Mulford collection of Blick family photographs
Abstract
This collection includes informal portraits of Blick family members and friends, and homes including Rosemere in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Dates
- 1897-1949
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
The reproduction of materials in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine and satisfy copyright clearances or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information visit the MCHC’s Rights and Permissions page.
Biographical / Historical
Adelaide Fehr Miller was the daughter of Jacob Henry Miller, Esq. of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. She married Baltimore builder, real estate broker and banker Carroll Bates Blick, and was the mother of twin girls in 1900: Emilie Bates Blick and Mariana Miller Blick. At that time, the Blick family lived at "Rosemere" overlooking Lake Roland in Ruxton (Baltimore County), a house built in 1897. That home was destroyed in a 1902 fire caused by an ember from the Northern Central Railroad running along Bellona Avenue. However, the family continued to live at the site, as well as at hotel and other addresses in Baltimore City, through the 1920s. A third daughter born to the family circa 1910 was Adelaide Carroll Blick.
The Blick family also spent time in Atlantic City, New Jersey and at a farm in Saint Mary's County, Maryland. The family may have had contact with the Catholic community of Saint Mary's County, as both Emilie and Adelaide would later correspond with Father John LaFarge (1880-1963), a Jesuit priest whose concern with interracial ministry led him to work with the black population of Saint Mary's County from 1911-1926. Adelaide Blick became a nun named Sister Mary Saint Jude. Emilie Bates Blick married Rowland Hall Mulford and in the 1950s returned with her husband from out of state to live at the Rosemere property in what was formerly the coach house, now on Wagner Road in Ruxton.
Extent
1.42 Linear Feet (1 Oversize flat box)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The photographs remain in 13 albums, with one loose photoprint housed in one folder.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Hall Mulford, 1982.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of one box with one folder and 13 albums containing 1555 photoprints made 1897-cica 1940s. Print processes include cyanotypes and platinotypes. Images are sporadically captioned and dated; subjects are Blick family members and homes, including Rosemere in Baltimore County and a farm in Saint Mary's County, Maryland. There are many images of children, including the Blick twins Emilie and Mariana, at play with toys, riding in goat carts, holding kittens and puppies, dressed in Halloween and other costumes, and so on. A few images depict women and children at Baltimore City sites including Mount Vernon Place and Eutaw Place. Many group portraits include African Americans, and there is an image of African American children at a Christmas party, circa 1913-1915.
Saint Mary's County scenes include farm views with workers, equipment, and animals, as well as Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent and Saint Mary's River views with steamboats. There are a few images of Charlotte Hall Academy, an unidentified convent with nuns, and unidentified priests.
Some non-Maryland locations are depicted, including Cape May and Atlantic City, New Jersey, and an unidentified urban setting.
- Title
- Guide to the Mulford collection of Blick family photographs
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Katherine Cowan
- Date
- 2000-01
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Revision Statements
- 2020-01-25: Manually entered into ArchivesSpace by Mallory Herberger.
Repository Details
Part of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library Repository
H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore MD 21201 United States
4106853750
specialcollections@mdhistory.org