File:Yew tree - DPLA - b90b47c4ea2e57346ef92a8ff3905a88.jpg

Mrs. Arras stands under the branches of an ancient tree surrounded by grave markers in the churchyard of St. Giles in the village of Stoke Poges. It is said to be the tree under which Thomas Gray wrote his poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard." The Arrases visited Stoke Poges during their 1913 tour of Europe. Note on slide reads "Begun under this yew tree 1742-172 years ago." Edmund F. Arras (7/7/1875-10/19/1951), a prominent Columbus businessman and entrepreneur, founded one of Columbus, Ohio’s first property rental agencies in 1892. Trained as a lawyer, he graduated from OSU law school in 1896 and went on to hold positions in numerous civic groups around the city. He was particularly active within Kiwanis International and was involved with several local religious organizations. In 1913, he and his wife Elizabeth traveled to the World Sunday School Association Convention in Zurich, Switzerland. They continued on to travel extensively throughout Europe documenting their journey through photographs. Due to the timing of their trip, these photos comprise a valuable collection of images of European cities later devastated by war. The Arras family’s lantern slides and negatives include images from their 1913 travels through US east coast cities, Atlantic islands of the Azores, Madeira, Gibraltar and the countries of Algeria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, England, and Ireland. Also included are images from their 1920 train journey from Chicago to the western US for the Kiwanis Convention in Portland. These photographs include images of Chicago, Denver and western National Parks. Glass lantern slide of image also in collection HA3_B06_008.