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By Jordyn Dutko '26
Collection Overview
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The May Louella Strayer Scrapbooks, spanning the years 1920-1929, document Strayer’s time enrolled at Elizabethtown College’s high school academy, and later, the College itself. Strayer was active in the early campus community as the manager of the Ladies’ Glee Club, member of the Ladies’ Quartet vocal group, member of her class basketball team, member of the volunteer band, member of the student council, reporter and department assistant for the Our College Times newspaper, editor and chorister for the Homerian Literary Society, and president of the Women’s Student Association. The scrapbooks feature photographs of various subjects, including Strayer’s family and friends from Brooklyn, New York; the campus, surrounding town, and natural landmarks; faculty and staff members; Strayer’s classmates and roommate from the academy and College; clubs, teams, and performances Strayer participated in; field trips and vacations; Strayer’s future husband, John Elmer Eichelberger; and Strayer herself. They also contain several newspaper clippings relevant to this period in her life. Strayer’s handwritten descriptions within the scrapbooks are very detailed, and have a fun, lighthearted tone.
Collection Historical Note
May Louella Strayer ’29 was born on May 31, 1904 to parents Ephraim Strayer and Hannah Laura Brallier in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Elizabethtown College’s high school academy from 1921-1925 before enrolling at the College from 1925-1929, where she studied in the music department and graduated with a degree in liberal arts. She married her classmate John Elmer Eichelberger on December 24, 1933 and moved to Vienna in Fairfax County, Virginia. She died on September 25, 1994 at the age of 90. John Elmer Eichelberger ’29 was born on August 21,1905 to parents John Garfield Eichelberger and Lizzie Kettering Wenger in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He attended Elizabethtown College from 1925-1929. John was later a member of Oakton Church of the Brethren in Oakton, Virginia. He worked as a construction designer and cost estimator for the federal government in Washington, DC, until his retirement in 1970. He died on August 16, 1992 at the age of 87. John and May Louella had two sons, Gerald and John.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[Box 1],
[
All]
- Box 1
- Book 1: Scrapbook, 1920-1929
- Scrapbook 1 spans the years 1920-1929. It includes photographs of her friends and family, photographs of her classmates, faculty, and staff from the academy and College, photographs of Strayer with her husband and roommate, photographs of Strayer on the class basketball team, as president of literary society, and as a member of girl’s quartet, photographs of class trips and vacations, photographs of the campus and surrounding areas, and newspaper clippings.
- Book 2: Scrapbook, 1926-1929
- Scrapbook 2 spans the years 1926-1929. It includes photographs of clubs, teams, and shows on campus, including the 1926-27 Spring Cantata, photographs of the campus and surrounding areas, Strayer’s graduation photographs and photographs with her husband and roommate, photographs of Strayer’s family, photographs from summer vacations, and newspaper clippings.
