Dame Clara Butt (1872-1936) was an English contralto with a successful recital career on both sides of the Atlantic. Her physique (she was 6 feet 2 inches tall) and her technique gave her a booming voice that could be mistaken for a man’s in some recordings. She married a baritone, Kennerly Rumford, in 1900. The couple performed together in concerts. They also had three children, Joy, Roy, and Victor.

Dame Clara arrived in New York City with her children in the 1910s and was greeted by news cameras (as were many famous arrivals at the port). Here’s the Bain News Service photograph of the occasion:

Bain News Service, publisher
Clara Butt and children, ca. 1910 to 1915
Library of Congress: ggbain 16086

Okay, family photo, not great art; one of the kids is grimacing, as kids will do. But here’s the cool part: British Pathé film cameras were also present at the occasion. Here’s video of the newsreel they made, showing nearly the same moment. If you ever wished you could see some of the Flickr Commons historical images “in action,” this is a case where you can.

And as long as you’re looking at and watching Dame Clara Butt, here’s audio, in case you want to hear her, too.

Florida State University Students Enjoying a Day of Snow: Tallahassee, Florida

Florida State University Students Enjoying a Day of Snow: Tallahassee, Florida
February 13, 1958
State Library and Archives of Florida: Rc06637

… from the copyright register of Stationer’s Hall, the UK’s National Archives, and us. Happy Christmas!

Christmas Greetings (1882)

Portrait of Shelly Manne, New York, N.Y.(?), ca. June 1947

… from Indicommons and the Library of Congress!

In the Flickr Commons group that this blog arose from, the State Library and Archives of Florida tells the story of the University of Florida’s Agricultural Experiment Station:

The University of Florida was first established by law in 1851 when the Florida Legislature passed a bill authorizing the establishment of two seminaries (east and west Florida) to instruct men and women in “teaching…mechanic arts, in husbandry and agricultural chemistry” and other “arts which ennoble man and make him truly independent.” The East Florida Seminary opened in 1853 in Ocala and moved to Gainesville in 1866 following the Civil War. …

Read the rest of the (illustrated) story of the Agricultural Experiment Station in the Flickr Commons group, see the full (and growing) set of Commons photographs here —

— and see the rest online at the Archives: over 550 photographs and a film.

Seb Chan of the Powerhouse Museum wonders … could this cat be the original LOLcat?

Group and a cat inspecting the car "F.H. Stewart Enterprise"

Rosh Hashanah / New Year greeting card

A happy Jewish new year, from the Center for Jewish History, NYC, and Indicommons!