Cartoons, Scrapbooks, and music
Collecting Cartoons
Our archival collection includes two bound volumes of the Sunday Pictorial supplement (1898, 1899 and 1901) to the popular newspaper The New York World. The paper was published from 1860 to 1931 and was a leading voice of the Democratic Party of which Henry L. Sheldon was a member. From 1883 to 1911 it was published under the guidance of Joseph Pulitzer, who pioneered yellow journalism, the content of which was characterized by sensationalism, scandal, sex, sport, and political debacle.
The New York World was also one of the first American newspapers to publish comic strips beginning in the late 1880s. The images were executed by skillful artists and often printed in full color, presenting not only eye-catching satire and humor for the amusement of the masses but also a feast for the eye. Pioneering cartoonists working for the newspaper included R. F. Outcault, one of the first to use multi-panel narrative strips to convey his stories. Outcault was known for the series “The Yellow Kid” and “Kelly Kids” that explored life on the streets and in tenements frequently scapegoating the Irish working class. Other notable artists who drew for the Supplement included Walter McDougall, Sid B. Griffin, and Carl T. Anderson. The subjects of these cartoons were in tune with the spirit of The New York World and the era they depicted. European and Asian immigrants and people of different races were broadly caricatured. African Americans were drawn as minstrel characters, Filipinos sketched as “savages” during this time of the Spanish-American War (1898), and Native Americans were repeatedly ridiculed as uncultivated primitive beings. Other images focused on political satire, New York society during the Gilded Age, fashion, beauty and new technological advances, such as the automobile.
From the armchair of remote Middlebury, VT, Henry L. Sheldon collected broadly with an eye on world events and the national stage. We are lucky to have these early cartoons in our collection, as they are key historical documents of American popular culture.
Henry the Musician
Music was central to Henry L. Sheldon’s life. He could sing and play multiple instruments from an early age. The organ was his specialty, and he even constructed several, relying on his natural affinity for the instrument.
Henry’s services as organist or pianist were much in demand throughout Addison County. In 1842 he became organist at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Middlebury, a position he held for 33 ½ years until increasing deafness forced him to resign.
In 1865 Henry opened his Middlebury MUSIC HALL business– buying and selling music and instruments, renting and tuning pianos and organs. At one time the store had up to 25 instruments in rental circulation with $400 in sales.
Later, as he devoted his time to acquiring materials for his newly formed Museum, Henry collected various musical materials of local and national importance. These unique musical treasures are available for research and enlightenment today.
Henry’s Scrapbooks
Henry L. Sheldon compiled over 200 scrapbooks on a variety of subjects, many focusing on early Middlebury history, its citizens and community developments. The highlight of the scrapbooks is #173, “The House Book,” which details the history of every building in the village of Middlebury in 1876 and again in 1901. It also includes invaluable information about the Middlebury Fire of 1891.
Other scrapbooks include the “Annals of Middlebury,” which includes ephemera from local events in the 19th century; early settlers; Middlebury fires; Middlebury merchants, 1880-1900; Middlebury waterways and roller skating; all known portraits of people who resided in Middlebury in 1800; Middlebury College documents, and many others. In addition, several volumes of autographs of nationally prominent and locally important people complement the collection. Broader subjects, some of which are unrelated to the local area, include the death and funeral of General and President U.S. Grant, nobility of Scotland, Egyptian hieroglyphics, foreign currency, and much more.