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Adelle Bartlett Harper papers

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS1136

Scope and Content

This collection contains clippings, correspondence, notes, and scrapbooks that document Adelle B. Harper's life as well as members of her family. Material provides insight into Harper's flower shop business, club activities, family life, and her wide variety of interests. Scrapbooks offer details about Auverne Harper's enrollment in Woodberry Hall School for Girls in Atlanta and Shorter College in Rome, Georgia.

Dates

  • 1864-2017, undated

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. All requests to publish, quote, or reproduce must be submitted through the Kenan Research Center.

Administrative/Biographical History

Adelle Barlett (1885-1974) was born in Dudleyville, Alabama, and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at the age of three. She taught school in Fulton County and married John Lampkin Harper (1886-1953) in 1905. Together they had four children: John Lampkin Jr. (1906-2004?), William Bartlett (1907-1998), Leila Auverne (1908-2010), and Doyal Alexander (1919-2010). Adelle Harper opened her first flower shop, Hillcrest, on Virginia Avenue in 1921, making her the first woman to own and operate a florist shop in Atlanta. Harper completed floriculture coursework and gave lectures to garden clubs and art classes. Eventually the shop moved to Peachtree Street under the name Colonial Flower Shop which later became Harper's Flowers located on Spring Street. Harper organized Harper's School of Floral Design in her shop and was named Atlanta's Woman of the Year in Business in 1951. Her son, John L. Jr., operated the family dairy farm in Dekalb County while her three other children and husband helped run the flower shop.

Administrative/Biographical History

Adelle Harper pursued other interests such as genealogical and historical research. She wrote a genealogy column for the Georgia Magazine and authored Adelle Bartlett Harper's Family Lines published in 1973. She served as president of the Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association, the Atlanta Quota Club, and the Magnolia Garden Club. Her memberships included the Atlanta Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Dekalb Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Women's Division of the DeKalb County Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce. Harper was also active in the Atlanta Women's Club and the Atlanta Branch of the Pen Women of America.

Extent

4.08 linear ft. (three document cases and two oversize boxes)

Language

English

System of Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically according to titles supplied by staff.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, 1975, with subsequent additions.

General

MSS 1136 includes what was MSS 140f and MSS 522f.

Description Control

This collection was processed in 2017.

Title
Adelle Bartlett Harper papers
Author
Jennie Oldfield
Date
December 2017
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository

Contact:
130 West Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta GA 30305
404-814-4040