Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1891-1970 (bulk 1909-1960) (Creation)
Extent
2 linear feet (2 documents boxes, 1 flat box)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Marjorie McGown was born in 1893, the daughter of prominent lawyer Floyd McGown and Mary Eliza Davis McGown (Mary Eliza Davis was the third daughter of Reverend Nicholas A. Davis, a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, Confederate chaplain, and early Trustee of Trinity University). Marjorie McGown moved to San Antonio as a young child, and attended the Shipley School in Pennsylvania, the Hartman School in New York, and the University of Poitiers in France. Miss McGown was prominent in San Antonio society and civic life. She served as the president of the Junior League of San Antonio, a member of the First Presbyterian Church's women's executive board, and president of the Timely Topics Club. She was the executive director of St. Mary's Hall and the executive director of the Bexar County Girl Scouts. Miss McGown never married and passed away in 1965, at the age of 72.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The Marjorie McGown Collection consists largely of ephemera from San Antonio society and cultural events between 1909 and 1970, including materials related to the American Red Cross during World War I, the 1931 San Antonio Bicentennial, the Junior League, the Order of the Alamo, art exhibits, ballets, musical events, operas, and plays. The majority of the materials are related to events in San Antonio, though there are some programs from Miss McGown's travels, including items from Houston, New York City, London, and Paris. The collection also includes some personal correspondence, two scrapbooks, a pressed fern book, and a sketching purse. Some material is dated from after Miss McGown's death in 1965, and was added to the collection by an unknown individual.
System of arrangement
Materials have been arranged in series by topic; within each series, items have been arranged chronologically.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
This collection is open and available to the public for research in the Special Collections & Archives reading room. The materials are non-circulating.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
The materials in this collection may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). The materials are available for personal, educational, and scholarly use. It is the responsibility of the researcher to locate and obtain permission from the copyright owner or his or her heirs for any other use, such as reproduction and publication.
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition is unknown; materials have been in the library's holdings since at least the 1970s. Material related to the Presbyterian Church was given to the Trinity University Library from Miss McGown's estate in August 1965; this material may have been part of that gift.
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
Specialized notes
- Citation: Marjorie McGown Collection of San Antonio Ephemera. Coates Library Special Collections & Archives, Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas).
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Finding aid created by Colleen Hoelscher, February 4, 2020.
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- American Red Cross (Subject)
- Junior League of San Antonio (Subject)
- Order of the Alamo (San Antonio, Tex.) (Subject)
- Fiesta San Antonio (San Antonio, Tex.) (Subject)