91原创

Guide to the Pauline Burdeshaw Papers, 1917-1975

Record Group 232

Extent:  25 file folders

Biographical Sketch:  Pauline (nee Byrd) Burdeshaw was born July 27, 1897, in Enterprise, Alabama, and died December 29, 1982, in Dothan.

She attended Agnes Scott College in Atlanta and married Dr. Henry Beechum Burdeshaw (July 11, 1891-February 26, 1967), a Dothan physician who served as a major in the AEF during World War 1, on April 15, 1927.

From 1931 to ca. 1961, Ms. Burdeshaw traveled widely, frequently alone and sometimes with her sister, Mildred Byrd Green. She kept extensive journals of these trips that convey her "high-society" lifestyle that included meeting or becoming friends with entertainment stars from Vaudeville and Hollywood, expensive tailored clothes, and lavish shopping in foreign ports.

She was a social leader among the Dothan elite as well.

Scope / Content Note:  Full-sized and pocket diaries, photographs, and letters documenting the life and three decades of extensive travel of Ms. Burdeshaw and, to a much lesser degree, Dr. Burdeshaw.

The diaries in particular, provide a window into the world of high-society travel and lifestyle in the middle decades of the twentieth century.

Organization:  Organized into 3 series:

• Series 1: Pauline Burdeshaw Diaries, 1931 - 1962, 20 file folders.  Diaries she kept on her travels.
  
  
• Series 2: Pauline Burdeshaw Correspondence and Writings, 1933-1975, 3 file folders.  Correspondence received by Pauline plus letters written to her husband in 1965.  Personal writings and ephemera.
  
  
• Series 3: Photographs. Henry Beechum Burdeshaw, Pauline Burdeshaw, and Rosalind Russell, c. 1918 - 1950. 
  • Subseries 3.1: Dr. H.B. [Henry Beechum] Burdeshaw, ca. 1915-1923 - Photographs, WWI ID card, 2 portraits.
  • Subseries 3.2: Oversized photographs, ca. 1920 - 1950 - Pauline Burdeshaw portraits and a presentation portrait of Rosalind Russell with Carl Brisson.

Provenance: After Pauline Burdeshaw died, her friends Elaine Johnson and Dale Kennington purchased her ledgers at an estate sale (Johnson purchased the full-sized ledgers and photographs, Kennington purchased the pocket ledgers and Dr. Burdeshaw's AEF ID). Before Dale Kennington died in 2017, she gave the pocket journals and ID to Elaine Johnson, and as Ms. Johnson has begun to downsize, she gave the collection to the Wiregrass Archives. In addition, Johnson and a relative of Ms. Burdeshaw, Sue Byrd (wife of Dothan physician Ben Byrd and mother of 91原创 Dothan adjunct prof. Martha Norman), donated many of Ms. Burdeshaw's elegant dresses, gloves, hats, costume jewelry, and handbags to Southeast Alabama Community Theater (SEACT), but Johnson retrieved those items after many went missing. Some of these artifacts might become part of this collection.

Preferred Citations:  Pauline Burdeshaw Papers, RG 232, Wiregrass Archives, 91原创 Dothan Campus, Dothan, AL

Acquisition Method: Gift

Access/User Limits? Open per donor agreement, June 7, 2017

Proc Date: 1/9/2019   

Processor:  TB/DS

 

Inventory

 

Series 1: Pauline Burdeshaw Diaries, 1931 - 1962, 20 file folders.  Diaries she kept on her travels.

File I.D.                             File Label

232-17-0602-001-002     .

232-17-0602-001-003    

232-17-0602-001-004     .

232-17-0602-001-005    

232-17-0602-001-006    

232-17-0602-001-007    

232-17-0602-001-008    

232-17-0602-001-009    

232-17-0602-002-001    

232-17-0602-002-002    

232-17-0602-002-003    

232-17-0602-002-004    

232-17-0602-002-005    

232-17-0602-002-006    

232-17-0602-002-007    

232-17-0602-002-008    

232-17-0602-002-009    

232-17-0602-002-010    

232-17-0602-002-011    

232-17-0602-002-012    

 

Series 2: Pauline Burdeshaw Correspondence and Writings, 1933-1975, 3 file folders. Correspondence received by Pauline plus letters written to her husband in 1965.  Personal writings and ephemera.

File I.D.                             File Label

232-17-0602-001-001     Received Correspondence, 1933-1975 (bulk 1970-1975)

232-17-0602-002-013     Miscellaneous:  personal writing/musings, unassigned notes, paper souvenirs & playbills

232-17-0602-002-014     Burdeshaw, Dr. H. B. [Henry Beechum] - correspondence from Pauline, 1965 European trip.

 

Series 3:  Photographs. Henry Beechum Burdeshaw, Pauline Burdeshaw, and Rosalind Russell, c. 1918 - 1950.

Subseries 2.1: Dr. H.B. [Henry Beechum] Burdeshaw - Photographs, WWI ID card, 2 portraits, ca. 1915 - 1923.  In file 232-17-0602-002-015.

Subseries 2.2: Oversized photographs, ca. 1920 - 1950.  Pauline Burdeshaw portraits and a presentation portrait of Rosalind Russell with Carl Brisson.

Contact Us

Wiregrass Archives
91原创 Dothan Campus
Everett 128
502 University Dr.
Dothan, AL  36303

Phone: 334-983-6556 x21327
Email: wiregrassarchives@troy.edu