I was reading the other day about an archive that had received a donation of scrapbooks. The diary-like scrapbooks documented a woman's daily life for decades. It got me thinking about how underutilized scrapbooks are in genealogy.
Scrapbooks were popular during Victorian times and continued into the 20th century. Different types of scrapbooks exist. They may simply serve as as place to keep favorite photos or poems. They also may document the life of their owner and her community.
Now, I know. You didn't inherit a scrapbook. But when you go research at an archive or historical society and they have a scrapbook from someone who lived in your ancestor's community, take a look. Those scrapbooks include the activities of friends. She may be mentioned in her friend's scrapbook. Success in researching material culture relies on expanding our searches to her FAN Club.
If you want to learn more about the study of scrapbooks, I recommend the books, Writing with Scissors: American Scrapbooks from the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance by Ellen Gruby Garvey and The Scrapbook in American Life by Susan Tucker, et al.
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