Edith Youdale Lee Scrapbook
name: label: Names
content: Bristol School (Washington, D.C.)
label: Names
content: Fairmont Seminary (Washington, D.C.)
label: Names
content: United States Naval Academy
label: Donor
content: Jarvis, Carol
topic: label: Topic
content: Boarding schools
label: Topic
content: Dances
label: Topic
content: Fashion -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Girls -- Photographs
label: Topic
content: Graduation (School)
label: Topic
content: Teenage girls
label: Topic
content: Women -- Education
label: Topic
content: Women's history -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Donated to the Archives Center in 2017 by Carol Jarvis, who acquired it from a family member, who acquired it from a thrift store.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Edith Youdale Lee Scrapbook
abstract: label: Summary
content: Scrapbook documenting the boarding school culture, education of girls, and social actitivies of the Fairmount Seminary located in Washington, DC in the 1910s as experienced and recorded by Edith Youdale Lee a student from Memphis, Tennessee.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: This scrapbook belonged to Edith Youdale Lee and chronicles the time she spent at Fairmount Seminary in Washington, DC. It was an Episcopal school for girls, offering two years worth of college work preparatory to college. It was located in Northwest Washington and ceased operation in the 1940s. For most of its life, the seminary was headed by Arthur Ramsay. Several influential figures spoke at the seminary during Edith's time, including Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan and eugenicist David Starr Jordan. The seminary offered women diplomas and certificates, with focus on literature, music, art, and some mathematics. It advertised itself as a "city school with country sports" where students would take trips into outdoor areas in Washington D.C. It also appears to have some loose connection to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as Fairmount students frequently attended dances and events at the academy. Fairmount hosted students from across the South, Northeast, and Midwest, as well as the odd student from California. 

Edith Youdale Lee was born in 1898 in Memphis, Tennessee to Anna May Youdale Lee (April 24, 1859-September 12, 1945) and Robert Edward Lee (1847-April 12, 1900). Her father, who had emigrated from Ireland to the United States and was a lumber merchant, died on April 12, 1900 at the age of fifty-three. She was the youngest of four siblings, and her oldest brother Everett Dean Lee (August 11, 1880-November 9, 1956) was involved in the cotton linting business and married.

Her sister Louise (May 20, 1887-August 3, 1952) married Wilkie Collins Thacker (January 5, 1890-May 12, 1956). Her sister Maude Lucille Lee (September 1884-) married and had . Edith and her mother, Anna, lived in several locations in Memphis but spent extended time living in the Gayoso Hotel. Her mother is listed as the head of household for much of Edith's young life, and they were wealthy enough to employ a servant. In 1912, she began studying at Fairmount Seminary, where she graduated with a certificate in 1916. She met her future husband Midshipman Leon Fredrick Brown (1889-?) while living in DC. They were married on July 3, 1916 and had one daughter, Edith Lee, (July 17, 1917-August 7, 2007). Brown remained in the United States Navy for some time, before the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked for an insurance company. Information on Edith herself is unfortunately limited.  


Sources:
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Cubic foot (3 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1912-1940, undated
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1415
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Calling cards
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Dance cards
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Greeting cards
label: Type
content: Invitations
label: Type
content: Menus
label: Type
content: Newsletters
label: Type
content: Paintings
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Postcards
label: Type
content: Programs
label: Type
content: Report cards
label: Type
content: Telegrams
label: Type
content: Tickets
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Theater programs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is arranged into one series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist, 2023. Finding aid encoded by Audrey Willius, intern, 2023.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Calling cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Dance cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Greeting cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Invitations
label: Genre/Form
content: Menus
label: Genre/Form
content: Newsletters
label: Genre/Form
content: Paintings
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Postcards
label: Genre/Form
content: Programs
label: Genre/Form
content: Report cards
label: Genre/Form
content: Telegrams
label: Genre/Form
content: Tickets
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Theater programs -- 20th century
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection consists of the loose pages and the covers of the scrapbook Lee created using materials from her time at Fairmount seminary and is extremely fragile. The pages are not in chronological order, but for the most part have materials from 1912 to 1916. The scrapbook is annotated by Lee and filled with her drawings. It contains a wide range of correspondence, including telegrams and letters, photographs, postcards, watercolor paintings and other drawings, dance cards (including a metal bangle with a dance list), ribbons and other textiles, and a variety of three-dimensional objects. There are cartoons and fashion sketches, as well as watercolor paintings that she made. The scrapbook mainly focuses on recording the events Lee attended and messages she received, though there are many photographs of her and her friends in casual and costume dress. It includes photographs of Rock Creek Park in DC. It includes tickets and a program for a women's suffrage march held in 1913 in DC. There is also a Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) pamphlet. The scrapbook offers a look at society practices between women in Washington at the time. 

Although limited, the scrapbook does have information on Fairmount Seminary itself, mostly relating to its teachers. Assistant Principal Judith Steele is noted most often, and the scrapbook includes an image of her. It also has several programs and booklets pertaining to the Naval Academy, including copies of the Log of the United States Navy. It also has programs and invitations for Winter Hops and Middies Dances held at the academy. It contains materials from Triple 6 fraternity's Christmas balls. It also contains Lee's short correspondence with John Sharp Williams, a Representative from Tennessee. The collection provides insight for research on girls' education in the early 20th century, particularly the culture girls developed at boarding schools. It also has a unique lens on early 20th century history of Washington, DC. In addition, the collection may also be useful in the study of the history of the Navy Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. 

The scrapbook is in poor condition as many of the pages are brittle, torn, and unable to support the weight of the objects attached. The pages are no longer bounded to the covers of the scrapbook.  Scrapbook pages have been interleaved with paper to prevent the tranfer of acid from newspaper clippings, telegrams, etc. The scrapbook is also housed into two boxes to better manage the weight of the object. Researchers should handle the book with extreme caution and care.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History


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Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subject Categories: Schools, NMAH.AC.0060

Celia K. Erskine Scrapbook of Valentines, Advertising Cards, and Postcards, NMAH.AC.0136

Archives Center Scrapbook Collection, NMAH.AC.0468

Robert Mosher Photoprints, NMAH.AC.1203


Sandford Greeting Card Company and Family Papers, NMAH.AC.1252