2019.081.006

A scrapbook created by Agnes M. Northam after her marriage to Francis X. Gillen and subsequent birth of their child Frances Agnes Gillen to catalogue the baby’s many “Firsts”. The first page of the book is a description of the baby, her eye color, and her weight and skin tone. The next few pages are filed with “First Birthday” cards and pins, even a napkin and a small pinwheel with the words “Baby’s First Year” written on the stem. The rest of the book follows this pattern through the seasons, baby’s first Easter, first Valentine’s Day, first Christmas, all with cards and small nick-knacks for the baby pasted into the book to commemorate the day. On each page introducing a holiday, Agnes wrote in a paragraph or two about how the day went, lamenting on Easter that Francis was overseas in England, as he was in the armed forces. On Christmas, Francis returned home to see his child for the first time since his birth, as Agnes wrote on that page. He had come home the day of the 1945 blizzard in Lawrence, and had to stay the night at his grandparents, having no way home due to the sheer amount of snow. Eventually, he made it home in time to spend time with his child on her first Christmas. The very last page of the book is a detailed list of smaller “Firsts” for Frances, like her first glass of orange juice, or her first hiccup.