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Charlotte Browning Page Papers

An inventory of her papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: DB
Date: Nov 1979

Biographical History

Charlotte Browning Page (1868-1951) was a teacher in New York State. She was born November 20, 1868 in Earlville, New York, the only child of Katherine and Caleb S. Page. The Pages operated a farm produce and supply business on the Chenango Canal. After the canal closed in 1878 the family business declined and financial difficulties forced Caleb to leave town. He went to work for a circulating library company in various parts of the South and Midwest; he and Charlotte's mother remained separated for the rest of their lives. Charlotte's mother and maternal grandmother, Lucy A. Potter, took in sewing and occasional boarders for a living.

By January 1885 Charlotte, or Charlie as she was known to friends and relatives, was attending the Hamilton (N.Y.) Female Seminary conducted by Mr. and Mrs. Goodenough. After graduating in 1887 she taught school in Hamilton for a year or two, then moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where she taught third, fourth, and fifth grades at Bird Elementary School until 1895. At that time, Charlotte decided to further her own education by attending the State Normal School at Oneonta, New York. She obtained her certificate in 1898 and then taught in Passaic, New Jersey until 1903, when she settled in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York.

Charlotte remained in Tottenville until she retired from teaching in the late 1920s and moved back to central New York. She died in 1951.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Charlotte Browning Page Collection consists of correspondence, memorabilia, miscellany, and a few folders of research material.

Correspondence is primarily incoming; the only letters written by Charlotte herself are those to her mother and grandmother. The letters to Charlotte are from her mother, father, and various friends and relatives throughout the United States, including Los Angeles, Kansas City, Chicago, Providence, Louisville, Victoria (Texas), and Orlando. The personal correspondence reflects the social activities of the times, such as dancing, card parties, boarding schools, church functions, courtship, concerts, lectures, theater productions, and boarding house life. Included in this are accounts of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1926). Also recorded here are contemporary tastes in fashion, manners, and literature. The letters trace the advent of innovations like electric lighting, the telephone, public water works, the bicycle, the automobile, bobbed hair, and radio. Correspondence from 1930 to 1941 contain only business letters, most of which deal with Charlotte's retirement annuity and dividends from stock holdings.

Memorabilia contains a Book of Common Prayer and a postcard scrapbook.

Miscellaneous includes Charlotte's household records (bills, receipts, tax forms, and so on), legal and financial documents, and printed material (newspaper clippings, her grandmother's obituary, and the New York City flag song. Also contained here are the minutes and treasurer's reports of the Guild of Grade Church (Earlville, New York) from 1902 to 1904.

Research material contains an index on file cards of the major names mentioned in the correspondence. It also includes notes on the correspondence, both chronological and topical, and notes taken from the cemetery records of the Earlville Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Some of the relationships on the genealogy charts are guesses based on the letters and have not been verified by any official records. The creator of this research material is unknown; it may have been generated by library staff.

Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged chronologically. Miscellaneous material and research material are arranged roughly alphabetically by subject.

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.

Related Material

See also the papers of Charlotte's grandfather, George M. Page.

Subject Headings

Persons

Page, Charlotte Browning, 1868-1950.

Subjects

Educators -- United States.
Women teachers -- United States.

Places

New York (State) -- Social life and customs -- Sources.

Genres and Forms

Correspondence.
Genealogies (histories)
Photographs.
Postcard albums.

Occupations

Educators.
Teachers.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Charlotte Browning Page Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Memorabilia

Miscellaneous

Research material

Inventory