Mayor Family Collection

Collection

Identifier: 2021.016

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Mayor Family Collection consists of a wide variety of materials dating from circa 1908-2000. The collection includes photographs, many of which were previously in a photo album. Additionally, negatives, newspaper clippings, posters, postcards, brochures, programs, and magazines are included. These materials pertain to a plethora of topics including the United States military in the years just before World War I, various home demonstration and home economics clubs in the Clarksville-Montgomery County area from the 1970s to the 1990s, the tornados of 1974 in Tennessee and 1999 in Clarksville, and daily life in Clarksville-Montgomery County in the mid-to-late twentieth century.

Dates

ca. 1908-2000

Creator

Mayor, Rosemary (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

While the Montgomery County Archives houses an item, it does not necessarily hold the copyright on the item, nor may it be able to determine if the item is still protected under current copyright law. It is the user’s obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Extent

2 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Mayor Family Collection, which dates from circa 1908-2000, consists of photographs and other materials relating to the photographic collection and career of photojournalist Alan Mayor, as well as that of his mother Rosemary. Many of the photographs were taken at events for Montgomery County home demonstration clubs through the 1980s and 1990s. More photographs were taken in the aftermath of two tornadoes, one in 1974 and another in Clarksville in 1999. Photographs of state militia units from Tennessee and New York in the years just before World War I are also included. The collection additionally includes a variety of non-photographic material relating to the lives of the Mayor family and life in Clarksville-Montgomery County in the second half of the twentieth century.

Arrangement

Arranged by subject. Arranged in series: I. Rosemary Mayor Series. II. Alan L. Mayor Series

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Theresa Mayor-Smith, April 2021.

Separated Materials

Photographic prints have been placed in dedicated boxes. Non-photographic material was placed in an assorted collections box. Oversized photographs were transferred to an Oversized Mixed Collections box in the Archives Photographs Collection. An oversized advertisement was transferred to an Oversized Assorted Collections box.

Bibliography

In 2021, Theresa Mayor-Smith donated these materials to the Montgomery County Archives. The bulk of the collection consists of the photographic collections of two generations of the Mayor family.

Born on May 25, 1925, Rosemary Mayor spent much of her adult life involved with the Montgomery County Home Economics Association, as well as the Home Demonstration Club. Apart from participating in events held by these and other related organizations, Rosemary also photographed these events, sometimes being designated the group’s official photographer throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. Rosemary Mayor passed away in 2012. She and her husband, Air Force Lt. Col. Albert Mayor Jr., had three children: the donor, Theresa Mayor-Smith and her brothers, Kenneth and Alan.

Alan L. Mayor was born on August 21, 1949 in Belleville, Illinois, but the family moved to Clarksville, and Mayor graduated from Clarksville High School in 1967. He attended Austin Peay State University, graduating from college in 1973. Mayor moved to Nashville shortly afterward, and enjoyed a decades-long career in photography and photojournalism. In particular, he became renowned as a photographer in the Nashville music scene, photographing up-and-coming as well as world-famous musical artists. Mayor published a book of his photography and accompanying anecdotes, The Nashville Family Album: A Country Music Scrapbook, which got him featured on the cover of his alma mater Austin Peay’s alumni magazine in 2000. Much of the photographic material in this collection was taken by Alan Mayor, and much of the non-photographic material relates to his life and career as a photographer. Mayor continued to practice photography, and passed away in Clarksville at the age of 65 on February 22, 2015.

Processing Information

Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. Photographs were additionally placed in individual acid-free sleeves before being placed in their respective folders. Photographs were arranged and numbered by subject, beginning with Home Demonstration Club photos, followed by the tornado photos and closing with the pre-WWI military photos. Photographic prints and negatives were scanned and digitized. The photographic prints were placed in their own dedicated boxes, while the non-photographic material was separated and placed in assorted collections. Larger photos were placed in oversized folders and boxes.