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Esther Leggett travel scrapbooks

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Held at: Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area [Contact Us]204 Church St., Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, 19460

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area. 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:
13
Repository:
Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area
Extent:
4.0 linear feet
Language:
English
Date:
1901-1927 (inclusive)
Creator:
Leggett, Esther Griffin, 1855-1935
Abstract:
Esther Griffin Leggett was born around 1855 and lived most of her life in Phoenixville, Chester County, Pennsylvania. An active volunteer at the local public library, she was known as the "story hour lady" for decades. Leggett traveled extensively and internationally in the early 20th century before passing away in 1935. The Esther Leggett travel scrapbooks, 1901-1927, include diary entries by Leggett as well as photo postcards, photographs, maps, ephemera, and some botanical specimens. There are 31 volumes documenting Leggett's domestic and international travels; of special interest is a volume about the US's entry into World War I.

Esther Griffin Leggett was born around 1855 and lived most of her life in Phoenixville, Chester County, Pennsylvania. She was the niece of John Griffen, a well-known resident in Phoenixville because of his connection to the local iron industry. Leggett was active at the public library in Phoenixville, where she was known as the "story hour lady" for decades. She traveled extensively and internationally in the early 20th century before passing away in 1935.

Bibliography:

O'Neal, Sharon. "From Phoenixville, She Saw the World." Philadelphia Inquirer, February 9, 1992. Accessed September 24, 2013. http://articles.philly.com/1992-02-09/news/26040519_1_journals-small-towns-postcards

This collection consists of 31 volumes of scrapbooks compiled by Esther Leggett about her travels in the United States and internationally (western Europe and Scandinavia, the Mediterranean, the West Indies, North Africa, and Japan). The scrapbooks include diary entries by Leggett as well as photo postcards, photographs, maps, ephemera, and some botanical specimens. Most entries discuss details of travel planning. Of special interest is a volume about the US's entry into World War I. An inventory of the collection is as follows: Book 1. 1902 - Switzerland and Paris Book 2. 1903 - Paris and Brittany Book 3. 1903 - 04 - Brittany-Touraine, Washington Book 4. 1904 - 05 - Nova Scotia Book 5. 1905 - 1906 - Canada Book 6. 1906 - Malaya - Switzerland Book 7. 1907 - Cliff Island - Sugar Hill Book 8. Missing Book 9. 1908 - Mediterranean to Jerusalem Book 10. 1909. - Egypt to Florence Book 11. Missing Book 12. - 1910 -1911 - Minnewaska - Baltimore, Washington Book 13. 1911. - England to Plymouth Book 14. 1911. England - Plymouth to London Cathedrals. Book 15. 1912. California - Minnewaska Book 16. 1912. Sweet Brier - Virginia, Eagles Mere Book 17. 1914. Denmark, Norway, Sweden Book 18. 1914 - 1915. Sweden - Norway Book 19. 1916. - New England - Minnewaska Book 20. 1917. California Book 21. 1917-1918. Pittsburgh - Minnewaska. "We Enter The War." Book 22. 1919 - 1920 - America - Washington, Sweet Brier, etc. Book 23. 1921. - America - Eagles Mere, New England Book 24. 1922. West Indies Book 25. 1924. America - Summerville Book 26. 1924 - Estes Park, Glacier Park Book 27. 1925 - South Devon, Channel Isles, Ireland Book 28. 1925. Scotland, Lake Country, Wales Book 29. 1926. - America - Minnewaska, Sesquicentennial Book 30. 1927. - Algeria, Sicily, Nice Book 31. 1927. Nice, Avignon, etc. Book 32. Black paper scrap book of post cards. Book 33. Alaska (missing) Book 34. Paper scrapbook of miscellaneous photographs Extracts from letters of Esther G. Leggett to Caroline Hazard from her trip around the world.

Gift of Phoenixville Public Library.

Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2012-2014 as part of a project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.

In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area directly for more information.

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Publisher
Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Faith Charlton through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
Sponsor
This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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