John Parker Collection, circa 1850-2008 | Sargeant Memorial Collection

Personal papers, photographs, and manuscripts of John Albert Parker, Jr. of 539 Warren Crescent in Ghent, Norfolk, Virginia. Items include birth and marriage announcements, school diplomas, and miscellaneous mementos. Photographs include family members, especially his wife Rose Marie Norwood Parker and his parents. The photographs also include the Parkers' wedding, John Parker's service in Vietnam from 1967-1968, circa 1990s holiday parties at Kirn Memorial Library, houses and scenes of Ghent, and John and Rose Marie's cats. Manuscripts include at least 10 unpublished novels written by John Parker as well as four manuscript copies of his published nonfiction volume Thirteen Blocks: A Social History of Early Ghent in Norfolk, Virginia.

The collection also includes materials collected by Parker relating to the neighborhood of Ghent and the city of Norfolk. Materials include 1900 and 1910 census transcriptions from Ghent, The Ghent Homeowner's Manual, and a heavily notated copy of Ghent: John Graham's Dream, Norfolk, Virginia's Treasure. Materials relating to Norfolk, Virginia include volumes 3-5 of Shank's Raw Materials, pin-up advertisements for local businesses, a circa 1900 property assessment ledger organized by street name, and two circa 1940-1942 posters advertising Rose La Rose at Gaiety Theatre on Main Street.

Finally, the collection contains papers relating to Fergus Reid, his wife Mary Wilson Chamberlain Reid, and their daughter Helen de Lustrac. Materials include family photographs, receipts and correspondence.