Finding aid for the Molly Doan Bellamy Scrapbooks

Biography of Molly Doan Bellamy

Molly Doan Bellamy (1918-1995) grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She attended Hathaway Brown for high school and graduated in 1936. She attended college at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. Later, she married John Stark Bellamy, a lawyer, who died of polio in 1948. Together they had three children, Susan, Constance, and Frederick. In 1954, she became the society editor of the Cleveland News and in 1960 she went to work for the Cleveland Plain Dealer as the society editor. Besides being the society editor, in 1974, she started to write a travel column and became assistant editor of the paper's Friday Magazine. She retired in 1984.

Scope and Content

The Molly Doan Bellamy Scrapbooks, 1929-1942, consist of advertisements, autographs buttons, certificates, cigarette cases, coasters, correspondences, dried flowers, invitations, maps, match boxes, menus, napkins, newspaper clippings, party favors, pendants, photographs, place cards, programs, report cards, ribbons, score cards. telegraphs, ticket stubs, and other memorabilia.

This collection is useful to researchers studying the biography of Molly Doan Bellamy and the genealogy of the Bellamy, Stark, and Doan families. The books include her sisters' wedding announcements which highlight the family as well as correspondence with her family and with her future husband John Stark Bellamy.

The books provide insight into the cultural dynamics of an upper class family in northeast Ohio during the Great Depression, including courtship of young adults during this time period detailed, in part, by correspondence and telegrams from interested suitors. The fifth volume traces her relationship with Tom Patterson from the time they met at a wedding to meeting each others' families. The scrapbooks document women's history during the Great Depression, particularly the history of young women in who grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, in upper class circumstances.

Researchers interested in golf in northeast Ohio in the late 1930s will find these volumes of interest, especially regarding female golf competition.

These scrapbooks will be of value to those interested in trends in weddings and wedding announcements throughout the 1930s. Most important would be the newspaper clippings of the wedding announcements and the articles describing the wedding, as well as the articles describing trends in the weddings. Also of note are the wedding invitations that Bellamy received and the trinkets that she collected from the weddings.

Researchers interested in the social activities of preparatory school students in northeast Ohio, between the years of 1932-1936, most notably of Hathaway Brown School, University School, and Western Reserve Academy, will find this collection useful. The collection also documents social activities of college students in the later half of the 1930s, most notably at Sarah Lawrence and the Ivy Leagues.

Researchers interested in the tourist and travel industry of this period will find this collection of value since Bellamy documents her trips with careful detail, especially those destinations in Ohio and northeast of the area. She includes train and plane tickets, programs for events attended, and descriptions of reasons for the visit.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

The researcher should also consult MS 3315 Paul Bellamy Papers.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5242 Molly Doan Bellamy Scrapbooks, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of James Berkey, Christian Berkey, and Rachael Berkey in 2013.

Processing Information

Processed by Molly Clark in 2014.

Detailed Description of The Collection