A Year In Review
As we start the new year, let's take a look back at a selection of accessions from 2013 in the Swem Library's Special Collections.
Letter, James DeLancey, New York, N.Y. to William Kempe, Greenwich, England, 1759 March 27. Mss. Acc. 2013.220.
In this letter, James DeLancey, acting Governor Of New York, writes to William Kempe, the royally commissioned provincial Attorney General of New York, concerning a potential mutiny by sailors on the Hudson River in 1759 during the Seven Years War. More material related to the Seven Years War can be found in Special Collections' Armed Conflicts research guide at Armed Forces Research Guide.
Helen M. Hoskins Papers, 1839-1868. Mss. Acc. 2013.226
Helen M. Hoskins was a teacher in female academies in Maryland, Virginia, and Ohio and wrote many letters to her mother back in Massachusetts. In addition to letters to her mother, the collection also contains poems, compositions, and other ephemera related to Helen's time as a teacher. Some of the topics covered in the papers include the 1848 U.S. Presidential Election, The Mexican-American War, uprisings in Hampton, Virginia, the education of women, Sunday school, and the spread of cholera in Virginia in the 1840s.
Wedgewood Playhouse Records, 1962-1971, 1999. Mss Acc. 2013.056
The Wedgewood Playhouse was a dinner theater that was remodeled from an old tomato canning factory in Toano, Virginia. Dozens of performances took place there from 1963-1973 before they closed. Included in the records are photographs and programs from various stage productions, ledgers containing the financial situation of the dinner theater, and a scrapbook of clippings, photographs, and letters from the theater's 1963-1964 season. The Wedgewood Dinner Theatre Scrapbook can also be found in the William & Mary Digital Archive.
T.S. Hodgson, Camps near Yorktown, Virginia to Joseph Hodgson Rich Valley PO, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, 1862 April 14, Mss. Acc. 2013.287
Shown here is a letter from T.S. Hodgson, a soldier from Company E, 105th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, to his uncle describing the town of Yorktown, Virginia during the Siege of Yorktown in the American Civil War. He described how he just go out of the hospital, firing shots against the rebels at the pickets, General McClellan as the head of the army, and not receiving a package from his uncle.
The letter has been digitized and can be found in the William & Mary Digital Archive. Special Collections is in the midst of a Civil War Transcription Project in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. You can see more Civil War digitized material at our From Fights to Rights Transcription Project site.
Sinfonicron Light Opera Company Scrapbook, 1965-1992, UA 7.046, Acc. 2013.081
The Sinfonicron Light Opera Company is a student organization at the College of William and Mary. They produce one show every January on a three-year rotating schedule of two Gilbert and Sullivan shows and one non-Gilbert and Sullivan show. The students are involved in every level of production, from set design and construction, to direction, costuming and administration. The Scrapbook features every Sinfonicron program from productions from 1965-1992.
William & Mary Knit Cardigan Sweater, circa 1992, Acc. 2013.001.01
This hand-knit green cardigan sweater has depictions of the Crim Dell Bridge on the front and the Wren Building on the back. The sweater also features the William & Mary college seal, "William & Mary" text logo, a cannon, and cursive text "Class of" (with space for class year to be added) on the sleeves. The sweater was given to us by Sophie Lee, class of 1990.
