Marianna Nixon Papers

The collection primarily documents the life of Marianna Nixon and her family, through photographs, memorabilia, and correspondence. There is a large amount of historic correspondence from Marianna Nixon’s ancestors and prominent families in the Dayton area. Correspondence dates from 1799-1901, with the bulk being from 1820-1860. Photographs date from 1900-1990, with the bulk from 1940-1990. These records provide insight into life in the Dayton area from a wide range of dates, from Marianna’s time (1940-1990), to her ancestors (1820-1900). They document the fashion, architecture, local history, and opinions of the time. This collection can also provide insight to a number of families, including the Best, Drill, McKnight, Lawton, Nixon, Van Cleve, and Dover families.

Series I, Correspondence, is organized into six main groupings: Milton Wright Papers, Financial and Legal, Compliment Cards, Family Correspondence, Postcards and Undated Correspondence, and Personal Correspondence of Marianna Nixon. The correspondence is an excellent view into life in the Dayton area in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The letters cover a range of topics like family news, gardening, travels, and condolences. Correspondence is primarily between the Dover, McKnight, Lawton, and Donovan families. Other family names that appear less frequently are Van Cleve, Best, Simpson, and Drill. The Milton Wright papers are all related to common genealogy between Anna McKnight and Milton Wright. All items are organized chronologically within folders.

Series II, Photographs, is divided into three subseries. The majority of the photographs were already divided into photographs created by Marianna and photographs created by her family. This allowed them to be grouped in date ranges. Some family members (Roger Nixon and Corine Irwin) show up in both sections. When possible photographs were filed in the group already provided by the creator. The photographs are organized chronologically. Many of the photographs are labeled on the back with some variation of place, year, and person.

Series II, Subseries IIA, Marianna Nixon Family Photographs, 1877-1937, focuses on the family of Marianna McKnight. Frequently represented are E.E. McKnight, Anna Dover McKnight, and their children, Fay Louise, Ida, Leroy. This subseries documents Marianna’s childhood. Included are card-mounted photographs, pages from a scrapbook, and many black and white photographs.

Series II, Subseries IIB, Marianna Nixon Personal Photographs and Videos, 1938-2009, is comprised of the photographic collection of Marianna McKnight. These photographs document her adult life.


Series II, Subseries IIC, Dr. Gary Nixon Photographs, circa 1970-2010, predominantly documents Gary Nixon’s fishing trips to Alaska. Also included are photographs of his time spent in Amsterdam, various trips, and a booklet of his gravesite.

Series III, Printed and Published Materials, 1882-2008, were saved typically only when they involved family history or local history that impacted her family, such as the Dayton Flood. She also collected several recent newspapers (2008) about German Baptists in the area. Included in this series are newspaper clippings, periodicals, local histories, advertisements, prints, and commencements. Objects of note are an edition of Delco Doings which feature photographs of Ida McKnight and NCR Factory News which feature an article about Anna Dover and Benjamin Van Cleve as well as a small prayer book previously owned by Ida McKnight.

Series IV, Genealogy Documents, 1976-2008, is comprised of four main sections. Marianna’s maternal genealogy (Kirchner/Irwin), Marianna’s paternal genealogy (McKnight/Van Cleve), miscellaneous genealogy documents, and bound copies of her maternal genealogy. Janis Bigelow Pahnke was primarily responsible for compiling the genealogical information.

Series V, Personal Papers and Memorabilia, 1936-2007, includes high school drama awards, Miami Valley School of Nursing documents, two of Roger Nixon’s war communications, and miscellaneous personal papers.