“More Than Around the World”: Exploring the Travels of TC’s John and Margaret Norton
Victoria Santamorena
While collaborating with Senior Librarian, Jennifer Govan, to curate and prepare the newest display in the curiosity cabinets, several items immediately came to mind. Having updated an inventory of the archives in 2023 and having worked on finding aids for administrative and faculty papers, I turned to the correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, photographs, and other records of Teachers College’s well-traveled. Among these items were Paul Monroe and his wife Emma Monroe’s collection of travel photographs, itineraries, diaries, and cruise ship memorabilia; Mabel Carney’s African Letters; and the Nursing Education Archives’ reports concerning research trips to Japan and Russia. Also among these archival materials were V. Everit Macy’s postcard from Egypt; George S. Counts’s letters to William F. Russell concerning his travels in Russia; and Catherine “Fair” Scott Rose’s correspondence to Joan Hollobon, documenting Rose’s time as an administrator for Teacher Education in East Africa (TEEA). Additional curiosities included photographs taken by Professor John K. Norton and his wife, Margaret A. Norton during their 1937 globe-spanning journey; travel brochures from Europe; as well as cultural heritage objects, such as a Syrian medicine bowl from the Mary Adelaide Nutting Collection and Burmese prayer boards. These materials, and more, made their way into the curiosity cabinets. While the Special Collections stewards additional travel diaries from the Nortons and a handwritten account of William F. Russell’s 1946 trip to Europe, the condition of these items did not allow for them to be displayed.
Jun 27, 2025
