Eloise Gray Robinson Scrapbook, PC.5307

Abstract

Eloise Gray Robinson of Elizabeth City owned the Sumner-Robinson-Gaither Cottage in the Nags Head Beach Cottage Row Historic District in the early 20th century. Robinson's scrapbook documents the cottage during the time that the Robinson family owned it, including names of guests who visited the family, improvements made to the cottage, events attended or hosted by the family, and storms and other events in the Outer Banks region.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Eloise Gray Robinson Scrapbook
Call Number: PC.5307
Creator: Robinson, Eloise Gray, 1890-1955
Date: 1915-1960
Extent: 0.200 cubic feet
Language: English
Repository: Outer Banks History Center

Series Quick Links

Collection Contents

Restrictions on Access & Use

Access Restrictions

Available for research.

Use Restrictions

Copyright is retained by the authors of these materials, or their descendants, as stipulated by the United States copyright law (Title 17 US Code). Individual researchers are responsible for using these materials in conformance with copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying these materials.

Preferred Citation

PC.5307 Eloise Gray Robinson Scrapbook, Outer Banks History Center, Manteo, NC, U.S.A.

Collection Overview

The Eloise Gray Robinson Scrapbook, 1915-1960, primarily documents the Sumner-Robinson-Gaither Cottage in the Nags Head Beach Cottage Row Historic District. The scrapbook appears to have been kept originally as a guestbook for the cottage, and several guests' names appear along with the dates they visited the Robinson family, beginning in 1930. Robinson also used the book as a diary, briefly recording the year's events on the verso of the guestbook pages. Noteworthy events on the Outer Banks, such as storms and road construction projects, as well as family events, such as parties and luncheons, are included in Robinson's notes. Robinson also kept detailed notes regarding the improvements made to the cottage over the years, and she recorded the weather and bathing conditions each summer. The guestbook was continued by an unknown person after Robinson's death in 1955, with the last entry appearing in 1960. In addition to Robinson's notes and guests' names, the scrapbook also includes clippings related to Robinson's family and happenings on the Outer Banks, and a single photograph depicting several young women on the beach in 1915, identified as Helen Robinson Gaither and her school friends attending a house party at the cottage.

Biographical/Historical

Eloise Gray Robinson was born in 15 April 1890 in Elizabeth City. Her parents were Charles Hall Robinson (1848-1930) and Mary Leigh Robinson (1857-1934). She had a brother, Charles Oakley Robinson, and two sisters, Mary Robinson and Helen V. Robinson. She never married. Robinson's family owned a vacation cottage in Nags Head, now known as the Sumner-Robinson-Gaither Cottage, which was built in 1868. She died 5 December 1955 and was buried in the Old Hollywood Cemetery in Elizabeth City.

Contents of the Collection

Collection Contents

Eloise Gray Robinson Scrapbook, 1915-1960

Box 1

Subject Headings

Robinson family

Family vacations--North Carolina--20th century

Seaside architecture--North Carolina

Vacation homes--North Carolina--Nags Head--20th century

Beach Cottage Row Historic District (Nags Head, N.C.)

Nags Head (N.C.)--Architecture

Nags Head (N.C.)--Buildings, stuctures, etc.

Nags Head (N.C.)--History--20th century

Acquisitions Information

Immediate source of acquisition unknown.

Processing Information

Processed by Samantha Crisp, November 2019.