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Kay Rossman Collection of Alice in Wonderland Memorabilia

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: Amanda Baker
Date: 10 Mar 2010

Biographical History

Kathleen "Kay" Rossman (1918-2004) was a native of Syracuse, New York, a graduate of Syracuse University, and active throughout her life in university and community volunteer activities. She contributed her time and dedication to many university alumni and fund-raising events and organizations, while her community work included serving on the boards of the Girls Clubs of America, United Way of Central New York, Crouse-Irving Memorial Hospital, Friends of Lorenzo and the Consortium for Childrens Services. She was also a founding member of the Volunteer Center and worked closely with Ruth Colvin, the founder of Literacy Volunteers of America. Her collection of Lewis Carroll books and memorabilia was amassed over many years; she was a member of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America and for nearly ten years she owned and operated a gift shop in Cazenovia named "The Cheshire Cat."

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Kay Rossman Collection of Alice in Wonderland Memorabilia consists of an extensive and diverse set of items, ranging from Christmas ornaments and figurines to tea sets, clocks, games and record albums. The inclusive dates given for the collection are approximate, as many items bear no date at all.

Arrangement of the Collection

Items in the collection are in no particular 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.

Related Material

Several hundred books and monographs by and about Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dogson) that were part of the collection have been transferred to our Rare Books holdings and cataloged. These include numerous editions of Alice dating back to 1866, as well as titles such as The art of Alice in Wonderland (Stoffel, 1998), The original Alice : from manuscript to Wonderland (Brown, 1997), and The universe in a handkerchief : Lewis Carroll's mathematical recreations, games, puzzles, and word plays (Gardner, 1996). Please refer to Libraries Search and search on "Gift of Kathleen W. Rossman" to locate these items.

Subject Headings

Persons

Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898 -- Alice in wonderland -- Collectibles.
Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898 -- Collectibles.
Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898 -- Through the looking glass -- Collectibles.
Rossman, Kathleen.

Subjects

Alice (Fictitious character : Carroll) -- Collectibles.
Cheshire Cat (Fictitious character : Carroll) -- Collectibles.
Mad Hatter (Fictitious character) -- Collectibles.

Genres and Forms

Audiocassettes.
Calendars (documents)
Candlesticks.
Character dolls.
Character toys.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Coloring books.
Correspondence.
Exhibition catalogs.
Figurines.
Jigsaw puzzles.
Long-playing records.
Paper dolls.
Photographs.
Picture postcards.
Posters.
Programs (documents)
Scripts (documents)
Sound recordings.
Videocassettes.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Kay Rossman Collection of Alice in Wonderland Memorabilia,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Kay Rossman.

Table of Contents

Memorabilia

Inventory