Where Did They Stay?
When travelling for business we often enjoy the comforts of
historic hotels in the small towns of Kansas, the resorts of Colorado, the
boutique hotels of Texas, or the elegant and historic hotels of Massachusetts.
Our research often includes tracking migrations, political/business travels, or
learning the social life styles of ancestors who had the means to travel to
visit family or for work. Most genealogists may
learn about this part of family history using newspaper notices. Local
newspapers, especially in smaller towns, announce their visitors. They may even
mention if the town guests are staying at a hotel or with family. So from here, the fascination of hotel
registers ensues!
Our admiration for historic hotels is not confined to
U.S.A. markets, even though this article concentrates on finding your ancestors
within America’s historic hotel records. But still, here is an interesting
fact: the oldest hotel in operation is the Nisiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Yamanashi, Japan that first opened in 707 A.D. For
forty-six generations, the same family has operated this hotel (Guinness World
Records)
7 Great Finds
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| Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs, CO |
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| Broadmoor Bonanza 1949 |
- Hotel Magazines – upscale hotels
may have announced their guests or taken photos of guests and events
published in the magazines.
- Hotel registers may be
available.
- Many of these historic
hotels have onsite archivists that may assist with your research through onsite art collections, donated antiques, and social history, etc.
- Photo negatives may be
available to include honeymooners, and newlyweds.
- Photos of hotel events or
hosts of large events (polo team meets, golf tournaments, etc)
- Employee Records
- Entertainment Records. You may find documents, photos and even
contracts of entertainment events
Where are the
records?
Researchers should first confirm their ancestors’
whereabouts by using social columns, deeds, obituaries, etc. Then contact the
historic property. Be sure to ask for the following: an onsite or corporate archivist, the
location of historical registers, employee ledgers, and guest ledgers. Don’t
forget to check the National Historic registers for a copy of the records that might
have made them eligible for the Historic Hotels of America.County, state and local archives may also have important files on residents or guests of the historic hotels. By probing at the Broadmoor Spa in Colorado Springs, I was able to uncover awesome photos. The 1872 Sweet Springs Hotel Register was located in the University of Virginia, Claude Moore Health Sciences Collections Library.
African American
Guests
Most historic hotels did not integrate until the 1960’s -
civil rights era. My western Kansas Strader family was seemingly one of the
first African Americans at the Broadmoor Resort in 1968, albeit a short stay by
eight family members.
However, you may find your African American family in the employee
registers. In some of the smaller Midwestern
hotels, which seemed to accept guests of color earlier, researchers may find
that their ancestor were registered. Some of the historic hotel registers did
not denote race but others may have noted their guest as “colored” or Negro.
Omni Parker House
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| Omni Parker House by Susan Wilson |
Add the Omni Parker House historic hotel to your Boston historic tour. Was
your ancestor a chef? Within a short distance from the New England Genealogical
Historic Society, stands the relatively newly-renovated Omni Parker House well known
for its mastery of the Boston Cream Pie. This historic hotel was noted for hiring
top chefs (one might say celebrity chefs) since 1855 when it first hired Chef
Sanzian. The original 1855 Parker House was completely demolished by 1927. But
before the original Parker House was destroyed Charles Dickens had an extended
stay, and John Wilkes Booth stayed a few days prior to killing President
Lincoln. In more modern times, J. F. Kennedy announced his presidency and Malcolm
X was a busboy at the Omni Parker.
Researching for your ancestors’ records as an employee or
guests at this hotel will be extensive, but be sure to check all area historical
repositories.
Our favorite hotel research began with the AAAFive-Diamond
resort of the Broadmoor Hotel and Resort. Since 1919, the Broadmoor hotel has
hosted many of the nation’s presidents, entertainers, and celebrities. There’s
a wall of fame on the corridor walls outside the bowling alley filled with
photos of the U. S. Presidents and foreign Presidents who have visited and
everyone from early actors to present day actresses. But although the original hotel
registers were not available, in addition to the wall of photos, there’s a
series of resort magazines that began in 1946 that announced guests by names. The
Memories and the Broadmoor Bonanza were popular as they announced their guests.
This hotel has also preserved their honeymoon negatives, so many are available.
Photos are the biggest requests – photos of polo teams, events and married
copies.
Employee records and entertainment records have also been
preserved. The onsite archivists contacted, returned, findings in an email for our research project. For onsite review of documents, an
appointment must be made in advance.
Melrose, Warwick
Hotel, Dallas, Texas
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| Warwick, Melrose Hotel, Dallas |
The Warwick line of elegant historic hotels tells American
history in a unique way. If your ancestor was from the “upper crust” you may
find them as having lived or worked in one of these historic properties.
“…
the Warwick Denver hotel was once a Playboy mansion. The Warwick Melrose in
Dallas was, in the 1930s, an apartment building for the millionaires from Texas,
and the Warwick New York was built by William Randolph Hearst in 1926 as a gift
for his long-time mistress, Marion Davies, who was a Hollywood actress.”
As I write this end-of-the-year article on 2014 Travel Research - Hotel Records, I am a guest at the AAA Four Diamond Melrose, Warwick Hotel built in 1924 while researching in Dallas.
Kathleen Brandt
Happy Thanksgiving, 2014
a3genealogy.com
a3genealogy@gmail.com
