The Dr. J. Owen and Joy Blache Family Collection contains snapshots, studio portraits, and photo albums showing Dr. Julian Owen Blache, Director of Pathology at Homer G. Phillips Hospital; Joy Pettiford Blache, a graduate of the Homer G. Phillips School of Nursing; and their children, Frank and Joan Blache. The photographs document the lives of a well-to-do African American family in St. Louis, largely during the period of the 1940s through the 1960s. Photographs show Frank and Joan as babies, children, and young adults; family holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and birthdays; family trips; dinners and parties; and numerous extended family and friends, who are occasionally identified. Additional photographs show Joy as a baby and young woman. Of particular note are several portraits showing Joy posed in her nursing uniform; snapshots showing Joy with other nursing students or nurses; portraits of J. Owen wearing his Army uniform; and a group portrait of Homer G. Phillips Hospital Staff.

The collection also contains a small clippings file with magazine and newspaper clippings related to the family, including obituaries for Dr. J. Owen Blache and Frank Blache. Newspaper clippings have been photocopied for preservation purposes. In addition, a “School Memory Book” documents Joy Pettiford Blache’s junior and senior years of high school (1928-1929) and contains autographs from classmates, teachers, and family members.