Document Type
Finding Aids
Publication Date
2018
Collection Date
1865-2018
Description
The Osborne Family Collection centers on the members of an early African American family who settled in Waterville, Maine after the Civil War. The collection contains materials relating to Samuel Osborne (1883-1904), his wife, Maria Iverson Osborne (1836-1913), and their children: Flora Molly Osborne Strange (1854-1921), Amelia Osborne (1857-1930), and Lulu Clifton Osborne Connor (1864-1907?), all born in slavery in Virginia. The remaining Osborne children: Isabelle Osborne (1868), Annie J. Osborne (1869-1901), Alice E. Osborne (1871-1968), Edward Samuel Osborne (1874-1956), and Marion Thompson Osborne Matheson (1878-1954) were born in Waterville, Maine. Samuel Osborne worked as the Colby College Janitor for 37 years, and was an active participant in local community groups, the Baptist Church, and the Order of Good Templars (a Temperance organization). The Osbornes’ daughter Amelia served as the housemother to the Delta Upsilon fraternity at Colby, and their two youngest children attended the college: Edward with the Class of 1897 (a non-graduate) and Marion with the Class of 1900. Marion was the first African American woman to graduate from Colby. The collection contains photographs, clippings, and published materials relating to the Osborne Family and their lives in Waterville.
Recommended Citation
Collection of Osborne Family Materials, Colby College Special Collections, Waterville, Maine.