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Archives For November 30, 2013

Autograph book, 1866

By mchughck
Posted on 20 December 2013 | 4:54 pm — 

Take a look at some photos of an interesting autograph book kept by Gertrude’s relatives (circa 1866). Autograph books were traditionally kept between friends and relatives and were used to collect small sketches, poems, pieces of verse, and other mementos — kind of like a yearbook! Calligraphy is such an art!Cover, 1866

The Sanford women’s couture garments

By mchughck
Posted on 19 December 2013 | 7:18 pm — 

Both Gertrude and her mother, Ethel Sanford, commissioned their finest garments from designers in Paris and New York. Take a look at these beautiful hand-drawn patterns, complete with original swatches!

 

New York, c. 1930

New York, c. 1930

New York, c. 1930

New York, c. 1930

Paris, c. 1880

Paris, c. 1880

Paris, c. 1880

Paris, c. 1880

Paris, c. 1880

Paris, c. 1880

The life of Gertrude Sanford Legendre is more like that of a fictional character in a Hollywood film than reality: socialite, heiress, world traveler, spy, game hunter, and philanthropist. In fact, it has been said that Mrs. Legendre inspired Katharine Hepburn’s character in the 1938 film Holiday. Certainly, she was not the average 20th century American woman…”

Read the full article in the fall 2012 issue of Discovery, the newsletter of the College of Charleston Friends of the Library.

 

Gertrude’s youngest daughter, Bokara, recounts her haunting experiences at Medway Plantation. Read the full article here.

“In 2000, Bokara Legendre, an artist and a stage performer, inherited her family’s plantation in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. She promptly set about making the place her own, redecorating the antebellum mansion with abstract paintings and a pastel color scheme. But this seemed to unsettle the house. The first night Legendre spent in her redone bedroom, there was a problem with the fireplace, and the chamber filled with thick black smoke. As a member of the plantation staff put out the fire, he glimpsed an apparition: the late mistress of the house, Legendre’s mother, Gertie. She was not pleased with the changes…”

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Image credit: Katherine Wolkoff for The New York Times

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