Special Collections Research Center

New Scrapbooks Added in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Collections!

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The Special Collections Research Center has recently added new scrapbooks to its Rare Books and Manuscripts collections: Maud Williams memory book; Korean War photograph book; African American and World War II photograph album; African American family photograph album; and, Edward Hearne Mexican Expedition scrapbook.  For a glimpse at and summary of each, keep reading!

RB.8032: Maud Williams memory book

This is a scrapbook kept by Maud Williams while attending high school in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, between 1927 and 1931.  It begins with a page of postage stamps, mostly from her friends in North Carolina and a few from Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee.  Following this are pages for photographs of her school, classmates, class flower, motto, class colors, autographs, snapshots, and other memories from school.She also included programs, invitations, handwritten entries, and mementos for events such as the Isadroa Duncan Dancers, organ recitals, parties, and plays from the dramatic club.  Maud includes newspaper clippings discussing graduation, classmate accomplishments, and marriages.  Maud attended the North Carolina Women's College after her departure from Kings Mountain.  The final pages are almost exclusively snapshots from a variety of life events ranging from candids with friends to vacations.  From context, it appears she went on to become a teacher.


Three black-and-white photographs from a scrapbook: the first shows two young men in dress suits and is captioned “Roommates”; the second, bearing a handwritten date of “1928,” is of four young women in period dress clothing; the third is inscribed, “All of Us Behind the Library,” and shows six women standing in a line in front of a stone wall. Scrapbook page with various ephemera items: a Valentine card showing two children playing with a butterfly, and with hearts around the corner; an unfiltered Camel brand cigarette; two leaves, and an imprint on the page of where another leaf once was; a wrapper for Beech-Nut brand chewing gum (“Peppermint Flavored, Always Refreshing, Copyright 1916 by Beech-Nut Packing Company”), a spoon with writing on it, and a Business Card or Calling Card which reads: “Robert Kirk: Wholesale and Retail Dealer in LOVE KISSES AND UP-TO-DATE HUGS, Have no solicitors, all claiming to be are fakes. Sole Proprietor. Special Attention. Cable Address: ‘I’ve Got a Feeling for You, Holding Hands a Specialty.” Pages from Maud Williams’ scrapbook showing photographs of friends and ephemera.

RB.8033: Korean War photograph album

This photograph album contains photographs from a soldier serving with the 11th Marine, 1st Division, "K" Battery in the final months of the Korean War. Approximately 20 of the photographs show the soldier at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, in California, and with his family. The rest of the photographs depict travel to and from Korea and service in the country. Those photographs include shots of the countryside, ancient statues, various military vehicles, soldiers patrolling with their weapons and in foxholes, views around camp, and candid pictures of soldiers resting, reading, cutting their hair, and playing ping pong.

Six photographs of Korea during the 1950-1953 Korean Conflict show servicemembers and scenes of the country, including a water [possibly ocean?] scene; a man shaving; and significant snowfall.Six photographs of Korea during the 1950-1953 Korean Conflict show servicemembers with images of a field telephone; trenches and sandbags; and more pictures of snowfall.

Pages from the Korean War album with photographs of Korea and soldiers at camp in Korea.

RB.8035: African American family and World War II photograph album

This photograph album depicts an African American family from the 1940s to the early 1960s. The album features a couple of men in their military uniforms at Fort Stotsenburg in Angeles City in the Philippines during World War II. There are also family photographs, including shots of children, women, and couples, as well as friends posing outside or next to automobiles. The album also contains photographs from the 1960s of a woman named Cora and her husband, Ben. These later photographs are in color and show Cora and her friends often lounging or standing in front of their homes.

Five photographs from the World War II era show: three servicemembers gathered together and looking at an object in the hand of the central person; two young men in dress suits standing an a street, with buildings behind; a young man seated for a portrait in a dress military uniform; a family seated in front of an automobile; and three servicemen smiling for a portrait. Nine portraits from a page of a scrapbook

Photographs in the first image show men in their military uniforms and two posed shots.  The second page are various portraits of women and children.

RB.8036: African American family photograph album

This photograph album was kept by an African American family in the 1920s.  The location is not captioned in any of the photos, but a photograph of men in their dorm room shows an "Orlando'' pennant in the background, so it's possible the family was from Florida.  Other photographs show boats docked in a harbor, portraits of a family posed around their home, and candids of family and friends.  Some of the photographs show a family farm with people working, posed around a new car in a field, and one which shows a young woman in a dress in a pin-up style pose.  Most of the photographs show well-dressed people around their home in fashions of the time.

Page of a scrapbook with two portraits: one shows two young women standing in front of a house and a tree, lightly touching hands; the other depicts a young man standing outdoors wearing a formal dress suit. Photograph showing seven men in formal dress sitting at tables, possibly in a building of a college or university.
Examples of photographs in the African American family photograph album.  In the first, photographs depict two women posing in front of a house, and a young man posing outdoors in a suit.  The second photographshows a group of men, possibly in a dorm room. 

RB.8036: Edward Hearne Mexican Expedition scrapbook

This scrapbook was created by Edward W. Hearne, a member of the North Carolina National Guard, in 1916, while he was deployed to Camp Stewart in Texas during the United States' Mexican Expedition against the paramilitary forces of Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho'' Villa.  Hearne gave the scrapbook a handwritten title, "A Kodak Review of the Terrors of Texas, and the Horror of War."  The scrapbook contains 90 sepia-toned or black and white photographs of Camp Stewart in Texas, a sandstorm, and the bodies of Mexicans who were killed during intra-revolutionary skirmishes.  There are also photographs and postcards of operations including the captured 10th Calvary African American troopers, the launch of an observation balloon, a cowboy and Texas Rangers, armed Yaqui Indians, and the first U.S. flag raised in Mexican territory.  Photographs of Hearne's fellow soldiers are also found throughout the scrapbook.  Hearne included photographs of street scenes in El Paso, Ciudad Juárez, and other locations visited during the expedition, as well as executions and a photograph of a procession of Mexican refugees entering the United States.  Towards the end of the album, there are newspaper clippings that were added later that reference Hearne's participation in World War I and his career as a drag queen and in vaudeville shows.

Images of a clipping entitled, "A Little Skit On Life in the U.S. Army: A Comedy Sketch Laid Somewhere in Mexico," and a portrait of two men posing together in uniform Four photographs on a scrapbook page (with captions) showing "The Terrors of Texas" (a Christmas Day sandstorm), a view of the U.S. Army's Camp Stewart, Texas, "Camp of the N.C. [North Carolina] Brigade," plus an image of a "Texas Cowboy" mounted on a horse 

Pages from Edward Hearne’s scrapbook.  The  first displays a newspaper clipping of Hearne’s acting work along with a photograph of him and another man posing.  The second features photographs of Camp Stewart in Texas, along with a handwritten account of a dust storm.

Contributed by Anna Smith, Manuscripts and Archives Processor 

These and other collections are available for viewing in the Special Collections Research Center at Appalachian State University, a part of University Libraries. Please email spcoll@appstate.edu or visit https://collections.library.appstate.edu/visit to learn more.

Seven African American young men seated together for a portrait, possibly in a building of a college or university
Published: Nov 29, 2022 9:56am

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