Glass Plate Negatives, A Beaded Bag, and Pink Ladies

I knew I was in for a treat when I saw a small cardboard box labeled "Cat Pictures" in large, chalky script resting on the dining room table of West Licking Historical Society president Martha Tykodi.  I return to Ohio every summer, and this trip would include research on my writerly cousin, Eleanor Youmans.  Appointments were scheduled for the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library at Ohio State (more about that later); with Tykodi--a lifelong resident of Pataskala who, as a child, knew and admired Youmans and as an adult preserves her memory; and with Julie Brown--the daughter of Pataskala historian Carolyn Bentz, who also knew and wrote about Youmans.  

Next to the marked box containing seven glass plate negatives of Skitter, his brothers, and William, was a wooden antique cigar case holding several dozen more 4 x 5 emulsion coated plates, donated to the historical society by Bruce Baird, and a second, slightly larger, light gray metal case storing another sixteen 5 x 7 glass plate negatives given to the historical society by Virginia Gakle, a friend of Eleanor in her later years, whose husband purchased the negatives at her estate auction in 1968.

The images captured on the negatives are simply amazing.  To name but a few, there are snapshots of the elaborately furnished interior of the Youmans's Main Street home during their newly-wed years; candid shots of Eleanor's husband lounging on a chaise, cigar in hand and toddler son perched on his father's belly; photos of her son, William, with the mischievous Skitter cat as a kitten; poses of Youmans and her female friends dressed in their husband's suits and tuxes; and even an Art Nouveau inspired composition with a tastefully bare-bosomed Youmans cradling a bouquet of flowers.  What an absolute treasure this collection is.

Another rare item shared during this visit belongs to Julie Brown: a beaded leather drawstring pouch she inherited from her mother that was originally given to Youmans in 1902 or 1903 by her friend Dora Jones (pictured right), along with a long strand of blue beads.  A handwritten letter inside the bag, addressed to Lena Fravel--another of my Pataskala cousins on my mother's side and friend of Youmans--explains that the bag once belonged to Sitting Bull's wife, and came from Canton, Oklahoma Territory.  The bag, however, tells a different story.  Inside, someone hand wrote the following:  Mrs. Geronimo, Apache, Canton, OT., Sept. 20, 1903.  The letter Youmans wrote to explain the bag was composed in her final weeks, and contradicts what is written inside the pouch in several ways (the fact that anything is written inside at all; the name of the Native American to whom the bag supposedly belonged, and the year Youmans obtained the bag).  Whatever its true history, the bag is beautiful.  It's clear why this artifact was so dear to Youmans.   

A huge thank you goes out to Martha, Julie, and my mom for encouraging me to study Youmans and for sharing these treasures with me!


Pictured Top Left: Judy Cruikshank, Julie Brown, Jackie Cruikshank Vogt, Martha Tykodi
Middle Right Photo: Courtesy of West Licking Historical Society, from Eleanor Youmans Glass Plate Negative Collection