Search

The Litchfield-Stryker family photograph album contains pictures of Edwin C. Litchfield's "Grace Hill" residence in Brooklyn, New York; pictures of buildings and scenes in New York State, Florida, the Caribbean, and Bermuda; portraits and views of the property of members of the Litchfield, Stryker, and Hubbard families; and pictures taken camping and hunting. This album belonged to Thomas H. Stryker of Rome, New York, a nephew of Edwin C. Litchfield.

The Litchfield-Stryker family photograph album (34cm x 27cm) contains 52 carefully composed photographs, including 1 cyanotype and 51 albumen prints. The album belonged to Thomas H. Stryker of Rome, New York. Stryker was a nephew of Edwin C. Litchfield whose home, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, is featured in the album. Primarily dated 1878, the album also includes photographs dated 1879; April 11, 1884; and February 1886.

The first page displays portraits posed outdoors at "Grace Hill" of Edward H. and Grace D. Litchfield; Thomas H. Stryker with two women; and an unidentified woman alone. Grace Litchfield appears wearing a fez and holding a small stringed musical instrument, possibly a machete; Edward Litchfield is shown twice, once posed in a military uniform, once seated in civilian dress. The album features "Grace Hill" and other homes with six exterior views of the large, Gothic Revival residence in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York (4 items), a view across "Grace Court" from a second home owned by Litchfield in Brooklyn Heights (1 item), and a stable that Litchfield owned in Brooklyn (1 item). A group of 13 pictures relate to hunting trips by Tom Stryker and Ned Litchfield showing scenic forests, lakes, and pictures of their lean-to, possibly in the Adirondack region. One image shows the two men posed and equipped for winter hunting with snow shoes. Two of three pictures labeled "Virginia" appear to show a drilling or mining operation.

The album contains 15 pictures of scenery, people, and buildings in Saint Croix, Bermuda, and in Florida, including "Hubbard's orange grove, Crescent City." Also shown are photographs of John Stryker's residence in Rome, New York (2 items), "Cooper House" in Cooperstown, New York (1 item), "Hubbard Hall" in Utica, New York, (one exterior view and one interior view showing a grandfather clock), and unidentified scenes and buildings (2 items). "Dash No. 1," a pet dog, is posed in two photographs with hunting gear including pistols, rifles, and snowshoes. An image of a brass plate honoring Reverend Bella Hubbard (1739-1812), first rector of Trinity Church in New Haven, Connecticut, is pasted onto the volume's final page.

Of particular note are the exterior views of the impressive "Grace Hill" property, the early camping and hunting photographs, the view of the "Cooper House" hotel and grounds with well-dressed figures in the foreground; street scenes in Santa Cruz; a fine print of the waterfront in Bermuda; and the pictures of Florida orange production. The Virginia drilling/mining photos may be of importance if identified.

The Michigan family photograph album contains cabinet cards and cartes-de-visite with portraits of various unidentified men, women, and children taken largely in Howell and Pontiac, Michigan, in the late 19th century.

The Michigan family photograph album (26cm x 20cm) contains 25 cabinet cards and 10 cartes-de-visite with portraits of unidentified men, women, and children taken in Howell and Pontiac, Michigan, in the late 19th century. The album's padded red velvet cover has the title "Album" on an artist's palette. Subjects were photographed individually, in pairs, and, on a few occasions, as families, with as many as four people appearing in one image. Two boys were accompanied by dogs. Some subjects appear in more than one picture, apparently at different ages.

These albums contain photographs taken during Robert Peary's expeditions into the arctic regions. Volume 1 represents the 1897 trip to present-day Nunavut and Greenland on the ship Hope. The photographs feature arctic scenery, members of Peary's crew, the Hope, Inuit dwellings and American camps. The Inuit adults and children pictured include some of those who returned with Peary to the United States. Volume 2 represents one of the later Peary expeditions from 1905-1906, or 1908-1909. The images in this volume were removed from the original housing and are without identification. A vessel resembling Peary's ship from the later expeditions, S.S. Roosevelt, appears in several photos, as does a man resembling the Roosevelt's Captain, Robert Abram Bartlett.

Volume one contains 100 9cm x 9cm photographs taken during Robert Peary's expedition to present-day Nunavut and Greenland on the ship Hope in the summer of 1897. Each page (17cm x 29cm) contains two items; most include brief captions identifying places and people pictured. The volume's original covers are missing.

Many of the photographs feature scenery along Baffin Island in present-day Nunavut, including icebergs and glaciers; views of the Hope; small boats; Inuit boats and kayaks; Inuit huts and American tents; and natural features such as waterfalls, glaciers, and icebergs. The photographer also took pictures of Inuit adults, children, and crew members onboard the Hope; captions identify Robert Peary, his daughter Marie and her African American nurse, members of the expedition, and Inuit persons named "Kishu" and "Minnie". Kisuh may be Qisuk, and Minnie is very likely Minik, who were both taken to New York by Peary. A group photograph taken onboard ship may include Matthew Henson, Peary's African American assistant, although not identified as such. A few pictures were taken inside what appears to be a small wooden structure, and crew members occasionally posed outdoors with deer and caribou they had killed. One photograph of a "Fossil Bed" appears to have been printed from a broken glass plate negative.

Volume 2 is comprised of 92 12cm x 18cm and 10cm x 13cm photographic prints, likely taken on the Peary expedition of 1905 or later. The prints have been removed from the no longer extant original album pages, and are currently housed in a dark green ring-binder in a tan cloth sleeve measuring 34cm x 31cm. The images include scenes of northern settlements and camps; ice flows; crew-members on board ship; the hunting of a walrus, displaying a polar bear's head; men with bear cubs; and Inuit people, their dwellings, kayaks and boats. Several vessels appear including one that is likely the SS Roosevelt; also a fishing schooner; and an unidentified steamship. There are many portraits of crew members, all unidentified. Several are of a man resembling the Roosevelt's Captain, Robert Abram Bartlett.

Three magazine clippings from the mid-20th century are included that refer to Captain Bartlett.

Wife of Chase S. Osborn, leader in the Atlantic Union Movement, and officer in the Atlantic Union Conference, the International Movement for Atlantic Union, and Federal Union, Inc. Correspondence, diaries and other materials concerning her professional interests, especially her work for world peace through international cooperation.

The Stella Osborn collection was received in multiple accessions. The bulk of the papers were received from her home in Georgia (1958) and her office in Washington D.C. (1972). These materials documenting her entire career were organized into seven series: Biographical; Correspondence; Personal and miscellaneous; Atlantic Union Committee and related; Business and Professional Women's Club; Sound recordings; and Index card files. An extremely active woman with many interests and causes, Stella Osborn continued to add to her papers with a later accession in 1983. Following her death, the executor of her estate and other friends added to the collection with materials which she had retained for whatever reason or which had been in storage. There is obviously some overlap in these later materials and the files received previously. The purpose of the Summary Contents List (see below) is to draw like materials together.

The 1992 accession was more fully described than the earlier papers. This accession includes biographical notes and clippings about Stella Osborn and Chase Osborn. There is, in addition, personal and organizational correspondence, financial and estate records (1970-1988), land deeds for the Osborn holdings in Georgia and Michigan, organizational material for the Federal Union and the Atlantic Union Committee, manuscripts of poetry, prose, and political essays (including some material by Chase Osborn), and Stella Osborn's diaries (1982-87). The collection includes childhood photographs of Stella Osborn and photographs of her parents and grandparents. Two copies of a videotape about the Osborn farm in Georgia, Possum Poke, are included here as well.

Much of this accession documents the last few years of Stella Osborn's life, after her move to a retirement home in Sault St. Marie Michigan, years during which she maintained an interest in people and world peace organizations, and in documenting her own and Chase Osborn's place in history. While the bulk of correspondence here is for 1982, 1983, and 1987, some earlier correspondence is included as well. Of interest to university historians is the topical correspondence file on Robert Frost's visit to Michigan. Stella Osborn's lifelong friendship with Yuki Otsuki is documented by their extensive correspondence, a series of letters beautifully written and presented that recall earlier days, including student life.

The collection contains some material of interest to researchers interested in Chase Osborn, including the series of land transfers and deeds which document Chase and Stella Osborn's extensive holdings in Georgia and Michigan, and their gifts of land to various charities and institutions. Also included is some Chase Osborn correspondence and copies of articles he wrote about his extensive travels in Africa. Chase Osborn's 1938 "Longfellow Birthday Book" contains the birth dates of his ancestors. Several letters from 1936 pertain to Chase Osborn's involvement in the movement to build the Mackinac Bridge.

Of special interest to researchers interested in Stella Osborn and her role in various world peace organizations are her unpublished autobiographical manuscripts and files. Also of interest are her diaries, where she continued to record her ideas about politics and her memories.

1. Accessions, 1958 and 1971-1972 [boxes 1-27]
   • Biographical material [box 1]
   • Correspondence, 1916-1982 [boxes 1-13]
   • Personal and miscellaneous
     • Schedules, notes on telephone conversations, various writings [box 14]
     • Personal press releases [box 15]
     • Speeches [box 15]
     • Clippings [box 15]
     • Poetry [box 15]
     • Income tax files [box 15]
     • Diaries [box 16]
     • Student notebooks, account books, etc. (U-M and others) [box 16]
   • Atlantic Union Committee and related [boxes 17-24]
   • Business and Professional Women's Club activities [box 24]
   • Sound tapes [box 25]
   • Card files [boxes 25-27]
2. 1983 Accession [boxes 28-34]
   • Biographical material [box 28]
   • Correspondence, 1918-1983 [boxes 28-31]
   • Organizations [box 31]
   • Topical file [boxes 31-32]
   • Writings (autobiography, poetry, prose) [box 32]
   • Diaries [box 33]
   • Visual materials [box 34]
3. 1992 Accession [boxes 35-38]
   • Biographical and Autobiographical Material (including Chase Osborn) [box 35]
   • Correspondence, 1960-1987 [box 35]
   • Financial and Business Affairs, 1920-1985 [boxes 35-36]
   • Peace Organizations, 1970-1983 [box 36]
   • Manuscripts and Research Notes [box 36]
   • Chase Osborn materials, 1913-1949 [box 37]
   • Diaries, account books, day books, 1930-1987 [box 37-38]
   • Card Indices [box 38]

Stephen Williams kept this copybook in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, possibly in the 1840s. The volume includes penmanship practice, moral maxims, names of presidents and more.

Stephen Williams kept this copybook in Uxbridge, Massachusetts possibly in the 1840s. The volume includes penmanship practice, moral maxims, names of presidents like Andrew Jackson, and more.

The printed blankbook "Sold wholesale and retail by B. CRANSTON & Co. Printers, Publishers, and Booksellers" of Providence, [Rhode Island], features a man hunting in the snow with a dog on the cover. The back cover features two illustrations: one of a bird standing in a tree over a dead bird on the ground, and one of a fox standing over a dead bird. Between the two is the quote, "All may not be our enemies whom we fancy to be so. Harbor no enmity against your companions."

This visiting card specimen book contains 48 printer's sample cards pasted into the volume, including "hidden name" examples with movable die-cut flaps and other devices.

This visiting card specimen book contains 48 printer's sample cards pasted into the volume, including "hidden name" examples with movable die-cut flaps and other devices. Predominant visual themes are flowers, birds, hands, children, and cherubs. Others include a dog holding a guitar, a quill pen, a G.A.R card, and an "Imp Card" showing a devil holding a sign to read "I AM ___ WHO THE [DEVIL] ARE YOU."

A "Gold Escort" card has the text "I beg the blissful felicity of being honored with your gracious condescension to the extent of allowing your humble servant to escort you to your leafy bower this balmy eve. Say yes, fair lady!"