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[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Edith May Fultz Cavendish Photographs, SC 0239, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.
Purchased from Scott Suter in October 2003.
Scott Suter often alerted Special Collections to items of interest at Green Valley Auctions and other local antique dealers. It is likely that he acquired the material from a local auction house or dealer on behalf of Special Collections.
The photographs were originally housed in a scrapbook and were subsequently removed. Black paper residue from the scrapbook pages is still present on the backs of the photographs. A description is written on the back of each photograph. Presumably, this description accompanied each photograph that was pasted in the scrapbook. A numerical identifier (1-43) is also present on the back of each photograph, likely corresponding to the order in which the photographs were removed from the scrapbook. This order is retained in the collection arrangement.
Edith May Fultz Cavendish was born July 8, 1918 to Marvin P. and Mabel Rees Fultz of Raphine, Virginia. She attended Madison College and graduated in 1940 with a degree in home economics. While a student at Madison College, Cavendish was active in extracurricular activities including the Alpha Literary Society, Rural Life Club, Frances Sale Club, Social Committee, House Committee Senior Hall, and Y. W. C. A. For at least a portion of her time at Madison College, she lived in Spotswood Hall, Room 24. Soon after graduation, Cavendish participated as a princess in the October 1940 Turkey Festival Coronation service held at Madison College. Cavendish married James H. Bryan of Harrisonburg on May 15, 1943. She worked for Harrisonburg Public Schools and Madison College. After Bryan's passing in January 1972, Cavendish married Richard C. Cavendish. Cavendish died February 17, 2000 and is buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Steele's Tavern, Virginia.
The Edith May Fultz Cavendish Photographs, ca. 1940, include 43 unique black-and-white photographs of Madison College while Cavendish (née Fultz) was a student at the school. Dormitory life and dormitory interiors, campus buildings, snowscapes, general student and social life, and fellow classmate portrait photographs are all captured. A few photographs are interspersed that depict locations other than Madison College.
In addition to the portrait photographs of Madison College students, this collection of photographs includes many candid and lighthearted shots of student life and features Cavendish with her fellow classmates. A grouping of dormitory photographs capture typical student life as it relates to on-campus living. Cavendish and her roommates are shown studying, lying in their beds, and posing in bath towels in their dormitory in Spotswood Hall. Wilson Hall and other buildings on the perimeter of the quad are also featured in these photographs. Photographs of the campus snowscape capture Cavendish with her classmates gallivanting in the snow, posing by a recently built snowman, and throwing snowballs. A last grouping of photographs feature general student life with Cavendish and her classmates. The students are captured posing in groups in front of buildings and other landmarks on campus including the kissing rock. Of interest is a photograph of Cavendish with Mary Gregory on Class Day. They are wearing heart-shaped aprons and hats and are described as Heart Throbs. One particular photograph of Cavendish posing with friends on a tandem bicycle conveys the lighthearted nature of this collection.
Fellow classmates of Cavendish featured in the photographs include but are not limited to Mary Gregory, Anne Howell, Margaret Shelton, Eunice Wall, and Katherine Kackley. She refers to her close group of friends as "The Gang." A portrait photograph of a man known only as Joe is also included.
The photographs are arranged numerically according to the number present on the back of each photograph.