Edith Fowler Slocum Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo SC 840-Photo Folio 93

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Edith Fowler Slocum Photograph Collection consists of images from the time period of 1880 to about 1915. Many of the images are portraits of Edith from a child to an adult. There are also group photographs, some taken when Edith was in Seaforth, Ontario and others taken while she was a student at the North Dakota Agricultural College. The collection includes images of farm life in North Dakota and Ontario, as well as railroad construction scenes in Illinois, and photographs of the Boydstown Dam in Pennsylvania. Also included are postcards of various places in Seaforth and Goderich, Ontario. Most of the images do not have written identification or the date when taken. The collection has been organized into three series: People and portraits, Topical, and Postcards. The People and Portraits Series consists of twenty-nine prints. Two portraits of Edith as a child were taken in Sheldon, North Dakota by Roesler Photography. Another was taken at Olson Photography in Mayville. These portraits reflect children's fashion in the 1880s and early 1890s as well as the work of small town North Dakota photographers. The majority of the photographs of Edith as an adult were taken while she was a student and then faculty member at the North Dakota Agricultural College. Four of the portraits were taken by Swem Photography of Fargo, including a graduation photo. These portraits indicate the fashions of women from 1900 to roughly 1915. One image shows how popular fur was in the early 20th century. In this picture Edith is wearing a muff and wrap made from six mink pelts. The group shots folders contain eleven images. Five were taken while Edith was at Seaforth, Ontario apparently attending school (the two Folio 93 images), and six were taken when she attended the North Dakota Agricultural College. The group photographs at the college display what life was like for a female college student in early twentieth century North Dakota. The photographs are of Edith with her friends, including in a dorm room, and a living room setting. There is a series of three photographs of a group of young women and men (likely NDAC college students on a field trip) showing the group at the Muskoda, Minn. depot, having a picnic under several trees, and standing on a bridge. The North Dakota farm scenes of a steam engine and a threshing scene were taken near Buffalo, North Dakota. They were probably taken sometime in the 1880s while George Fowler and his family lived there. The threshing scene was taken by “Clinton Johnson, Palace Portrait Car.” The Ontario farm scene also features a threshing scene with the farm laborers lined up for the photography. It more than likely was taken in the 1880s. The Topical Series contains fifteen images. There are ten photographs of railroad construction in Illinois documenting the building of an iron railroad bridge over a river. The location is unknown but the photographs were taken by Martin Danz of Peru, Illinois. No additional information is found with the images. These prints more than likely belonged to Roy Slocum, Edith's husband. Other images in this series are of a spillway at the Boydstown Dam in Pennsylvania. An interior of the Grand Theatre, owned by George Fowler in Fargo, N.D. and be found in the Folio 93 collection. The Postcards Series contains seven postcards. The cards are of places in Seaforth and Goderich Ontario. Three of the postcards are of landmarks such as waterfalls and parks in the Goderich area and the remaining four of places in Seaforth, mostly of streets and churches.

Dates

1880s-1915

Creator

Slocum Edith, 1879-1956. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

Biography

Edith Fowler Slocum was born September 24, 1879 in Seaforth, Ontario. She was the only daughter of George “Dad” Fowler, the owner of the Grand Theater of Fargo, N.D. In 1880 the family moved to Buffalo N.D. and later to Sheldon, N.D. where George sold farm machinery. In 1901 the family moved again, this time to Fargo, N.D. George did so to give his children the chance to attend college. Edith graduated from the North Dakota Agricultural College in 1904 with a degree in home economics. After graduation she taught at the Oak Grove Seminary in Fargo. In 1909 she obtained her master’s degree at the North Dakota Agricultural College. She taught at the college until 1911. On September 1, 1910 Edith married Roy Harley Slocum. Roy Slocum was born in Illinois on October 16, 1876. He was a civil engineering instructor at the North Dakota Agricultural College. He began teaching at the college in 1908. Prior, he taught at the University of Illinois. He was also a graduate of the University of Illinois. Roy Slocum died November 16, 1956 and Edith died November 22, 1956. They are buried at Riverside Cemetery in Fargo.