Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room

Title: Janis Edwards Postcard Collection

Identifier/Call Number: MC 80

Physical Description: .25 Linear Feet 1 Archival Box

Date (inclusive): 1917-1940

Abstract: This collection is comprised of one album containing 146 postcards, mostly in color, picturing well-known landmarks in Sacramento during the 1900s. It was compiled by Dr. Janis Edwards, a past resident of Sacramento who had attended Sacramento State University, earned her Master's degree in Southern California and her Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. During her career, she was a productive researcher and scholar, having published a number of books and articles. She taught for 14 years at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa before her retirement in 2015. Alongside her academic career, Edwards was an artist who expressed herself through the making of paper, use of various dyes, textiles, her collage type style, and the assembling of albums.

Janis Edwards was born in Englewood, Colorado, on March 9, 1949, to Phillip Sheridan Edwards and Mary Elizabeth Silldorff Edwards. As a child, she and her sister, Marilee, moved to Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan with their father, who served in the U. S. Air Force until his retirement in 1965. During their time there, they stayed in traditional Japanese housing until they were housed on the base. Upon Janis's return to the United States, she attended school in Fairfield, California, from elementary to high school. In college, she earned a degree from Sacramento State University and completed her Master's degree in Southern California. She taught for a year or two before going onto completing her Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1993. Edwards taught at the State University of New York and for 14 years taught at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, before her retirement in the spring of 2015. Edwards was a driven researcher and scholar throughout her career, having published a number of books and articles, often on the topics of gender, political communication, and political cartoons. She was also an artist, expressing herself through methods such as the making of paper, use of various dyes and textiles and collage. Her work has been shown in various art galleries such as the DeYoung Museum of Art School in San Francisco, California, and the Huntsville (Alabama) Museum of Art. After a full career in academics and art, Edwards passed away on November 22, 2015, at the age of 66.

This collection is comprised of one postcard album with cards collected by Janis Edwards, depicting images of landmarks from the early to mid-1900s in Sacramento. Janis's album contains 146 postcards, the bulk of which picture major Sacramento landmarks such as well-known historical buildings, churches, parks, rivers and boats. Examples of the landmarks shown are the State Capitol Building, The Plaza, Fort Sutter, St. Francis Church, and the original Oak Park's Gateway Arch. The original order of the album is maintained, and the artist usually grouped different images of the same location one after another within the album, with one noticeable exception, the first and last postcards. Each of the two postcards are of two young ladies, horseback riding, with a brief message on the cards, highlighting the tone of the album and providing an opener and closer to the album's contents.

[Identification of item], Janis Edwards Postcard Collection, MC 80, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, California.