The photographs of the Purnell and Winder families document the lives of Oscar Moore Purnell, and his descendants, originally of Worcester County, Maryland. The materials were compiled by Richard Bayly Winder, III, the grandson of Oscar Purnell, and depict individuals from four generations of the family during the early 1900s to 1950. Many photographs feature the Oscar M. Purnell house in Snow Hill, Maryland, and the surrounding rural areas of Worcester County. There are also photographs of the Ocean City, Maryland beach and boardwalk during the first half of the 20th century, and a few personal records, and ephemera relating to various members of the Winder family.

Oscar Moore Purnell was born in 1858 to Stephen and Mary Laws Purnell. He and his ten siblings grew up on a farm near Snow Hill, Maryland, and Oscar graduated from Snow Hill High School in 1874. He then attended Washington College, graduating with a degree in classics in 1880. He returned home to Snow Hill and studied law under a local firm Upshur and Purnell, until he was admitted to the bar in 1882. The following year, Oscar married Emma Jane Purnell, the daughter of the Worcester County Register of Wills, Thomas D. Purnell. They had four daughters together, although only Julia, born in 1894, would leave any descendants. Oscar Purnell held a variety of positions during his lifetime and helped to make the Purnell family, already recognized as one of the earliest to settle in Worcester County, extremely influential. He served as the treasurer of Makemie Memorial Presbyterian Church, co-published the Snow Hill Democratic Messenger newspaper, and represented Worcester County in the First Judicial Circuit of Maryland. He also helped to found numerous local businesses, including Pocomoke City’s Citizen’s National Bank, Berlin’s Exchange and Savings Bank, and the Equitable Building and Loan Association of Snow Hill. Around 1905, the Purnell family moved into a house on East Market Street in Snow Hill, afterward known as the Oscar M. Purnell house.

Oscar’s daughter Julia grew up in the Purnell house, and married Richard Bayly Winder, III, in 1918. Richard was the son of the founder and dean of Baltimore’s College of Dentistry, and grew up at the Winder family home, “The Folly,” in nearby Accomack County, Virginia. Richard and Julia initially moved to Greensboro, North Carolina, where their only child, Richard Bayly Winder, IV, was born in 1920. However, Julia remained attached to the Snow Hill area, and the family frequently returned to visit. The Oscar M. Purnell house remained a prominent building in the community, serving first as the headquarters of the Worcester County Board of Education and then the Commission on Aging, after it was deeded to town of Snow Hill by Julia in 1951.

As a child, Richard Bayly Winder, IV, received a full scholarship to the St. Albans boarding school in Washington, D.C. After graduating, he moved to Pennsylvania to attend Haverford College beginning in 1939. The strong Quaker influence at the college made an impression on the young man, leading him to volunteer for a non-combat position as an American Field Service ambulance driver after the United States entered World War Two. He was stationed in the Middle East, and his experiences there influenced his decision to study Arabic and Middle Eastern studies after leaving the AFS. He attained multiple degrees and traveled around the world for a variety of international outreach programs. Richard married Viola Hitti in 1946, and their son Bayly Philip Winder was born 1951.

This collection includes the personal photographs of the Purnell and Winder families of Snow Hill, Maryland. The bulk of the material dates from 1910-1935, with a few items from as early as 1904 or as late as 1950. Most photographs depict family members relaxing at home or visiting friends and relatives across the Delmarva region. In particular, the photographs of the Ocean City, Maryland beach, and boardwalk circa 1910s-1930s may be of interest to local historians. Some albums include photographs from family vacations to New York City, the New Jersey Shore, Washington, D.C., and other popular East Coast destinations. The entire collection is also relevant for any research into early 20th-century fashion and leisure activities.

Records were mostly maintained in the order from which they were received by the donor, and all completed photo albums were left intact. Loose photographs and other documents not securely fastened within an album were arranged by date if known, with references to the associated album as appropriate. Folders are listed by their location in each box; any given subject may be dispersed throughout the entirety of the collection.