Dr. Perry Marshall Bell and Annabel Montgomery Bell Photograph Collection

Collection Summary

Title: Dr. Perry Marshall Bell and Annabel Montgomery Bell Photograph Collection
Call Number: MS 2013-04
Size: 0.25 linear feet
Acquisition: Purchased from Gerald Norwood, 8-8-2009
Processed by: AA, 5-11-2011; LMA, 6-27-2013; LMM, 6-27-2013
Restrictions: None

Literary Rights

Literary rights were granted to Wichita State University. When permission is granted to examine the manuscripts, it is not an authorization to publish them. Manuscripts cannot be used for publication without regard for common law literary rights, copyright laws and the laws of libel. It is the responsibility of the researcher and his/her publisher, to obtain permission to publish. Scholars and students who eventually plan to have their work published are urged to make inquiry regarding overall restrictions on publication before initial research.

Content Note

The photograph collection of Dr. Perry Marshall Bell and Annabel Montgomery Bell consists of group professional, social, and personal photographs, Dr. Bell’s obituary, and a brief biography of Annabel Bell. The photographs include medical school, social and cultural events, and family photos, many with unidentified people. The known dates of the collection span from 1936-1956.

Biography

Dr. Perry Marshall Bell was a prominent African American physician who served the Wichita community for over twenty-five years in the first half of the twentieth century. Dr. Bell was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on September 22, 1887. As a young man, Dr. Bell attended Howard University Medical School and interned at Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. In 1916 Dr. Bell was drafted and served in World War I. After the war, he began practicing in Wichita in 1918 and worked as a county physician for twenty-six years, serving as local doctor for the Santa Fe Railroad. He was also a member of the medical staffs of St. Francis Hospital and Wesley Hospital. His wife Annabel worked as a teacher and principal of Grand Elementary School in Wichita from 1921-1923, and as a relief teacher at Dunbar School in Wichita, from 1927-1929. .

Both Dr. Bell and Annabel Bell played significant roles in the African American community of Wichita. They were active members of St. Paul’s A.M.E. Church and the local African American Y.M.C.A. Dr. Bell was also a member of the Sedgwick County Medical Society, the National Medical Association, the N.A.A.C.P., the Urban League, the Excelsior Club, the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, and he was a Mason of the 32nd degree. Dr. Bell died in Wichita on October 3, 1956, and Annabel Bell died in 1973.

Detailed Description: Series Listing

Series 1 Box 1 FF 1-7 Social and Civic Activities, 1936-1952. This series contains photographs documenting Dr. Bell’s career as a medical student and intern, various friends of the couple, their social activities, and outdoor group photographs of Dr. Perry Marshall and Annabel Bell,1936-1952 and n.d.
Series 2 Box 2 FF 8-12 Dr. Perry Marshall and Annabel Bell photos, 1956 and n.d. This series contains photographs of the Bell family, their home and church, Dr. Bell’s obituary, and a brief biography of Annabel Bell, 1956 and n.d.

Detailed Description: Box and Folder Listing

Series 1 ‒ Social and Civic Activities, 1936-1952

Box 1 FF 1 Photograph of Dr. Bell and six colleagues in front of Kansas City Hospital, Kansas City Missouri, where he interned, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell and his medical class, with a note on the back, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell and colleagues in front of Nellie Johns Memorial Hospital, Topeka, Kansas, n.d.
Box 1 FF 2 Two copies and a reproduction of the Daily Broadcaster, a short pamphlet used for charitable fund raising, published November 21, 1936. These copies have 1836 as the publication date, in error.
Box 1 FF 3 Photograph of opera singer Lillian Eranti with the words “To Dr. and Mrs. P. M. Bell with Sincere Greetings Lillian Eranti” on the front, with a note on the back, n.d. Reproduction of an article titled “Lillian Eranti” from Carl Van Vechten’s Portraits of Women from Yale University’s Beinecke Library online exhibition “Extravagant Crowd”, n.d. Photograph of Lillian Eranti with the words “Best Wishes Lillian Eranti Love to Annabel Bell 1947”
Box 1 FF 4 Newspaper clipping and a reproduction about Dr. Bell’s involvement in the Y.M.C.A., n.d. Newspaper clipping and a reproduction about the Y.M.C.A.’s membership drive and Dr. Bell’s contribution, 1952
Box 1 FF 5 Photograph of Excelsior Club party, with a note on the back, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell and Annabel Bell and five other professional colleagues, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell and Annabel Bell seated at a table with others at a social event, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell and Annabel Bell seated at a table with others at a social event, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell and Annabel Bell and friends at a Bon Voyage party, with note and identifications on the back, 1952
Box 1 FF 6 Photograph of Dr. Bell and Annabel Bell in a large group gathering, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell in a large group of men, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell in a large group of men, n.d.
Box 1 FF 7 Photograph of Duke Ellington with the words “To My Friend Dr. P.M. Bell Thanx good luck Duke”, n.d. Photograph of Duke Ellington with the words “To Dr. & Mrs. P. M. Bell good luck Duke Ellington”, n.d.
 

Series 2 ‒ Dr. Perry Marshall and Annabel Bell photos, 1956 and n.d.

Box 1 FF 8 Photograph of the Bell home at 1025 Ohio, Wichita, Kansas, with a note on the back, n.d.
Box 1 FF 9 Photograph of Dr. Bell, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell watering his lawn, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell in church, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell in a fraternal organization hat, n.d. Four copies of a photograph of Dr. Bell by Chase Studios in Washington, D.C., n.d.
Box 1 FF 10 Photograph of Annabel Bell, n.d. Photograph of Annabel Bell, n.d. Copy of a short biography of Annabel Bell’s teaching career, n.d.
Box 1 FF 11 Photograph of Annabel Bell with friends in a social setting, n.d. Photograph of Annabel Bell in a family setting, n.d. Photograph of Dr. Bell and Annabel Bell in a family setting, with identifications and a note on the back, n.d.
Box 1 FF 12 Laminated newspaper clipping from the Wichita Beacon of Dr. Bell’s obituary, October 3rd 1956.