Mary Custis Lee scrapbooks

Collection

Identifier: WLU-Coll-0576

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of two souvenir photograph scrapbooks and two botanical specimen scrapbooks compiled by Mary Custis Lee in 1878 and 1882. The photograph scrapbooks contain souvenior images adhered to and described by Lee inside scrapbooks. The photographs are from her travels to Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Sicily, Israel, and Jordan in 1878. The images include people and places. The botanical specimen scrapbooks were compiled during Lee's visit to the British Isles in 1878 and 1882.

Dates

Creation: 1878 March-June, 1882

Creator

Lee, Mary Custis (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the Head of Special Collections.

Biographical Note

Mary Custis Lee (1835-1918) was the eldest daughter of Mary Anna Randolph Custis and Robert E. Lee. Her family and friends described her as outspoken, formidable, and independent. She loved adventure. She began traveling abroad in the 1870s. After 1905, she lived for several years in southern France, Italy, Egypt, and Germany. She returned to Washington, DC in 1914 before returning to Lexington, Va. During this time, she gave a number of her travel souvenirs to Washington and Lee University. In 1918, she traveled to Hot Springs, Va. to take residence at the Homestead Hotel. She died there in November of that year. By the time of her death, she'd visited more than 26 different countries.