Floyd Starr papers, 1933-1970
4 microfilms — 2 folders
The Floyd Starr scrapbooks were microfilmed in 1978 with the permission of Starr Commonwealth for Boys (SCB). After filming was completed the books were returned to Starr Commonwealth. The scrapbooks were microfilmed selectively, approximately ninety-five percent of the original material finding its way into this microfilm edition.
The scrapbooks were divided into three series for filming. The first series -- Floyd Starr Scrapbooks - consisted of twelve books containing material created between 1933 and 1963, as well as one additional book of fundraising material dated from 1958 to 1970. Arranged chronologically, this series was created as a conscious attempt to preserve the history of SCB, and the people associated with it. It ranges broadly in subject and type of material. The school itself, Floyd Starr personally, former students, staff members, benefactors, and even persons who at one time spent a few days at SCB are all subjects for inclusion. Newspaper clippings are the most common type of material found, but mimeographed material, photographs, manuscript items and even autographs all have found their way into these volumes.
A second series consists almost exclusively of newspaper articles written about Starr Commonwealth by Myrtle B. Brown, covering the years 1948 to 1962. Brown, in charge of the school's public relations department, was responsible for writing a weekly column for the Albion Evening Recorder describing activities at SCB.
Within the miscellaneous scrapbooks series, there is a volume created for the school's 35th anniversary in 1948. The other two volumes, covering the years 1947 to 1955, seem to have been maintained by the school's Women's Auxiliary. The group's function was fundraising, primarily by means of benefit fashion shows. Most of the material contained in these two books duplicates information found in the Floyd Starr series.
The collection also includes a few original items, mainly scattered photographs of Starr alone or with some of the Starr Commonwealth boys. There is also a mounted time-line of Starr Commonwealth history located in the Starr Room of the Bentley Historical Library.