Women's History Month 2024: Scrapbooks Revisited

 I love old scrapbooks. How I envy those who are gifted with an ancestor who scrapbooked. Victorians loved scrapbooking and pasted images, memorabilia, recipes, and newspaper clippings in their books. These were books meant to be kept and looked at over and over again. Children and adults were encouraged to use scrapbooks, and images were available to them marketed specifically for scrapbooks. There was even an adhesive scrapbook developed by Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain (yes, he did more than write books).

From the collection of Gena Philibert-Ortega

Scrapbooks can contain newspaper clippings, papers with genealogical value, photographs, and written memories. Now, I know what you're thinking. "I don't have a scrapbook from my ancestor." I don't either. But that's where the FAN club comes in. Remember, FAN is short for Friends, Associates, and Neighbors, and in women's research, expanding your search to include those people is vital. You can find treasures in the scrapbook of a neighbor, friend, associated family member, or an organization. I remember going to a Texas historical society and paging through the scrapbook of a local woman who cut out newspaper articles about local families, including obituaries. This record that was not indexed or digitized was a goldmine of information for those conducting local family history research. But don't forget that membership groups kept scrapbooks that document members. There are also other scrapbook-type records, such as autographs and birthday books.

How do you find a scrapbook that may mention your female ancestor? Scrapbooks can be found in archival collections. One place to find an archival collection is ArchiveGrid. I recommend searching by the location where your ancestor lived. If she was a member of an organization, try searching for that name as well.

Another example of a place to look is the Digital Public Library of America. A search using the keyword "scrapbook"  brought up over 49,000 digitized results. (an increase of over 23,000 items since the first time this article was posted in 2018)

Yes, research isn't always indexed, online, or found by an ancestor's name. But the riches that can be found in scrapbooks can be wonderful.

Resources

Tucker, Susan. The Scrapbook in American Life. Philadelphia: Temple Univ. Press, 2006.

Garvey, Ellen G. Writing with Scissors: American Scrapbooks from the Civil War to the Harlem Renaissance. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Original Source:

Women's History Month 2018: Scrapbooks