Archive of Silver Gelatin Photos Show Sorority Life Among Midwestern College Women 1920
Archive
Archive of 8 silver gelatin photos and one albumen photo from a women's sorority, 1920. Jacksonville, Illinois. 7" x 5" inches to 3.5" x 3.5" inches. Photographer's mark reads "Vail & Vail" with print numbers in lower corner of photos. The sorority was possibly part of MacMurray College, a women's college open from 1846-2020. The photographs show sorority members in a range of dress and posture from a formal posed portrait of the entire sorority on the front steps of their house holding a banner reading "1920" to smaller group shots in and out of costume. In the largest group banner-holding photograph the women are dressed identically in long white dresses with black bows at their necks and white heels and stockings, wearing close-cut caps on their heads. In one lively photo showing 27 subjects all dressed for a play, some women are dressed as men others as characters from different historic periods with one holding a sign reading "The cat that walked alone." The women's expressions throughout are a comical mix of serious and playful, some looking directly at the camera while others are distracted by the group, laughing, sticking their tongues out, whispering to their peers. Sororities began in the mid nineteenth century and were an integral part of campus life by the twentieth century. These pictures show the camaraderie and spirit of community building that continues to made Greek life an important part of many women's college experience. Three of the photos have handwritten names written on verso. One photo of a single subject standing alone on a lawn, smiling shyly, has "Pieface" handwritten below. The corner of one photo is clipped. Otherwise in very good condition.Item #17982
Price: $425.00
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