Sarah Angelica Singleton was born in Wedgefield, South Carolina in 1818, the daughter of prominent South Carolina plantation owner, Richard Singleton, and his wife Rebecca Travis Coles. In 1838, Angelica would marry Abraham Van Buren, son of the 8th President of the United States, Martin Van Buren. During her father-in-law's term of office, Angelica would serve in the capacity as first lady due to the death of Mrs. Martin Van Buren seventeen years prior. Angelica's papers, consisting of two travel diaries, dated 1854-1855, documenting her family's trips to New York and Europe, and an autograph book, dated 1831, can be viewed here. This collection gives a first-hand account of early to mid nineteenth century aristocratic life in The United States and abroad.

This collection is comprised of 32 opaque watercolors, or gouaches, on paper created in the late 1700s. Each depicts at least one species of flora and fauna (primarily birds, trees, and flowering plants) found in the American Southeast.