Willett Family Photo Album
A 1921 journey from Massachusetts to Idaho in an early camper
Contents: About the Willett Album | The Willett Family | Origins of the Album | Tech
About the Willett Album
The Willett Family traveled from Bridgewater, Massachusetts to Meridian, Idaho in 1921 to visit their daughter, Hazel. Their six-week journey was unique in that they traveled cross-country by automobile in a time when automobiles were not completely mainstream. Even more interesting is the fact that Mr. Willett converted the Ford automobile into an “auto bungalow” - complete with fold-out tents and cots for sleeping. We consider the Willett “auto bungalow” to be one of the country’s first recreational vehicles.
Please note that the images in the album are not in sequential order. The order of the images in ‘browse’ mode is the exact order they were in the album.
The Willett Family
The Willett Family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. C.M. Willet, their son (Fred) and family friend, Wendell Fisher. Their daughter, Hazel, taught at Meridian High School. Other members of the Willett family resided in Coggon, Iowa. The Willett’s also brought their dog, cat and several chickens to ensure an ample supply of breakfast eggs!
Origins of the Album
The album was purchased by a couple from an antique store in Massachusetts. It was purchased for a $8.00 and donated to the Meridian Library.
This project was made possible by a SHARP Operations Grant, funded by the Idaho Humanities Council and National Endowment for the Humanities.
Technical Credits - CollectionBuilder
This digital collection is built with CollectionBuilder, an open source framework for creating digital collection and exhibit websites that is developed by faculty librarians at the University of Idaho Library following the Lib-Static methodology.
Using the CollectionBuilder-CSV template and the static website generator Jekyll, this project creates an engaging interface to explore driven by metadata.