Search

This collection contains 14 letters and partial letters from James B. Green of Des Moines, Iowa, to Cora Earley, a female friend in Prattsburgh, New York, between July 1892 and April 1893. His casual, flirtatious, and occasionally crude letters include remarks on social news about mutual friends in Prattsburgh, relationships between men and women, and his life in Des Moines.

This collection contains 14 letters and partial letters by James B. Green of Des Moines, Iowa, to Cora Earley, a female friend in Prattsburgh, New York, between July 1892 and April 1893. His casual, flirtatious, and occasionally crude letters include remarks on social news about mutual friends in Prattsburgh, relationships between men and women, and his life in Des Moines.

Green wrote these 2- to 4-page letters on stationery from the S. Green & Sons Iron Foundry and Stove Works, where he worked with his father and brother, Samuel and Frank Green. Though he occasionally mentioned the local furnace industry and the price of goods in Des Moines, most of his letters focus on mutual acquaintances and social news from Prattsburgh. Green reminisced about playing ball with his friends. He often commented on aspects of relationships between men and women, such as a broken engagement and his own dating life. Some letters discuss the possibility of Green's return to Prattsburgh, as well as his feelings about the town and its people.

Green often addressed his correspondent as "you little sinner." The following excerpt from Green's letter of November 13, 1892, is typical of his colloquial writing style and content. It also contains a reference to Grover Cleveland's second election.

"Well you little sinner How are you coming? 'Regular and 4 in a hill' I suppose. 'Hurrah for Cleavland' He is the man I would have voted for. Well Cora how is every thing down to Uncle Joe Briggs? You bet I remember the night you and the rest of the gang was down. What kind of a girl is that Mabel Rose? I have heard a good deal about her? Would like to get out with her some night and find out for myself. No Cora I will never forget that night down to Martha's. more sport than a wash tub full of monkies. Would like to have to go through it again to night. You can bet Cora I would keep you awake."

Grand Rapids, Michigan, architect and planner. Correspondence, writings, working files, and photographs for out-of-state and Michigan projects, primarily in Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint, and East Lansing; professional materials relating to problems of urban planning, the design of department stores and shopping centers, his general interest in lighting designs, traffic patterns, and parking areas, and to his work with the Lake Michigan Region Planning Committee, the American Institute of Architects and the Michigan Society of Architects; also Welch family materials, including record, 1915-1925, of the Welch Manufacturing Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Welch papers include a small amount of biographical and personal material, but the bulk of the collection documents his work on architectural, design and planning projects in Michigan and across the country - many having to do with shopping malls, business districts and urban redevelopment. The collection is arranged in eight series: biographical materials; correspondence; personal, financial, and family materials; professional information files; Michigan project files; out-of-state project files; articles and speeches; and photographs.

The Shriners' excursion tour photograph albums (2 volumes, each 15.5 x 20 cm) contain 95 photoprints of photographs taken during a cross-country train and ship excursion by a group of Shriners ca. 1898.

The Shriners' excursion tour photo albums (2 volumes, each 15.5 x 20 cm) contain 95 photoprints of photographs taken during a cross-country train and ship excursion by a group of Shriners ca. 1898. Images show a range of different places around the United States, including: St. Joseph, Missouri; Des Moines, Iowa; Big Spring, Texas; Phoenix and Tuscon, Arizona; Redlands, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, California; and Honolulu, Hawaii. The Shriner group appears to have chartered their train as there are photographs documenting a train breakdown in Arizona and stops in various stations show it to be decorated with banners. Several images includes women and young boys wearing fezzes, indicating that families participated in the trip. There are also several photographs of cowboys and Native Americans in Arizona and Texas. Images taken in California include views of Los Angeles rooftops, Golden Gate Park and San Francisco Bay, Mt. Shasta and San Bernadino, and palms and a grapefruit grove at Baldwin's Ranch in Redlands. There are several images of ships including the S.S. Sierra, the committee boat Fearless, a quarantine boat, an Austrian training ship at Honolulu, the American battleship U.S.S. Wisconsin, and unidentified ocean steamers in San Francisco Bay.

The albums are half bound with red leather bindings, have red cloth boards and are housed in light blue boxes.