The collection consists mainly of photographs taken by Cornell of her students and neighbors, and some of Cornell with students, including: formal and informal class photographs of kindergarteners through second graders, children playing on school swings and teeter totters, girls with their dolls, children and a family swimming, and girls posing in nice dresses and boys pulling small wagons at the Boyer’s home, 1928, 1935-1936, and 1948-1950. Some of the groups of children in classes and some individuals are identified. Also included are photographs of a terrible winter storm in Weidman, Michigan, in 1936; Grandma Hayes’ 90th birthday with flowers and a large birthday cake with candles, undated; an unidentified river, undated; Mecosta, Michigan’s one block downtown, Methodist Episcopal Church, and high school; and students posing by the Weidman Elementary School, and the building itself, 1928, and 1935-1936.
The photographs are all in good condition. Some were or still are attached to black, loose photograph album pages. The photographs vary in size from large 1948 class photographs measuring 8 inches x 10 inches, to individual portraits of students, circa 1928, measuring 1 inch x 2.5 inches. All the photographs are black and white, and some have a sepia tone.
Biography:
Gladys M. Cornell was born on May 11, 1896 to Charles and Annie Cornell of Nelson, of Kent County, Michigan. Gladys had three younger sisters, Helen, Hazel, and Alice. By the time she was 23-years-old, Gladys was teaching in Nelson. She also taught kindergarten through second grade in Weidman, Michigan, and perhaps also in Mecosta, Michigan. She died in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on January 30, 1994. She was buried at Cannonsburg Cemetery. (This information is from AncestryLibrary.com, viewed in March 2009 and her obituary.) According to information on the back of one of the photographs, Gladys boarded at the Boyer’s home while teaching. There she photographed their sons playing with a small wagon, and girls in fancy dresses.
