Souvenir locks of hair collection
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Date
Creator
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Language of Materials
Abstract
Souvenir locks of hair from the prominent Beekman and Pintard families of New York, and from notable individuals in American history such as Aaron Burr (1756–1836), Henry Clay (1777–1852), and Albert Gallatin (1761–1849).
Historical note
Clipping locks of hair as souvenirs—from a child's first curls, from the head of a celebrity, or from a beloved family member newly deceased—was a common activity of earlier centuries, and one particularly popular during Victorian times, when hair was gathered in quantities large enough to plait into jewelry, wreaths, and other memento mori, or remembrances of death.
Arrangement
The Souvenir Locks of Hair Collection is organized in three series:
Series I. Beekman family hair
Series II. Pintard family hair
Series III. Hair of notable individuals
The collection is sorted alphabetically within each series by the subject's surname.
Except for the hair of Aaron Burr in Series III, which is encased in a pendant, most of the locks of hair in the collection are wrapped in small paper packets, each generally with identifying information written on the exterior. At some point N-YHS staff placed each packet inside an envelope (usually drawn from outdated stationery, or whatever was at hand), and wrote or typed on the envelope further identifying information, as well as an inventory number. This data has been copied as closely as possible in the item-level notes of the container list. Additions by the archivist appear in [square brackets].
Scope and Contents
The Souvenir Locks of Hair Collection contains locks of hair primarily from two well-known New York families: the Beekman family, descendants of Wilhelmus Hendricksen Beekman (1623–1707), who arrived in New Amsterdam in 1647 in the same ship that carried Peter Stuyvesant, and the extended Pintard family, of French Huguenot stock, among whose members was merchant John Pintard (1759–1844), founder of the New-York Historical Society. The remainder of the collection consists of locks of hair from unrelated, prominent individuals such as U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster (1782–1852), signer of the Declaration of Independence Charles Carroll (1737–1832), political cartoonist Joseph Ferdinand Keppler (1838–1894), and, perhaps most notoriously, U.S. vice president Aaron Burr (1756–1836), who mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton in their infamous duel on July 11, 1804.
Subjects
Families
Genres
People
Access Restrictions
Access to this collection is at the discretion of the Curator of Manuscripts.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282. Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: www.nyhistory.org/rights-and-reproductions.
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as the "Souvenir Locks of Hair Collection, MS 272, New-York Historical Society."
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This is an artificial collection assembled by New-York Historical Society staff through individual acquisition, or by removal from other collections held by the library, e.g., the Beekman Family Papers (MS 51).
About this Guide
Processing Information
Archivist Joseph Ditta arranged and described this collection in August 2023.