject matter.

The Ella Curtis family correspondence is made up of 71 letters, predominantly incoming to Ellen "Ella" Curtis from her sisters Elizabeth "Lizzie" Plimpton and Ada Curtis Bridge; father Henry B. Curtis; and other friends and family members. The correspondence covers a wide range of topics, such as Lizzie's life in an apartment complex in New York City in the 1850s; Ada's letters from New York City and East Wareham, Massachusetts, pertinent to childbirth, child rearing, depression, and her alcoholic abusive husband; and other letters related to life in Ohio, love, marriage, sisterly advice, and additional subject matter.

Ella Curtis sent 13 letters to her friends and sisters between January 7, 1852, and October 25, 1858. She wrote the bulk of them from Mount Vernon, Ohio, with introspective passages on her hopes and dreams for the present and future. Two letters to "Jim" in 1856 read like love letters.

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Curtis Plimpton wrote 16 letters to her sister Ella between June 13, 1852, and February 1860, including several undated. She sent many of her letters from London Terrace, a New York City apartment complex that provided low-cost housing for white-collar workers. Her information-filled letters reflect on her friends, family, children, life in the apartment, games, clothing and fashion, city life, sisterly sentiments, lost loves, trips to the opera, military parades, and other aspects of everyday life.

Ada Curtis / Ada Curtis Bridge sent her sister Ella eight letters, dating from November 3, 1857-July 22, 1861, New York City and East Wareham, Massachusetts. Her letters begin during the later stages of her pregnancy with Emma Bridge, having engaged a nurse who had worked as a wet nurse and seamstress. Her letters continue with discussions of physical health problems, acquiring dresses and sewing clothing for her daughter, and gossip about friends and family. By 1859, she settled in East Wareham and continued to discuss her fatigue, child rearing, reminiscences about girlhood, deep depression, loneliness, self-criticism, her husband Louis's "cross and ugly" behavior, reaffirmations that her husband loves her (albeit with "a very very selfish love"), and the support she received from God. In 1860, she began to confide in her sister about Louis's mentally abusive actions toward her, and, when unable to have an effect, toward their daughter Emma. She related the deep anguish she felt at witnessing the abuse of her child. Louis would be "affectionate and reasonable" in the morning, but in the evening would be "entirely a changed being." As time progressed, she finally revealed that Louis was a heavy drinker or an alcoholic, whose abusive behavior stemmed from drunkenness (see especially February 2, 1860, and July 22, 1861), and that she lived in humiliation and terror.

Thirty incoming letters to Ella Curtis, November 14, 1849-May 13, 1861, include five from her father Henry B. Curtis, three signed "J.C.D." (almost certainly Ella's future husband Joseph C. Devin), two from Jno. E. Hamilton, and many other writers. The letters from her father largely hailed from Mount Vernon, Ohio, 1852-1857, and described affairs at home, a train journey to Philadelphia, and a lengthy description of an art raffle at the Cosmopolitan Art Association at Norman Hall in Sandusky (February 29, 1856). His letter of June 23, 1857, was written on illustrated, printed Mount Vernon Female Seminary stationery. J.C.D.'s letters, dated in 1859, from Medina, Newark, and Mt. Gilead, Ohio, provide his thoughts on marriage and his legal work on several trials. On May 4, 1859, he offered a vivid description of an off-hours social scene of lawyers at a hotel in Mt. Gilead. Jno. E. Hamilton's two letters, dated 1856, profusely apologize for his "inappropriate" and "disgraceful" behavior to her while he was a student at Kenyon College. The collection also contains four miscellaneous Curtis family letters.

This collection is mostly made up of letters that Josephine Dyer Varnum ("Josie"), a native of Massachusetts, wrote to her mother and other family members while living in Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida, in the 1880s. She commented on daily life and shared news of her young children.

This collection (58 items) is mostly comprised of letters that Josephine Dyer Varnum ("Josie") wrote to her mother and other family members while living in Tallahassee and Jacksonville, Florida, in the 1880s. The first two items are letters from Josephine L. Dyer to John P. Varnum ("Johnnie"), her future husband, written in October 1872. The remaining correspondence largely consists of Josephine's letters to her family in Massachusetts, in which she discussed many aspects of her life in Florida, such as food, weather, and her daily activities. She commented on a new sewing machine (April 1, 1884) and described some of her living quarters. Many of her letters focus on news of her husband John, who worked in the newspaper industry and unsuccessfully ran for at least one local elected office, and her children Charles ("Archie"), Grace ("Gracie"), and Edith ("Edie"). She wrote about the children's development, schooling, their feelings about their grandparents, and other subjects. She also sent a letter to an absent child about Christmas celebrations and gifts (December 30, 1883). John P. Varnum wrote at least one letter to Josephine while traveling in 1877. The final item is a manuscript map of properties along the Indian River.

This collection contains correspondence received by Martha Barker, concerning such topics as motherhood, women's education, and everyday household matters.

This collection contains correspondence received by Martha Barker, concerning such topics as motherhood, women's education, and everyday household matters. All but one of these letters in this collection are addressed to Martha, or Mart, as she is called by her family and friends. Several letters in this collection include items such as dress scraps, locks of hair, and pressed flowers.

The letters from Mart's many family members living in Illinois and Minnesota provide information about experiences of every-day female, and to a lesser extent, male settlers in these midwestern states. Over a period of more than thirty years, these people wrote about domestic matters such as sewing, quilting, and soap making. They wrote about economic topics, including the year's harvest, and dress making businesses. Other topics included marriage, holiday celebrations, education, and child rearing. For example, Mart's sister [Kate] wrote on May 24, 1873 about the difficulty of motherhood, "You want to know how I get along with four children I dont get along at all I am half crazy."

Of particular interest are letters from Mart's brother Milton, who wrote about the lives of his daughters. In a January 17, 1897 letter, he described the process that the women had undergone to become teachers. He discussed Normal Schools, Normal Boards for licensing, teacher salaries -- which ranged from $30.00 to $45.00 per month -- and teacher work conditions. He noted that the independence that his daughters had gained from this profession was pleasing to him.