STORIES from ALBUMS

STORIES FROM AUTOGRAPH ALBUMS

From fading lines on the pages of albums that once were used to gather written mementos of schoolmates, friends and relatives, emerge the names of individuals whose lives can be traced through historical records.

Remarkable stories emerge when genealogical research brings into focus an interesting person or family, or a connection to an historical event or movement. The dates and places mentioned in the albums that inspired this book cover more than a century of American history as pioneers pushed the nation’s boundaries ever westward.

We see individuals doing the ordinary things of life, going to school, marrying, having children, and moving to new homes in faraway places. As they write their greetings we get a glimpse of how they see the world, and learn something of their dreams and aspirations. Many of the owners of these albums were young women, and the sentiments expressed in these books are typical of an age when young ladies used them for a record of friendship with others of their gender, and when young men were expected to impress the opposite gender with male wit and knowledge.

People had a preoccupation with mortality, and expressions of feelings about death and the hereafter are common in the early albums. In an age of religious sentiment, and before our world was shrunk by modern communications and travel, we hear expressions of concern and hope for people who may be departing, “never to be seen again in this life.” Instances of an album’s owner recording the death next to an inscription are not uncommon. Expressions of the grief of a wife or husband for a dead spouse are all too frequent.

The stories in the first volume from The Philopoena Press, From Fading Lines: The Civil War Era, were selected for their connections to the Civil War era. In preparation are volumes with stories related to more historical events, celebrated names, pioneer families, and early examples of education and employment in America.