The Mary Brecht Pulver Papers contain papers related to the Brecht and Pulver families. The collection includes letters, newspaper articles, obituaries, and memorabilia. A biography of Mary Brecht Pulver accompanies samples of her poetry and a scrapbook of the work of her sister, Edith Brecht.
Admin/Biographical History
Mary Brecht Pulver, one of five children of Milton J. and Mary M. Wolfe Brecht, was born on 3 March 1882. Milton was an educator. Mary Agnes Brecht married George Winfield Pulver; their son, Gordon Winfield, was born in 1912. Mary Brecht Pulver was a poet and author of short stories.
Mary Brecht Pulver Photograph Collection, 147 Family photographs (MB-01-01-01 to MB-01-05-08)
National publications containing short stories "Pennsylvania Dutch Series" by Mary Brecht Pulver : and her biography, including a collection of her verse and a listing of her stories (810.54 P983 Oversize)
National publications containing short stories by Mary Brecht Pulver: and her biography, including a collection of her verse and a listing of her stories (810.54 P983s Oversize)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Mary Brecht Pulver Papers (MG0284), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org. Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Accession Number
1997.Sumner
Other Numbers
MG-284
Classification
MG0284
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Processed and finding aid prepared 2012. Added to database 7 November 2017.
Collection contains correspondence, poetry, and newspaper articles.
Admin/Biographical History
Blanche Nevin (1841-1925), artist and poet, was born in Mercersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of John Williamson Nevin, a theologian, teacher, and minister, and Martha Jenkins, daughter of the politician and iron master at Windsor Forges, Robert Jenkins. When Dr. Nevin became the president of Franklin & Marshall College in 1855, he moved the family to Lancaster. They moved to Windsor Forges (or Windsor Place) from 1856 to 1858, while Dr. Nevin acted as executor of his mother-in-law's estate, and then moved permanently to Caernarvon Place on Columbia Avenue (the present site of Degel Israel Synagogue). The Nevin children were well-educated and cultivated for society, as their parents had been.
Blanche was the nation's first noteworthy sculptress. In 1889, she sculpted the statue of Revolutionary War General Peter Muhlenberg, which stands in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. She also sculpted the bust of President Woodrow Wilson. Lancastrians are most familiar with her Lion in the Park (1905) at Reservoir Park and her horse drinking fountain (1898) at the intersection of Columbia Avenue and West Orange Street. Blanche composed a number of poems and set several to music; many were inspired by Lancaster County, her travels, and family and friends. Her poems include: "Great-Grandma's Looking-Glass" (1895), "One Usual Day" (1916), and "To My Door" (1921).
She bought Windsor Place in Caernarvon Twp. in 1897, restored the mansion house and the name Windsor Forges, and added a studio. Furniture and other influences from her travels adorned the house and grounds. She also owned a house in Manasquan, New Jersey; spent time with friends in New York and Philadelphia; and traveled a great deal, especially during the winter.
Her obituary in a Lancaster County newspaper states, "The simple, unpretentious neighbors of Miss Nevin never questioned her foreign ideas and eccentricities, but accepted her for the true, human qualities which she so abundantly possessed."