Collections

The Faber German-American family photograph album contains approximately 305 photographs related to a German-American family based in northeastern Illinois.

The Faber German-American family photograph album contains approximately 305 photographs related to a German-American family based in northeastern Illinois. The album (26 x 18 cm) has black leather covers and is string-bound. Some photographs have faded captions. Images include views from summer trips to a cabin on White Lake; camping and picnicking at Silver Lake; paddling canoes bedecked with American flags; people dressed up to attend a Lutheran youth meeting in Jackson, Michigan; and a trip to Niagara Falls. The German-American family represented in the album was likely involved in the nursery business due to the fact several photographs show nurseries with plant stock, trees identified by their Latin names, and men working at the D. Hill Nursery in Dundee, Illinois. Other images of interest include photographs taken in Germany such as a group portrait of boys posing with their professor; a group portrait of German straw-sack stuffers in military uniforms; a real photo postcard of a group of men in uniform sent to "John Faber" of Woodstock, Illinois, from Germany in 1914; and another real photo postcard addressed to "Hans Faber" in Rosheim, Rheinland.

The Family and travel photograph album contains approximately 120 commercial and amateur photographs primarily showing a couple and their two young children.

The Family and travel photograph album contains approximately 120 commercial and amateur photographs primarily showing a couple and their two young children.

The album (18.5 x 28 cm) features photographs of the unidentified couple and an their children at home, visiting friends, and on trips to the shore. Also included are photographs of stately homes and several childrens' parties, with one group of children holding hoops and sticks. Commercial photographs include a view of Washington, D.C. from the Capitol dome; the U.S. Capitol building; the Statue of Liberty; the former Treasury building on Wall Street in New York City; the Brooklyn Bridge; Carpenters' Hall; the S.S. Teutonic; and a nearly completed Philadelphia City Hall.

The Family travel photograph album contains approximately 335 photographs depicting the travels of an unidentified family to various locations in California, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Washington, and British Columbia.

The The Family travel photograph album contains approximately 335 photographs depicting the travels of an unidentified family to various locations in California, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Washington, and British Columbia. The album (19 x 28 cm) is partially disbound and has green burlap covers. Images include family snapshots primarily taken in Oakland, California (89 photographs in total), and East Orange, New Jersey (73 photographs in total); views of sights in Richmond (Virginia), Victoria (British Columbia), including many home interiors and exteriors, nurses and infants, family groups, and children in cribs and posed with dolls; photographs of parks and scenic views of Oakland; views of the battleships Vermont and St. Louis off the coast of Old Point Comfort, Virginia; and a street and waterfront view of New York City. Other photographs of interest include a light-hearted image of five women with their faces bursting through sheets of newspaper; views from locations in Virginia (Roanoke, Richmond, East Radford, Norfolk, and Jamestown), New York (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Schenectady, and Staten Island), Washington (Seattle and Big Lake), and California (Berkeley and Santa Catalina); White Fleet admiral Robley D. Evans in a carriage; and four real photograph postcards showing night views of San Francisco illuminated to welcome the Great White Fleet, May 6-17, 1908. Most photographs include manuscript captions indicating location and date.

The Tyler-Montgomery-Scott family album chronicles multiple generations of the Tyler, Montgomery, and Scott families of the Philadelphia area from the 1860s through the 1930s. It includes approximately 275 items including studio portrait photographs, informal snapshots, newspaper clippings, postcards, letters, and other ephemera.

The Tyler-Montgomery-Scott family album chronicles multiple generations of the Tyler, Montgomery, and Scott families of the Philadelphia area from the 1860s through the 1930s. It includes approximately 275 items including studio portrait photographs, informal snapshots, newspaper clippings, postcards, letters, and other ephemera.

The album (33 x 25.5 cm) is string-bound with grey cloth covers. Most photographs in the album have detailed handwritten captions identifying people, often with their middle or maiden names as well as the location and date. The presentation of the album is not strictly chronological, especially in the latter half. The early generations of Tylers are represented in photographic formats such as cartes-de-visite, tintypes and cabinet cards, while later generations are represented in snapshots and postcards. When the album reaches the mid-twentieth century, it begins to resemble the modern family album with various forms of ephemera (newspaper clippings, drawings, letters, Christmas cards, etc.) supplementing the photographs of family and friends.

The album begins with a portrait of Frederick Tyler, his daughter Sarah Sophia Cowen, granddaughter Kate “Gwen” Cowen Pratt, and great-granddaughter Kate Pratt. George F. and Louisa R. Tyler as well as their children (including Sidney F. and Helen Beach Tyler) are also featured in the initial section of the album, along with many extended family members, friends, nurses, and pets. Among the family friends pictured are painter Frederick Church, writer Bret Harte, Leonor Ruiz de Apodaca y Garcia-Tienza, Gen. William Buel Franklin, patent lawyer and historian Woodbury Lowery, and the Duke and Duchess of Arcos (Jose Ambrosio Brunetti and Virginia Woodbury Lowery Brunetti). Several interior views of rooms in George F. and Louisa R. Tyler’s home on 201 South 15th St. taken in 1896 are also present, including a photograph of the “Children’s play room” that features their granddaughter Hope Binney Tyler Montgomery holding a doll. Hope, her parents Mary W. and Sidney F. Tyler, her husband Robert “Bob” L. Montgomery, and their children Mary, Ives, and Alexander are well-represented in the album.

Of particular interest are a number of photographs in different sections of the album that depict Theodore Roosevelt and his family. Some of these images are formal studio portraits, while others are more candid snapshots of Roosevelt with other people. One snapshot shows the family at play on the grounds of Sagamore Hill in 1897. Two photos taken at the White House including Helen Beach Tyler, daughter of George F. and Louisa R. Tyler and second cousin to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, are labelled “taken by Ted Roosevelt,” possibly referring to President Roosevelt’s son Theodore Roosevelt III. Helen Beach Tyler may be the “Nellie” who was the recipient of a partial letter included in the album which describes conditions at a wartime hospital (most likely in Italy) in 1915. Only the first two pages of this letter are included, and there is no indication of the identity of the writer. Helen Beach Tyler may also have been the principal compiler of this album. Supporting this possibility is the presence of an interior view of a bedroom at 201 South 15th St. (George F. and Louisa R. Tyler’s home) captioned as “Mother’s bedroom,” a signed portrait of Englishman Lytton Sothern captioned “Given to me by Mr. Sothern June 1872. Mr. Edward Sothern & his son Lytton Sothern sat at our table on ‘Oceanic’ my first trip to Europe,” and a portrait of Sara Schott von Schottenstein, Baronin von Prittwitz-Gaffron, bearing the inscription “to her friend Helen Tyler 1880.”

Other items of interest include portraits of Col. August Cleveland Tyler; several portraits of Brig. Gen. Robert Ogden Tyler; a portrait of French pianist Antoine Marmontel captioned “Mr. Marmontel Professor au Conservatoire gave us music lessons in Paris 1873-74”; a group portrait of Helen Beach Tyler, Mary L. Tyler, Alice Seward, Kitty Seward, and Ida Vinton posing with a silhouette of Sidney F. Tyler; photographs of painted portraits of George F. Tyler and Hope Binney Tyler Montgomery; a series of photos taken at the Spanish Embassy in Mexico City, some of which include the Duke and Duchess of Arcos, Woodbury Lowery, and Archibald Lowery; portraits of the Prittwitz-Gaffron family in Germany; photos taken around the world in various locations including Egypt, India, Germany, and Italy; images taken during an exhibition of sculpture by Stella Elkins Tyler (wife of George Frederick Tyler, Jr.), as well as a program from the event; and photos showing the family of Helen Hope and Edgar Scott.

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.

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."

The Florida vacations and silent movies photograph album contains approximately 300 photographs of people vacationing in southern Florida and production sets of Fox Film Corporation silent movies, dating from 1916 to 1920.

The Florida vacations and silent movies photograph album contains approximately 300 photographs of people vacationing in southern Florida and production sets of Fox Film Corporation silent movies, dating from 1916 to 1920. Identifiable silent movies consist of The Jungle Trial (1919), A Woman There Was (1919), and A Fallen Idol (1919). The style of the album includes photographs creatively cut to various shapes and sizes. The majority include captions and names.

Named individuals include Theda Bara, Evelyn Nesbit, William Farnum, Lizzie Sexton, Dick Stanton, and Adolf Stahl. The album likely covers several trips to Florida and shows various groups of family and friends at the beach and traveling.

Specific locations shown are Miami, Jacksonville, Daytona, Palm Beach, and St. Augustine. Images show people visiting Coconut Grove, Arch Creek, Hotel Poinciana, Musa Isle, and Fort Marion (Castillo de San Marcos). Other images of interest include photographs of African American children who were likely movie extras, captioned “More nature;" Farnum standing next to two film cameras; porpoises on display; house boats; men drinking "in a dry state;" and Seminole Indians in traditional dress.

The album is 26 x 18.5 cm with brown cloth covers.

The Franconia Notch and Washington, D.C. photograph album consists of 65 photographs primarily showing landscape scenes of Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, architectural views of Washington, D.C., and a camping trip to an unidentified location likely somewhere in the Northeast.

The Franconia Notch and Washington, D.C. photograph album consists of 65 photographs primarily showing landscape scenes of Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, architectural views of Washington, D.C., and a camping trip to an unidentified location likely somewhere in the Northeast. The album (18 x 27 cm) is half bound in brown leather with brown cloth boards. Washington, D.C.-related views include the White House with an interior ballroom, the Washington Monument, the Teasury Building, the U.S. Capitol, the Smithsonian Castle (with the Capitol in the background), and the Senate and House chambers. Camping-related images include photographs of a wooded lakeside area showing campers hiking, boating, painting, fishing, playing guitar, reading, and contemplating the scenery. In one view of a tent encampment in a grove of trees, a table is set for a meal, and a man stands beside a camera on a tripod. Several people from the camping trip are shown in various other settings: in a back garden, in front of a frame house with fencing, and in several Victorian-style interior rooms. Additional photographs show the Maplewood Hotel in Bethlehem, New Hampshire, and a boardwalk (possibly in Atlantic City, New Jersey).

The Frederick Gilbert Bourne collection is made up of correspondence, photographs, printed items, and ephemera related to Bourne, president of the Singer Manufacturing Company and commodore of the New York Yacht Club, and to his son-in-law, Ralph Strassburger, who served as consul general to Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia in 1913.

The Frederick Gilbert Bourne collection is made up of 73 letters, 11 telegrams, 9 photographs, 1 photograph album, 17 invitations and pieces of ephemera, and 22 printed items related to Bourne and to his son-in-law, Ralph Strassburger.

The Correspondence series (84 items) comprises the bulk of the collection, and is arranged by author and recipient. Bourne composed 45 letters to his daughter May and her husband, Ralph Beaver Strassburger, offering financial advice and sharing news of his social and leisure activities near his Long Island home and during his vacations on Jekyll Island, Georgia. These vacations often included hunting trips and yachting excursions. Several letters composed in 1912 and 1913 reflect Strassburger's time as a diplomat in Eastern Europe, with content respecting his father-in-law's efforts to secure him a reassignment following a local cholera outbreak. Bourne commented on the 1912 presidential election and controversial office appointments made by the outgoing Taft administration.

Incoming correspondence to Frederick Gilbert Bourne documents the social lives of his wealthy friends and family members in the early 20th century. Additional correspondence includes personal letters addressed to Ralph and May Strassburger and to Mrs. Emma Bourne from various acquaintances. The telegrams (11) contain messages between members of the Bourne family, most related to travel arrangements.

The Photographs series includes 9 individual photographs and one photograph album. Nine silver gelatin prints and real photo postcards depict Frederick Gilbert Bourne; "The Towers" on Dark Island, New York; and Indian Neck Hall, Bourne's estate in Oakdale, Long Island, New York (including 1 panoramic photo). The photo album, ca. 1904-1914, contains over 100 images of yachts and automobiles, as well as scenes from Jekyll Island, Georgia, and the leisure activities of wealthy Americans (including sailing races).

The Printed Items and Ephemera series includes 6 visiting/calling cards, a menu, 10 invitations, 7 picture postcards, 13 newspaper and magazine clippings, a magazine, and a book. The calling cards and invitations pertain to the activities of Frederick and Emma Bourne; the postcards depict the Bourne's estates and other buildings; and the clippings, magazine, and book concern Frederick Bourne (including yachting articles from The Rider and Driver and The Illustrated Sporting News). One of the calling cards is personally addressed to Bourne by J. Pierpont Morgan. The book is Henry H. Klein's Dynastic America and Those Who Own It (1921). The series also contains a reproduction of a document commending Bourne's lengthy service with the Singer Manufacturing Company (March 7, 1906) and a composite image of Frederick Bourne working in various occupations.

The Media series is comprised of 6 compact discs containing digital images of the Frederick G. Bourne family, the Jekyll Island Club, and Airy Hall Plantation, the South Carolina plantation owned by Robert George Elbert, another of Bourne's sons-in-law. The series also includes a VHS tape with filmed views of Bourne's estates and of Ralph Strassburger's home, transferred from a 28 millimeter reel from 1918.

This album contains photographs taken during a hiking trip in the Grand Canyon at about the turn of the century. The pictures show hikers, canyon scenes, burros, and scenes from the hikers' railroad trip on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe to the canyon.

This album (12cm x 14cm) contains 32 photographs taken during a trip to the Grand Canyon around the 19th century, as well as one photograph of George T. Chaffee riding a horse named "General." A few items show railroad tracks belonging to the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad near the Missouri River and the railroad car "Dorchester." The remaining photographs are scenes from a small group's hiking trip along the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon, including pictures of the hikers in former cave-dwellers' homes, beside the Colorado River, and at the canyon's rim. Views of the canyon and other scenery are also included. The title "Photographs" is stamped in gold on the album's leather cover.

The Frost family travel photograph album contains approximately 345 photographs of trips to Florida, the Bahamas, Colorado, Maine, and other locations.

The Frost family travel photograph album contains approximately 345 photographs of trips to Florida, the Bahamas, Colorado, Maine, and other locations.

The album (18 x 29.5 cm) has brown leather covers with "Photographs" stamped in gold on the front. Contents begin with images of Greenwich, Connecticut, and views taken aboard a Clyde steamer heading to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1898. Subsequent images of interest include a couple posing in front of Hotel Ponce de Leon; breaking ground for the Miami Hotel; views of Palm Beach; Fourth of July in the Catskills; and views of New York and Long Island. Also present are images of a trip to Colorado Springs in 1900 including views of the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak; views of Minneapolis and Duluth in Minnesota (including "Indian Mounds"); a steamer from Duluth to Buffalo; the Great Lakes; the International Hotel in Buffalo; Niagara Falls; several large commercially produced views of Cuba; Frost family headstones in Newcastle and Eliot, Massachusetts; the Pepperrell and Sparhawk houses in Kittery Point, Maine, and Boston; the Pepperrell Tombs; Washington, D.C.; and a trip to Nassau in the Bahamas in 1897.