Annie Gertrude Gilliam: Reflections of a Student’s Life in the 1920s

Annie Gertrude Gilliam was a Florida State College for Women student, Class of 1929.  She earned her BS in education, was a member of the Young Women’s Christian Association, and a sister in Phi Mu sorority.  Heritage Protocol recently acquired her scrapbook, which documents her time as a student at FSCW, from her freshman year

Happy Birthday, Emily Bronte

On July 30, 1818 Emily Bronte was born in Thornton, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.  Although best known for her novel, Wuthering Heights, Miss Bronte was also an artist.   Included in The Life and Eager Death of Emily Bronte: a Biography (1936), by Virginia Moore, which we have in our Shaw Collection, are three of her

Way Down Upon the Suwannee River

Since tomorrow is the 4th of July, it is fitting to honor Stephen Collins Foster who was born on July 4, 1826, in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania.   Lawrenceville was in Allegheny County, which is now a part of Pittsburgh.   In 1851, Foster wrote the words and music for “Old Folks at Home” (“Swanee River”).  This song

A Poem for Mother’s Day

This little book, My Mother: a Poem, by Ann Taylor, was published between 1825 and 1833.  It is from our John McKay Shaw Childhood in Poetry book collection and is only 1.75″ x 3″. The John MacKay Shaw Collection, includes over 22,400 books in the Childhood in Poetry Collection and over 46 linear feet of other

Florida State College for Women Scrapbooks in the Archives

Compiling scrapbooks was a popular pastime for those who attended the Florida State College for Women.    These students filled their scrapbooks with the miscellaneous items that they thought significant and representative of their day to day lives. Working in the archives, we specifically look for these ephemeral objects that people often threw away. These items,

Inez Abernethy: Florida Female College Heroine

Born in Summerville, Arkansas in 1873, Inez Abernethy (or Abernathy) was the head of the Art Department at Florida Female College and Florida State College for Women from 1905 to 1914.  She received her training at the Art Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio and then studied in Europe from 1896 to 1898.  Between 1900 and 1903,

A Book for Christina of Markyate

Christina of Markyate lived a span of sixty or so years in early twelfth century England. This Anglo-Saxon woman was born into nobility but chose a path contrary to the conventions of her inherited social class. At some point in her young life, Theodora (“gift of God”), Christina’s birth name, found herself at a crossroads

The First Programmer

In these times where computers are nearly ubiquitous, nearly one in every household, it seems especially important to remember one of the first women of computers, Ada Lovelace. The only legitimate daughter of Lord Byron, with Anne Isabella Milbanke, she was age 9 at the time he died in the liberation of Greece. Seeking to

17 February 1940: Eleanor Roosevelt visits FSCW

From the 23 February 1940 Florida Flambeau: Know Government Says First Lady Women Urged to Take Interest in Democracy “Girls, take a vital interest in government in all its details,” Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt advised Florida State college students when she spoke on “Citizenship in a Democracy” here last Saturday. She cautioned, “You won’t like

The Flying Lady

Last year in March, when preparing for The Women For FSU event, I became familiar with the Betty Wood McNabb Collection and was intrigued by it.  In celebration of Women’s History Month I thought it was a perfect time to highlight an extraordinary woman and this collection.  The collection of memorabilia from her life and career