What can a box tell us about a life?

The box I looked through was Box #7, which dealt with the posthumous period of Bankroft’s life. It contained a lot of newspaper clippings about his death, including about the funeral processions, as well as letters between him, his brother, his sister, and his nephew. 

There was a collection of newspaper clippings about his death that was collected nicely in a scrapbook style format, made by the people he worked with as the ambassador to Japan. This might give a researcher insight into his social and professional life in Japan. It would also detail the impact that he had on the people he worked with, because if they didn’t have a positive relationship with him, they wouldn’t have taken such care to create that book.

The letters between Bankroft and his family and friends were telling of their accomplishments, and again, were indicative of the kind of relationship they held. I can’t remember exactly what the pink slip was, but it was something he had sent to Frederic as a congratulations, but it was addressed to something kind of silly, like an inside joke between the two of them. 

Despite Box #7 dealing with the posthumous period, this box would help a researcher understand the more personal aspects of the last ~40 years of his life. If a researcher wanted to know about the Bankrofts’ relationship with each other, this would be a good box to look at. If a researcher wanted to know more about Edgar’s professional life, this wouldn’t explain that. The newspaper clippings would definitely give an indication of how people saw him and the impact he made not only on the people around him, but the president at the time too. Researchers would also be able to learn quite a bit about Frederic if they were more interested in him as he was an author and historian.