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Title: Afro-American historical family record
Description: Blank African American genealogical certificate containing a family tree surrounded by portraits of the first twenty-four U.S. presidents; portraits of prominent African American men and women religious, political, and educational leaders; and eleven vignettes contrasting life in the South of the enslaved versus the free. African American portraits include Frederick Douglass flanked by Washington and Lincoln; Judson W. Lyons, Register of the Treasury; Miss Lucy C. Laney, Founder of the Haines Institute; Booker T. Washington; H.M. Turner, Bishop of the A.M.E. Church; T. Thomas Fortune, editor New York Age; Hon. John M. Langston, diplomat; Madam Sissiretta Jones, performer and singer; Miss Hallie Q. Brown, educator and African American women's rights activist; Prof. Mary V. Cook, Principal of the State University, Louisville, KY; Miss Ida B. Wells, editor and author; Hon. John R. Lynch, U.S. Paymaster and ex-Congressman; Dr. Henry Fitzbutler, founder of the Louisville National Medical College; and L.H. Holsey, Bishop of the C.M.E. Church. Vignettes depicting slavery include the last auction of enslaved people in Savannah; enslaved cotton pickers working the field; enslaved people dancing and playing instruments "as children were taught in the dark days of slavery"; and an enslaved family in front of their “hut.” Contrasting post-emancipation scenes include a view of Tuskegee Institute; a view of "progressive farming as taught at Tuskegee Institute"; a group portrait in front of a "school house erected by a Tuskegee graduate"; the Victorian house of R.R. Church, a free man; and Spanish-American War battle scenes of African American regiments assisting the Rough Riders, including at San Juan Hill. Also contains the white eye of Providence below the title., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1899, by J.M. Vickroy, Terre Haute, Ind., Printed on recto: Branch Office Terre Haute, Ind., Purchase 2002., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Vickroy, a prominent Indiana fine arts publisher, specialized in genealogical and fraternal order certificates.
Date: 1899
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - African American Heroes [P.2002.16]

Title: White, Irene C.
Description: Shoulder-length portrait of the educator in profile, with hair braided around crown of head., In The American phrenological journal, vol. 31 (Jan., 1860), p. 1., “She has been a ‘substitute,’ an efficient teacher to thousands, among whom not a few are known to honor and fame. She has achieved what no other woman in America has done, viz., been elected teacher of elocution in several literary and scientific institutions of note in our country.”--P. 2.
Date: [1860?]

Title: Lyon, Mary, 1797-1849.
Description: In Hitchcock, E. The power of Christian benevolence illustrated in the life and labors of Mary Lyon (New York, 1858), frontispiece. A different portrait appears in Hitchcock, E. The power of Christian benevolence... 4th ed. (Northampton, 1882), frontispiece., Mary Lyon founded the Mount Holyoke Seminary, which became Mount Holyoke College., Text below portrait: From a miniature painting in 1832., Another portrait appears in: The home: a fireside monthly companion and guide, vol. 1 (Feb. 1856), p. 49., Bust-length portrait of Lyon, wearing a hat and shawl.
Date: [1858?]

Title: Cornell, S. S. (Sophia S.).
Description: Waist-length portrait of the educator, seated, wearing bonnet., In The American phrenological journal, vol. 27 (June, 1858), p. 88., “Miss Sophia S. Cornell, the distinguished author of Cornell’s admirable series of School Geographies, and who is extensively known as one of the most successful educators and teachers at present enlisted in the great cause of popular Education, was born in New London, Conn., and is of American parentage.”--P. 86, Robert Price obtained a patent in Worcester, Mass., on May 5, 1857, for the process of producing photographic images on wood ; cf. American phrenological journal, vol. 27 (Feb. 1858), p. 24.
Date: [1858?]

Title: Cooke, Harriet B., b. 1786?.
Description: In Cooke, H.B. Memories of my life work / the autobiography of Mrs. Harriet B. Cooke (New York: 1858), frontispiece., Facsimile signature: H. B. Cooke., Waist-length portrait of the educator, wearing a bonnet.
Date: [1858?]

Title: Peter, Sarah Worthington King, 1800-1877.
Description: In Hale, S.J. Woman's record (Philadelphia, 1855), p. 870. "Illustrated by two hundred and thirty portraits engraved on wood by Lossing and Barritt.", Mrs. Peter, with the help of a teacher she hired, started a school in her home in 1848. As a training program in industrial design for young women, the school gained the sponsorship of the Franklin Institute in 1850. In 1853, it was incorporated as the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (and today is known as Moore College of Art)., Bust-length portrait of the educator, with a lace shawl draped over her head.
Date: [1855?]

Title: Douglass, Margaret.
Description: In Educational laws of Virginia / The personal narrative of Mrs. Margaret Douglass, a southern woman, who was imprisoned for one month in the common jail of Norfolk, under the laws of Virginia, for the crime of teaching free colored children to read (Boston, 1854), frontispiece., Facsimile signature: Margaret Douglass., Douglass established a small school for free black children, teaching them to read and write in her home. For this offense, she spent a month imprisoned in jail in Norfolk, Virginia., Waist-length portrait of Douglass.
Date: [1854?]

Title: Wyatt, Sophia, d. 1857.
Description: Shoulder-length portrait of the writer wearing a bonnet and eyeglasses., In Wyatt, Sophia. The autobiography of a landlady of the old school, with personal sketches of eminent characters, places, and miscellaneous items (Boston, 1854), frontispiece., Mrs. Wyatt operated a hotel with her husband in New Hampshire and traveled extensively throughout the country in the early 19th century. As a young woman she worked as a schoolteacher.
Date: [1854?]

Title: Phelps, Lincoln, Mrs., 1793-1884.
Description: In Hale, S.J. Woman's record (New York, 1853), p. 770. "Illustrated by two hundred and thirty portraits, engraved on wood by Lossing and Barritt.", Bust-length portrait of the writer.
Date: [1853]
Location: http://www.librarycompany.org/women/portraits/phelps_almira.htm

Title: Ware, Harriet, 1799-1847.
Description: Waist-length portrait of Harriet Ware, wearing a bonnet and a dress with lace collar, knitting., In Wayland, Francis. A memoir of Harriet Ware (Providence, 1850), frontispiece., Harriet Ware was an educator and philanthropist who founded the Providence Children’s Friend Society after retiring as a teacher at Indian Point, a suburb of Providence., “She seldom allowed herself to sit many minutes without work of some kind in her hands. While entertaining callers and friends, knitting was her most common employment, and, even while intensely interested in conversation, her needles would be flying, as if impelled by some unseen power. Knitting work came at length to be called her ‘coat of arms;’ and in the daguerreotype portrait, a copy of which was taken only at the urgent request of her friends, which I believe is to accompany the memoir of her, her knitting work has its appropriate place, and may serve as a fit emblem of the homely virtues which she honored and practiced.”--P. 129-30.
Date: [1850?]

Title: Mercer, Margaret, 1792-1846.
Description: In Morris, M. Memoir of Miss Margaret Mercer (Philadelphia, 1848), frontispiece., Mercer, who was born into an affluent family, became an educator and director of several schools. She was an abolitionist and a colonization advocate; after emancipating her own slaves, she provided for their passage to Liberia., "Educated in the midst of slavery, and familiar with it under circumstances in which it displayed its least exceptionable features, Miss Mercer was fully convinced of the evil necessarily inherent in the system, and of the malign influence it exerts as well upon the master as the slave. She had, however, also, at the same time, full opportunity to observe the great difficulties with which the effort to get rid of the evil is environed, and was able to appreciate the obstacles which oppose the full development of the negro character in a country in which he has so long been kept in a state of degradation, and where he is compelled to contend with habits and prejudices, not only inveterate from long continuance, but continually excited into renewed vigour by the struggle ever maintained between distinct races of men dwelling on the same soil. She was convinced that circumstances over which the friends of the negro have no control, would keep him here in a state of thraldom and servitude, even though liberated from the galling chain of hopeless bondage. Yet none ever felt more deeply the evil of slavery; none ever more anxiously desired the coming of the time when the stain of it should be wiped from the scutcheon of our country; none ever made more disinterested, self-sacrificing efforts than she to be delivered from its guilt. It was with such views and feelings she had hailed with delight the establishment of the American Colonization Society, an institution which she regarded as peculiarly adapted to the relief of both master and slave."--P.113-114., Figurehead and text below portrait: Non nobis solum ("Not for ourselves alone")., Another portrait appears in: Hale, S. J. Woman's record (Philadelphia, 1855), p. 424., Three-quarter-length, seated portrait of the educator, wearing a bonnet and rings, with a table at right.
Date: [1848?]

Title: Taylor, Sarah Louisa, 1809-1836.
Description: Waist-length portrait of Mrs. Taylor wearing a dress over a lace undergarment and holding a letter in one hand. Landscape scene visible through a window., In Lot, Jones. Memoir of Mrs. Sarah Louisa Taylor. 4th ed. (New York, 1846), frontispiece.
Date: [1846?]

Title: [Ralston family cased photograph collection]
Description: Collection of daguerreotype and ambrotype portraits, several by Norristown daguerreotypist William Stroud, portraying clergyman and founder of Oakland Female Institute James Grier Ralston, his wife Mary Anderson Larimore Ralston, their daughters, and his and his wife’s female siblings, and women teachers at the Institute. Contains bust-, half-, three-quarter, and full-length portraits of individual and pairs of sitters. Sitters are often seated, but a number of the portrait depicts sitters in a standing pose. The women’s and girl’s attire includes bonnets; off-the-shoulder bateau neckline dresses; high-neck, long-sleeved dresses with lace collars and cuffs; brooch and belt chatelaines; and earrings. Dresses worn by the female sitters are often a solid dark color, but occasionally are of a pattern design or light color. James Grier Ralston’s attire included broad bow ties, vests, jackets, and suits. Many of the images also contain props, including covered side tables, chairs, flowers, possibly an ambrotype, and a crumpled piece of cloth., Sitters in addition to James Grier Ralston and Mary Anderson Larimore Ralston include their daughters Anna Larimore Ralston, Ella Grier Ralston, Lilly Grier Ralston (who died at 11 months old), and Cora (Cara) Ralston; Institute music teacher Mrs. John Hunsicker, i.e., Fannie Henry Hunsicker (married by James G. Ralston); Mary’s sister and Institute graduate, Hetty Clark Larimore; and Institute teacher and sister of James, Agnes Caldwell Ralston; Institute graduate Martha (Mattie) Divine (Mrs. Fleming); and an unidentified woman., Posed portrait pairs include images of Mary Anderson Larimore Ralston and daughter Anna Larimore Ralston (P.2012.5.6) in which Anna sits in Mary’s lap with her mother’s hand on her head; and Anna Larimore Ralston and Ella Grier Ralston (P.2012.5.8) which Anna stands next to Ella who sits on a chair, while she rests her arm on a covered side table adorned with a basket of flowers; Anna Larimore Ralston and Fanny Hunsicker (P.2012.5.16) in which Fanny, seated, has her one hand at her hip and her other hand and arm around the waist of Anna who stands; and Hetty Clark Larimore and Mary Larimore Ralston (p.2012.5.17) in which the women are seated, side by side, and Hetty holds a bound object, possibly an ambrotype and Mary holds a crumpled white cloth., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and age and attire of sitters., Photographers include William Stroud (Norristown, Pa.) and Theodore L. Chase (Philadelphia, Pa.)., Various-shaped mats, including oval, elliptical, double elliptical, and non pareil., Various colored pads, including blue, red, and maroon velvet or silk, several with embossing. Embossings include photographer’s imprints and/or imagery. Imagery includes floral and geometric designs, scroll work, and eagles., Primarily leather cases, and one thermoplastic case. Case designs vary, but are predominantly rose and mixed flower designs, in addition to geometric, scroll, and quatrefoil designs. Designs also include Pressed Flower, plate 154; The Delicate Roses, variant, plate 123; A Spray of Roses, plate 131; Mixed Garden Flowers, plate 133; Two Lilies, variant, see plate 112 and 113 in American miniature case art by Floyd and Marion Rinhart (Cranbury, New Jersey: A.S. Barnes and Co., Inc., 1969)., Majority of sitters identified by accompanying slips of paper with manuscript notes., Several of the images contain pink tinting on the cheeks of the sitters., P.2012.5.4, P.2012.5.8, P.2012.5.11-15, P.2012.5.21 contains daguerrean's imprint on pad or inside rim of case. Various imprints include: William Stroud, Norristown; William Stroud's Skylight Gallery, Norristown, Pa.; Stroud’s Ambrotypes Norristown, Pa., P.2012.5.6 contains dagurrean's imprint on pad: Theodore L. Chase, N.E. cor. Chestnut & Fifth Sts., Fannie Henry Hunsicker was a woman of Chinese descent. Official records are conflicting as to whether she was born in China, at sea, or in Connecticut., Several of the images contain weeping glass deterioration, tarnished plates, or other damage., Inventory of collection available at repository., See Sarah Weatherwax, "Revealing the Ralston Family," The Daguerreian Society Quarterly (July-September 2021), p. 3-6., Clergyman James Grier Ralston (1815-1880) founded Oakland Female Institute in 1845 in Norristown, Pa. Ralston studied at the Theological Seminary at Princeton and headed the Female Seminary at Oxford, Chester Country, PA before establishing Oakland. He married Mary A. Larimore (1822-1891) in 1842 and they had four children Anna L. (1848-1902), Ella M.(1847-1924), Lillie G. (1852-1853) and Cara G. (1856-1928), with Lillie dying in infancy. Ralston’s children were educated and/or taught at Oakland, as did his sister Agnes C. Ralston. The Institute operated until 1880 and the death of Ralston
Date: [ca. 1845-ca. 1855]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cased photos - Ralston Family [P.2012.5.1-22]

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