496 WFCHS

Inventory created by 05/2004. Last revised 10/2018.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, duplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright.

EXTENT: 0.21 linear feet

DATE: 1927 – 1964

SCOPE AND CONTENT: Ernie and Helen Smith Collection contains a variety of items including correspondence, a 1943 edition of “The Virginia All-Wool” newsletter and other Virginia Woolen Mill memorabilia, Apple Blossom Festival float photos, assorted Virginia architectural photos and articles, postcards, and newspaper articles. 

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL: Ernie and Helen Smith were residents of Winchester, Virginia and both enjoyed collecting photos and memorabilia of local events. Mr. Smith was born in Hampshire County, West Virginia in 1921 and died in 2009 at age 87. Smith was a World War II veteran and member of VFW Post 2123.  He worked for several bakeries during his life, eventually retiring from the Schmidt Bread Company in 1983.  His wife, Helen Pyne Smith was born in 1923 in Maryland and married Ernie Smith in 1945. They had a son and a daughter. She was an employee of Valley Health Systems, and retired in 2006. Mrs. Smith died in 2013 at age 90.  Both are interred at Shenandoah Memorial Park in Winchester, VA.

RELATED MATERIAL: Virginia Woolen Mills Company Records, 1119 WFCHS; Apple Blossom Festival Collection, 46 THL.

CITE AS: Ernie and Helen Smith Collection 496 WFCHS, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA.

ACQUISITION INFORMATION: Acquired as a gift. 

ORGANIZATION:

BOX 1 

Letter from Mrs. J. F. Montgomery to Helen Montgomery, February 21, 1927, re: Montgomery family, three pages, manuscript

News Articles – “The Day that No. 1 Went Over the Bridge at Swimley’s Station,” (near Wadesville, VA) (Baltimore and Ohio Railroad), Winchester Evening Star, n.d., 1 leaf, printed

Veterans Day Program – November 11, 1964, one item, printed

Winchester Armory – Dedication, October 8, 1940, one leaf, printed

World War II – Presentation of Jeep by employees to Virginia Woolen Mill, 1943

Speech made by Douglas Spillman, one leaf, typescript

Virginia All-Wool Dec. 1941, Sept. 1943, two items, printed

 “The Rotunda,” UVA Development Fund, n.d., 4 pages, printed                         

 Buyers Bill of Rights (a message from the President of the United States), 1971, 1 item, 6 pages printed

PHOTOGRAPHS: Photographs and other images belonging to this collection may be accessed online through http://handley.pastperfectonline.com