Search

This collection features seventeen merit reward cards given to girls and women in the late nineteenth century. These cards are printed on one side and have "Reward of Merit" printed at the top, accompanied by a decorative illustration, the handwritten student's name, and the teacher's signature. Six cards are addressed to Martha Warren, three to Nelly Whitenack, two to Florence Pomery, and other cards are addressed to presented to Cynthia Williams, Elizabeth Brookholder, Ida Meckly, Beatie Allen, and Ella Solm. Another card is illegible except for the first name Electa. Two of the cards are dated. The cards vary in illustration and typography.

This collection contains a photograph album of a student from Hampton Institute. The original photo album, measuring 7' x 10' with 24 pages, contains 44 black and white photographs of an unidentified young Black woman, approximately 20 years old, as well as cut newspaper images and a photo postcard. She is seen at Hampton Institute, a historically Black University, in Hampton, Virginia, posing in front of school buildings, clowning around with friends, and preparing for graduation. Also included are scenic photographs of places she visited such as a dam, a church, and a parade. The last few pages contain family photographs; a couple photographs show her with an elderly woman. Some of the baby photographs are inscribed "To Grandma" and "To Grand Dad" and another is labeled "Me". The identification of the Hampton Institute as the locale comes from a real photo postcard with the title "The Hampton Institute Creative Dance Group" and a newspaper cutout of the Hampton Institute Choir along with the news caption, "They Keep Spiritual Values High at Hampton." It is possible that this album was kept by the grandparent of the young women.

This collection contains eighty-five letters and associated documents of Harold "Hal" Blote, a volunteer of the American Ambulance Field Service in World War I. The letters are primarily those of Blote but also included are letters from a J.H. "Joe" Eastman to Blote and letters of Edward B. Gordon who sent letters to friends and family which included the Blote family.

This collection contains an albumen photograph cabinet card of William Custalo (1840-1907), a successful Richmond-area businessman and proprietor of the Custalo House bar and restaurant. Custalo is captured in a suit with a watch chain, seated with his hand resting on a wicker chair. The portrait features the imprint of the Jefferson Fine Art Gallery, Richmond, Virginia.

This collection contains letters and paper ephemera written to Jeanie Schroeder, a young, white woman who fell in love, got pregnant during her pre-med studies at Northwestern University, and secretly married a young Black musician identified as Keith "Tiny" Leighton in the letters. The bulk of the collection dates from the 1940s to the 1950s. The content centers Jeanie Schroeder's courage in facing the difficulties of being seen as an unwed mother in the 1940's; young men going off to World War II, and women obtaining new careers and exploring the work place that was previously unavailable to them.

This collection contains one handwritten notebook from an English female student learning about botany and zoology in 1857. The notebook includes sixty-eight pages of notes and essays on plant and animal biology. The notebook cover has the handwritten signature of the original owner, Louisa Wootten (possibly Woodson or Woodrow).

This collection features an undated tintype photograph of two unidentified African American women dressed in Victorian-style dresses and hats. One of the women holds a bouquet that drapes over a bridge made of branches that the two figures are posed on in a photography studio. It measures 2.5 X 3.5 ".

The collection contains a printing block measuring 6" x 7.5" x 1" made of wood and metal. The printing block is headlined "Roll of Honor" with a suffrage pennant emblazoned "Votes for Women" below. Underneath the pennant, an inscription reads, "Distinguished people who have declared themselves for woman suffrage." Beneath are columns titled "Statesman," "Preachers," "Men of Letters," and "Educators." These columns list names such as Mark Twain, Plato, and Jack London. Though uncredited, this block may have been produced by the Suffrage Atelier, an artists' collective founded in 1909 that campaigned for women's suffrage in England. The design and font also recall the aesthetic style of the Suffrage Atelier.