Mary Elizabeth Kennedy Sandford

Contains the papers of the founder of the Sandford Card Company. Mary Elizabeth Kennedy Sandford, known as Libbie, Libby, Lib, Liz, MLK and MES was born in August 6, 1852. She taught school for ten years before her marriage to Frank Sherman Sandford in 1878. In 1880, Mary Elizabeth wrote to PT Barnum offering to write verses for his advertisements. It is unclear if he accepted her offer. She honed her artistic skills from painting china before going into the card business. Sandford runs the company with the assistance of her husband Frank and their daughters. Materials include essays and writings, photographs which correspond to the diaries; with one diary covering the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia. Another diary contains information about her trip to a Women's Christian Temperance Union convention in Scotland. A memoir of early teaching life handwritten and typed, and correspondence dating from 1876-1910 is also found among the materials. The materials are arranged first by type and then in chronological order.