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Laura Knipe collection of cartoons

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Held at: Bryn Mawr College [Contact Us]Bryn Mawr College Library, 101 N. Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr 19010

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Bryn Mawr College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Call Number:
M83
Repository:
Bryn Mawr College
Extent:
1 boxes
Language:
English
Preferred Citation:
Cite as: Laura Knipe collection of cartoons, Special Collections Department, Bryn Mawr College Library.
Date:
1949-1953 (inclusive)
Creator:
Knipe, Laura E.
Abstract:
Laura Elizabeth Knipe (1932-2010) was a graduate of Bryn Mawr College (Class of 1953). Throughout her time as an undergraduate she produced numerous cartoon drawings based on her and her friends' experiences as Bryn Mawr students. Many of her witty cartoons good naturedly mock their own study habits, life in the Rockefeller Dorm, academics, particularly the Anthropology and Geology departments, and their social antics and misadventures. This collection, donated to Bryn Mawr College by one of Knipe's closest Bryn Mawr friends, Eula Wulfjen Harmon Hoff (Class of 1952), is comprised of over 100 of Knipe's drawings, including drafts and copies. Hoff has also provided commentary on the categorically organized drawings.

Laura Elizabeth Knipe was a Bryn Mawr College graduate (Class of 1953) remembered for the witty cartoon drawings she produced throughout her time as an undergraduate. Knipe was born in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1932 and attended Bryn Mawr between the years 1949 and 1953. She was a skilled and avid cartoonist whose work was appreciated by friends and peers alike, as she was known for her Bryn Mawr themed cartoons comically revolving around the life of a student. Knipe's drawings were shared amongst her friends and occasionally published in Bryn Mawr's College News.

Knipe earned her degree in Geology and spent the years following her graduation in Colorado, which she was drawn to for her love of the outdoors. She did not pursue art any further after she left Bryn Mawr with the exception of the final installment of cartoons in the collection, which describe her experiences on a field project in Arizona the summer after her graduation.

Knipe eventually settled in Texas with her family, where she remained until her death on September 15, 2010.

This collection is organized into three series.

Series 1, Book One, is organized into three sections. The first, "In the Throes of Creative Genius, or How to Write a Term Paper", consists of comical drawings expressing the academic woes of Knipe and her friends, particularly within the Geology department. The second, "The Influence of Anthropology or 'Lo the Noble Savage'," contains a letter from Bryn Mawr Anthropology professor Frederica De Laguna to Eula Hoff, the donor of this collection and a close friend of Laura Knipe. The letter concerns copies of Knipe's drawings that Hoff sent to De Laguna in 1977. Also included are drawings revolving around Knipe's and her friends' experience with the Anthropology department. The final section, "Other Departments We Became Entangled With", consists of cartoons relating to Knipe and her friends' experience with other departments at Bryn Mawr including Foreign Languages, English, Psychology, and Chemistry.

Series 2, Book Two, is organized into three sections. "Bryn Mawr, The Environment" consists of cartoons based on the lifestyle of a Bryn Mawr student residing on campus. "Rockefeller Dorm" consists of cartoons that describe particularities of living in Reckefeller Dorm with friends. The last of the three," Extracurricular Activities" takes into account many of the non-academic antics of Knipe and her friends. Also present is a photocopied letter to Eula about Knipe's drawings.

Series 3, Book Three, is organized into four sections. The first, "The Angoon Adventure", consist of drawings about an archeological trip to Angoon that Knipe and her friends wanted to take but were not selected for. The second, "Freedom at Last…Into the Workaday World…Summers on the Dig", consist of drawings about the end of a semester. The final two, "The Trek to Colorado" and "Arizona Field Project" contain cartoons revolving around Knipe's archaeological trips during summer vacations.

Eula Hoff has provided commentary throughout the collection, including prefaces and backgrounds for specific cartoons.

This collection is the gift of Eula Wulfjen Harmon Hoff.

People
Organization
Subject

Publisher
Bryn Mawr College
Finding Aid Author
Celeste Ledesma
Finding Aid Date
2014 July 21
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

the Laura Knipe collection of cartoons are the physical property of the Special Collections Department, Bryn Mawr College Library. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns.

Collection Inventory

1. The Inmates "Bright Lives".
Box 1 Folder 1
2. "But there was some site with lots of pottery that was typical that was all around.
Box 1 Folder 2
3. No Caption (house of index cards) .
Box 1 Folder 2
4. "What does sex relations go under?" & "But there was some site with lots of pottery that was typical that was all around----" (Same as 2.) .
Box 1 Folder 2
5. "'I want that Quote I couldn't find last night.' 'Here. Have one of mine, they're very mild.'" .
Box 1 Folder 2
6. "Take a card, any card.
Box 1 Folder 3
7. (Original of 5.) .
Box 1 Folder 3
8. "Bibliography Wild?" .
Box 1 Folder 3
9. "And the words flow like magic from the pen" & "The lady Delaguna presenteth the solution.
Box 1 Folder 4
10. "'I'll get this thing!' 'Spur him down the shoulders!" .
Box 1 Folder 4
11. "Where's my erasor?!".
Box 1 Folder 4
12. No Caption (typing on a record) .
Box 1 Folder 5
13. "Encouragement: Your paper is only 20 pp. long, And—Just be glad you didn't join the navy. Remember the Alamo!".
Box 1 Folder 5
14. " To be taken together" (Record & Paper) .
Box 1 Folder 5
15. "The way to write a paper." (two pages).
Box 1 Folder 6
16. "Cornflakes, by Gad!!!" .
Box 1 Folder 6
17. No Caption (Paper creating machine) .
Box 1 Folder 6
18. "Further Adventures on the Rock Pile" (two pages).
Box 1 Folder 7
19. "Your Move" .
Box 1 Folder 7
20. "I dreamed I went contour mapping in my made-in-form bra" .
Box 1 Folder 7
21. "Some Hazards of Surveying in remoter parts of the Bryn Mawr campus." ("On Faculty Row" and "Down by the stream").
Box 1 Folder 8
22. No Caption (Dragon in crate addressed to the geology department).
Box 1 Folder 8
23. "There was an inscription up at the top alright, but all this stuff he thinks is footnotes is graphic granite.".
Box 1 Folder 8
24. "Excuse Me" .
Box 1 Folder 9
25. "Now that you've located yourselves—o.k. back to the bus." .
Box 1 Folder 9
26. No Caption (Students clinging to cliff as train approaches) .
Box 1 Folder 9
27. "The Fossil" (2 Pages).
Box 1 Folder 10
Letter to Eula from Freddy.
Box 1 Folder 10
28. "The fatal attraction of the other fellow's kitchen midden: while the archaeologists do their digging, the current inhabitants are busy with their own salvaging:".
Box 1 Folder 10
29. "It's Margaret Meade, but I don't think she's making much progress." .
Box 1 Folder 10
30. "The real meaning behind petroglyphs".
Box 1 Folder 11
31. "Reindeer with snowshoe coming over on 1st wave." (two versions).
Box 1 Folder 11
32. "That's a member of one of those Anthropological cults." .
Box 1 Folder 11
33. "There will be no more knitting of complicated patterns in class." .
Box 1 Folder 12
34. "The Kula Exchange" .
Box 1 Folder 12
35. "All it needs is 400 rabbits" .
Box 1 Folder 12
36. "Wake up. Conference is over. You can go home now." .
Box 1 Folder 13
37. No Caption (Mayan Cartouches) (color).
Box 1 Folder 13
38. "When the orals were oral--- sprechen Sie Deutsch? Sprechen Sie Deutsch! Sprechen—Sprechen!!!" .
Box 1 Folder 13
39. "The self is friendly with the drives.".
Box 1 Folder 14
40. "Have you got any spirits of energy + ambition?" .
Box 1 Folder 14
41. "No! No! That end's for the peanut butter!" .
Box 1 Folder 14
42. "Somebody up in Taylor wants to know if they should call the fire department.".
Box 1 Folder 15
43. "Sure I can cook. Where's a Bunsen burner?".
Box 1 Folder 15
44. "Finis" (copy).
Box 1 Folder 15

45. "Bats coming out at dusk." .
Box 1 Folder 16
46. "Come to the stable" .
Box 1 Folder 16
47. "A world of magic all my own" .
Box 1 Folder 16
48. No Caption (Reserve room with Archaeology, Sociology and Dedrochronology) .
Box 1 Folder 17
50. "The Thermostat" .
Box 1 Folder 17
51. "Chinese Water Torture" .
Box 1 Folder 18
52. No Caption "Hey Frenchie do you know the constellations?" (color).
Box 1 Folder 18
53. "Working on the roof can be a problem when the wind comes up! Especially when one paper is on geology and another English!" .
Box 1 Folder 18
54. "The Morning Pilgrimage to Class" (Three pages).
Box 1 Folder 19
55. "The Insect Pit-BMC" .
Box 1 Folder 19
56. "No-doze Because----".
Box 1 Folder 19
57. "Midnight" .
Box 1 Folder 20
58. "Statue of Misery" .
Box 1 Folder 20
59. "The Bryn Mawr Owls" .
Box 1 Folder 20
60. "Oh Quick!-Give Knipee her ashtray!" .
Box 1 Folder 21
61. "It's a time lock-I'm on a diet" .
Box 1 Folder 21
62. "Quick energy" .
Box 1 Folder 21
63. "And then these two old biddies- yaw haw haw **-these two old biddies came up to Dr. Shirley and said-haw!!-Hiyah Frankie!!" .
Box 1 Folder 22
64. "She committed suicide with a can opener." .
Box 1 Folder 22
65. No Caption (Student strangling self with a strange contraption) .
Box 1 Folder 22
66. "The Blind Date" (color, two pages) .
Box 1 Folder 23
67. "The Blind Date- The Sprite + The Overgrown Oaf" .
Box 1 Folder 23
68. "For General Harmon on his birthday!" .
Box 1 Folder 23
69. "We'll be thru in a minute!" .
Box 1 Folder 24
70. "The Robbery of the Paoli local- Dismal River Rides Again" .
Box 1 Folder 24
71. No Caption (Frazzled Writer) .
Box 1 Folder 24
72. No Caption (two bandits on a horse (study for the Robbery of the Paoli Local?)) .
Box 1 Folder 24
General

reverse 71

73. "Preparing our own meals- The Chili Feast" .
Box 1 Folder 25
74. "The Looney Bin".
Box 1 Folder 25
Photocopy of letter to Eula about the cartoons .
Box 1 Folder 25

75. "It's Freddie from Chicago—She says are we sure she didn't tell any of us about leaving this morning at 5:00 o'clock" .
Box 1 Folder 26
76. "Our Lodgings" .
Box 1 Folder 26
77. "You wouldn't have to feed us much." .
Box 1 Folder 26
78. "It's cheaper too! Go Ahead! Say Something!" .
Box 1 Folder 27
79. "Oh it's wiskey rye whiskey" .
Box 1 Folder 27
80. No Caption (taking photos in front of a totem pole) .
Box 1 Folder 27
81. No Caption (Road trip day dream).
Box 1 Folder 28
82. "The Last Roundup" .
Box 1 Folder 28
83. "Imaginings: the way we would like to live!".
Box 1 Folder 28
84. "Laura's Green Van: Pueblo Verde".
Box 1 Folder 29
85. "The Dismal River Rocket—Latest Prairie Schooner" .
Box 1 Folder 29
86. "Go West…" .
Box 1 Folder 29
87. "Who put all my mystery stories in the trunk!??" .
Box 1 Folder 30
88. "Wednesday morning and you have to give Ginny the car keys!" (copy).
Box 1 Folder 30
89. "Wake the driver up again. We've got to stop for gas." .
Box 1 Folder 30
90. "They got in at 5:00 and nobody's stopped since." (copy).
Box 1 Folder 31
91. No Caption (crash at Grand Junction) (copy).
Box 1 Folder 31
92. "When you hollered 'Right!' back there were you trying to say 'turn left,' or did you mean 'correct'?" .
Box 1 Folder 31
93. Another of 91 (copy).
Box 1 Folder 32
94. Another of 87. (copy).
Box 1 Folder 32
95. "M Wormington's Crossroads Concession" .
Box 1 Folder 32
96. No Caption (Archaeological Dig) .
Box 1 Folder 33
97. "Profile of Taylor 3, showing artifacts, Marvin + pack rat".
Box 1 Folder 33
98. "Our fellow cabinmates:---".
Box 1 Folder 33
99. No Caption ("No Gary!") (copy).
Box 1 Folder 34
100. "Yes or No???" .
Box 1 Folder 34
101. "Why the Plague or Revenge" .
Box 1 Folder 34
102. "Poaching in the Game Preserves" .
Box 1 Folder 35
103. "Say, who's foot am I washing?!".
Box 1 Folder 35
104. Another 99 (original).
Box 1 Folder 35
105. "My god the water level's risen" .
Box 1 Folder 36
106. "The Bluff Trip—camping out on the Navajo Indian Reservation" (Two pages).
Box 1 Folder 36
107. No Caption (Reader adds more and more blankets and falls asleep) .
Box 1 Folder 36
108. "Once more, kids this is the last creek we'll hit for a while now." .
Box 1 Folder 37
109. "Arizona Field Project Summer of '53".
Box 1 Folder 37
110. "If your back still itches there's another tree up ahead" .
Box 1 Folder 37
111. "Your specific gravity's wrong because you took it in the soup" .
Box 1 Folder 37
112. No Caption (Assorted figures) .
Box 1 Folder 37

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