Kate Woodbury Curtenius Travel Document
Scope and Contents
The document seems to serve the same functions as a passport, with a fill in the blank physical description of the recipient, covering such things as height, eye color, and face shape, as well as permittance to travel internationally. The text in the corner clarifies that the document serves as an emergency passport valid for six months to allow its recipient to travel to Turkey. The document was issued in Cairo, Egypt. The backside of the document... features various stamps and sections of handwritten text, with a stamp from the US Consulate General of Constantinople, Turkey, a consulate fee stamp of one dollar, and a few others. Some of the text is written in another language, possibly Romanian or Turkish.
See moreDates
- Creation: 1914
Biographical / Historical
Kate Woodbury Curtenius was born in Ohio in 1838. She came to Kalamazoo as a young child and proceeded to live most of her life there. She married Frederick W. Curtenius in 1868, and had eight children with him. In her later years, she seemed to travel frequently. In February of 1914 she went from Cairo to Turkey, and arrived back in New York from France later that year in May. She was in California at the time of her death in 1917 while on a trip... with her sister. She was buried in Mountain Home Cemetery, next to her husband.
See moreExtent
0.05 Cubic Feet ; Unfolded the document measures 12 inches x 17 inches.
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection is composed of an official emergency passport given to Kate Woodbury Curtenius (1838-1917) by the US Consulate General in 1914.
Physical Description
Unfolded the document measures 12 inches x 17 inches. Overall, the collection is in good condition. The document has been folded multiple times, leaving deep crease marks in the paper. Some of the red seal on the paper has peeled off completely in the corner, though the rest of it seems firmly affixed. There are signs of aging, especially along the crease marks. Most of the text on the front is legible, but the same cannot be said for all of the text on the back. Some of the ink on the stamps has either worn with time or been originally faded, making legibility more difficult.
Subject
- Curtenius, Kate Woodbury, 1838-1917 (Person)
Genre / Form
- Title
- Kate Woodbury Curtenius Travel Document Finding Aid
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Meena Jacobs, Mallory Heslinger
- Date
- 2024-12-11
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490
arch-collect@wmich.edu