Audie Scott Tilghman papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
James Madison University
Second Floor Room 203, MSC 1704
Carrier Library
James Madison University
880 Madison Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tiffany Cole
Phone: (540) 568-3444
Phone: (540) 568-3612
Fax: (540) 568-3405
Restrictions:

Collection is open to research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Audie Scott Tilghman Papers, 1925-1930, SC 0011, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Summary

Extent:
0.33 cubic feet 1 box
Creator:
Tilghman, Audie Scott, 1909-2001
Abstract:
This collection primarily consists of letters from 1927 sent from Audie Tilghman to her family in Norfolk during her first year at the State Teachers College in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Also contains bills, a student handbook, and various ephemera from 1925-1930.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Audie Scott Tilghman Papers, 1925-1930, SC 0011, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Background

Scope and content:

Audie writes letters to her home in Norfolk about her adventures and days at State Teachers College in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The letters are from her first year in 1926-1927. She writes to her family, her mother, Eulee Scott Tilghman, her father, William Clarence Tilghman, and her grandmother, "Big Momma." Some letters are addressed to all three family members, others to her mother and father, and some are addressed individually. She writes of her college life, her daily schedule, class schedule, reading and homework, grades, studying for exams, dorm life, friends, food in the dining hall, attending church, chapel and Sunday school, young men visiting campus, requesting items and money be sent from home, cost of school material, weather, trips, and sketches of her dorm, Wellington Hall, and of campus. Most letters are written by Audie, but there are some letters addressed to Audie from her mother, father, and friends. Some letters were enclosed in envelopes, other envelopes were empty.

Also in this collection are items from Audie, including hand drawn and purchased cards addressed to her and her mother and father, a financial letter addressed to her father in 1930 from The Mutual Building Association about late loan payments, a Warner's Renowned Remedies Company booklet, 1926 Loew's State Theatre in Norfolk Thirty-Fifth Anniversary Union Mission pamphlet, an undated newspaper clipping about Audie's election as President of the Young Progressive Club of Epworth M.E. Church, a 1926 bill statement to The J.M. Gwaltney Co., Inc., a 1926 bill to Mr. W.C. Tilghman, and a 1926 Epworth Methodist Episcopal Church bulletin. Also in this collection are two State Teachers College items, including a 1926-1927 student handbook and a State Teachers College pamphlet with images of campus, buildings, and Harrisonburg and general information about professional data, curricula, programs of health and physical education, and student activities.

Biographical / historical:

Audie Tilghman was born in 1909 in Lunenburg, Virginia to William and Eulee Tilghman, and lived most of her life in Norfolk, Virginia. She was an only child, graduated from Maury High School, and was a life-long member of Norfolk's Epworth Methodist church. She attended the State Teachers College in Harrisonburg, Virginia from 1926-1927 as a first year student. Audie did not return to school after her first year as her family's finances dwindled. She then returned to Norfolk and worked for a Sears Department Store and later as a dispatcher for a furniture moving company. While in Norfolk, she often played the piano at the Loew's movie theatre in downtown and was involved in her church. She married Henry Ottoway Holcombe in 1948, and died in 2001 in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Acquisition information:
Donated to Special Collections by Ann Tilghman Coulbourn Consolvo, grandniece of Audie Scott Tilghman, on June 17, 2013.
Processing information:

This collection arrived in no particular order. Undated letters were left in original order as found in folders. Letters were removed from envelopes and foldered individually with each envelope.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically in six folders.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard