Collection Spotlight

We continue with our periodic spotlight of objects, documents, photographs and other items you can find in the collections of the Historical Society of Haddonfield. Thanks again to summer 2017 volunteer Britni Dellinger for helping to compile these features. Next up:

NAOMI V. FITHIAN WORLD WAR I SCRAPBOOK

2005.010, Gift of Marianna Robson Johnson

This scrapbook was created by life-long Haddonfield resident Naomi Vernan Fithian Robson (1896-1969), who was 21 years old and unmarried when the U.S. entered World War I. Naomi’s father was noted illustrator Frank Fithian (1866-1935). Her incredible scrapbook contains photographs, newspaper articles, drawings, ephemera, and other mementos about what was happening in the U.S. and abroad during the war. The scrapbook was donated to the Society in 2005 by Naomi’s daughter, Marianna R. Johnson, and it was displayed as part of the Society’s fall 2017 exhibit about Haddonfield in World War I.

We continue with our occasional spotlight of objects, documents, photographs and other items you can find in the collections of the Historical Society of Haddonfield. Thanks again to summer 2017 volunteer Britni Dellinger for helping to compile these features. Next up:

SOCK STRETCHERS

1969.034, Gift of Mrs. Harry Bauer

These wooden sock stretchers were used for just the reason the name suggests: to prevent socks from shrinking after washing them. Although they are mostly forgotten now, sock stretchers were ubiquitous during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries until the development of synthetic fabrics. This pair is sized for a child’s tall stockings, or long hose, and they are undated. The stretchers were added to the Society’s collection in 1969 by Sylvia (Tatem) Bauer. Sylvia and her husband Harry Bauer were the previous owners of Greenfield Hall, which is now the headquarters of the Historical Society.

We continue with our periodic spotlight of objects, documents, photographs and other items you can find in the collections of the Historical Society of Haddonfield. Thanks again to summer volunteer Britni Dellinger for helping to compile these features. Next up:

MT. PEACE CEMETERY BURIAL LEDGER

2004.011, Gift of Bryson Armstead

This ledger contains two decades of burial information for Mt. Peace Cemetery on the White Horse Turnpike in Lawnside, NJ. Covering 1937 to 1959, the ledger lists names, residences, burial dates, grave locations, and undertakers. It is part of a small collection of Mt. Peace records that were collected by Bryson Armstead during his work to document the long history and significance of the cemetery. The burial ledger has lost its cover and has water damage, but the information it contains is irreplaceable for family historians and other researchers.

The Historical Society compiled all of the burial data from the ledger and other cemetery records in the collection into a digital database to further improve access to this information.

The ledger is currently on loan to the Lawnside Historical Society for a special exhibit at Camden County Historical Society, opening soon!

We continue with the next installment of our periodic spotlight of objects, documents, photographs and other items you can find in the collections of the Historical Society of Haddonfield. Thanks again to summer volunteer Britni Dellinger for helping to compile these features.

THREAD WINDER

1966.078, Gift of unknown (found in collection)

Thread winders are used to organize embroidery thread so that it does not tangle when stored. This one, found in the Society’s collections in 1966, is made of wood and has “Jerusalem” written in Hebrew on one side. Unfortunately, we do not know who owned the item, but one possibility is that it was a woman’s treasured souvenir from a trip abroad.