Stanton, Edwin and Ruby Papers

These files represent typical family papers, such as anyone might accumulate in the course of a lifetime. Ruby kept some of Edwin's early cards and gifts, and the letters that he sent her while visiting his sister, Anne, in the 1950s. (Unfortunately, her replies have not survived.) Edwin's letters home during World War I are included, as are letters his father exchanged with the army concerning his son's qualifications as a motor mechanic that he felt the army had ignored. Similarly, Edwin complained to the authorities about the inefficient systems employed during World War II. Not surpisingly, Edwin retained many documents relating to his military service, including his insignia and medals, his diaries, his summary of events, a book written by a fellow soldier, news clippings, and a photograph.

The Stantons kept many documents related to their property and its contents. One file, however, is anomalous because it concerns the Taylor and Fuhrer Pineapple Grove, in which the couple seem to have had no financial interest.

The correspondence includes a copy of a letter from someone describing the sinking of the Lusitania. It probably came into Edwin and Ruby's possession through his sister, Anne, who seems to have been the family historian. As a result, the papers include documents concerning the book "Down the Colorado," by Dwight L. Smith, who edited Robert Brewster Stanton's previously unpublished history of his exploration of the Colorado River.

Anne also collected information on other notable family members, such as suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her descendants (her son, Theodore Weld Stanton; her daughter, Harriet Stanton Blatch; and her granddaughter, Nora Stanton Barney). Elizabeth Cady Stanton has a stone in the Rollins College Walk of Fame, and the papers contain a small file on the subject of choosing an appropriate stone. Her position as a leader of the Woman Suffrage Movement led family members to clip news items about women's rights.

In addition, Anne collected news clippings about Edwin M. Stanton, who served as Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of War. Despite the similarity of name, however, no family connection exists between Secretary of War Stanton and the creator of these records, though both Robert Livingston Stanton and Robert Brewster Stanton knew President Lincoln personally.

Anne also made silhouettes of family members and notables, many of whom autographed her work. Her subjects include educators, such as Hamilton Holt of Rollins College and Meta Glass of Sweet Briar College; politicians, such as Henry Carter Stuart (a former governor of Virginia); and writers, such as Irving Bacheller, Virginia Cummins, and Clinton Scollard. Most of the photographs originated with her. Alhtough most of them depict family members, the photographs include scenes from Coronado, Tryon, New York, Pisa, and Havana.

Edwin and Ruby Stanton also kept entire copies of newspapers and magazines that documented important events, such as the space program, John F. Kennedy's assassination, and the death of Sir Winston Churchill.

Basic preservation work has been undertaken, so that plastic clips have replaced staples and paper clips. Photocopies have replaced a few damaged items and most of the news clippings. Photographs have mostly been removed from albums and re-housed in mylar sleeves; the rest have been left on the pages, but have been interleaved with buffered tissue. Otherwise, materials have simply been placed in acid-free folders and boxes.

Since the materials arrived without an obvious order imposed by the creator, they have been arranged to facilitate research.