Guide to the Anna T. Connor Papers, 1782-2001
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Anna T. Connor Papers,
- Creator
- Connor, Anna T. (1923-2002)
- Collection Number
- MSS#540
- Extent
- 2.25 linear feet (3 boxes)
- Date
- 1782-2001
- Abstract
- Anna T. Connor was a local historian, author and lecturer. The Anna T. Connor papers consist of research materials dealing with local history and crafts, particularly the Whiskey Rebellion and corn craft. There is also professional information about Mrs. Conner and the organizations with which she was involved, as well as primary documents produced by people other than Mrs. Connor.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
Anna T. Connor was born Anna G. Thomas in 1923. She had three sisters: Susan Reeves, Priscilla Markley, and Ruth Thomas. Anna received a bachelor's degree in English and social studies from Chatham College in 1945. She also participated in several continuing education programs, including graduate courses in education at the University of Pittsburgh and literature enrichment courses at Chatham College.
Anna Thomas married John Connor, and they had four children: Laura Connor Zajdel, Lawrence Thomas Connor, John Robert Connor, and Amy Connor Kegel. The family lived at 5658 King's School Road in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Anna's husband John suffered a fatal heart attack in 1986. When Anna Connor passed away at age 78 on May 6, 2002, she had three granddaughters and seven grandsons.
Connor was a local historian, author and lecturer. From 1946 to 1950, she taught social studies at Patton Junior High School in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. During her long career as an historian, she gave lectures and historical interpretations at Old Economy Village, the Brownsville Garden Club, the Bethel Park Teachers' Association, Chatham College, the Upper St. Clair Women's Club, and many others. She also conducted workshops for the Meadowcroft Historical Pioneer Village (now the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Museum of Rural Life), YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh, and the Negley House Senior Citizens. The subjects of these lectures included the history of corn craft, techniques of the American Indians and pioneers using cornhusk, modern and decorative uses of cornhusk in making dolls, flowers, baskets, and many other topics.
Anna Connor was also the president of the Oliver Miller Homestead Associates, a volunteer group that provided guide services and preserved the historical homestead owned by Allegheny County. She was the chairman of the Historical Room Committee of Bethel Presbyterian Church, a mini-historical museum that she created in the early 1960s. Connor was also the co-chairman of the Bethel Park Borough Bicentennial Committee, and the Bethel Presbyterian Church Bicentennial Committee. She was a member of several organizations, including the Peters Creek Historical Society, Treehaven Garden Club, Harmonist Society of Old Economy, and South Area Chatham Alumni Organization.
Connor was an active volunteer and placed a great deal of emphasis on children's programs. She held workshops with children in Brownies, Girl Scouts, and Campfire Girls. She also volunteered with public school groups as well as church school groups.
Connor received a great deal of publicity during her lifetime. She was interviewed on KDKA Pittsburgh news in July 1975, and on WTAE Pittsburgh in November 1974 and July 1975. She was also profiled in several newspaper articles, which are included in this collection. In 1987, Connor received the Good Neighbor Award from the Bethel Chamber of Commerce for her continuing service with the Oliver Miller Homestead.
Anna Connor co-authored two books with her daughter, Laura Zajdel. Their first book, Corncraft, is a how-to book about cornhusk crafts published in 1980. Their second book was, 1794: Janie Miller's Whiskey Rebellion Saga, published in 1994.
Scope and Content Notes
The Anna T. Connor papers have been arranged in three series and forty-eight folders. The series are divided based on subject matter and type of materials. The first series consists of research materials and is subdivided into historical and craft research. The second series contains professional materials, and the third series includes primary documents produced by people other than Anna Connor. This collection will provide researchers with information about the professional career of Anna Connor, as well as her research interests, how to reproduce the crafts she created, and even the primary sources she used in her work. A substantial portion of the articles and documents in this collection have been published by various authors in journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Series I: Research
This series consists of twenty-four folders and includes newspaper and magazine articles, handwritten and typed notes, diagrams and drawings, pamphlets, and scripts of plays. Many of the handwritten notes are difficult to read, but provide information that is not available elsewhere in the collection. The primary focus of this series is personal research on a variety of topics that reflect both professional and personal interests in history and pioneer crafts. Most notable subjects in this series are the Whiskey Rebellion, local Pittsburgh area history, cornhusk crafts, and information on herbs and flowers.
Subseries 1: Historical Research
This subseries contains fifteen folders and is the most substantive section of the collection. The most substantial part of this section is the research information about the Whiskey Rebellion, which spans four folders and includes magazine articles, newspaper clippings, genealogical information, biographies, and extensive notes. There are two folders of local Pittsburgh area history, including such locations as Snowden, South Park, Mon Valley, Peters Township, Bedford, and Hanna's Town. Other areas of focus are colonial and pioneer life, including Indian relations, the importance of corn, flax, and rye, and the history of Thanksgiving. Also included are research materials dealing with the history of Bethel Presbyterian Church, and Bethel area schools (see MSP# 540 for more on Bethel schools). Less extensive materials include articles and notes concerning famous historical figures, with emphasis on George Washington.
Subseries 2: Craft Research
This subseries contains nine folders. The primary focus of this section is pioneer crafts and activities that Anna Connor researched and engaged in both recreationally and professionally. Information on corn craft and cornhusk doll-making is one major feature, including articles, notes, pictures, and how-to diagrams. Also included is a significant amount of materials on herbs and gardening, with articles, pictures, and notes. In addition, this section contains a couple generic pioneer craft books, as well as pioneer recipes. Less extensive materials include articles, diagrams, instructions, and notes dealing with spinning, knitting, leather crafts, flax and rye, and making clothing and dolls. Included in the miscellaneous folder is information about such crafts as apple-carving, basket-weaving, and candle-making.
Series II: Professional Materials
This series consists of eleven folders includes historical society newsletters, brochures, event flyers, and correspondence. This material focuses on a lifetime of personal involvement in multiple historical societies and local history endeavors.
The most substantial portion of this series features the Oliver Miller Homestead, with a folder of newsletters and event flyers, as well as a separate folder of the Oliver Miller Homestead Associates board and member information. There are also many newsletters from the Peters Creek Historical Society. Also included are materials from Bethel Presbyterian Church, such as litany booklets and letters concerning her personal involvement with the Church. Brochures, flyers, professional and personal correspondence, and an employee guideline manual for Old Economy Village are also included.
A small amount of personal information is located in the "Lectures, Classes and Publications" folder, most notable of which is Anna Connor's resume and newspaper clippings featuring stories and images of Mrs. Connor. There is also personal correspondence in the form of notes and cards in a separate folder. Other materials include a miscellaneous folder of newsletters for various historical societies which Mrs. Connor was involved with to a lesser degree, such as Braddock's Field Historical Society, the Bang Board for Corn Items Collectors Associates Inc., and the Bulletin of Presbyterian Historical Society of the Upper Ohio Valley.
Series III: Primary Source Documents
This series includes thirteen folders of primary source materials relating to local history and the Whiskey Rebellion. The contents of the folders are arranged by their creators. The creators were either historians who were associates of Mrs. Connor (such as Alvin Dinsmore White and Frank Bolander), or they were historical subjects that she was researching (such as the Millers). The most notable items are James Miller's ledger book (1813-1834), Oliver Miller's will, the 1913 botany notes of Wilson Croco, the meeting minutes of the Get-Together Club kept by Gertrude Heck, and Frank Bolander's copy of The New Eclectic Series: Elementary Geography published in 1883. This series also has a folder of miscellaneous primary documents that cannot be placed with any specific creator. Most notable in this folder are photocopies of a handwritten ledger book dated from 1837 to 1838 and unidentified handwritten homework assignments dated from 1934 to 1939.
Also included in this series are five scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and magazine articles. The creator or creators of these scrapbooks remain unknown. The first scrapbook includes newspaper clippings about the Great Depression, as well as local stories, and fiction stories from women's magazines. The second scrapbook consists of undated fiction stories from women's magazines, most likely from the Victorian Era. The third and fourth scrapbooks mainly contain hymns, poems, and local news stories, while the fifth scrapbook primarily consists of advertisements from the early 1900s.
Conditions Governing Access
No Restrictions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acc# 2003.0201 - Gift of Laura Connor Zajdel on August 1, 2003.
Preferred Citation
Anna T. Connor Papers, 1782-2001, MSS#540, Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Elizabeth DiGregorio,intern from Duquesne University's Archives, Museum and Editing Program, in September 2009.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Separated Materials
The Anna T. Connor Photographic Collection has been arranged and described with the catalog designation of MSP# 540.
The Anna T. Connor Oversized Material has been arranged and described with the catalog designation of MSO# 540.
An oversized photograph of Anna T. Connor in her homemade pioneer costume weaving baskets on the porch of the Oliver Miller Homestead has been removed and designated MSR# 540.
Twelve publications have been removed to the general library collection on subjects such as the Whiskey Rebellion, Washington County, and other local history subjects. The published materials include Carnegie Dunfermline Trust: Report for 1979 and retrospect 1977-79 Focus on Washington County, Volume 3 Historic Towns of Washington County Whiskey Boys and the Watermelon Army Upper Saint Clair As It Was Massacre at Gnadenhutten A Point in History: The Battle of Point Pleasant The Lost County A Guide to Old Economy James Simpson 1750-1819: New Castle, Delaware and Washington County, PA. The Harmony Society in Pennsylvania History of Union Township and Surrounding Area
Subjects
- Oliver Miller Homestead
- Connor, Anna T. (1923-2002)
- Whiskey Rebellion, Pa., 1794
- Cornhusk craft--Handicraft—Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania—Social life and customs