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Papers of Beppie L. Culin

Photograph of Beppie Culin, July 1976

Beppie Lee Leslie Culin was born August 10th, 1887 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her parents were Harry Melville Leslie and Sallie Knox Wood. Beppie Lee Leslie was married on December 19, 1913 to John Harding Culin (1889-1925), who was a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. John H. Culin died on March 20, 1925 of malaria while in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Beppie L. Culin never remarried and lived in Tucson, Arizona until her death in March 1988.

This collection consists of the papers of Beppie L. Culin and family. Correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, and legal documents are included in this collection. The majority of the correspondence is between Beppie L. Culin and various offices of the United States Navy regarding the death of John H. Culin and his subsequent reinterment at Arlington National Cemetery. Also included is correspondence to J.F. McKale and Richard A. Harvill of the University of Arizona regarding alumnus information and activities. This collection contains two diaries of John H. Culin, which contain a brief account of his daily activities from 1918-1919. The scrapbook in the collection contains ship logs, poetry, drawings and newspaper clippings on various topics, including the War of 1812.

The photographs in this collection include several photographs of Beppie L. Culin, as well as John H. Culin. Also included are portraits of unidentified females and various pictures of people and places, including property at Martha?™s Vineyard.

This collection also contains legal documents including a land patent signed by US President Andrew Jackson in 1831, and two bills of sale for slaves sold to John S. Wood. The first bill of sale is for an 11-year-old enslaved girl sold on February 28, 1852, and the second bill of sale is for an 18-year-old enslaved young man sold on February 13, 1854.