Collections : [Bronxville History Center]

A nearly complete collection of annual yearbooks published by the Bronxville High School, including duplicates of many years; five books for years 1927, 1961, 1980 1982, and 2000 are missing.

Collection contains about 4,600 photographs relating to the history of Bronxville, NY, and adjoining communities. Photographs depict especially the built environment of the village, individuals who live or lived in the village, and civic organizations active in the village.

Administrative Information Title: Bronxville History Center Printed Materials Collection Volume (excluding duplicates): Newspapers: About 100,000 pages Books: About 365 items Pamphlets, Booklets, Reprints, Reports, Periodicals: 5.3 linear feet School Yearbooks (not including Bronxville School): 14 items Exhibition and Auction Catalogs: 39 items Postcards: About 510 items Access: Open Processed by Raymond H. Geselbracht

Approximately 500 unique used and unused picture postcards depicting Bronxville scenes, primarily view cards of houses and other structures and some streetscapes and miscellaneous subjects. The collection includes at least one private mailing card, some two dozen undivided-back cards dating from 1906-07, and about three dozen real photograph cards. Many of the early cards were published by three Bronxville businesses: Chambers Pharmacy, Frederick S. Steinman’s Pharmacy, and stationer Thomas J. Lydon. At least 30 other publishers produced Bronxville cards over the years. The collection contains duplicates of many cards, many of which contain a variety of handwritten messages and postal cancellations.

The collection contains about 1200 photographs which document the personal lives of Louise Lawrence Meigs, her family, and some of her acquaintances. Meigs and her family were wealthy people, and the photographs in the collection depict their homes and leisure activities, including their movements among their seasonal dwellings and their travels in the United States and to Europe. Many of the photographs in the collection depict scenes in the Adirondack Mountains, where the Meigs had a home at Big Wolf Lake, and also scenes in Bronxville, New York, where the Meigs primarily home was located, at 42 Prescott Avenue. The photographs also depict New York City, Washington, DC, rural England, and Meigs's father's home near New Castle, New Hampshire.

The papers of Bertrand G. Burtnett papers document primarily the history of Bronxville; the life of Bertrand G. Burtnett, including his several careers—as member of the New York State naval national guard, real estate contractor and broker, New York State assemblyman, member and president of the Bronxville Board of Education, business executive, political activist, Mason, member of several hereditary organizations, and Bronxville Village Historian and Eastchester Town Historian; and his family history and the hereditary organizations he belonged to.

A scrapbook, photographs, correspondence, handwritten notes, programs, school football schedules, school newspapers, and other documents relating primarily to Conrad Frey's involvement in Bronxville School football and track teams--particularly as a member of the Bronxville School football team during the 1947 season--and his participation in reunions of the class of 1948.

The Bronxville History Center’s collection of papers of Frank Ross Chambers consists of correspondence, photographs, an autobiographical manuscript, a speech draft, biographical sketches, a passport, printed material, and about 75 photographs—all relating primarily to the lives of Frank Ross Chambers and Kate Waller Chambers, and to their house in Bronxville, called “Crow’s Nest.” Also included is an essay about the Nondescript Club’s first decade, 1895-1905, written by Margaret Chambers Warshuis. The correspondence includes eleven letters from Frank Ross Chambers to Kate Waller Chambers, 1869-1888, 1924, and undated, and five letters from Kate Waller Chambers to Frank Ross Chambers, 1866 (or 1867), 1883, and undated; the autobiographical manuscript is by Frank Ross Chambers and covers his life from childhood to the time he married Kate Waller, in 1884.

Correspondence, primarily, and reports, college records, notes, indentures, and printed material relating primarily to Hannah Dunlop (Andrews) Colt’s activities as a member of the Smith College Relief Unit, 1917-1919, and to her life and residences in Bronxville.

The collection documents the business activities of William Van Duzer Lawrence and several of his family members, acting through a number of family owned businesses.