What's online?
The entire collection is scanned and online, except for a signed print of Harrods (London).
What's in the entire collection?
The Sarah Cordelia Mellon and Alan Magee Scaife Wedding Album contains 26 photographs created by Ralph W. Johnston of Trinity Court Studios of Pittsburgh. Images depict the surroundings and setting where the November 16, 1927, wedding of Sarah Cordelia Mellon and Alan Magee Scaife took place. The majority of the images show the temporary pavilion that was built on the Richard Beatty Mellon Estate for the wedding celebration. Accompanying the album were four loose items: a mounted photograph of Thomas and Sarah Mellon with their children circa 1909, a group photograph of participants in the Founder's Day event held on October 13, 1927, at the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, a photographic proof print of the Mellon-Scaife Wedding Party by Bachrach Studies of Pittsburgh, and signed print of Harrods (London).
About Sarah Cordelia Mellon and Alan Magee Scaife.
Sarah Cordelia Mellon (1903-1965) and Alan Magee Scaife (1900-1958) were married on November 16, 1927, at East Liberty Presbyterian Church (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Their families hosted a formal reception for wedding guests in a pavilion that was constructed for the occasion on the property of the bride's family estate, located at 6500 Fifth Avenue (Shadyside neighborhood), in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The ceremony and celebration received national press coverage as a lavish affair with the construction of the pavilion estimated at a cost of $100,000. The ceremony took place at the church where the Mellon's were members and was officiated by its senior minister, Rev. Dr. Stuart Nye Hutchison.
Sarah Mellon Scaife was the daughter of Richard Beatty Mellon (1858–1933) and Jennie Taylor King (1870-1938). The Mellon Family is known to have been one of the wealthiest American families in the early 20th century. Her fraternal grandfather, Judge Thomas Mellon (1813-1908), was the founder of Mellon Bank. Sarah Mellon Scaife was known to have been a very private individual during her married life. She was an early member and president of the Junior League of Pittsburgh and later a member of the Fox Chapel Hunt Club, Pittsburgh Golf Club, Allegheny Country Club, Twentieth Century Club, and the Rolling Rock Club.
Alan Magee Scaife was the son of James Verner Scaife, Sr. (1868-1930) and Mary Magee (1874-1963). He was the fifth-generation head of the Scaife Company of Pittsburgh, which began as manufacturers of tin plate in 1801. Alan Magee Scaife was a 1920 graduate of Yale University, although his higher education was interrupted by serving in the U. S. Naval Reserves during the First World War. In addition to his leadership at the Scaife Company, Scaife would fill many roles in business, civic, and cultural institutions in the region throughout his lifetime. Following World War II, Scaife was among the early members of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development which spearheaded the urban redevelopment program that would guide the city and region’s business and economic direction for decades to come. The Scaife family would make Ligonier, Pennsylvania their primary residence where Scaife was active in the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce. His social memberships included the Pittsburgh Club and the Rolling Rock Club. The Scaifes were the parents of two children: Cordellia Scaife May (1928-2005) and Richard Mellon Scaife (1932-2014).
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