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Leon and Beatrice M. Gardiner collection
The Leon and Beatrice M. Gardiner collection, though small in size, spans over one hundred and fifty years of African American history. Gardiner, a historian and postal worker, was from Atlantic City, New Jersey, but lived most of his life in Philadelphia. He was an avid collector of African Americ...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Collection: | Leon and Beatrice M. Gardiner Collection |
| Collection Number: | 0008B |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
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| Item Description: |
Processing Information: Box 2, Folder 12 contains photocopies of the title pages of published works that were transferred to the library. Some of these items have been cataloged, but some have not. Call numbers of those that are cataloged have been written on the papers. For information on the uncataloged items, please contact the library.
Some of the materails in this collection may have been catalogued in the PC-6 section of HSP's card catalog, as well as in the guide Afro-Americana, 1553-1906: author catalog of the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (call number INDEX Z 1361.N39 P48 1973), copies of which are available in HSP's library. |
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| Physical Description: |
1.5 Linear feet ; 4 boxes, 1 volume |
| Access: |
The collection is open for research. |
| Summary: |
The Leon and Beatrice M. Gardiner collection, though small in size, spans over one hundred and fifty years of African American history. Gardiner, a historian and postal worker, was from Atlantic City, New Jersey, but lived most of his life in Philadelphia. He was an avid collector of African American ephemera, clippings, and other memorabilia. He died in 1945 at the age of 47 and his wife Beatrice M. Gardiner continued his collection. In addition to a few folders of personal papers and correspondence, the collection contains ephemera, essays, and an 1881 notebook from one Julia Buchanan. There are also several folders of newspaper clippings that focus on African American people, institutions, events, and achievements, and many photographs. The Leon and Beatrice M. Gardiner collection is housed in three document boxes, one archival album, and one photograph album. The papers and photographs span from the 1820s to the 1970s. The collection covers many topics dealing with African Americans, but has scant personal materials from either Gardiner or his wife. Gardiner's own papers comprise six folders in Box 1. Among them is a small amount of personal correspondence regarding family matters, gifts to HSP, Black history, and social and political activities promoting equality for blacks; materials dealing with the John Brown Memorial Association and correspondence with Charles H. Wesley at Howard University; and papers concerning postal employees' associations and beneficial activities. There are also papers of the Mutual Alliance Service Corporation, a beneficial society which loaned money to needy members for immediate necessities; miscellaneous bills and receipts, a power of attorney and court papers, essays and other information on African American history, including two essays by Alberta S. Norwood, whom Gardiner assisted; and an address book and miscellaneous notes and songs. Beatrice M. Gardiner's papers, taking up the remaining five folders in Box 1, include correspondence from family members and concerning the Women's League, Inc., and materials related to Father Divine's Peace Mission Free School, and the Gardiner, Newlin, Richardson Family Association. Two personal files of inspirational material are included, labeled "Poems and Picker-Upper Readings" (Box 1, Folder 10) and "When I feel down and need a lift" (Box 1, Folder 9). This latter file primarily contains pamphlets and form letters on retirement. Box 2 of the collection contains an assortment of items, from correspondence of Mr. and Mrs. George Gardiner to an 1881 notebook of one Julia Buchanan at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, in which she mentioned upstate New York and Montreal and wrote about women's issues, suffrage, and smoking. There is also a group of political material and printed ephemera from the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing, Omega Psi Phi, and Young Women's Christian Association. Additional ephemera is grouped by category: churches; schools; concerts and plays; monuments, associations, and social occasions; and advertisements, business cards, and printed ephemera. Box 2, Folder 12 contains photocopies of the title pages of published works which were transferred to the library. The Gardiners also collected newspaper clippings related to many areas of African American history, including education, church and religious activities, musicians and actors, writers and artists, athletes and military heroes, urban affairs, national and international affairs, and individuals. A small number of clippings on other subjects are also included. All clippings are housed in Box 3. In addition to papers, the collection contains a siginificant group of photographs which have been housed in one archival album (Box 4) and one volume (Volume 1). Though the vast majority of photographs are unlabeled, it is clear that most document a family (probably the Gardiners) or families, as many of the same people appear throughout the pictures. They range from formal portraits to candid snapshots and include interior and exterior scenes. The now-sleeved photographs in the archival album have been numbered according to their microfilm placement, "1" being the first photograph filmed and so on. This number order was not maintained in the album due to the many shapes and sizes of the photographs. The pictures in Volume 1 have also been microfilmed in the order in which they appear. Most of these images date from 1939 and further document many of the faces and places seen among the loose photographs. |