A Glimpse Inside the Walter Terry Scrapbook

Looking through a family scrapbook, in this case the Walter Terry family scrapbook, and seeing the very differences and similarities between the years can be so enriching. Activities that are captured and forever immortalized within these family photographs are most interesting, because it requires us to picture this time period and imagine life in a new way. Around this time 102 years ago, we see that playgrounds in the backyards of Montgomery County looked a little different than today. 

 Four girls, Jessie Foster, Edith Douglas, Cora Terry, and Ruth Remley, play ‘teeter-totter’ in the yard.

Vora Terry handwashes his buggy in August 1914, 


and two men and a little girl wash a large pile of potatoes in 1915.

Young Clayton Terry helps Aunt Gin (Virginia Terry) with the churning in 1917.

Everyday simple chores and playtime routines for these Montgomery County families living here around 100 years ago are peculiar to our modern life, but still somewhat relatable. We continue to do tasks wash our vehicles, scrub our vegetables, and play outside. These photos are from a family scrapbook loaned by Walter Terry; the pages were scanned by the library in 2011. The scrapbook contains more than 600 photographs, most of which are from Montgomery County, near Whitesville.  A photocopy of the scrapbook is available in the CDPL Local History Department.