Grace Shapley in Upstate New York

These are all scanned from the collection of Grace Shaply of Binghamton, New York. You may recall the previous two posts that showed some of Grace's other photos of cars and airplanes, and Oquaga lake.

Grace was born to Sara Mary (Thorne) Shapley and William S. Shapley in 1902. She seems to have graduated from Binghamton High School in 1923, which would have made her a little older than her classmates. I am guessing that her mother's death in 1919 had something to do with the delay in her schooling. And it appears that her father died the very year of her high school graduation, leaving Grace, who was an only child, very much on her own.
Here's Grace changing a tire.

I think this is Grace posing with her father.

In the next photo, it looks as if young Grace is wearing the big hat and her father is standing to the right. Is that her mother standing next to her?

And here's a male cheerleader at a Binghamton High School football game.

After Binghamton High School, Grace enrolled in Russel Sage College, a women's school, in Troy, New York. I think this picture shows some of her college pals.

Grace with unknown child.

 

Here are some additional pictures from her folder of negatives and photos.

Grace never married or had children. She is buried with her parents in Spring Forest Cemetery in Binghamton, New York.

Source

Lake Oquaga, New York

When you walk into Scott's Oquaga Lake House in the Catskills of upstate New York, you might just as well have stepped out of a time machine in the 1940s or 50s. In fact, I'm guessing it wasn't all that different in the teens/early1920s when Grace Shapley was there.

I have a folder of negatives and prints that belonged to Grace, showing Binghamton and surrounding areas, including Oquaga Lake, Russel Sage College, as well as Syracuse University and Scranton, Pennsylvania. Grace was born in Binghamton in1903. In the 1920 Census her father is listed as proprietor of an iron foundry, presumably Shapley and Wells, which manufactured steam engines.

The young woman on the right is standing a little too close to the edge for my comfort. I don't know who any of the people are, but I really like the clothing, including these boys' shoes.

 

I think I have a clear sense of what it must have been like to spend time at the relaxed family resort, because it just doesn't seem to have changed that much. The resort has been there since 1869. We stopped by for lunch on October 7, 2007.

Here's a copy of the menu.

This is a sign on the outside of one of the buildings; it looks like it's been there for awhile too.

You can take dancing lessons in Scott's Playhouse or canoeing lessons out on the lake. There's also shuffleboard and a golf course where Grace took a few pictures.

Here's a photo of the Scott's bus and a couple of guys who may have been slightly damaged on their voyage in the time machine.

Automobiles and Airplanes

These are from a folder of negatives that belonged to Grace Shapley. Writing on the outside of the folder says: Negatives of Airplane trip, Aunt Bess and myself at 51 Lathrop Apt. and 13 John Street, Oquaga Lake, N.Y. , college negatives, etc. The folder also included some labelled photographs, taken in Syracuse and Binghamton, New York, as well as in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I have been able to identify some of the people in the photos, but not all of them.

Grace Shapley

 

Grace Shapley