Title: Frank T. Cooke Papers, 1872-2006

ID: RG 30/287

Extent: 5.78 Linear Feet

Predominant Dates: 1914-1997

Frank Toffey Cooke was born on 10 March 1876 in Jersey City, New Jersey to William Mansfield and Mrs. Lydia Wilbur Cooke. Cooke’s parents were married on 6 November 1872. They lived in Wichita, Kansas, from 1872-1875, where a son George Stuart was born. They moved to Jersey City, New Jersey in 1875, where Frank T. and Mabel Mallory were born. After William Cooke died in 1880, Mrs. Cooke and the children moved to Milan, Ohio to live in the home of Dr. Stuart Morgan, the father of Lydia Cooke. As a young man, Frank Cooke worked with Frank Riggles in amateur photography.

In 1898, he moved to Oberlin, Ohio where he worked for several years as a clerk in the bookstore, A.G. Comings and Son. In 1912, he became an agent for the Eastman Kodak Company. He moved his photographic supplies and finishing agency several times until 1924 when he established his own business in the Comings’ Bookstore. He remained there until his retirement in 1949. During these years, he became known in Oberlin as “the photo-finisher.”

On 9 July 1901, Mr. Cooke married Clara Helen Paul (b. 1881 in Massillon Ohio), the daughter of Theodore and Fredricka Paul, then living in Milan, Ohio. Mrs. Cooke was a member of the Girl Scouts Council for over thirty years, during many of which she served as the treasurer. She was also a member of the Oberlin Women’s Club and an honorary member of the Literary and Social Club. The couple had three children, all of whom attended Oberlin: William T. (c. 1921-24); Helen S. (Mrs Stephen Cool, c. 1928); and Frances Lydia (Mrs. George E. Stansfield, c. 1937).

Clara Paul Cooke died in Huron, Ohio on 9 January 1958. Frank Toffey Cooke died in Oberlin on 2 December 1965.

Sources Consulted

“Celebrate 50th Wedding Anniversary at Oberlin.” Elyria, Ohio Chronicle Telegram. 15 July 1952.

“Cookes to Observe Golden Wedding on July 12 [1952].” Oberlin, Ohio News Tribune. 6 June 1952. n.p.

“Frank Cookes Are Wedded 50 Years, Celebrate.” Elyria, Ohio Chronicle Telegram. 9 July 1952. n.p.

“Frank T. Cook [sic].” Obituary. Elyria, Ohio Chronicle Telegram. 3 December 1965. n.p.

“Frank T. Cooke, 89 dies at his home on Forest Street.” Obituary. Oberlin, Ohio News Tribune. 9 December 1965. n.p.

Gastier, Dorcas Paul (Mrs. John L.). Letter to Roland Baumann, Oberlin College Archivist. 25 August 1997.

“Golden Day in Oberlin.” Cleveland, Ohio Plain Dealer. 28 June 1952. n.p.

Mrs. Frank Cook [sic] Dies After ear’s Illness.” Oberlin, Ohio News Tribune. 16 January 1958. n.p.

Mrs. Frank P. [sic] Cooke. Obituary. Elyria, Ohio Chronicle Telegram. 10 January 1958. n.p.

Author: Elizabeth Brinkman

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Languages of Materials

Administrative Information

Scope and Contents:

The papers of Frank T. Cooke document his personal interest and professional career in photography. Many photographs of college buildings and houses in Oberlin are included in the collection. The pages of a disbound photographic album show Cooke and his family at Oberlin Beach along Lake Erie and demonstrate his concern for the eroding of the beach. Additional photographs were taken in several cities in Ohio, including Huron and Milan. Notably, the photographs in the later accession include World War I images from Oberlin and overseas, including of dirigibles and early aircraft.

Copies of newspaper clippings, letters, and directory listings give the researcher some biographical information regarding Cooke and his family. A scrapbook kept by Frank Cooke’s daughter Helen (OC 1928) includes letters, programs and other ephemera, and holds inscriptions by classmates.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I. Biographical and Genealogical Files, 1872, 1880, 1914-65, 1997 (two folders)

This series consists of a folder containing items used in constructing the biographical sketch. It includes a copy of a letter from Dorcas Gastier, 1997, and copies of items from the alumni student files of Frank Cooke, his daughter Frances (Mrs. George E. Stansfield), and his wife Clara Helen Paul. It also includes photocopies of pages of the 1914 and 1931-32 Directory of Oberlin, Ohio which bear on Frank Cooke’s occupation. A second folder contains copies of an ancestry chart, an obituary for Morgan Stuart, and clippings (1872, 1880, n.d.) that provide genealogical information concerning the Cooke and Stuart families. The ancestors chart was received from Carolyn Cooke Lerch in 2006.

Series II. Photographs, 1897, 1899, 1903, 1905, 1910s, 1920-22, 1927, 1931, 1940, 1942, 1946-63, n.d. (4.12 l.f.)

The series is organized by accession numbers into two subseries. Subseries 1, Photographs, 1914 to 1922 and 1946 to 1963, consists primarily of a box of small, approximately 3.5” x 2.5”, photographs taken by Frank Cooke of various subjects around Oberlin. The photographs depict college buildings, residential houses, monuments, and natural settings; however, there are some unidentified photographs in the collection. The inventory contains an incomplete listing of the buildings/scenes depicted in the photographs.

There are also unbound pages of a photographic album included in this subseries. Many of the photographs were taken at Oberlin Beach along Lake Erie as Cooke’s family frequently picnicked there. Most of the photographs were taken by Frank Cooke in 1916-22, but a note identifies the c. 1950 photographs as originating from Helen and Stephen Cool.

Subseries 2 consists of photographs and photographic postcards received in 2018. Roughly half the photographs were taken in Oberlin or at Oberlin Beach on Lake Erie, and cover people, buildings, events, World War I recruitment, trains, and views. Non-Oberlin or unidentified photographs include early planes and World War I dirigibles, military scenes during World War I, occupations and industries, natural areas, plants, vehicles, travel, views, and photographs taken for a “Vanishing America” contest. Oversize photographs include athletic teams, a U.S. Navy dirigible, and an Oberlin College panorama group portrait from 1927 (the latter closed pending conservation).

Series III. Scrapbook, 1924-28 (1.66 l.f.)

Comprises one scrapbook compiled by Frank Cooke’s daughter Helen Cooke, Class of 1928. Contains letters, programs, ephemera, and inscriptions by classmates.

Download Box / Folder List (pdf)