Finding Aids

Guide to the

Frances Sanger Mossiker Family Papers
1887-1985, bulk 1910-1930

1.25 linear ft.

Accession Number: 98-2
Collection Number: AR423

Prepared by Elizabeth Hokanson
September 1999

CITATION: Frances Sanger Mossiker Family Papers, AR423, Box number, Folder number, Special Collections Division, The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries.

Table of Contents

Biographical Sketch

Sources

Series Description

Scope and Content Note

Provenance

Literary Rights

Note to Researcher

Container List

Series I
Series II
Series III

Oversize Item

Biographical Sketch

Frances Sanger Mossiker was an award winning Dallas author best known for writing historical nonfiction. She was born on April 3, 1906, in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of Elihu and Evelyn (Beekman) Sanger. She was the granddaughter of Alexander Sanger, one of the founding brothers of Sanger Brothers and an early Dallas settler and civic leader. She frequently visited her mother’s family in France and became fluent in French and German. She died on May 12, 1985.

Frances was educated at the Hockaday School in Dallas and enrolled at Smith College but was prevented by college policy from remaining a student after she eloped with Frank Beaston, an actor, about 1922. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard in 1927, did graduate work at the Sorbonne in Paris, then moved to Detroit and to Hollywood with her husband; the marriage ended in divorce about 1929, and she returned to Dallas. She married businessman Jacob Mossiker on October 15, 1935. They had no children.

Frances Mossiker began her writing career as a book reviewer for the Dallas Morning News in the 1930s. When WFAA radio began broadcasts she hosted a book review program and later a daily program, "Woman’s World" for KGKO in Fort Worth. Her first book, The Queen’s Necklace, was awarded best nonfiction book of the year by the Texas Institute of Letters in 1961. Mossiker had six books published in addition to numerous historical articles and book reviews.

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Sources

• Tyler, Ron, ed. The New Handbook of Texas Volume 4. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1996, pp. 856-857.
• Frances Sanger Mossiker Family Papers, AR423, Special Collections Division, The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries.

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Series Description

The Frances Sanger Mossiker Family Papers are arranged in three series:

Series I. Personal Papers, 1911-1985. .2 linear ft. (5 folders).

Arranged alphabetically by type of material. Clippings, letters, travel journal, postcards, and will.

Series II. Travel, 1911-1929. .75 linear ft. (11 folders and 2 small boxes).

Arranged alphabetically by subject into subseries of guide and picture books, postcards of countries, postcards of art, and miscellaneous postcards.

Series III. Photographs, 1887-1963. .3 linear ft. (2 boxes, and 2 items in oversize box).

Arranged alphabetically by subject into subseries of travel and family photographs.

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Scope and Content

The Frances Sanger Mossiker Family Papers are contained in five boxes totaling 1.25 linear feet. They consist primarily of postcards of Europe and family photographs and are arranged in three series.

Series I consists of clippings, letters, travel journal, postcards, and will. This information is regarding the family. A 1911 travel diary traces the family’s travels through Europe from July through early September. A 1918 letter from a relative in France, A. Geisenberger, relates his unlawful imprisonment by the Germans in 1914. Clippings inlcude an obituary of an uncle, A. G. Beekman, 1923, a news story about Elihu Sanger, and articles featuring Frances Mossiker, 1969 and 1981. A copy of Mossiker’s will is included. A few travel mementos are also included. Newspaper clippings were photocopied onto acid-free paper and the original clippings were discarded.

Series II consists of guide and picture books, and postcards of Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, the United States, cruise ships, and art. All of the 854 postcards were placed in protective sleeves. Of these, 184 postcards have travel notes from a trip to Europe in 1911, handwritten on the back by Evelyn Beekman Sanger, Frances’ mother. Also included are a few that are addressed to family and friends. Correspondents include Florence Beekman, Ernest L. Levy, Elihu Sanger, and Alex G. Beekman.

The types of postcards included are 74 photograph type, 8 postcard books, 3 double width folded, 1 trifold, 1 five folded, 1 three-dimensional, and 2 with cloth for the dresses glued to the postcard.

Series III consists of photographs of both travel and family. Included are numerous black and white snapshots of the family, individual portraits, trip scenes, and views of the Sanger home in Dallas, c. 1887-1963. The bulk of the photographs are not dated or identified. However, in comparing them with those that are identified, it is possible to determine family groups, and these unidentified photos have been placed in the appropriate folders. Identified photos include Florence Beekman, Ruth Beekman, Wiley and Ruth Buchanan, Frances Sanger Mossiker, A. Sanger, Elihu Sanger, Evelyn Coarrine Beekman Sanger, and Everett and Fae Sanger.

Included are three tintypes. All of the photographs were placed in protective sleeves and the two oversized photographs were placed with the oversize materials. Some photographs were removed from two leather albums and placed in acid free folders.

Most of the travel related items, postcards, and photographs were produced before the 1930s. Included in the collection is information about Wiley T. Buchanan, Jr., a Dallas resident, who was appointed minister to Luxembourg in 1953.

This collection has importance for postcard collectors and genealogists.

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Provenance Statement

Received from A.C. Greene as part of the A.C. Greene Papers (AR409). This collection was willed to Mrs. A.C. Greene. Dr. Gerald Saxon acknowledged the papers in 1993.

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Literary Rights Statement

Permission to publish material from AR423: Frances Sanger Mossiker Family Papers must be obtained from the Special Collections Division.

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Note to the Researcher

Frances Sanger Mossiker’s literary papers are located at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Boston University, Smith College, and the DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University. Her library, that includes a small amount of correspondence, is located at the Central Dallas Public Library, Writer’s Study Room, Humanities Division.

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Container List
Series I. Personal Papers, 1911-1985

Box 1
Folder

1. Clippings, 1923?, 1932, 1969, 1981, n.d.
   Contains information on Alex G. Beekman, Eli(hu) Sanger, Frances Sanger Mossiker, and the Wiley Thomas Buchanan Family.
2. Correspondence, 1911, 1914, 1918, 1938, 1953, 1954, 1984, n.d.
   Contains letters to and from family members. Includes excerpts from Frances Mossiker’s diary and curriculum vitiate. Also contains cards and a telegram.
3. Travel Journal, 1911Evelyn Beekman Sanger’s? journal of trip to Europe, July 11 - September 15. The journal is unsigned.
4. Travel Mementos, ca. 1920s, 1954, n.d.
   Contains postcards, French restaurant menu, programme, ink sketch, recipe, poem by Frances Alex Sanger, guest list, and two name cards.
5. Will, 1985
   Contains copy of Frances Sanger Mossiker’s will.

Series II. Travel, 1911-1929

Subseries: Guide and Picture Books

6. England, n.d.
   Contains 1 guide book, The English Lakes. Also contains leaflet.
7. France, 1911, n.d.
   Contains 2 guide books, Musee Grevin and Nice.
8. Germany, 1911, n.d.
   Contains 1 guide book, The Cathedral of Strasburg, and one picture book, The Royal Castle Herrenchiemsee.
9. Greece, 1926, n.d.
   Contains 1 guide book and 1 picture book, both on Athens.
10. Italy, 1911, n.d.
    Contains 1 guide book, History of Beatrice Cenci, and 2 picture books, 1 on Venice and 1 on Rome. Includes four postcard type pictures, one 5 x 7 and three 8x10. Also includes one 8x10 picture.
11. Maps, n.d.
    Contains 3 maps, Follow the War with Hagstrom’s Map of the World, Rheine Panorama, and Cook’s Plan of Paris.
12. Mediterranean Cruise Books, 1928, 1929
    Contains guide book and passenger list from 1929 cruise. Also includes menu and 2 guide books.
13. Mediterranean Cruise Log Book, 1929
    Contains log book for 1929 cruise.
14. Scotland, n.d.
    Contains 1 guide book, Auld Ayr & the Land of Burns.
15. Spain, n.d.
    Contains 1 picture book, Bull-Fight 12 Views.
16. Tunisia, 1927
    Contains 1 guide book, Tunisia.

Box 2
Series II
Subseries: Postcards-Countries

• Algeria, n.d.
  Contains 12 photograph type 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 travel pictures and 1 postcard book.
• Austria, n.d.
  Contains 2 photograph type postcards, 1 with handwriting. Also includes 1 postcard of a sketch.
• Belgium, 1911
  Contains 6 postcards of Waterloo with handwriting and 7 postcards of Brussels.
• Canada, 1911, 1928
  Contains 3 postcards, 2 of which are photograph type postcards, all with handwriting.
• Czechoslovakia, n.d.
  Contains 8 postcards, 4 of which are photograph type postcards. Three have handwriting.
• Egypt, n.d.
  Contains 28 postcards, 7 of which are photograph type postcards. One postcard is a panorama (double width).
• England, 1911, 1914, 1920
  Contains 80 postcards, 4 of which are photograph type postcards. Seven have handwriting, 2 of which are written to Florence Beekman.
• France, 1911, 1926, 1928
  Contains 192 postcards, 2 of which are photograph type postcards. Includes 1 trifold and 1 book on Versailles. Thirty-seven of the postcards are handwritten. Correspondents include F(lorence). Beekman, Mr. Ernest L. Levy, and Mr. Elihu Sanger.
• Germany, 1911
  Contains 78 postcards, 3 of which are photograph type postcards. One is a three-dimensional type. Twenty-five have handwritten notes, 3 of which are addressed to Mr. Alex G. Beekman and 1 from Everett (Sanger) to cousin Evelyn. Includes 1 postcard book.
• Gibraltar, n.d.
  Contains 11 postcards.
• Greece, n.d.
  Contains 18 postcards.
• Holland, 1911
  Contains 23 postcards, 14 of which have handwritten notes.

Box 3

• Italy, 1911
  Contains 80 postcards, 5 of which are photograph type postcards. Twenty have handwritten notes.
• Luxembourg, n.d.
  Contains 1 postcard book.
• Monaco and Monte Carlo, n.d.
  Contains 3 postcards and 1 postcard book.
• Scotland, n.d.
  Contains 17 postcards.
• Spain, 1926?
  Contains 19 postcards, 2 of which are photograph type postcards. Five have handwriting. Correspondents include Florence Beekman and Elihu Sanger. Contains 1 postcard book Cadiz.
• Switzerland, 1911
  Contains 63 postcards, 2 of which are photograph type postcards. Forty-four have handwriting. Correspondents include Ernest L. Levy and Alex G. Beekman. Contains 1 doubled folded and 1 five folded postcard. Also contains 2 postcards with cloth for dresses glued to the picture.
• Tunisia, n.d.
  Contains 15 postcards, all of which have handwritten notes. Includes 3 postcard books.
• Turkey, n.d.
  Contains 16 postcards.
• United States, 1927, 1928, 1935, 1950, n.d.
  Contains 68 postcards, 15 of which are photograph type postcards. Fourteen are handwritten. Correspondents include Florence Beekman.

Series II
Subseries: Postcards-Art

• Art Museums - Austria, n.d.
  Contains 9 postcards.
• Art Museums - England - Flowers and Gardens of Madeira, n.d.
  Contains 4 postcards.
• Art Museums - France - Louvre, n.d.
  Contains 32 postcards. Three are handwritten. Includes 1 folded card type postcard.
• Art Museums - France - Luxemburg Museum, n.d.
  Contains 7 postcards.
• Art Museums - France - Palais des Beaux Arts, n.d.
  Contains 10 postcards.
• Art Museums - France - Salon de Paris, n.d.
  Contains 8 postcards.
• Art Museums - France - Versailles Museum, n.d.
  Contains 5 postcards.
• Art Museums - France - Miscellaneous, n.d.
  Contains 9 postcards.

Series II
Subseries: Postcards-Miscellaneous

• Cruise Ships, 1911
  Contains 13 postcards, 2 of which are handwritten.
• Unidentified, n.d.
  Contains 8 postcards.

Box 4
Series III. Photographs, 1887-1963
Subseries: Travel

• Cuba, 1912
  Contains 1 photograph of a pineapple.
• Europe, n.d.
  Travel photographs of several locations in Europe. Some photographs have handwriting on the back.
• Jamaica, 1912
  Scenes include a lock, shipyard, railroad construction, and city scenes.
• Unidentified – Travel Photographs, n.d.
  Scenes include buildings, landscapes, and groups of people.

Series III
Subseries: Family

• Becker, Kathy, n.d.
• Beekman, Florence, n.d.
• Beekman, Ruth, 1898
• Buchanan Family, 1944-1947, n.d.
  Wiley and Ruth Buchanan have three children, Bonnie, Diana, and Buckey. Many of these photographs have handwriting on the back.
• Mossiker, Frances Sanger, 1910, 1912, 1917, n.d.
• Nanz, Robert W., 1949
• Residences, 1927, 1941, 1946, n.d.
• Sanger, A. (man), n.d.
• Sanger, Elihu, n.d.
• Sanger, Evelyn Coarrine Beekman, 1887, 1902, n.d.
  Includes 2 tintypes.
• Sanger, Everett and family, 1920, 1952, n.d.
  Includes photographs of Fae and Gus the dog.
• Sanger Family – Group, 1910, 1916, 1924, 1929, 1950, n.d.
• Unidentified Children, 1963, n.d.
• Unidentified Groups, n.d.
• Unidentified Men, n.d.
• Unidentified Negatives, n.d.
  These negatives are of the Sanger family?
• Unidentified Woman, n.d.
  Includes 1 tintype.

Box 5

1. Beekman, Ruth, 1898
   Contains 1 item.
2. Buchanan Family, 1954, n.d.
   Contains 5 items.
3. Residence – Elihu Sanger, n.d.
   Contains 8 items.
4. Sanger, A., n.d.
   Contains 2 items. One was removed from a frame marked A. Sanger
5. Sanger, Everett, n.d.
   Contains 2 items. One is of Gus the dog.
6. Sanger, Frances, 1905, 1908, 1910, n.d.
   Contains 8 items.
7. Unidentified, n.d.
   Contains 3 items removed from an album.
8. Unidentified Child, n.d.
   Contains 5 items of Elihu Sanger?
9. Unidentified Children, n.d.
   Contains 4 items.
10. Unidentified Groups, n.d.
    Contains 6 items.
11. Unidentified Woman, n.d.
    Contains 2 items.

OS 300
Oversize Photographs

• Family, n.d.
  Contains 2 items identified as "Papa’s Father" and "Papa’s Mother."

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