![[Album]](http://www.mtholyoke.com/pcsite/photos/crawford/Cover.jpeg)
May 2007: This little album (5.75" x 4.75") was signed inside the front cover by Mary Louisa Crawford in New York City in April 1900. I cannot find any evidence of a student by that name. Most likely the student that put together this album lived in Lovell House for two years and graduated with the class of 1909. There is a Frances Louise Crawford x1909, but she was from Iowa, didn't live in Lovell House, and didn't graduate from MHC. I can narrow it down to six names looking at the Lovell House book for 1909, by name and by photo. One student is from New York City, but her name is not Crawford.
Update in November 2007: The Mount Holyoke connection did turn out to be the New York City student, Lillian May Osgood 1909. Mary Louisa must have been a friend of hers who saved college pictures of Lillian. Many of the photos on the right-facing pages are from a Swiss trip in 1905, and the photos on the left-facing pages are Mount Holyoke-related photos dated a few years later. I acquired an album of Lillian's about four months after I bought the Crawford album, and the photos labelled "me" in this album definitely match the identified photos of Lillian in the other album.
Update in April 2009: Karen Austin, Lillian's granddaughter, contacted me after finding the other album of Lillian's I had online. When I pointed her to this one, she commented,
The "me" is definitely my grandmother "Lillian" and the handwriting looks to be my grandmother's, as if she was the one who actually wrote on the page, not Ms Crawford . . .? Also on pg 9 the picture of Lillian in the graduation gown pronounces that she is the owner of the art treasure (presumably the album) - perhaps she acquired the empty album from Ms Crawford and then proceeded to actually use/fill it ... I know that my grandmother studied for a time in Lausanne and so thos pics would be hers - virtually all of the handwriting looks to be my grandmother's. As none of the pics are earlier than 1904 - 4 years after Ms Crawford apparently obtained/signed - I think that may be a working hypothesis, i.e. that Ms Crawford then parted ways with an unused album and my grandmother took it over.
My thanks to Karen for her help on this!