[ILLINOIS-ST. MARY’S SCHOOL-FEMALE STUDENT LIFE] Album, ca. 202 Photos. Ca. 1912

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[ILLINOIS-ST. MARY’S SCHOOL-FEMALE STUDENT LIFE] Album, ca. 202 Photos. Ca. 1912:
$750.00

Oblong Quarto album ca. 18,4x26 cm (7 ¼ x 10 ¼ in). 49 paper album leaves (12 blank). With 202 original gelatin silver photographs (including six real photo postcards; one photo loose) from ca. 8,2x10,8 cm (3 ¼ x 4 ¼ in) to ca. 4x5,5 cm (1 ½ x 2 ¼ in). More than half photos with English captions on the mounts (some on paper labels) or in negatives (in case of RPPS) related to individual images or groups of images. Period full-cloth album with a blue ink inscription “Ernestine S. Roberts St. Mary’s School Knoxville Illinois” on the inner side of the front cover. One leaf detached, about six photos missing, two leafs with holes at the place of missing photos, photographs slightly age-toned, about three photos hand-colored, but overall a very good album with strong, interesting photos.

Historically interesting collection of original photographs taken and collected by Ernestine S. Roberts during her studies at St. Mary’s School (Knoxville, Illinois), documenting the student life of young American women on the eve of World War I.

St. Mary’s School was a small Episcopal boarding and day school for girls founded in the 1860s under the Diocese of Quincy. It combined academic instruction with religious education, music, and the arts, reflecting ideals of refinement for young women of the period. Many students came from the Chicago area, and the school offered extensive facilities, including a swimming pool, bowling alley, theater, and landscaped grounds with a private park, tree-lined paths, and a pond. The main building closed in the early 1930s due to disrepair and was demolished in 1936, leaving only the chapel and observatory. The former grounds are now part of James Knox Park, where remnants of the original landscape have largely changed over time.

The album contains 202 lively vernacular photographs illustrating the early American experience of female students at a private boarding school. As St. Mary’s School mainly served daughters of wealthy families, it is likely the compiler also came from a well-to-do local or nearby family. Most photographs were taken on the school grounds and show candid scenes of the compiler and her friends participating in traditional May Day celebrations, dancing around the maypole in French settlers’ costumes, posing in groups with classmates, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, serving outdoor breakfasts, performing military drills, and taking part in other school activities. Importantly, the images also document the now largely destroyed grounds of the school, with the main building (bearing the school’s name) and surrounding park still clearly visible. Most of the students are identified, including Japanese student Katsumi Naide of Osaka, dressed in a traditional kimono.

The other excellent photographs primarily depict summer vacations, showing students and friends on outings at coastal and lakeside resorts such as Palm Beach and Star Island (Michigan), joyfully swimming in bathing caps and stockings, feeding ducks, eating corn, strolling through markets with baskets, and posing in a flying boat. There are also two interesting images capturing the well-known Star Island House and a crowded beach scene.

Overall, historically interesting collection of private photographs, documenting the daily life of American female students in the early 1910s.

Item #NY013

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