Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

This collection contains one letter, one circular advertisement, and three sketches related to James H. McFarlane's desire to have the St. Louis artistic firm Collins & Chambers design promotional posters for Cassie and Victoria Foster, the "Fairy Sisters."

This collection contains one letter, one circular advertisement, and three sketches related to James H. McFarlane's desire to have the St. Louis artistic firm Collins & Chambers design promotional posters for Cassie and Victoria Foster, the "Fairy Sisters." A printed advertising circular and manuscript letter, both dated October 16, 1872, provide the firm's credentials for creating "Show Paintings," including a list of similar performers recently depicted and the rates charged for various poster sizes. These are accompanied by three undated pencil drawings of possible poster designs; two claim that the sisters are the smallest people in the world, and other simply refers to them as part of "The Wonders of the World." Though one design is particularly heavy on text, all three depict the sisters, with two using normal-sized adults for comparative purposes, and seem to be located in an idyllic environment, possibly near a pond. Text on two of the posters gives the girls' ages as 10 and 3, and their weight as 12 pounds and 6 pounds, respectively.

This collection contains 7 letters that Helen Eastman received in 1943 from Lee Blanchard, Therald Eastman, and H. W. Woodward, as well as 1 undated letter, 1 printed poem, and 1 pencil sketch. The men discussed their service in the United States Army and Navy; Blanchard described his experiences in North Africa and Italy.

This collection contains 7 letters that Helen Eastman received in 1943 from Lee Blanchard, Therald Eastman, and H. W. Woodward, as well as 1 undated letter, 1 printed poem and 1 pencil sketch.

Private First Class Lee Blanchard wrote 5 letters to Helen Eastman between June 27, 1943, and November 25, 1943, while serving with the 10th Field Hospital in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. He described the scenery from his travels and responded to news she sent from home. While in Sicily, he visited catacombs; he also remarked on ancient Greek and Roman ruins in Italy and in Constantinople.

On July 15, 1943, Seaman Second Class H. W. Woodward ("Willis") wrote to Helen Eastman from the United States Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island, where he attended storekeeper's school. He related news of family and friends, and reported that he planned to graduate in August. Helen's cousin Therald Eastman wrote to the Eastman family on December 16, 1943, thanking them for a Christmas gift and reporting on his courses at the Field Artillery Replacement Training Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The final letter to Helen Eastman, an undated item signed by "Maurice," pertains to the Christmas season and provides family news.

The collection also contains a printed fragment of a poem entitled "Two Opinions," which presents a boy's opinion on the opposite sex, and a pencil drawing of a person in a high-collared uniform.

The James Silver papers consist of 12 letters, each of which is several pages long, composed by Silver during his 1872 visit to New Orleans, Louisiana, recounting his journey from New York, where his family resided, to Louisiana, as well as his time spent in and around New Orleans. Silver included 39 ink sketches of people and scenery throughout his letters.

The James Silver papers consist of 12 letters, each of which is several pages long, composed by Silver during his 1872 visit to New Orleans, Louisiana, recounting his journey from New York, where his family resided, to Louisiana, as well as his time spent in and around New Orleans. Silver included 39 ink sketches of people and scenery throughout his letters. The rough voyage took him past Havana, Cuba, before he entered the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River Delta. In New Orleans, Silver wrote about the sights and sounds in detail, paying particular attention to the peculiarity of hearing French in the French Quarter, of taking a train ride to Lake Pontchartrain, and of seeing the Mardi Gras celebrations. The young traveler frequently mentioned African Americans, and included some ink sketches of them in his letters. Also of interest is Silver's discussion of the city's unique burial practices and the social implications of them (February 7). The 39 sketches, interspersed throughout his letters, show buildings, farms, the streets of New Orleans during Mari Gras, and beaches along the Gulf Coast, as well as portraits. Along with the natural and man-made scenery, Silver drew scenes involving local people of all races, including trips to the market, families, fellow passengers on his railroad journeys, and couples dining in restaurants. Additionally, he sketched different events he witnessed during his travels, such as a man with a gun approaching him, a production of Hamlet that included a severed head, a drunkard being arrested by an African American police officer, a bowler hitting him with a ball, and a cluster of "hackmen" arguing about the price of a ride.

The Jayne papers contain letters from Samuel Ferguson Jayne, during his service as a relief agent with the U.S. Sanitary Commission, to his fiancée Charlotte Elizabeth Jayne in the summer of 1864. He described his work at the U.S. Colored Hospital at City Point, Virginia, treating wounded soldiers from the battles at Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Battle of the Crater (Petersburg).

The Jayne papers consist of 17 letters from Samuel Ferguson Jayne, during his service as a relief agent with the U.S. Sanitary Commission, to his fiancée Charlotte Elizabeth Jayne in the summer of 1864. The letters, dated May 22-August 19, 1864, track his travels on the Mary Rapley steamboat and document his efforts at the U.S. Colored Hospital at City Point, Virginia. They discuss the numerous wounded soldiers coming from battles at Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and the Battle of the Crater (Petersburg), and include vivid details on the treatment of the men and the facilities of the hospitals. Jayne often notes the difficulties of getting the Union doctors to treat black troops. He wrote, "We have had to almost fight the doctors to get them to treat the colored men decently and to find them proper attention. When we came here most of the men were without beds. Now we have them upon, not only beds, but every man has also an iron bedstead, entirely covered by mosquito netting" (July 12). On August 9th, Jayne wrote that "There are very few agents here, who are adapted to such 'low' work as that of taking care of sick negroes" (August 9).

Jayne described in depth the types of wounds and afflictions the solders suffered. On August 4, he wrote "we are overcome with sick and wounded...I have found many who fought hand to hand with rebels, as their wounds are those made by the butts of muskets or clubs...We have twelve men digging graves today for our hospital alone." In a letter dated April 9th, he described a "terrible explosion" of an ammunition boat at City Point, Virginia, and its aftermath. Though the letters contain many details on his work managing the sick in the hospitals, they also include expressions of love for Charlotte, who Samuel was "compelled to write" in order "to keep [his] wits straight" (August 9, 1864). Jayne also commented on political and ethical issues of the war. For example, in the letter from August 19, 1864, he questioned the morality of paying black soldiers to fight in place of a drafted white soldier:

"I do not think it would be exactly fair to obtain a negro for a substitute. In the first place, in all modesty, they do not make as good soldiers as the whites, and at the present crisis of affairs, from all that I can learn from observation and report, one white man, even as insignificant as myself, is equal to two negroes for war purposes. Then, the negro fights under great disadvantages. If taken prisoner he is either murdered or sold into slavery--and I think that a government that permits its soldiers to be thus dealt with, without retaliating upon the enemy ought to go to perdition, or at least to a strongly seasoned purgatory. I would not ask a man to go as my substitute who would be murdered in cold blood because he was not of my race and color. Until we can procure the African some rights of civilized warfare, let the Anglo Saxon fight his own battles."

Jayne drew several sketches and commented on them. Of note is a picture of a ground plan of the U.S. Colored hospital, City Point, Virginia camp, annotated with the functions of many individual tents. It includes the positions of hospitals for the 5th, 6th, and 9th Corps. This plan accompanies the letter from July 15, 1864, in which Jayne provided additional details of the hospital camp.

• "Our pet lamb Molly," City Point Virginia, a pencil sketch of a young Black woman sitting in front of shelves of supplies (July 26, 1864).
• "Special Diet," a barefoot black man walking past army tents holding a mug and plate of fish (August 10, 1864).
• "For this are we Doctors," a black soldier with a bloody amputated arm (August 10, 1864).
• "Lizzie," a profile of a black woman sitting on a crate with her hands to her head (August 10, 1864).
• "Hospital bed" on the back: "This is a drawing of our hospital beds, with mosque-to netting. Made by Roberts, S. "(August 19, 1864).