Conditions Governing Access
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Scope and Contents
Conditions Governing Use
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Davis Library, Dept. of Special Collections
Title: Robertson, Sara Claire Scrapbook
source:
McBride Rare Books
Creator:
Robertson, Sara Claire
Identifier/Call Number: MC357
Physical Description:
1 scrapbook
[14] leaves, illustrated with a voluminous collection of manuscript entries, typescripts, photographs (many captioned in ink),
manuscript letters in envelopes, and various printed ephemera, some mounted and some laid in.
Date: 1944
Abstract: A scrapbook and photograph album documenting the experiences of Sara Clair Robertson of New Albany, Mississippi, a young college
student traveling to the Pacific Northwest as a member of Methodist Youth Caravans.
Physical Location: Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.
Language of Material:
English
.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from McBride Rare Books, 2023.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Robertson, Sara Claire Scrapbook, MC357, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University
of California, Davis.
Processing Information
Vanessa Cardona Ocegueda created this finding aid with information supplied by McBride Rare Books.
Scope and Contents
A scrapbook and photograph album documenting the experiences of Sara Claire Robertson of New Albany, Mississippi, a young
college student traveling to the Pacific Northwest as a member of Methodist Youth Caravans. At the time she traveled west
and northwest, Robertson had just finished her first year as a bacteriology major at Mississippi State College for Women (now
Mississippi University for Women) in Columbus, Mississippi. The present album was apparently presented to Robertson just prior
to her trip by Mrs. Charles Hatten, a caravan counselor.
Robertson's journal entries record her caravanning experiences beginning on June 24, 1944, when she departed New Albany by
train. She notes that "Aunt Mary and Charlotte fixed up my box of food. Mother carried me down to the train. On the way I
stopped at Aunt Dorothy's, and she gave me a box of candy...I stayed in the Pullman until I got to New Orleans." On the way
west, in addition to New Orleans, Robertson visited Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego (met in these locations by church volunteers),
the Monte Toyon training center at Aptos, California, where she underwent a rigorous week-long program along with other college
students. In writing home to her mother, Robertson expresses her excitement about the upcoming experiences after training:
"The thrilling moment is over. We had our picnic under a grove of redwood trees and the appointments were read. Everybody
was so nervous that they could not sit still.... I have a wonderful batch to work with. I like my counselor a great deal....
Should I keep you in suspense any longer - I am going to Washington and Montana.... Mother, I am so excited I can hardly write.
Caravan life is wonderful."
On July 7, Robertson was sent to Washington State where she stayed in church basements and with members of the congregations
at Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco, Washington, as well as the Mountain Air Institute in Naches, a summer camp maintained by
Yakima churches. Following that, she was sent to Montana, where she served congregations in Moares, Buffalo, and Halison.
Her visits were not all consumed by duty, as Robertson recounts field trips to Mt. Rainier, visits to historic sites along
her journey, meals at well-known hotels, including the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, where she notes that "This is where
I saw my first pink champaigne, but we did not have any."
The material includes about fifty snapshot photographs and thirteen real photo postcards featuring Sara, her team, and places
she stayed or visited, including the First Methodist Church of Kennewick, Washington. Some of the images are mounted in the
album, with many loosely laid in; almost all of the mounted photographs are accompanied by manuscript captions. The photographs
show groups at morning watch, Sara and her colleagues Ruth and June with Mrs. Hatten, images of the churches, a street scene
in Pasco, Sara and others at training camp in Aptos and Mountain Air Institute, and many others. The album also contains mimeographed
church bulletins and flyers (often mentioning the Caravaners); letters and invitations from Methodist Youth Caravans, including
two typescript welcome letters signed by Harvey C. Brown, Chairman, and the Board of Education of the Montana Methodist Conference,
and one handwritten welcome letter signed by the organization's executive secretary; schedules, evaluation sheets, and ephemera
related to the program, part of which is filled out by Robertson, in which she gives specific feedback on the training and
the level of interest and involvement of the various church members, noting that "Caravan week was during harvest time, and
no one could get off from work;" short handwritten biographies for two of Robertson's team members, herself, and her Caravan
counselor, Myrtle Canterbury Hatten; letters home written by Robertson to her mother in Mississippi, including one happily
outlining her itinerary, in which she notes she is assigned to a team, each run by a counselor, with whom they would participate
in missionary work and Bible study; a booklet titled, "Preparing for the Caravan: A Guide for the Host Church," by Lillian
Hay for the Methodist Youth Caravans, detailing the preparations that congregations needed to make in order to best utilize
the caravan teams; and miscellaneous travel ephemera such as a Burlington Route timetable, a Texaco touring map, an illustrated
promotional bookmark for Ida Trapp (a Montana missionary with Sudan Interior Mission in Africa who hosted Robertson during
her visit to Grass Range), a booklet on Mt. Rainier, plus tickets and other ephemera from the excursion.
Conditions Governing Use
All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission
to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Archives and Special Collections. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is
not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Diaries
Travel--Religious aspects--Christianity
California -- Travel
Northwest, Pacific--Description and travel
McBride Rare Books