William England and Ada England Morrell as children.

Ada exemplified her role as the “steward of family memory.”[1] She collected pictures, baby announcements, wedding invitations, personal letters, land deeds, and more. Many of Ada’s collected items are ephemeral, meaning they were meant to be thrown out or become unimportant after their time. These ephemeral items, however, capture life in the Morrell immediate and extended family. The ephemeral items help bring the Morrell family history to life.

Ada England Morrell with her family, the Englands. Ada is in the upper left corner.

Ada collected dozens of family photos. Her pictures span from the mid-1800s through the late 1970s. The pictures capture life at the time and how each person looked and fit into the family. The photo above shows Ada and William England as children and the photo to the left shows the England family. Note the late nineteenth century photoshopping in the right, bottom corner in the picture to the left.

Baby Annnouncement declaring a couple has a "new shipment."

An interesting part of the Morrell family history is the documented evolution of the baby announcement. After WW2, baby announcements evolved from simple information cards about couples’ new babies into well thought out, often punny cards. The Morrell family history captures many humorous announcements, seen here and below.