Item of the Week: Class of 1897 Photograph

May, for many means graduation ceremonies. As students around Hampton Roads don mortar boards and graduation robes, we thought we’d highlight an item from the Jean Outland Chrysler Library’s collections that gives us a peek at commencements past. This photograph of the poised and beruffled Class of 1897 comes from a scrapbook in our Rare Book collection. Donated in the late 1940s by alumnae of the Norfolk College for Young Ladies this unique album collects photographs of class presidents and materials from each commencement ceremony at the school between 1882 and 1899. Class photos are also included of several senior classes between 1887 and 1899. The Norfolk College for Young Ladies was founded in 1880 as a private boarding school for women. The school stood in the area of Norfolk that today is known as College Place, and in fact, gave this area its name. Courses in everything from calisthenics to latin offered increased educational opportunities for women in Norfolk at a time when few options were open to them. With the expansion and improvement of public education for women, however, the Norfolk College for Young Ladies experienced financial difficulties, closing in 1899. The Alumnae of the school continued to support women’s education in Norfolk for many decades, offering scholarships to William and Mary and Randolph-Macon.

While on the subject of graduations, we’d like to extend congratulations to all of the graduating students who we have worked with in the Library this year. Particular felicitations are due to Library Assistant Sara Mason, who will graduate May 9 from Old Dominion University with a B.A. in English.