Edna Earle Harrell Brouillard Photograph Collection, PHC.245

[Identification of item], PhC.245, Edna Earle Harrell Brouillard Photograph Collection, State Archives of North Carolina; Raleigh, NC.

This collection contains three (3) 16x20 inch portrait photographs (see OS cabinet), hand color tinted; five (5) 4x6 inch black and white studio portrait photographs in photo studio enclosures; one (1) 4x6 inch black and white loose studio portrait photograph; nine (9) loose black and white snapshots ranging in size from 3.5x3.5 inch to 8x10 inch; twenty (20) snapshots removed from photo album; one (1) 1939 New York World's Fair scrapbook; one (1) folder of ephemera containing genealogical research; and one (1) newspaper page.

No specific arrangement

Edna Earle Harrell Brouillard was the daughter of Ezra Thomas Harrell (5 March 1886-1 June 1967) and Mary Caddie Bryant Harrell (13 February 1888-21 April 1965). Her parents owned and operated the Harrell Hotel in Rich Square. In 1939, Edna took the trip of a lifetime to the World's Fair in New York City, and she compiled a scrapbook of commemorative photographs and memorabilia of that trip, which is the scrapbook in this collection. This 1939 World's Fair was the first exposition to be based on a theme of the future, with an opening slogan of "Dawn of a New Day", and visitors took a peek at "the world of tomorrow" in the exhibits. Edna's scrapbook is a glimpse into what a young girl from a small town in North Carolina at the peak of the Great Depression took away from the World's Fair in New York City. Edna married Leslie Lorin Brouillard of Dubuque, Iowa, on 9 September 1942. Brouillard was in the US Navy and served as a gun captain during World War II on ships in the South Pacific. They had one child, a son Leslie Lorin Brouillard, Jr., born 29 November 1943 (donor of this collection). Edna wanted to reside permanently in Rich Square, which was not agreeable to her husband, and their marriage did not last. Edna and her son continued to live at the Harrell Hotel in Rich Square and later in a smaller residence next door to the hotel, where Edna lived for most of the rest of her life. Many of the photographs in this collection depict life at the Harrell Hotel, family, and local scenes. The Harrell Hotel was directly across the street from the Rich Square graded school, which appears in several of the photos. Also included in the collection are several portrait photographs, most of which are identified family members. Lastly there is a 1941 UNC Commencement program (multipage bound pamphlet), a page from the Virginia Pilot newspaper c. 1958 featuring a large photograph of Ezra Thomas Harrell, and several pages detailing the Harrell, Bryant, and Brown families, (primarily Northampton County, NC).

1. Photographs

2. 1939 New York World's Fair branded scrapbook compiled by Edna Harrell Brouillard containing photographs, color postcards, ticket stubs, reciepts, hotel stationary and promotional material given from exhibits within the 1939 World's Fair.

3. Folder containing ephemera including genealogical information relating to the families depicted in this collection