VII. Oversize Material

The papers of Elizabeth Wyckoff Durham span the period 1867 to 2003. The bulk of the material is from the 1920s and the 1930s and the thirty-year period 1960-1990. The collection consists of three legal size manuscript boxes, two letter size manuscript boxes, one medium photograph box, one small photograph box, two large photograph boxes, one records center carton, and one large newspaper box. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, bound journals, pamphlets, sheet music, plaques, and awards represent the different formats that are included in the collection.

This collection is comprised of two types of material. One type consists of materials related to Elizabeth Durham, while the other consists of the family records that EWD inherited as the last living member of her family. The Elizabeth Durham subgroup has five different series: Personal Correspondence and Miscellany, Awards and Honors, Activities, Photographs, and Journals. The family series are foldered according to family member.

The papers of Elizabeth Wyckoff Durham are varied in type and subject. Many of the papers deal with her many ventures into the world of alumni affairs. Elizabeth Durham's papers include a large quantity of correspondence, both personal and professional, as well as a number of materials produced in honor of and appreciation for her professional and voluntary work. The large number of photographs included in the collection provides information about people important to Elizabeth Wyckoff Durham and her family. Some people only appear once in the photographs, while others appear frequently. This collection includes a number of clippings, both of familial and personal achievements and notices. These are to be found throughout the files, but also as a large grouping of clippings (originally found in a manila envelope marked "clippings"). The clippings that Elizabeth Durham chose to save reflect the topics and events that she considered to be important. Newspaper clippings have been photocopied for preservation.

Topics that are covered in this collection include women's education, women's employment, fashion, World War II, England, musicians, and United States history. Despite the range of material type and subject, not all areas of Elizabeth Durham and her family's lives are covered in depth. The Durham family papers are scant in detail, consisting largely of clippings and programs from functions. John Wyckoff Durham is perhaps the best represented by the inclusion of correspondence, a journal, and a catalog of his music library. Correspondence between John and Ruth along with Ruth's will is included in the Ruth Hulshizer Durham file. The journals kept by Elizabeth Durham and John Wyckoff Durham for the most part do not include the writers' personal thoughts and feelings about their lives. Instead, the journals are used to record appointments, poems, and quotations, and as holders for clippings and pressed flowers. The journal of Elizabeth Durham dating from 1948 to circa 1953 is an exception. In that journal, she expresses her feelings about her sister Leila "Tommy" Gladwell, her mother Ruth Hulshizer Durham, her career, and her personal life. The photographs that are included only provide limited information about Elizabeth Durham, since most of them are not labeled with the date or the location. Although the dates can be estimated and some locations can be determined, having that information would have provided more background information about Elizabeth Durham's personal, early life.