Sonora Carver Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Carver, Sonora Webster, 1904-2003
label: Names
content: Lighthouse for the Blind.
place: label: Place
content: Atlantic City (N.J.)
label: Place
content: New Jersey
topic: label: Topic
content: Horsemen and horsewomen
label: Topic
content: Diving
label: Topic
content: Blindness
label: Topic
content: Blind athletes
label: Topic
content: Women in horse sports
label: Topic
content: Steel Pier (Atlantic City, N.J.)
label: Topic
content: Horses
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Sonora Carver, 1994.
creator: label: Creator
content: Carver, Sonora Webster, 1904-2003
setName: label: See more items in
content: Sonora Carver Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection documents Sonora Carver's career as a diving horse rider and her advocacy work with the Lighthouse for the Blind.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Sonora Webster was born on February 2, 1904, one of six children, in Waycross, Georgia. In 1923, she became a performer with Dr. William Frank "Doc" Carver's carnival act.  Dr. Carver, a trained dentist, acquired target shooting and horseback riding skills that lead to his success as a world-class marksman. By 1924, Sonora began performing a stunt created by Dr. Carver, an act that required her to mount a running horse as it reached the top of a forty-foot tower and lie on the horse's back as it plunged into an eleven-foot-deep pool of water. She and other female performers traveled the country with Dr. Carver eventually settling in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  After Carver's death in 1927, his son Albert (Al) Floyd Carver assumed responsibility for the show. Sonora Webster married Albert Carver in 1928. That same year Sonora's sister Arnette Webster French joined the show. It was in 1931 that Sonora's life dramatically changed when she became legally blind as the result of retinal detachment. This condition was caused during one of her dives when she hit the water off balance with her eyes open. Determined to continue with the show, Sonora performed the diving horse act until 1942. Later that year that she and her husband Al Carver moved to New Orleans. She learned Braille and worked as a Dictaphone typist. In 1961, Sonora Webster Carver published her autobiography A Girl and Five Brave Horses. She retired from her position as a Dictaphone typist in 1979. Walt Disney Pictures released the movie Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken in 1991 which was loosely based on Sonora Carver's autobiography. Sonora Webster Carver died at the age of ninety-nine on September 21, 2003 in Pleasantville, New Jersey.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Cubic feet (8 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1891-1994, undated
label: Date
content: 1891-1994
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0521
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into six series.

Series 1, Biographical Information, 1924-1994, undated

Series 2, Diving Horses Career and Atlantic City, 1924-1986, undated  

Series 3, Visual Impairment and Advocacy, 1953-1977, undated 

Series 4, Walt Disney Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken Movie, 1990-1993, undated

Series 5, Dr. William Frank "Doc" Carver and the Wild West, 1891-1975, undated

Series 6,: Miscellaneous, 1962-1991, undated
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Kelly Sanford, intern, 1996 and Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist, 1996.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Collection consists primarily of materials relating to Carver's career as a diving horse rider and her advocacy work for the Lighthouse for the Blind. It is arranged into six series. Series one contains biographical information about Sonora Webster Carver and her family and dates from 1924-1994. Series two includes material relating to Carver's career as a diving horse rider on the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Series three documents Carver's later life and work on behalf of people with visual impairments dating from 1953-1977. Series four contains material relating to the creation of the Walt Disney Pictures film Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken dating from 1990-1993. Series five consists of materials relating to Dr. William Frank "Doc" Carver and the Wild West dating from 1891-1975. Series six contains miscellaneous materials dating from 1962-1991.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History


Archives Center Wild West Collection (AC1466)


Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)


L.F. Foster Wild West Scrapbooks, Photographs, and Copy Negatives (AC1289)


Duncan P. Schiedt Photograph Collection (AC1323)