Vivian Lucille Steen Anderson photographs
Content Description
This photograph collection chronicles life in Veblen, South Dakota and includes photographs taken by Vivian Steen as well as others.
The collection is organized into three series: Photograph Albums, Identification Information, and Typescripts.
Series 1 contains the three photograph albums that comprise the Vivian Lucille Steen Anderson photographs and are arranged chronologically in folders. The original albums have been disassembled for preventive conservation purposes and the album leaves have been numbered to preserve original order.
Series 2 contains scanned images of each photograph in the albums with corresponding identification information compiled and provided by Vivian’s granddaughter, Terry Ann Allbright.
Series 3 contains an excerpt of a diary entry written by Vivian.
Dates
- Creation: 1900 - 1930s
Creator
- Anderson, Vivian Lucille Steen (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collections with no restrictions include: This collection is open for research without restriction. Researchers are advised to contact the Archives and Special Collections prior to visiting. Advance notice may be needed to retrieve items for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
Researchers must obtain a signed Permission to Publish Form if they wish to reproduce, broadcast, or otherwise disseminate information from published and unpublished works held by ASC. Permission to reproduce, broadcast, or otherwise disseminate information materials from ASC does not constitute permission from the holder of copyright or literary rights. The researcher is responsible for securing permission from the copyright holder to publish or reproduce content from materials found in the collections.
Biographical / Historical
Vivian Lucille Steen was born on October 11, 1905 in Page, Cass County, North Dakota to Carl Olovis Steen and Emma Mae Farnham. Vivian’s parents had nine children; Vernon, Cecil, Vivian, Aldous (Bunny), James, Robert, Phyllis and two who died in infancy. When Vivian was 14 years old, her family moved to Veblen (Marshall County), South Dakota, four years after its incorporation.
Vivian’s father, Carl, was a businessman and purchased the furniture store in Veblen upon the family’s arrival, and within one year opened a new and expanded one. He also opened a variety store, movie theatre, and served as the postmaster of Veblen for 17 years. Carl was an undertaker and ran the only mortuary in Veblen, a Masonic Lodge member, and treasurer of the Veblen Independent School District. He liked to garden and raised purebred chickens and capons. It is here that Vivian began documenting her life and the life of those around her with photography.
The Vivian Lucille Steen Anderson Photographs include three albums compiled by Vivian which flow chronologically and cover roughly 1900 through the 1930s. Subject matter ranges from scenes of the downtown, scenes of store interiors, storekeepers, harvesters, ranch work, farm animals, road trips in both horse drawn vehicles and motor vehicles, the Missoula Stampede, a flood, the building of a dam, winter farm scenes, games with the Veblen Railmen (city baseball team), young men boarding the train in WWI uniforms, WWI tent camps, logging camps, river boat transporting an early gasoline car, and men at the University of Minnesota to intimate family photographs.
Vivian married George William Anderson on January 30, 1923, and they had three daughters: Beverly Jeane Anderson (mother of Terry Ann Allbright), Patricia Lucille Anderson, and Georgia Lee Anderson.
Vivian Lucille Steen Anderson passed away in Bellevue (King County), Washington on September 28, 1993. All three albums were donated to the Archives and Special Collections by Vivian’s granddaughter, Terry Ann Allbright.
Extent
.5 linear feet (One document box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This photograph collection chronicles life in Veblen, South Dakota and includes photographs taken by Vivian Steen as well as others.
Arrangement
This collection has been organized into three series: Photograph Albums, Identification Information, and Typescripts.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number: RC2015.04
Cultural context
- History, 20th Century -- South Dakota
- Pioneers -- South Dakota -- Marshall County (S.D.)
- Veblen (S.D.)
Genre / Form
Topical
- Title
- Vivian Lucille Steen Anderson photographs
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah A. Hanson
- Date
- 2016
- Description rules
- Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the USD Archives and Special Collections Repository
