Manuscripts
Doris K. Eldred papers, (bulk 1947-1948)
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Doris K. Eldred papers, (bulk 1947-1948)
Manuscripts
A photograph album documenting Doris K. Eldred's journey to China and her life there, and a few pieces of artwork she acquired there.
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Doris K. Eldred papers
Manuscripts
Correspondence, photographs and photograph albums, and teaching materials related to Doris K. Eldred's time as a teacher in China, as well as art and ephemera she collected. Correspondence includes letters she wrote to her parents in San Marino, California, and letters she received from friends and family, many detailing her experiences in China and the subsequent evacuation. Two photograph albums document Eldred's experience sailing to China from San Francisco and her life and activities there. Teaching materials include a gradebook and some documentation of school activities. Also included are a few small artworks she acquired.
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Doris K. Eldred papers, (bulk 1947-1948)
Manuscripts
Letters and telegrams, invitations, teaching materials, and a few photographs. Correspondence from others indicates concern for Doris K. Eldred during the 1948 evacuation from China. Also included is a 2005 issue of the Peking American School's alumni newsletter, The Dragon, which includes information about Eldred.
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Eldred J. Simkins Papers
Manuscripts
The majority of the collection, which is arranged chronologically, consists of the correspondence of the Eldred J. Simkins family and their close relatives. Subjects covered include the gold rush and life in Mariposa County, Calif., in the 1850's and 70's, the Civil War in Charleston, S.C., from a Confederate soldier's point of view, civilian life in South Carolina and Florida during the war, and small-town Texas life during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Edward Henry Trescot, a physician, who left his family in South Carolina in 1849 to seek gold in California, wrote a series of letters home to his wife. One of his first letters contains a full description of his voyage around Cape Horn aboard the ship, "Thomas Bennet", and of his experiences in Panama. His letters from California, written infrequently in the 1850's, reveal his poverty, hard work, loneliness, and desire to return to South Carolina. The Civil War correspondence of Eldred J. Simkins and his cousin and future wife, Eliza Josephine (Trescot) Simkins, is the highlight of the collection. These letters are remarkable for several reasons. It is unusual that the letters of both correspondents survived. Also, although Eldred and Eliza were both excellent writers, Eldred wrote particularly descriptive letters. While stationed with the 1st South Carolina Artillery Regiment in the harbor of Charleston, he wrote frequently and in detail about Confederate defenses, Federal offensives, naval engagements, the daily life of a Confederate army officer (living quarters, food, clothing, amusements), recruiting drives, prospects of a Confederate victory, etc. After the fall of Charleston in 1865, Eldred wrote of the heavy losses his regiment suffered as they marched and fought in South and North Carolina. The letters of both Eldred and Eliza are full of the unhappiness of separation and problems regarding their engagement and marriage. In their comments, and in the letters of family and friends, the hardships for civilians in wartime South Carolina are also evident. The correspondence of the late 1860s and 1870s reveal the poverty that beset the former slaveholding family in the aftermath of the war. For the Ficklings in South Carolina, the Bythewoods in Florida, and the Trescots, now reunited in Mariposa County, California, obtaining the basic necessities seems to have been a constant struggle. Employment, food, gardens, clothing, illnesses and remedies, the political climate in South Carolina, and drought and sheep herding in California are all discussed. The Texas letters, dating from the 1890s, are mainly those of the Eldred J. Simkins family. By the 1890's, the children of Eliza and Eldred J. Simkins were beginning to leave home. Eldred wrote newsy letters to his daughter, Martha, while she was studying art in Paris (1894-5) and in New York City (1890's) and to his son, Joseph Stewart, when he attended the University of Texas at Austin (1897-1901). These letters, as well as the letters Eliza wrote to Joseph, are about daily happenings at work, at home, and in Austin and Corsicana. There is also a series of letters (1896-1899) from William Stewart Simkins (1842-1929) to his brother, Eldred, regarding their law practice. After Eldred died in 1903, Eliza frequently wrote her son, Ben, about Eldred's estate, the need for money, and her property speculation schemes. The collection also contains the papers of Martha Simkins and Benjamin B. Simkins. Letters and documents to and from Martha Simkins offer some insight into the life of a single woman attempting to support herself as an artist in New York City, Woodstock, N.Y., and Texas. There are also papers throughout the collection dealing with Benjamin B. Simkins' land sales and trades in Texas in the early 1900's. Finally, a great deal of the later material in the collection (1925-1930) has to do with the Bythewood family's former plantation lands in Beaufort, S.C. Part of these lands had been confiscated by the U.S. and used by the Freedman's Bureau before being returned to the heirs. Concerning lawsuits, property management, and taxes, this material is concentrated in the correspondence of George W. Beckett, the Christensen Realty Company, Benjamin B. Simkins, and Joseph Stewart Simkins.
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William J. Potter papers
Manuscripts
A collection of approximately 489 items from 1846 to 1949, it consists of personal and family papers of William James Potter, accumulated by Elizabeth Babcock Potter. The collection includes journals, correspondence, a letter book, commonplace book, poems, manuscripts, and ephemera. William James Potter's journals document his early career, preceding his New Bedford ministry; the chaplain's notebook that he kept in 1863 contains records of inspections of hospitals and military prisons, names, cases, and addresses of the inmates. Correspondence includes the letters exchanged between William J. Potter and Elizabeth Potter written between 1860 and 1870. There is also Elizabeth Potter's 1859-1860 letter book and letters from Elizabeth Potter to her mother Lydia Delano Babcock written during her visit to Algonac, the Delano estate, near Newburg, in Orange County, New York, in the summer and fall of 1856; as well as letters written during her stay with William James Potter at Camp Distribution, near Alexandria, Virginia, from November 1863 through May 1864. Also included are the Potters' correspondence with his sisters Mary Ann Potter Howland, Ruth Potter Almy, and Ruby H. Potter Tillinghast. William James Potter's correspondence with his friends, includes correspondents John Albee, Henry W. Brown, and George W. Bartlett (the latter discusses Maine Civil War politics), and letters from Elizabeth's numerous friends and colleagues. Also included is a group of letters from Elizabeth's brother, James Delano Babcock who was engaged in the shipping business and China trade, written from San Francisco, Singapore, Yokohama, and Sitka (Alaska) between 1856 and 1876. Elizabeth Babcock Potter's manuscripts include her commonplace book from 1858 to 1865, a 1851 autograph book, her poetry, mostly religious, and a notebook where she recorded stories of her children from 1869 to 1875. There is also a small group of fragments containing a collection of excerpts from sermons of Andrew Preston Peabody; various notes for sermons, religious poetry, some by Elizabeth Babcock Potter, fragments of letters to her and her parents, including a description of a trip to Scotland (probably by her brother James) and a vivid account of Morgan's first raid to Kentucky in July 1862 and Perryville campaign, written by a friend of Elizabeth's, a Kentucky teacher.
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Arthur Ito papers
Manuscripts
The Arthur T. Ito papers is organized in four chronological series. Series 1: 1915-1941; Series 2: 1941-1945; Series 3: 1945-2016; and Series 4: A/V and oversize. Series 1: consists of early material related to the Ito and Kuromi family. While living in Mexico, Fumiyo Ito taught the children Japanese with books sent by relatives from Japan. They spoke Spanish and learned English by reading the Bible on Sundays. This was evident in three notebooks written by Ito in English, Japanese, and Spanish. Ito also translated one of his favorite books: "Robinson Crusoe" in 1934. There is a book written in Japanese related to Mexican Immigration in 1923. There are a few photographs of the Ito family in Mexico, including images of Fumiyo Ito's grave in Cuautitlan. Other photographs related to the Ito family include Yoshimasa (Oye) Ito at New Vernon Basket Company in 1916. Material related to the Kuromi family primarily consists of souvenirs acquired by Aiko Alice (Kuromi) Ito during her visit to Japan from 1939 through 1941. While in Japan, Kuromi kept one diary where she observes the weather and details daily activities such as going to school, shopping, and cooking. There is material related to A.H. (Andrew Harue) Kuromi's investment in the Nichi-Bei Investment Company, which entered a lease with the Yokohama Specie Bank in 1932. There are also photograph albums and photographs of the Kuromi family in Los Angeles, California and visit to Japan. Series 2: consists of material between the time Arthur T. Ito was drafted into the United States Army in 1941 and discharge in October 1945. The bulk of the material in this series consists of letters between Ito and Aiko Alice (Kuromi) Ito. These lengthy letters reveal a blossoming love story between two people miles apart. In an early letter written by Aiko at the store on October 10, 1941, she confesses "I'm really beginning to realize that I didn't appreciate a friend before, who was a swell pal and keen company...I miss the person who used to work so diligently emptying heavy baskets and who so willingly helped clean those heavy vases." After the Kuromi family was relocated in 1942, Aiko's descriptions about conforming to camp life are insightful. However, in one letter, she depicts a disorganized Wartime Civil Control Administration: "The unlogical part of it is that they are still going to sell food at the canteens -- yet, they prohibit food in barracks...Just a while ago, they brought in sacks of rice they confiscated" (May 15, 1942). In another type of camp, Ito details military camp life from: Camp Grant, Illinois; Camp Savage, Minnesota; Camp Blanding, Florida; and Camp Pinedale, California. Ito's Christian faith comes through in his letters to Aiko. In response to Executive Order 9066, Ito is hopeful: "Anyways, I do hope that, and know that, God is always with us, and where-ever the Government sees fit for all of you to go, for the protection of yourselves, things will turn out alright...let's all pray for the best" (March 15, 1942). In another poignant letter written after the birth of Arthur T. Ito, Jr. in 1944, he addresses his son, "Daddy is at the present time taking part in the greatest war the world has ever known. He is doing his part as a citizen of our country, the United States of America. It isn't exactly his choice to be out here, but in order that you may grow up into a world, which we hope will not have to use the force of arms to keep peace when you grow up, he is doing his part out here now," (April 17, 1945). Other Ito material related to World War II includes two entries for Camp Grant, Illinois on December 30, 1942 and Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 4, 1943. Ito also kept a diary with brief entries in 1941. For example, on December 8, 1941, he writes, "This morning at 11:30, President Rossevelt [sic] asked Congress to declare war on Japan, and the bill was passed with a vote of 470 to 1. Japan and U.S. is at war. We all are in it now." There are military records, such applications and discharge papers, military books, and photographs. Ito also collected souvenirs, postcards, and menus from his travels around the country. During the interment of the Kuromi family, Aiko frequently corresponded with accountants, attorneys, and other individuals regarding their property and storage. There is also a folder containing Aiko's request to transfer to Camp Grant, Illinois to join Ito; however, it was denied by the Santa Anita Assembly Center. Aiko also kept a record of expenses such as groceries and household supplies in a housebook from 1943 through 1945. She kept one diary with brief entries in 1943. There are a couple of photographs from the Gila River Relocation Center. Material related to claims and reparations is found in the Series 3. Greeting cards also constitute a large part of this series. Many of them are undated; however, the cataloger assumes they were exchanged during this period. There are also family and wedding photographs of Ito and Aiko. Series 3: primarily consists of Ito and Aiko's floral career after the war; however, there is some material related to World War, 1939-1945. There is correspondence related to the Kuromi family claims and reparations. There are also letters and legal documents related to A.H. (Andrew Harue) Kuromi's investment in the Nichi-Bei building in Little Tokyo, which, unfortunately, was lost during the war. There is also printed ephemera related to the war and organizations such as Nisei Veterans and Go For Broke. From 1966 through 2003, Ito kept a diary (mostly on a notepad) of his daily activities at Flower View Gardens and floral events around the world. There are also numerous clippings, photocopies, and photographs related to Flower View Gardens, Ito and Kuromi families, and the floral community. Some of these clippings are found in scrapbooks located elsewhere in the collection. Most of the photographs are related to the Florists' Transworld Delivery Association (FTD) events; however, there may be FTD related photographs in Box 35 (9) and Box 36 (1), but they were not easily discernible. The photographs in those boxes concern various demonstrations, arrangements, and floral organizations such as the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD) and Society of American Florists (SAC). There may be some overlap between photographs related to Flower View Gardens, Kuromi family, and Aiko Alice (Kuromi) Ito. An item of interest may be Ito's childhood reminiscence Box 38 (3). He writes about his parents and adventures in Mexico. For instance, while clearing rocks with his brother Thomas, "We knew, and had been warned several times of the deadly 'Alacran' (scorpion). Thom put his hand under a rock, and sure enough, here was a large scorpion...bit him in the index finger. My immediate reaction was to carry Tom back to the house for treatment, what I really should have done was to open a wound on his finger and suck the poison out..." (p. 20-21). Note: There is another reminiscence in the Series 1, Box 6 (17) that may have been written in 1935. There is correspondence from Ito's father, Yoshimasa (Oye) Ito and brother, Paul Susumu Ito, primarily written in Japanese. There are also letters and postcards from friends and family in Mexico and Japan concerning family news and activities. Letters related to floral industry is found in correspondence, scrapbooks, and subject files. For example, e-mails related to Japan Florists' Telegraph Delivery Association convention are included in the subject files. Series 4: consists of oversize and audio/visual material. The A/V material includes audio cassettes, DVDs, and VHS. They primarily relate to Arthur T. Ito's floral career and Japanese Americans serving during World War II. There are also photograph albums, scrapbooks, rolled-objects, 3-D objects, and sketches for various floral design proposals.
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