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Women and Social Networks

This exhibition contains artifacts and documents drawn from the Cornelius Vanderbilt Scrapbooks, housed inVanderbilt University’s Special Collections. The scrapbooks were a gift of their maker, Frank Armstrong Crawford Vanderbilt, who used the books to document her husband’s life. Mrs. Vanderbilt’s remarkable gift shows her husband, Cornelius Vanderbilt, in many ways: as a businessman, as a family man, and as a lover of horse racing. The objects in this case explore the connection between social networks and gender orientation, particularly the role of married women like Frank Vanderbilt, who framed her identity through her husband’s success.