Edith Alice McClain Collection

Edith Alice McClain was born on September 11, 1900. She attended Judson College in Marion, Alabama, from 1918 until 1922. College records list her hometown as Birmingham, Alabama. During her first year at Judson College, she was awarded one of the fourteen Noah K. Davis Honor Scholarships. To receive this scholarship, a student must have grades of "A" and "B", sixty percent of which must be "A's."

Edith McClain was married to John Ewell Schwartz, and they had two children. Their first child, Edith Alice Schwartz Gunn, and born in 1923 and their second child, John E. Schwartz, Jr., was born in 1926. Both Edith and John worked at the Walnut Street Pharmacy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, from approximately 1935 until 1980. John Schwartz, Jr. also worked at the pharmacy for a short period of time.

Edith Schwartz became a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1949. Through this organization, she assisted in producing a booklet on Confederate gravesites in Mississippi in 1962.

Edith spent a fair amount of time researching the history of the Hammacher Family, from whom she was descended. She donated a booklet about the family, "Hammacher, Hamacher..., Our Immigrant Ancestor Adam Hamaker and His Family", to the genealogical vertical file in the William D. McCain Library and Archives at the University of Southern Mississippi Edith Schwartz died on June 14, 1989. Her husband, John, preceded her in death in September 1984. Their son died on January 31, 2005.