Caroline F. Schimmel collection of artifacts relating to women in the American wilderness, circa 1846-2001

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Schimmel, Caroline F., collector.

Contributor:

Caroline F. Schimmel Collection of Women in the American Wilderness (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Clothing and dress.

Women--History.

Women.

Frontier and pioneer life.

West (U.S.).

Genre:

Board games

Penn Provenance:

Gifts of Caroline Schimmel (CW'67), 2018 and 2024

Physical Description:

15 boxes

Place of Publication:

circa 1846-2001

Biography/History:

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the School of Library Service at Columbia University, Caroline Schimmel has gathered almost 24,000 narratives and representations of women in the American wilderness, from the North Pole to the South, over the past forty-five years. While the bulk of her collection consists of books (including novels, short stories, poetry, works by Native American authors, travel writings, narratives of polar expeditions, captivity narratives, and works for children), she has also collected manuscripts and archives, art, and artifacts.Most of the artifacts in this collection were a part of the traveling exhibit, "OK, I'll Do It Myself: Narratives of Intrepid Women in the American Wilderness: Selections from the Caroline F. Schimmel Collection," which was exhibited at Saint Louis Mercantile Library, at the University of Missouri (2017 August 27 to October 27); the DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University (2018 January 18 to March 29); and at the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries (2018 August 23 to November 11). John Hoover and Russell L. Martin, III describe Schimmel's collection as "meticulously assembed over decades of effort to show the ways in which women grappled not only with day to day circumstances in remote, frontier areas and times across America and covering the sweep of its history, but how they also struggled to assure that their accounts saw the light of day in print." Regan Kladstrup stated that Schimmel "gives voice to the unknown, forgotten, nortorious, or renowned women." Schimmel continues to collect books, manuscripts and archival collections, art, and artifacts.

Summary:

This collection consists of artifacts collected by Caroline F. Schimmel which document the experiences and lives of women in the American wilderness, the interpretation of which altered dramatically over the course of the continent's history. The collection is organized into three series: I. Clothing and accessories; II. Games and toys; and III. Household items.I. Clothing and accessories includes items worn or used by prominent women, including Ann E. Bancroft (born 1956), arctic explored; Constanza Ceruti (born 1973), anthropologist and mountaineer; Elizabeth "Libbie" Bacon Custer (1842-1933), author and wife of George Armstrong Custer; Dale Evans (1912-2001), actress and singer; and Annie Oakley, born Phoebe Ann Mosey (1860-1926), sharpshooter. In addition, the collection includes moccasins that are representative of garments worn by the Arapaho women on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. Items are arranged in chronological order.

II. Games and toys includes board games and a costume kit which document the popularization and fascination with the wilderness and "the West." Items are arranged in chronological order.

III. Household items includes a picture frame that housed a photograph of Martha Jane Cannery, also known as Marthy C. Burke and more commonly as Calamity Jane (1842-1933), explorer, pioneer and sharpshooter. The original photo has been replaced by a photocopy of the studio portrait. There is also a Navaho rug, woven by Mary Yanabah Curley (1877-1977) of the Bear Clan.

IV. Audiovisual material includes a film, "Washoe," which documents the Washoe Native American tribe outside Dresslerville, Nevada, revealing customs, rituals and celebrations and the Washoe culture and ways of life.

Contents:

Box 1: Elizabeth "Libbie" Custer, two-piece mohair and cotton dress, made by James McCreery and Co., New York, New York, after 1868.

Box 2: Annie Oakley, gloves (two pairs, leather and beaded suede), each signed in pen on the lining, circa 1900.

Box 3: Annie Oakley, steamer trunk, circa 1917.

Box 4: Dale Evans, pink rhinestone boots, circa 1940s.

Box 5: Ann E. Bancroft, black Gore-Tex mittens, Bollé Irex 100 sunshield glasses and souvenir shoulder patches from Bancroft-Arnessan Expedition from 2000 to 2001, and photograph of Ann Bancroft with Anne Dal Vera, Sue Giller, and Sunniva Sorby at the South Pole in 1993, 1993, 2000-2001.

Box 6: Constanza Ceruti, trekking pole, Zhejiang, China, 1999.

Box 7: "Game of Around the World with Nellie Bly; A Novel and Fascinating Game with the World's Globe Circler; with Plenty of Excitement by Land and Sea," board game, McLoughlin Bros., New York, New York, 1890.

Box 8: "Camp Fire Girls Game and Checkers," board game, Parker Brothers, Inc., 1926.

Box 9: "Game of Emigration," board game, Vid Fox Clawson, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1947.

Box 10: Felt-Fun doll costumes, "Hawaiian" and "Dude Ranch," LaSalle Company, Chicago, Illinois, circa 1950s.

Box 11: "Cowgirls Ride the Trail of Truth," board game, Side Saddle, LLC., 1998.

Box 12: Picture frame, decorative, belonging to Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannery, also known as Marthy C. Burke), with photocopy of studio photograph of her, undated.

Box 13: Navaho rug, woven by Mary Yanabah Curley of the Bear Clan (Toadlena/Two Grey Hills pattern with large stepped diamond with larger hooked diamond outline), circa 1935.

Box 14: Arapaho moccasins, high scalloped cuffs, fully beaded with geometric designs, and parfleche soles, [Colorado or Wyoming], circa 1800s.

Box 15: "Washoe," by Veronika Pataky, Indian Colony, Dresslerville, Nevada and Santa Barbara California: Western Artists Corporation (two 12 inch reels of 16 mm black and white film / run time: 55 minutes), 1969.

Notes:

Seward Trunk and Bag Company receipt, 1914 Apl 27, on file. Certificate of authenticity and auction house description of trunk (Box 3) on file.

Cited as:

Caroline F. Schimmel collection of artifacts relating to women in the American wilderness, circa 1846-2001, Realia 2, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Constituent Unit:

Includes (manifestation): Navajo Rug. Toadlena/Two Grey Hills rug with a large stepped diamond with intricately woven design elements, bordered by a larger hooked diamond outline. Woven by Master Weaver Mary Yanabah Curley of the Bear Clan (1877-1977). Circa 1935.

Includes (manifestation): Washoe.

Includes (manifestation): Arapaho fully beaded high cuff woman's moccasins with beaded geometric designs, scalloped cuffs and parfleche soles. 19th century

Bound With:

Contains: Navajo Rug. Toadlena/Two Grey Hills rug with a large stepped diamond with intricately woven design elements, bordered by a larger hooked diamond outline / woven by Master Weaver Mary Yanabah Curley of the Bear Clan (1877-1977) -- Arapaho fully beaded high cuff woman's moccasins with beaded geometric designs, scalloped cuffs and parfleche soles. 19th century -- Washoe / Western Artists Corp.