[Stevens-Cogdell and Sanders-Venning and Chew families miscellaneous portraits collection]
Title
[Stevens-Cogdell and Sanders-Venning and Chew families miscellaneous portraits collection]
Description
Collection of photographs, several unidentified, of members of the African American middle-class Steven-Cogdell and Sanders-Venning and Chew family of Philadelphia, as well as their extended families and friends. Includes predominantly studio portraiture, including a portrait of William H. Chew (P.2013.14.10), in addition to two miniatures (possibly members of the Cogdell family) and a casual group photograph. Also includes a small number of photographs representing the African American expatriate entertainers' community in Paris in the 1930s; a group portrait of the “Soap Box Minstrels, Musical Fund Hall, December 7, 1909”; and a group portrait with possibly George Washington Musgrave. Minstrel show photograph depicts performers in black face and African American musicians on a stage in front of which a row of African American performers, some in costume and some in tuxedoes, is seated. George Venning and his brother-in-law William Holden were founders of the Soap Box Social in 1908. The Soap Box Social performed an annual minstrel show in the aughts as a fundraiser for the Citizens Republican Club, a social and political club of African American elite men started in 1884. The club’s mission focused on the election of African Americans into public office., Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes., Identified sitters include Ivan H. Browning, Edward W. Venning, Sallie Venning (Holden), Turner Layton, Clarence Johnstone, Thomas "Fats" Waller, and Ada "Bricktop" Smith., Title supplied by cataloger., Date from content., Various photographers, including L. Blaul, African American photographer G. W. Cheston, Flett, J. E. Forbert, O. B. De Morat, S. Georges Ltd, Studio di Art, Sol Young Studios, and Suddards & Fennemore., P.2013.14.12 contains manuscript note on verso: My Honey, My Wife, My All., P.2013.14.15 contains manuscript note on recto: To two regular fellows “Bill & Agnes” Ivan Browning, Paris, France, 1932., P.2013.14.16 contains manuscript note on recto: To The Agnes, Bill, Gene Upshur, With Warmest Wishes, Turner Layton. C.T. Johnstone., P.2013.14.17 contains manuscript note on recto: To Mr. & Mrs. Chew. With Tons of Good Wishes for Every Joy & Oceans of Happiness. Layton & Johnstone., P.2013.14.19 contains manuscript note on recto identifying the sitters: Unknown; [Us.?] Browning; Snow; Unknown; Fats Waller; Unknown; Bricktop., P.2013.14.20 contains manuscript note in ink on recto identifying the sitters: Unknown; Fats; [Mau?]; [Mask?]; Bricktop; Uncle John; Unknown; Ms. Chew; Susan Williams; Unknown; Maureen Browning; Mr. Anson; Ms. Hinkson; Dr. Hinkson; Mr. Chew; Mr. Browning; Unknown. Also contains manuscript note on recto: To Uncle John-Don’t get your derby knocked off. Thomas “Fats” Waller; Uncle John, I think your great & how. Bricktop., See Lib. Company Annual Report, 1991, p. 26-31., Gift of descendants Cordelia H. Brown, Lillie V. Dickerson, Mary Hinkson Jackson, and Georgine E. Willis in honor of Phil Lapsansky., See LCP exhibit catalogue: African American Miscellany p. 45., Genealogical charts available at repository., Description of blackface mintrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date
[ca. 1800-1932]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning Collection [P.2013.14]
Georgine E. Upshur Willis collection
Title
[Georgine E. Upshur Willis collection]
Description
Collection of primarily 20th-century photographs, ephemera, manuscript and textual materials related to trained undertaker Georgine Upshur Willis and her extended family, including descendants of the African American middle-class Stevens-Cogdell and Sanders-Venning families. Majority of collection is photographs, studio and professional portraits, as well as snapshots of Georgine E. Upshur Willis and her parents Agnes S. Upshur, a teacher, and William A. Upshur, an undertaker and Pennsylvania State representative, at various ages and dating between the 1920s and early 1970s. Includes images of Georgine as a baby, with her parents and grandparents (Charles Sanders Chew and Georgine Saunders Chew), at her coming out party, in her University of Pennsylvania college yearbook and graduation photograph, and several group portrait photographs, predominately dating to the late 1940s and early 1950s. Group portrait photographs include views of Georgine in costume in a 1934 Book Week Play, at her 1949 engagement party and wedding to anthropologist and ethnohistorian William Willis, Jr., recreating in Atlantic City, at holiday events, and at other friends and family gatherings. William A. Upshur portraits include a photograph of his meeting with Richard Nixon at the 1960 GOP Convention. Several of the professional photographs were taken by African American photographers, including John Gaston Devigne, Frank W. Harris, Jr., and John W. Mosley. Photographs also depict an 1890 group portrait, including Rennie and Sallie Venning (Holden) (P.2022.16.41), at an outside location; a modern reproduction of a portrait of Charles S. Chew (Georgine Upshur’s grandfather); a circa 1920s portrait of an unidentified woman and her baby; and two circa 1950 color photographs of landscape views of Fisher’s Island, N.Y., Ephemera materials are comprised of postcards, invitations and announcements, certificates, programs, and scraps dated predominately between the 1920s and 1950. The materials include a circa 1930 Gorges Du Loup postcard booklet; postcards addressed to Mrs. Julia Venning or Mr. and Mrs. George Venning containing views of Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Wildwood, N.J.; invitations/announcements to the 1921 Henpeck’s Annual Ball (William B. Holden, Committee President), Georgine E. Upshurs high school and college graduations, and the 1921 wedding of Cordelia Sanders and Dr. Dehaven Hinkson; University of Pennsylvania Bachelor of Arts diploma issued to Georgine Elizabeth Upshur, 1943; ca. 1939 program for Georgine E. Upshur’s induction into the Sophrosyne Chapter of The National Honor Society; and the 1950 program for Dr. Eric Reiss presents for The Blockley Medical Society Philadelphia General Hospital “Osler Slept Here.”, Manuscript and related materials primarily contain correspondence and newspaper clippings dated between the 1920s and 1950s. Correspondence includes a 1928 letter to William B. Holden about the “charges of the moral character of your Rector” of the Church of the Crucifixion; a 1938 and 1942 letter about Georgine E. Upshur, respectively, being elected to the honor society and nomination for membership in the University of Pennsylvania Delta Chapter of the National Social Science Honor Society, Pi Gamma Mu; and a 1942 letter from the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Welfare, Bureau of Recreation about swimming training. Newspaper clippings relate to the 1921 engagement and wedding of Cordelia Sanders Chew and Dr. Dehaven Hinkson; Georgine Upshur and a Y.W.C.A. baby contest, her Philadelphia High School for Girls graduation and coming out parties, and passing of the state mortician’s exam circa 1949; the 1930 musical recital of Georgine E. Upshur’s maternal aunt Mary Saunders Patterson; the 1954 death of Charles S. Chew accompanied by mourning cards and a pressed flower; and the death of the Hinkson’s dog Patchy accompanied by a plot receipt and business card for the Cheltenham Pet Cemetery. A 1932 "My Trip Abroad" day journal of Agnes C. Upshur, including an insert of her passport with a passport photograph of her and young daughter Georgine E. Upshur also comprises the manuscript material. The trip to Europe, included visits to Paris, Genoa, Florence, Venice, and Geneva., Collection also includes “Diary of the Women of the Class of 1943, University of Pennsylvania, The 1943 Almanack” containing inserts of correspondence, documents, and programs related to Georgine E. Upshur’s college education at University of Pennsylvania; The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, Civil War Issue, April 9, 1961; and The Saturday Evening Post, November 10, 1962 issue with mailing label for Dr. DeHaven Hinkson., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Photographers include Gaston Devigne, Harper, Frank W. Harris, Jr., John W. Mosley, Dan E. Paul, and Albert Sexton., RVCDC, See Lib. Company. Annual Report, 1991, p. 26-31., Gift of descendant Cordelia H. Brown in honor of Phil Lapsansky., See LCP exhibit catalogue: African American Miscellany p. 45., Genealogical charts available at repository., Descriptive inventory, including with names of portrait sitters, available at repository., Reference copies and miscellaneous related materials located with collection., Digital catalog record includes select images from the collection.
Date
[1890-ca. 1990, bulk ca. 1921-ca. 1950]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders Venning Collection - Upshur Willis Collection [P.2022.16]