Oblong Quarto album ca. 15,3x26 cm (6 x 10 ¼ in). 41 paper album leaves (9 blank). With 199 original gelatin silver photographs (including 12 loose) from ca. 12,5x17,4 cm (5 x 7 in) to 4x2,5 cm (1 ½ x 1 in); three newspaper clippings (including two identical); a hat-shaped program from the Freshman All-College Dance in 1921; a fraternity Christmas greeting for 1922; a Domino Tablet Sugar wrapper; three pages of handwritten wishes from the compiler’s friends at the College; and one stamped invitation card addressed to “Dr. W. H. Lursen” in 1955. Most photos dated or with captions either on the mounts or verso. Period brown suede album fastened with a string; a circular insignia of the State College of Washington on the front cover. Several photos missing, light age-toning, newspaper clipping with tears at the edges, but otherwise a very good album with strong photos.

Historically interesting collection of gelatin silver photographs and printed ephemera, mostly documenting female student life at the State College of Washington (today’s Washington State University) in Pullman in the early 1920s.

The album apparently belonged to Veva Lura Warren (ca. 1901–1991) of Spokane, Washington. According to the collection, Veva enrolled at the State College of Washington in 1921 in the stenography program and was a member of the Delta Sigma Delta fraternity. She completed two years of college and married dentist Walter Lursen (ca. 1901–1988) of Oregon in 1926. The couple settled in Portland and had one son, Robert Lursen (ca. 1931-2012).

The album contains about 200 lively vernacular photos, mostly taken at the grounds of the State College of Washington in 1921-1922. The photos portray the compiler and her friends (including Ardis Putnam, Gladis Brody, Dorris Perkins, and Frank Reed, among those identified) posing on the steps of the college library, picnicking, and enjoying leisure time. Especially interesting are about ten photographs of Campus Day in 1921–1922, showing male and female students with rakes and hoes in a wooded area, standing in a bread line, crossing the finish line on a track, and serving food from trays. There is also an excellent large-size photograph of the Washington State College campus and three real photo postcards of the President’s Mansion, newly built McCroskey Hall, and the now-destroyed Ferry Hall.

Over ninety candid urban scenes, mostly taken in the 1910s, show the compiler and her family members tanning at Newman Lake, swimming, playing checkers, posing by cars, and standing on the Sandpoint Railroad Bridge. There is also a lively photograph of a patriotic parade of soldiers marching with American flags down the center of a street in Sandpoint, Idaho, with spectators on the sidewalks and shop signs in the background (“Baths,” “Giant Cords / Firestone,” etc.).

The collection is supplemented by three period newspaper clippings, including an article from The Oregon Sunday Journal (Portland) about Veva’s wedding to Walter; a small dried bouquet of flowers (possibly from the wedding); a hat-shaped card with a program from the Freshman All-College Dance in 1921; a fraternity Christmas greeting for 1922; and an invitation to the play “The Milky Way” at the Columbia River Yacht Club in 1955.

Overall, historically interesting collection of original gelatin silver photographs, mostly documenting female student life at the State College of Washington in Pullman in the early 1920s.