MG-302. BOWMAN’S DEPARTMENT STORE RECORDS, 1880-1969.
Originally established in 1871 as a dry good store, Bowman’s Department Stoer, Formerly H. H. Bowman and Co., Inc., was located at 314-18 Market Street in Harrisburg, operating as a retail merchandise outlet until 1969. The store had a very active employees’ association which participated in sports, picnics, and parties, and which regularly corresponded with employees serving in World War I. The collection includes some of the store’s business and financial records, as well as correspondence, floor plans, and materials relating to the 1921 Golden Jubilee.
B: HISTORY, 1895-1963
Golden Jubilee File, June 6, 1921. This file contains letters, advertising items, new first floor plan, sketches and photographs of the store facade, and a copy of the Harrisburg Telegraph dated June 4, 1921. The newspaper contains an article entitled "Two Held on Booze Charge" that describes the arrest of two men in Sunbury, one of whom, William Arington, is identified as "colored." The article does not read coherently and appears to be incomplete. The files are arranged alphabetically by subject heading.
Newspaper Clippings, 1897-1963. A Harrisburg Telegraph article dated September 29, 1919 contains an article entitled "Negro Lynched," providing details on a lynching that occurred in Omaha, Nebraska. The same newspaper contains an advertisement headed "Homes for Colored Families." Also, there is a copy of the Penbrook Times dated June 12, 1897, containing an account of an African American man who was hanged in Virginia after being convicted of raping a white woman.
Pictures, 1895, 1924, 1945, and undated. Includes a photograph dated "June 95" showing an African American man standing on right side of the second row of a group.