Accession Number: Ph2023-036, Ph2023-036acc
Repository: West Virginia State Archives
Creator: Jane Lewis Tavenner, Marcia Peterson Daoust
Title: Jane Lewis Tavenner Collection
Date [inclusive]: 1900-1990s
Extent: 0.42 linear feet. 1 legal size flip top container, 14 legal envelopes. 506 photographs, negatives, and glass plate negatives. Accretion: 0.21 linear feet. 1 legal flip top container, 7 legal size folders, 90 prints, and 1 tintype.
Name of Creator(s): Jane Lewis Tavenner, Mary Mish Lewis, Will Lewis, Rosean Mish, Saddie Lewis, Sallie A. Mish.
Language: English
Citation: [item, collection number], Ph2023-036, Jane Lewis Tavenner Collection
Processing information: Meredith Barbery, November/December 2024, accretion processed by Bethany Arbaugh, February 2025.
Conditions on Use and Access: none
Copyright: Copyright restrictions may apply.
Provenance: This collection was donated to West Virginia Archives and History at The Cultural Center by Marcia Peterson Daoust in October 2023. Photo materials were later processed in 2024 and 2025.
Processing Notes:
Sources of Information [if applicable]: "Jane L. Tavenner." Martinsburg Journal, 16 Jan. 2023, p. A8.
Historical Note: Jane Lewis Tavenner was born to Nelson Corbin Tavenner and Nellie E. Lewis Tavenner on November 6, 1916, in Martinsburg, West Virginia. She graduated from Martinsburg High School in 1934. She attended West Virginia University for a year before transferring to the University of Missouri. Jane graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism Degree in Country Newspaper Production. She was a member of Theta Sigma Phi fraternity for women in journalism. She attended Duquesne University for graduate work, where she studied African Languages and African Affairs.
Jane worked for the following newspapers: Monroe City News (Mo.), the Martinsburg News, and The Suffolk New Herald (Va.). She took over the family business of Tavenner's Books, Stationery, and Gift Store. She also worked at Old Charles Town Library.
She volunteered for the Red Cross Nurses Aide Corp. during World War II and served at the Newton D. Baker Army Hospital. Jane was the secretary for the Martinsburg Library Commission from 1957 to 1994. She aided in the development of the Martinsburg Public Library, which opened in 1968. A member of the Richard III Society, Delta Gamma fraternity, a volunteer with Meals on Wheels, and served a term on the Martinsburg Alumni Association.
Jane died at the age of 106 on January 12, 2023.
Scope and Content: The collection comprises primarily genealogical materials of the Tavenner and Mish families. It includes prints, scrapbooks, negatives and glass plates of various family members.
Related Materials [if applicable]:Ms2023-036 and accretion Jane Lewis Tavenner collection, 1792-2009.
Ms2009-008 Roland H. Peterson collection. Roland H. Peterson's wife, Mary Tavenner Peterson, was Jane Lewis Tavenner's sister.
Ms2002-118 Randall family collection. The Randall family were close family friends of the Peterson family.
929.2 L779 Littleton-Garrison-Tavenner by Virginia Blackford Kable.
Arrangement: The records are arranged by subject and then by type of photograph.
Contents
Box: 1
1:1 Tavenner Family Photographs, 1900-1930s (39)
1:2 Photographs of William Tavenner, 1910-1914 (24)
1:3 Photographs of Jane Tavenner, 1910s-1980s (23)
1:4 Mary Nelson Tavenner & Family Photographs, 1910s-1990s (63)
1:5 Photographs of Robert Tavenner, circa 1920s-1940s (27)
1:6 Scrapbook of Nellie Lewis Tavenner, 1860-1899 (16)
1:7 Scrapbook of Sadie Lewis, circa 1870s-1890s (24)
1:8 Various unidentified photographs, circa 1890-1940 (14)
1:9 William and Mary Lewis & children photographs (22)
1:10 Identified Misch Family Photographs (6)
1:11 J.B. Fisher Store Employees (4)
1:12 Tavenner Family Negatives, 1900s-1940s (238)
1:13 Glass Plate negatives of adults (11)
1:14 Glass Plate negatives of children (27)
Box: 2
2:1 Tintypes and photographs of Tavenner and Mish family, circa 1890s-1940s (31)
2:2 Photographs of Jane Tavenner, circa 1930s-1970s (12)
2:3 Photographs of Roland H. Peterson, circa 1940s-1960s (3)
2:4 Photographs of Marcia Peterson, circa 1940s-1960s (8)
2:5 Photographs of Bruton "Rusty" Peterson, circa 1950s-1960s (15)
2:6 Photographs of Neal Tavenner, circa 1950s-1960s (11)
2:7 Photographs of Tavenner children, Tim Daoust, John Tavenner, circa 1950s-1970s (11)