Detail of calligraphy from the autograph album of Fannie R. Hale. The earliest inscription in this album is dated 1879, and most inscriptions are from towns in Iowa. Call number AFC 1955/001, item 2. bibliographic record

The Duncan Emrich Autograph Album Collection comprises twenty autograph albums and ephemera dating from the turn of the twentieth century, compiled by Duncan Emrich, head of the Archive of Folk-Song, 1955-56. The albums were sent to the archive in response to Emrich's request for such material on the NBC Weekend radio program. The albums, from several families in Iowa, represent a German and Anglo-American tradition, practiced in this country principally by young women, that dates back to the fifteenth century. In one album, black and leather-bound, embossed with gold and silver patterns, Fannie R. Hale has collected the sentiments of her friends, both male and female. One inscription, perhaps from a suitor, reads: “That you may attain the perfect heights of merited success in your chosen life work and mould your character by the models of your highest ideas in art is the wish of / Your Sincere Friend J.E. Bromwell Jr Marion [Iowa] Aug 30th 1881.” A collection guide is available online.