This collection consists of 53 correspondences from Santa Ana, California, Spiritualist Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser to her niece and grandniece. The papers are dated from February 4, 1907, to November 7, 1928. This collection also includes two photographs and a typed copy of "automatic writing" communications with deceased "Sis" dating between June 28, 1928, and July 28, 1928.
The recipients of Dresser's correspondence were her niece Martha Wood and great-niece Ernestine Wood, daughter of Martha. Dresser frequently mentioned her close friends, Carrie-Bell Richards Rafferty (Mrs. Rafferty) and Fred Charles Rafferty (Mr. Rafferty, "Uncle Fred", "F. R."), Martha's husband Ernest Wood, and estranged family members Van and Gertrude. The letters contain detail about parties, theatre productions, and concerts attended by Dresser and Mrs. Rafferty, including a concert by organist Bruce Gordon Kingsley. Dresser often reported on the medical concerns of herself and her circle of close friends and family. Such concerns include "breakdowns", lumbago, miscarriage, neuritis, rheumatism, sciatic nerves, spinal issues, sprains, and ulcerated/abscessed teeth. Personal concerns of Dresser included the grippe and a sprained ankle and foot.
In her later letters, Dresser wrote about her experiences with "automatic writing" and meetings with other spiritualists, including writer and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, parapsychologist and founder of the Boston Society for Psychical Research Walter Franklin Prince, parapsychologist Carl A. Wickland, and medium Anna W. Wickland. Dresser also touched upon the success of her 1922 book Spirit World and Spirit Life: Automatic Writing.
This collection concludes with typed spirit communications dating between June 28 and July 28, 1928 and two photographs showcasing moments of Dresser's time as a musician and music educator.
Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on June 4, 1845, to Clarissa Amelia and Francis Dresser. She had at least five siblings: Amelia, Charles, Charles, Edwin, and Martin. By 1904, Dresser had moved to Santa Ana, California, where she worked as a music educator and composer. In her free time, she attended many social events and musical performances with her close friends Carrie-Bell Richards Rafferty (Mrs. Rafferty) and Fred Charles Rafferty (Mr. Rafferty). She kept regular written correspondence with Martha Wood and Ernestine Wood, Dresser’s niece and great-niece respectively. Following the death of Mrs. Rafferty in 1917, Dresser grew in her interest and involvement with Spiritualism, particularly with automatic writing. In 1922, Dresser published her book Spirit World and Spirit Life: Automatic Writing, in collaboration with Mr. Rafferty. Dresser died in Santa Ana, California on February 20, 1930.
