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Artifacts from Nature, aka “Teddy’s Treasures,” circa 1970s-1980s
Armistead ‘Ted’ Willis Browning, Jr. (1938-1987) was a landscape architect, naturalist, and teacher. In addition to his career in landscape design and consulting, he was devoted to environmental preservation and education, particularly in Chester County (Pennsylvania) where he spent most of his life. Browning worked extensively with local organizations like the Brandywine Conservancy and taught courses in landscape design and native plant horticulture at various institutions, including the University of Delaware and Longwood Gardens.
Browning’s papers in Special Collections contain a wide variety of materials from his professional and personal life, including items that were, at the time of donation, identified as "Teddy's treasures.” Many of these “treasures” are natural or biological artifacts, including horseshoe crab shells, owl pellets, bird feathers, animal skulls, reptile eggshells, snakeskins, insects, sticks, fossils and rocks. They were collected by Browning on his rambles through the Brandywine River Valley and on trips further afield, and some are identified and labeled by Browning with the date and location where they were originally found. While none of the specimens are particularly rare or unusual, they are indicative of Browning’s love for the local environment.
Baby Teeth and Lock of Baby Hair, circa 1880s
The Shipley-Bringhurst-Hargraves family papers document the personal and professional lives of several generations of the family (circa 1735-1975) and their association with Rockwood, a Victorian Gothic Revival mansion and estate in North Wilmington built in 1851 by Joseph Shipley, Jr. (1795-1867). Notably, the keepsake items in the collection represent a tradition of preserving relics of beloved family members that spans nearly two centuries.
The family relics on display here were saved by Edith Claypoole Sellers Farnum (1910-1999), a family historian, archivist, and genealogist who was the daughter of Alexander Sellers (1875-1957) and Edith Ferris Bringhurst Sellers (1874-1947).
The precious pair of baby teeth belonged to Farnum’s mother, who lost her two front teeth on July 7th, 1881. Though the teeth were loose for two days, young Edith refused to allow anyone to pull them, until her mother convinced her to let her try, and “one tooth easily fell out.”
The locket of baby hair, which dates from July 4, 1884, belonged to Farnum’s uncle Edward Bringhurst V (1884-1939), a well-known photographer. These mementos of childhood were lovingly preserved by Farnum’s grandmother, Anna James Webb Bringhurst (1843-1923), with handwritten notes that describe the circumstances surrounding each item and the cherished memories they represent.
