Chestnuts manuscript newspaper, 1888/1889

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
170 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Special Collections Public Services & Reference Staff
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred citation:

MSS 16743, Chestnuts manuscript newspaper, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Summary

Extent:
0.03 Cubic Feet 1 letter-size folder
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

MSS 16743, Chestnuts manuscript newspaper, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia Library.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of 26 handwritten amateur newspapers titled "Chestnuts,"by a group of ten girls calling themselves "WG's," the Woodfords Girls, who lived in the Woodfords neighborhood of Portland, Maine. It is likely they attended Deering High School, as the initials DHS appear several times.

The newspapers contain original poetry, personals, advertisements, and editorials. Some include several small ink sketches. A few of the issues include riddles, local crime and fake police activity, and local business activity. The back page of each issue features a series of advertisements, with a focus on "medicinal" products reminiscent of printed newspapers of the day.

There are ten issues of "Chestnuts," volumes 1-10, plus ten supplements. The girls later renamed the newspaper "Hawthorne" and the run includes volumes 1-3 of this paper, plus three supplements. The newspapers are four pages and are laid into a hand decorated wrapper titled "Chestnuts Vol I, " also listing the names of the ten girls who contributed to the newspaper.

Acquisition information:
This collection was purchased from Caroliniana by the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia Library on August 24, 2020.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
newspapers