Original & selected poetry &c. [graphic] / Martina Dickerson.
Title
Original & selected poetry &c
Description
Album belonging to Martina Dickerson, a young middle-class African American Philadelphian, probably created as a pedagogical exercise, with twenty-two contributions dating from 1840 until around 1846. Contains original and transcribed poems, prose, and essays on topics including love, friendship, sympathy, courage, and female refinement. Also includes drawings, primarily of flowers. Identified contributors are mainly Black elite scholars active in the African American anti-slavery and cultural community of mid-19th century Philadelphia., Contains the following contributions: calligraphed title page by abolitionist James Forten, Jr.; prose on "Literature," "The Album," and "The Year" by entrepeneur and abolitionist James Forten, Sr. or his son, James, Jr.; prose entitled "Perserverance" by tailor, abolitionist, and civil rights activist John C. Bowers; prose, sketches, and watercolors by Quaker abolitionist, educator, and artist, Sarah Mapps Douglass; watercolor and transcribed poem, "The First Steamboat on the Missouri," by Sarah's brother, artist, community activist, and abolitionist, Robert Douglass; essay entitled "Sympathy" by William Douglass, pastor and historian of the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Philadelphia; transcription from Wordsworth's "Excursion" by educator and anti-slavery activist Charles L. Reason; gouache of a bunch of flowers by A.H.H., probably Ada Howell Hinton, an African American educator and anti-slavery activist; and prose, poems, and gouache by Mary M. MacFarland, V.E. Macarty, Y.J. Grice, Rebecca F. Peterson, H.D. Shorter, C.D.R., and J.F.V., Title from item., Inclusive range of dates inferred from entries inscribed with dates., Embossed and gilt morocco binding., Lithograph title page, "Flowers," containing flower illustration hand-colored with gouache and watercolor., Blank album published in London by Wm. & Hy. Rock., Lib. Company. Annual Report 1993, p. 17-25., Research file available at repository., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Dickerson, a pupil of African American educator Sarah Mapps Douglass, was the daughter of African American activists, Martin and Adelia Dickerson, and step-father Samuel Van Brackle.
Creator
Dickerson, Martina, 1829-1905
Date
[ca. 1840-ca. 1846]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Martina Dickerson album [13859.Q]
The girl graduate: her own book [graphic] / Designed and illustrated by Louise Perrett and Sarah K. Smith.
Title
The girl graduate: her own book
Description
Memory book compiled by Philadelphia High School for Girls student Mildred Davis Zaiser (later Cope) containing snapshot portraits with signatures and addresses of her classmates, including three African American students; prose and essays by her fellow students about their school experiences, teachers and classes; transcriptions of the class yell, motto, and commencement address; and class autographs and lists of class officers. Also contains an inserted snapshot photograph depicting four young well-dressed women in “Washington DC 5/9/14” (p. 31); snapshot photograph depicting history instructor “Miss Isabel W. Franklin” (p. 57); professional group portrait photograph showing the student members of “The Captain Ball Team of A prime 8” (a few of the girls hold a stuffed cat, a ball, and the school banners); anecdotal entries titled “Class Prophecy, And how it comes out” and “Class History”; tongue-in-cheek “Last Will and Testament” essay of student bequests to school instructors and departments; and a copy of the commencement announcement. “Miscellaneous” section contains several essays colloquially describing classes and written and signed by Zaiser’s fellow students, including ‘Physics Hour” written by Lucy Seiber (p. 169-171); “Mathematics Hour” written by Emily M. Woodward and Blanche Rostow (p. 172-177); “Drawing Hour” incomplete and unsigned (p. 178-179); “Physiology Hour” written by Marie Zaun (p. 181-184); “Gymnasium Hour” written by Della Martin (p. 185 -188); and “English Hour” written by Lillian Schivare (p. 189). Notes by Zaiser detailing the class flower and colors and her graduation gown and presents and the prose “Who’s Who in A8” written by Dorothy Noe (p 141-143) also comprise the manuscript content of the book. Captain ball is a game similar to basketball played on an area marked with six circles with the goal to pass the ball to the player in the end circle., Portrait sitters (p. 15-29) include: Rheba Luberoff, 1928 N. 7th St., Phila; Mary Olivell, 341 S. Lawrence St., Phila; Helen Mahoney, 1502 Hollywood St., Phila; Della Markie, 4118 Pechin St., Rox.; Minnie Mayerle, 2406 Sedgely St., Phila.; Minnie Mayerle, 2406 Sedgely St., Phila.; Della Markie, 4118 Pechin St., Rox.; Minnie Mayerle, 2406 Sedgely St., Phila.; Florence Martin, 1234 N. 54th St., W. Phila ;Lea Meisel, 630 N. 55th St., W. Phila.; Mattie Miller, 3859 Olive St., W. Phila. (African American student); Dorothy Noe, 3311 N. 17th St. [830 Windsor Square, Phila – crossed out in different hand]; Tillie Mellanoff, 634 Hoffman St., Phila.; Mary Patterson, House of Correction, Holmesburg; Helen Pechin, N.E. Cor. 20th St. and Columbia Ave., Phila.; Lillian Pollard, 5339 Lena St., Germantown; Helen Radcliffe, 801 E. Washington Lane [6213 Germantown Ave G’m’t – crossed out in different hand]; Blanche Rostow, 1222 N. 7th St., Phila; Marion Schurer, 1103 Fairmount Ave., Phila.; Lillian Schware, 1342 Poplar St., Phila.; Lucy Seiber, 7024 Second St. Pike, Lawndale, Phila.; Elva Smith, 2502 N. Garnet St., Phila.; Fannie Still (later Lloyd)(abolitionist William Still’s granddaughter), 1607 Bainbridge St., Phila.; Helen Taylor, Upsal and Sullivan Sts.; Esther Tittman, 419 Moore St., Phila; Arabella Turney, 2334 S. 17th St., Phila.; Rosalie Tutleman, 5230 N. Broad St., Phila.; Grace Wilhelm, 1524 Parker St., Phila.; Annie Wood, 762 N. Uber St., Phila. (African American student); Emily Woodward, 518 W. Venango St., Phila.; Mildred Davis Zaiser, 4548 Manayunk Ave., Rox.; Marie Zaun, 122 E. Gorgas Lane, Mt. Airy; and Alberta Goodwin, President of the Graduating Class, Feb. 1915., The portraits are bust-length and the sitters are posed in profile, facing forward, and looking down upon books. Most of the young women wear their hair long and swept back and up. Some wear their hair bobbed or with bangs. The attire of most of the students include white or patterned blouses and neckties and neckerchiefs. Some also wear necklaces and/or jackets or smocks or ribbon headbands., Book illustrated with art nouveau-style pictorial, border, and ornamental details depicting images of young women in flouncy dresses reading newspapers, holding brownie cameras, writing invitations and in a journal; views of desks and shelves containing objects associated with studying, school, and young women, including books, ink wells, candlesticks, a box of letters, and flowers; and borders and ornaments composed of rose and floral designs., Bound in limp olive suede with blind-embossed design and gilt titling on front cover. Cover stamped with design composed of book, quill pen, and a bough of greenery with banner., Title stamped in gilt on cover: The Girl Graduate: Her Own Book., Contains inscription: This book belongs to [Mildred Davis Zaiser]. Graduated from [The Philadelphia High School for Girls. 17th and Spring Garden Sts.] Inscription in art nouveau-style border shaped like a frame and composed of flowers and branches., Title page illustrated with art nouveau-style border composed of vinery, roses, and the bust of a young woman attired in a flouncy blouse and with a yellow ribbon in her hair., Table of Contents: Date. Flower. Colors 11; Class Yell. Motto 13; Class Photographs 15; Class Autographs 33; Class Officers 49; The Teachers 53; Class Prophecy 61; Her Invitations 75; The Programmes 83; Social Events 95; Press Notices 113; Her Gowns 125; The Presents 133; Jokes and Frolics 141; Baccalaureate Sermon 161; Miscellaneous 169., Several editions of "The Girl Graduate" with variant cover designs and a loose leaf version were published 1906-ca. 1927., Purchase 2015., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Mildred Zaiser Cope (1897-1981) was raised in a German section of Philadelphia and noted as the "German Dictionary" by her classmates at her graduation in 1915. She still lived with her parents in 1920 when she worked as a clerk for the Board of Education. By 1930 she had married William Cope and lived in Norwalk, Connecticut., Louise Perrett (b. 1878) was an illustrator who studied under Howard Pyle. She was also an instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago circa 1920s. She partnered with Sarah K. Smith on several memory albums first published by Reilly and Britton Co. in the early 1900s. By 1940 she was an art teacher at the Elizabeth Peabody House in Boston.
Creator
Perrett, Louise, illustrator
Date
[ca. 1915]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [P.2015.2]
Album [graphic].
Title
[Album]
Description
Album belonging to Mary Anne Dickerson, a young middle-class African American Philadelphian, possibly created as a pedagogical exercise, with contributions dating from 1833 until 1882. Contains engraved plates depicting scenic views, and original and transcribed poems, prose, essays, and drawings on topics including friendship, motherhood, mortality, youth, death, flowers, female beauty, and refinement. Also contains a one page record of family deaths, marriages, and births with entries up to the birth of Mary Anne's grandson in 1882. Identified contributors are mainly Black elite scholars active in the African American anti-slavery and cultural communities of mid-19th century Philadelphia, New York, and Boston., Contains the following contributions: "The Mother's Joy," a poem by C.F., possibly by abolitionist and second wife of entrepreneur James Forten, Charlotte Vandine Forten; illustration after "The Boroom Slave" and the poem, "To the Album," by artist and activist Robert Douglass; prose, "To Mary Ann", about living a happy life by Philadelphian anti-slavery activist Amy Matilda Cassey; a memorial, "To My Dear Willie," by Mary Anne to her deceased son, William Jones; poem, "The Night of Death," by J.A.J., Mary Anne's husband, John A. Jones; Boston author and civil rights activist William C. Nell's transcription of the poem, "The Rights of Women"; allegorical prose on the meaning of life by New York abolitionist Harriet Forten Purvis; transcription of the poem, "The Pearl Diver," by white Philadelphian anti-slavery activist Arnold Buffum; prose to "Mary Annie" about remembrance by Ada, possibly by anti-slavery activist Sarah Forten Purvis or educator and anti-slavery activist Ada Howell Hinton; floral drawing by A.H.H., probably by Ada Howell Hinton; prose and floral watercolors by educator, abolitionist, and Quaker Sarah Mapps Douglass, the sister of Robert Douglass; "Lines Addressed to a Wreath of Flowers Designed on a Present for Mary Ann" by E.S. Webb, possibly Elizabeth Susan Webb, sister of novelist Frank J. Webb; and prose by Mary Anne about mortality. Additional entries of prose and poetry by John G. Dutton, E.S. Webb, Lydia A.B., Henrietta, W.F.P, and S.L.C., unattributed entry, "To Esther," and unattributed entry of a floral watercolor. Also contains engraved plates by A.B. Durand, C. Fielding, C.G. Childs, Robert Walter Weir, James Smillie and Thomas Cole entitled respectively, "Falls of the Sawkill"; "Italy, The Bay of Naples"; "Weehawken"; "Delaware Water Gap"; "Catskill Mountains"; "Fort Putnam"; and "Winnipiseogee Lake"., Title supplied by cataloguer., Inclusive range of dates inferred from entries inscribed with dates., Contains engraved illustrated title page: Album. The Mother's Joy., Blank album published in New York in 1833 by J.C. Ricker., Embossed and gilt morocco binding., Release of Dower document dated 1838 giving the Dickerson home to the surviving children, contemporary unidentified newspaper clippings, manuscript poetry transcriptions, contemporary greeting cards, trade card, and other miscellaneous loose items removed and housed separately., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 1993, p. 17-25., Research file available at repository., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Dickerson, a pupil of African American educator Sarah Mapps Douglass, was the daughter of African American activists, Martin and Adelia Dickerson, and step-father Samuel Van Brackle.
Creator
Dickerson, Mary Anne, 1822-1858
Date
[ca. 1833-ca. 1882]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Mary Anne Dickerson album [13860.Q]