Barnard Archives and Special Collections
Edith Somborn Issacs Scrapbook
BC15.06
/repositories/2/resources/189
1.02 Linear Feet
1 box
1903-1906
This collection is located in the Barnard Archives and Special Collections, Barnard Library. To use this collection, please contact the Barnard Archives and Special Collections at 212.854.4079 or archives@barnard.edu.
This collection consists of the scrapbook of Barnard College alumna, Edith Somborn Issacs. It contains personal materials and those relating to the operation of undergraduate life at Barnard College, especially Barnard Bulletin columns and theater programs.
English
.
Reproduction Restrictions
Photocopies or scans may be made for research purposes.
Access
This collection has no restrictions.
Publication Rights
Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Barnard Archives and Special Collections. The Barnard Archives and Special Collections approves permission to publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Edith Somborn Issacs Scrapbook, 1903-1906; Barnard Archives and Special Collections, Barnard Library, Barnard College.
Acquisition Information
The acquisition date and source is unknown.
Alternative Forms of Material
Digital surrogates of BC15.06 are available online at: http://digitalcollections.barnard.edu/object/0/edith-somborn-issacs-scrapbook
Accruals
No additions are expected.
Processing History
This collection was processed and the finding aid written by Heather Lember in January, 2014.
The finding aid was updated by Hilary Price in November, 2014.
The finding aid was updated by Cristina Fontánez Rodríguez in October, 2017.
Descriptive Rules Used:
Finding aid adheres to that prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Encoding:
Machine readable finding aid encoded in EAD 2002.
Finding aid written in English.
Biography
Edith Somborn was born on June 18th, 1884. Somborn entered Barnard in 1902 as a zoology major. She was the associate editor of the Barnard Bulletin for the class of 1906, worked as a student manager of the Barnard fund, participated in theatrical productions, was secretary of the Barnard Zoological club, and helped produce and edit theMortarboard. She co-wrote the comic operetta "Barnardesia" with her classmate Blanche Marks. It made the case for Barnard dormitories, and Somborn invited the Board of Directors to the performance. Soon after, an anonymous donor gave funds for the first dormitory. After her graduation in 1906, Somborn remained an extremely active member of the Barnard community, acting as the chairman of the Barnard Fund Alumnae Committee, presenting the history of the class of 1906 at the 50th reunion in 1956, and corresponding with President Martha Peterson. Somborn married Stanley M. Isaacs in 1910, taking his last name and control of his political campaigns (Isaacs served as Manhattan Borough President and as a Republican representative on the City Council.) She was a board member of the Women's City Club of New York. Somborn died on May 7th, 1978.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
Edit Somborn's scrapbook contains programs from productions, articles from the Barnard Bulletin, event invitations, personal correspondence detailing the planning processes of various Barnard events, dance cards, and doodles from class notebooks.
Highlights of the scrapbook include a bulls-eye for handgun target practice, a draft of a 1906 plea for donations to the Barnard fund, and a draft of a Sherlock Holmes-inspired satire piece for the 1905Mortarboard.
Collection Arrangement
The scrapbook is arranged in chronological order.
Students -- Social life and customs
Scrapbooks
Women's colleges -- New York (State) -- New York
Barnard College -- Alumni and alumnae
Student activities
College theater -- New York (State) -- New York
Barnard College-Buildings
Women college students