#vcu libraries
After the holiday presents, thank-you notes should follow.
This charming note from “Your little friends” Katie and Elizabeth was written on January 2, 1926.
From the Adèle Goodman Clark papers, 1849-1978, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library.
[Image Description: A penciled note on children’s stationery thanks “Mrs. Clark” for her gift of beads, basket and handkerchief.]
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Bring us some figgy pudding!
“Buying the Christmas Pudding” from the Charles E. Brownell Collection of Architectural and Decorative Arts Ephemera, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library.
[Image Description: Three kittens wearing bows around their necks, one carrying a basket, another with a holly sprig. “Hub Ranges & Heaters. World’s Best by Every Test.”]
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Rosy cheeks and flying scarves!
From the Adele Goodman Clark papers, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
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If ever there were a year when we needed some light…
Illustration by Trina Schart Hyman from Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins (story by Eric Kimmel). Juvenile literature, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries.
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Still a few days left for sending holiday cards and packages!
“Christmas Post” – Illustration from Thomas Nast’s Christmas Drawings for the Human Race, 1890. From VCU Libraries Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library.
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Raising readers in the warmth of family and hearth
Smith & Anthony Stove Co. advertising calendar, 1889. Lithography by G. H. Buek & Co., New York. From the Charles E. Brownell Collection of Architectural and Decorative Arts Ephemera, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library.
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Something to live for…
RememberingRobert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist and poet, born on this day in 1850. Despite ill-health, Stevenson traveled widely and wrote prolifically, experimenting with a wide variety of genres. Among his novels, short stories, plays and poetry are Treasure Island,Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and A Child’s Garden of Verses.
FromThe Robert Louis Stevenson Calendar for 1903, London: Hills & Co. Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library.
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Some wardrobe choices are historic - like women wearing white
June 14, 1916 was the first day of the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri. Forming “The Golden Lane” more than 2,000 women, dressed in white and holding yellow parasols stood silently as the delegates passed.
This pamphlet is part of the Adèle Goodman Clark papers (M9, Box 48), VCU Libraries Social Welfare History Image Portal.
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How can they look so calm?
The Woman Citizen, November 6, 1920 was published following the first presidential election in which women could vote – November 2, 1920.
The cover illustration, “Election News–Interest in Common” is by C. D. Batchelor.
From VCU Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library.
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October apples.
Smith & Anthony Stove Co. advertising calendar, 1889. The reverse advertisement for a parlor stove lists features such as a tea-kettle attachment, top oven, anti-clinker door, and dust damper. “It is a powerful heater and highly decorative in its appearance.”
From the Charles E. Brownell Collection of Architectural and Decorative Arts Ephemera, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library.
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Fighting the sense that nothing will make a difference. Claim your rights.
“In Unity There is Strength”
In the wake of the Voting Rights Act, these voter crusades were nonpartisan efforts to increase voter registration and education. Instead of endorsing candidates, the campaigns sought to increase Black citizens’ sense of empowerment, and encourage participation in the democratic process.
““The power of the people is at the Ballot Box –Vote.”
Top image: SCLC pamphlet courtesy Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries
Bottom image: Crusade for Voters pamphlet courtesy Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
More primary sources on the Social Welfare History Image Portal.
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Hey America, are you ready?
September 22nd is National Voter Registration Day, a nonpartisan civic holiday celebrating our democracy. If you haven’t yet taken the opportunity, why not register today?
If you are registered, take a minute to be #VoteReady with these resources for making sure your voice is heard.
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“You must do something to make the world more beautiful.” This woman did.
Adèle Goodman Clark (1882-1983) called politics and art her “creative spirits." She was an art educator, progressive reformer, lobbyist and lifelong advocate for racial cooperation.
More about her extraordinary life in Adèle Clark, Artist and Activist now online in VCU Libraries’ Gallery.
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And whatever you do, don’t let them vote!
Misinformation was being spread in 1920 and for the same reasons as today – to affect the outcome of elections.
Investigate what you read and hear. Register. Vote.
Image from The Woman Citizen, October 30, 1920. Social Welfare History Image Portal.
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Newly relevant
TheSociety for the Entertainment of Shut-Ins (SESI) was founded in 1901 by the Rev. George W. Shinn, D. D. in Boston, Massachusetts.
According to annual reports, the Society aimed “to relive the monotony and pain of a shut-in life.”
Image courtesy Simmons University Library via the Social Welfare History Image Portal
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For all the workers who’ve kept America going - Happy Labor Day!
It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come, and how hard fought the struggle for fair wages and safe workplaces has been. And the work is ongoing.
Thanks to the folks who get up, and go to work, and make all our lives better.
Images courtesy: American Labor Museum, Union Presbyterian Seminary Library, Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Baylor University Libraries, VCU Libraries. Social Welfare History Image Portal.
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The Eight-Hour Day. A Living Wage. To Guard the Home.
The rights of workers came about through the hard work of labor organizing and campaigns for legislative reforms. The WTUL advocated especially to eliminate sweatshop conditions for women workers.
[Image Description: Logo of the National Women’s Trade Union League, founded in 1903]
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“Open up the window, let some air into this room.”
Good classroom ventilation was important in 1916, just as it is now. This open-air school was on Moore St. in Richmond, Va.
Creative fundraising supported the schools. Prominent women of the city served as hostesses in the palm garden of the Jefferson Hotel for a series of “golf teas” where indoor golf contributed to the afternoon’s enjoyment. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, March 2, 1916)
Image courtesy The Valentine via the Social Welfare History Image Portal.
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Fear is the mind killer.
“You’re under attack!” “They’re coming for your family!”
Take a look at how fear has been used as a tool to inspire both action and inaction through “The Rhetoric of Fear” on VCU Libraries Image Portal.
[Image Description: Anti-woman suffrage handbill warns that Socialists will gain power while New York rural voters will lose if woman vote. “SOCIALIST INCREASE 220%” is highlighted in bright red.]
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