Janet Lambert photos

Daughter of author Janet Lambert donates family photographs to library collection

Jeanne Ann Vanderhoef, daughter of Kent and Janet (Maude Snyder) Lambert, has allowed the library to copy Lambert family photographs that have been added to the library's image database, available online. Mrs. Vanderhoef's mother, Janet Lambert, the author of 54 books for teen girls, began her writing career in 1941 with Star Spangled Summer and wrote her last book, Here's Marny, in 1969. Janet Lambert was born Maude Snyder in Crawfordsville, on December 17, 1893. Mrs. Vanderhoef's father, Kent Lambert, was a World War I veteran who retired as post commander of Fort Jay on Governor's Island, New York after 34 years of duty. The photograph shown here is the wedding photograph of Kent and Janet Lambert, taken on New Year's Day, 1918. Other distinguished Lambert family members include Mrs. Vanderhoef's uncle, Ward "Piggie" Lambert, coach of the Purdue University men's basketball team for 29 seasons, and her aunt, Eleanor Lambert, promoter of American fashion design and developer of the International Best Dressed List. Thank you to Mrs. Vanderhoef for her generous contribution, which supports the library's research on Crawfordsville's famous former residents.

Local History databases

Did you realize that you can do a lot of local history and genealogy research before coming to the library? You may want to become familiar with the numerous databases we offer to help you with your work -- and these are often the first sources for us to try when you request help.

For example, did you know that we have a listing of cemetery tombstone readings from the early days of the county up to recent times? Try our Cemeteries of Montgomery County database.

Need to find an obituary, marriage announcment, birth announcement, or any other vital statistics information from local newspapers? We have the Vital Statistics database that is an index of newspapers from the early 1830s to the present day.

These are just two of the more than one dozen databases we have for you that you can access anytime from our Local History page. To find out more, watch a short video on our database offerings:

Watch a 4-minute video on our Local History databases!

Fine Dining at the Hotel Ramsey

One of Crawfordsville's finest hotels, the Hotel Ramsey, was located on the northwest corner of Green Street and Market Street.

In 1903, Easter fell on Sunday, April 12. If you were staying at the Hotel Ramsey at that time, you made an excellent choice -- especially if you decided to have Easter dinner at this establishment. You had many tasty options! How about starting off with clam chowder before the arrival of your roast prime beef or spring lamb with mint sauce? As a vegetable, you could choose new beets in butter or asparagus tips, among other tasty delights. Apple or chocolate pie with ice cream would make a nice dessert to this meal.

You can see the entire 1903 Easter menu on our Image database by going directly to its 8MB .pdf image: http://history.cdpl.lib.in.us/images/p054-85.pdf 

The Image database (history.cdpl.lib.in.us/imagedb.html) is more than simply a collection of photographs -- its is also where you can find many different types of documents covering your Montgomery County heritage.

Crawford Hotel

This rare close-up of the front door of the Crawford Hotel, a landmark of the Crawfordsville downtown area from 1900 to 1974, was recently added to the library's image database. The original photograph, found among the library's Clark D. Jones papers, notes the identity of only one member of the group: Clark Jones. Mr. Jones is located on the right end of the front row. The group is not identified, but may be city leaders, or perhaps a business or professional organization. Recognize anyone? Know what group this is? Please contact our reference and local history department at 362-2242, ext. 117.

South Washington Street, 1936

This photograph of a delivery truck parked outside the Jerry S. Matracia wholesale fruit store at 125 S. Washington Street, Crawfordsville was recently added to the library's image database. Mr. Matracia and his wife, Josephine Guiliano Matracia, were Italian immigrants who owned the store for many years. The truck, a Studebaker Model 2M201, was the focal point for the photographer, but the background provides us with a rare look at the Joel Block circa 1936. The 2007 Silver Dollar Fire destroyed the building that housed the Matracia family business, but the Robb Grocery building is still standing today.

1914-1915 Mace High School basketball team

Every so often a nice picture comes our way quite unexpectedly! A few days ago, Paula Clahan arrived at the Reference/Local History Department and offered to let us scan one of her photos to share with the community (the photo is already on our Local History image database for the entire world to see). Inspired by the Carnegie Museum's opening display on basketball, Mrs. Clahan remembered that she had a photo of the 1914-1915 Mace High School basketball team. This photo was taken outside the school building on a cinder court. The young players have been identified as (from right to left): Wallace Fletcher, Vercil Crouch, Edward Clahan (Paula's future father-in-law), Harry Gutherie, and Cecil Clark.

Thanks to generous donations and loans from patrons such as Mrs. Clahan, we continue to build our collection of your heritage -- and will pass it on to future generations.

A Tantalizing Glimpse...

Sometimes we get very close to something we would really like to see. In an old scrapbook from the Tuttle Parent-Teacher Association 1945-1953, a photo was originally pasted inside the front cover and then later partially torn out before the scrapbook came to us. On closer examination, this photo is evidently a clear view of the original Tuttle building (which opened in 1906 at a cost of $20,000). This building was used until 1960 when it was demolished and replaced by the current Joseph F. Tuttle Middle School on the same spot. The photo was taken from the west side of the building, from South Elm Street. It is too bad that this photo is now incomplete because we have so few good photos of the "old" Tuttle building even though it was a local landmark over half a century!