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Elia Blanche Gilliam was born in Farmville, Virginia in 1871 to Mary Harris and W.P. Gilliam, a successful Farmville tobacco dealer. In 1891, Gilliam graduated from then-State Female Normal School and in 1892 married J.L. Putney, the owner of a Farmville tobacco factory. Elia Blanche Putney and her husband had nine children. Between 1914 and 1935 all six of their daughters graduated from her alma mater. Mary Frances Putney graduated in 1914, Alice Elia Putney graduated in 1918, Edna Elizabeth Putney graduated in 1919, Elia Blanche Putney graduated in 1928, Nancy Lee Putney graduated in 1932, and Martha Taylor Putney graduated in 1935 This collection represents both Elia Blanche Gilliam (Putney) and her daughter Elia Blanche Putney (Rhodes).
The materials in this collection were donated to the Longwood University Office of Alumni Engagement by Matthew Goodwin, the grandson of Elia Blanche Putney (Rhodes). The collection was transferred to the Greenwood Library Archives in July 2021.
This collection consists of a Licentiate of Teaching awarded to Elia Blanche Gilliam in 1891, a high school diploma and a B.S. degree awarded to Elia Blanche Putney in 1924 and 1928 respectively, as well as a scrapbook and photographs from Elia Blanche Putney's time at State Teachers College.
Photograph appears in 1928 Virginian, page 206
Presentation folder is stamped "The Ogden Studio, Farmville, VA"