Collection inventory

Special Collections home page

Eva Borst Scrapbook

An inventory of the item at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 12 Mar 2013

Biographical History

Eva Borst lived in Syracuse, New York and was a white teacher at the Onondaga Nation School, what was then called Onondaga Indian School, for Onondaga Nation children.

Borst was engaged in 1919 to Lieutenant Wesley I. Nodine of Nyack-on-the-Hudson, a graduate of Syracuse University College of Forestry; they married in 1920. [Information from Syracuse Herald, September 1, 1919 and July 18, 1920.]

The Onondaga Nation School began as Onondaga Indian School around 1850, and under an agreement with New York State, it started as a one room schoolhouse on Kennedy Road on the far eastern boarder of the Nation. In 1910, the school relocated to a two-story house on the present site on route 11A. In 1940, a fire demolished the building, and a brick building was erected to take its place. While the school is exclusively for Onondaga Nation students, in 1954 the school entered into a contract with New York State to be part of the LaFayette Central School District. Although there have been disagreements between the Nation and LaFayette about school leadership and control over the curriculum, that partnership remains today.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Eva Borst Scrapbook consists of an album of more than 200 black and white photographs compiled by Eva Borst. The album is labeled as spanning the years 1916-1918. Among the photographs are approximately 40 of the Onondaga Nation School, at the time known as Onondaga Indian School, where Borst was a teacher. The photographs show the children in classrooms and out of doors, engaged in various activities such as sewing or quilting. Other photographs show the faculty and staff and a number of the buildings, both exterior and interior. Other photographs are of family and friends, in and around Syracuse as well as on outings to the Thousand Islands and Adirondacks area. Several are of young men in World War I uniform.

All the photographs are captioned, including several that identify Onondaga children by name. Friends and family are sometimes identified only by initials; names given include Elizabeth Crawford, Bob Hastings, Jack, Harriet, Nina, Marie, Agnes, and "Dr. Sweet of Euclid Ave."

Arrangement of the Collection

The scrapbook has been disassembled for preservation purposes but the photographs and pages remain in original order.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Borst, Eva E.
Sweet family.

Corporate Bodies

Onondaga Nation.

Subjects

Elementary school buildings.
School children.
Soldiers -- United States.

Places

Adirondack Mountains (N.Y.) -- History -- Pictorial works.
Syracuse (N.Y.) -- History -- Pictorial works.
Thousand Islands (N.Y. and Ont.) -- History -- Pictorial works.
United States -- Armed forces -- History -- Pictorial works.

Genres and Forms

Photographs.
Scrapbooks.

Occupations

Teachers.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Eva Borst Scrapbook,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Purchase, 2013.

Table of Contents

Memorabilia

Inventory