Edith Davis scrapbook, 1939-1941.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Arrangement: roughly chronological, although it may have been disarranged and out of order prior to rehousing. Order has been maintained as found at time of rehousing and cataloging in 2012.

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

Handling and condition note: Pages are extremely brittle. A number of items are housed in the scrapbook in envelopes glued to the pages, as originally found. Items should be handled with extreme care by researchers.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: This scrapbook compiled by Edith "Deedie" Davis while a student at the all-girls Ward-Belmont College preparatory school begins in late 1939, and continues through June 1941. Much of the material is newsclippings (many with photographs) about her, her activities, or her schoolmates, as well as boys from other schools who dated Edith or her friends, or were escorts at dances. Two young men's names appear frequently: Duncan Eve, of West Nashville High School, and Tommy Craig. Other materials in the scrapbook include invitations, place cards, cards from flowers she received, and other ephemera. She has often included notes, particularly about the flowers - the type of flowers, who gave them to her, and the occasion.

As a whole, her scrapbook documents the social life of young men and women who moved in high social circles in Nashville, attending parties, dances, luncheons, teas, coffees, and other events. Many of these events were sponsored by high school fraternities and sororities. A partial list includes: Sigma Alpha Delta; Alpha Chi; Delta Sigma; SAP Club (of which Edith was a member); and Kappa Delta Theta. Numerous events are associated with holidays, particularly Christmas. Edith performed with the Community Playhouse, and took dance with Sarah Jeter and Louise Smith, notable dance instructors in Nashville. Also included in the scrapbook are clippings about weddings and engagements, school sports, and a few items relating to Gone with the Wind themed parties. Some of the locations of the various dances and parties included such well-known venues as Belle Meade Country Club (including a performance by Francis Craig's Orchestra) and Traveller's Rest. One particularly interesting item (about two-thirds of the way into the scrapbook) is a newsclipping featuring a photograph of the J. Paschall Davis family in their "new home - restoration [sic] ... of the old slave quarters of historic Lealand" - which appears to be elegant and refined like any other home.

In addition to providing a glimpse of a young woman's social life, this scrapbook is an important source for a view of Nashville's youth culture, concluding just six months before the outbreak of World War II. One wonders how many young people in these pages served overseas and never returned.

Cite as: Edith Davis Scrapbook, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code). The Nashville Public Library does not have intellectual property rights to this material.

Edith Davis Whiteman;,Gift;,1989.,Acc. RT-368.

Edith Davis was born in Nashville, Tenn. on Jan. 20, 1925 to Maclin and Edith Davis. She grew up in the Belle Meade area of Nashville. Known as "Deedie," she attended Parmer School, Ward-Belmont College preparatory school, and Vanderbilt University where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She was elected senior class president at Ward-Belmont for the school year 1941-1942, and during her sophomore year of college, she was elected "Miss Vanderbilt." She was also a ballet dancer and played tennis. She married Harold B. Whiteman, Jr. just after she graduated from Vanderbilt in 1946. They resided in Connecticut, Nashville, New York, and Virginia, where her husband held various high positions with a number of different universities, including Yale. The couple had three children: Harold Barlett III, Maclin, and Priscilla. The family returned to Nashville in the mid-1980s where they retired. Her husband died in 2002; Edith died on Aug. 15, 2005 in Nashville.

In English

Item in possession of Edith Davis Whiteman until donated to the Nashville Room in 1989.

Catalog;,2012;,Linda Barnickel.

No further accruals are expected.