Collections

This collection primarily consists of correspondence of U.S. diplomat Christopher Hughes; his twin sister Peggy Hughes Moore; his in-laws the Moore family; his spouse Laura Smith Hughes (1792-1832); their daughter Margaret Smith Hughes Kennedy (1819-1884); and Anthony Kennedy (1810-1892), his son-in-law. The papers largely date between the War of 1812 and the U.S. War with Mexico. Christopher Hughes corresponded with U.S. Presidents, Secretaries of State, and a large circle of friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic. The papers reflect American diplomatic policy in Europe after the War of 1812, particularly in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and France. They also present the lives and experiences of the social and personal lives of women and children who traveled as part of the duties of an American diplomat.

This collection primarily consists of correspondence of U.S. diplomat Christopher Hughes; his twin sister Peggy Hughes Moore; his in-laws the Moore family; his spouse Laura Smith Hughes (1792-1832); their daughter Margaret Smith Hughes Kennedy (1819-1884); and Anthony Kennedy (1810-1892), his son-in-law. The papers largely date between the War of 1812 and the U.S. War with Mexico. Christopher Hughes corresponded with U.S. Presidents, Secretaries of State, and a large circle of friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic. The papers reflect American diplomatic policy in Europe after the War of 1812, particularly in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and France. They also present the lives and experiences of the social and personal lives of women and children who traveled as part of the duties of an American chargé d'affaires.

The papers also include financial papers, military documents, property documentation, materials related to the San Pedro Company, writings, poetry, sketches, photographs, ephemera, and other printed items. Among the writings is an 1840 account of a visit by Christopher Hughes to physician Fru Jansen at Catherineberg for health care; 1842 travel writing by Margaret Hughes; and manuscript and printed poetry, including dinner toasts, a valentine poem, an acrostic on Margaret's name, translations, and more.

Other selected items include pencil sketches of four of the five peace commissioners at the Treaty of Ghent negotiations in Belgium, by Dutch artist P. van Huffel, January 1815. The portraits include John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Albert Gallatin, and Christopher Hughes (as secretary of the delegation). A lithographed portrait of Christopher Hughes, by Jean Baptiste Madou, from 1829 is also present in the collection's oversize materials, with a lithograph image of "le capitole a Washington" below the portrait of Hughes. It features an autograph presentation from Christopher Hughes to Prince Henry of the Netherlands, July 12, 1845. A group of 24 photographs from the early 1930s depict the grave of Laura Smith Hughes (1795-1832) and the church where she was buried, Bromme Church in Akershof, near Stockholm, Sweden, and a variety of other people and places.

Please see the Christopher Hughes Indices and Notes for an index of letter writers and inventories of non-correspondence materials.

This collection is made up of the papers of five generations of the Dwight, Willard, Alden, Allen, and Freeman families of the East Coast and (later) U.S. Midwest, between 1752 and 1937. Around 3/4 of the collection is incoming and outgoing correspondence of family members, friends, and colleagues. The primary persons represented are Lydia Dwight of Massachusetts and her husband John Willard, who served in the French and Indian War; Connecticut mother Abigail Willard along with her husband Samuel Alden, who ran an apothecary in Hanover, New Jersey; Allen Female Seminary School alumna and teacher Sarah J. Allen; American Civil War surgeon Otis Russell Freeman; Presbyterian minister and temperance advocate Rev. Samuel Alden Freeman; and prominent public librarian Marilla Waite Freeman. The papers also include diaries and journals, writings, school certificates, military and ecclesiastical documents, photographs, newspaper clippings, advertisements, business and name cards, invitations to events, and brochures for plays and other performances.

The collection is arranged first by family grouping, then by material type. These series roughly reflect the arrangement of the collection when it arrived at the William L. Clements Library.

The Dwight-Willard-Alden Family Papers are comprised of around 250 items, dating between 1752 and 1884. One fifth or so of this grouping is predominantly correspondence between Lydia Dwight/Lydia Dwight Willard, her father, stepmother, siblings, husband, and sons, 1752-1791. These intermarried families were based largely in Sheffield and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The letters include discussions about mending and cleaning clothing; feelings about their father/husband gone to serve in the French and Indian War; putting up a monument to replace faltering graves; the return of Elijah and Col. Williams from the field on account of sickness; coming and going of soldiers; moral and practical advice; teaching and boarding young students during the war; settling into (“no longer free”) married life; the death of Bathsheba Dwight; the meeting of local men in private homes and the training of minute men in Stockbridge; the prolonged case of smallpox experienced by Lydia’s son in 1785; and news of John Willard, Jr.’s admission to Harvard.

The remaining four fifths of this grouping are largely incoming correspondence of Abigail Willard Alden (1771-1832) and her daughter Abigail Alden (1809-1854). Their correspondents were located in Stafford, Connecticut; Hanover and Lancaster, New Hampshire; Lunenburg, Vermont; and elsewhere. They begin with letters from siblings and parents to the newly married Abigail Willard Alden (ca. 1800); Samuel Alden travel letters to New York City; and news of a Stafford doctor named Chandler who had promised marriage to a woman and then fleeced her for $500 before fleeing to parts unknown. A group of letters regard pharmacy matters, the burning of Samuel Willard’s drugstore (January-April 1802), and the state of Anti-Federalists and Federalists in Stafford (1802). A large portion the letters include content on sickness and health, with varying degrees of detail, including several family members sick and dying from measles in 1803. Other topics include Hanover, New Hampshire, gossip on local premarital sex; a debate on whether or not to hire a black female domestic laborer; comments on a local suicide attempt; a young woman deliberating on objections to women spending time reading novels (April 10, 1806); and treatment by a quack doctor. These papers also include two diaries, poetry and essays, two silhouettes, genealogical manuscripts, and miscellaneous printed items.

The Allen Family Papers are largely incoming letters to Sarah Jane Allen prior to her marriage to Samuel A. Freeman (around 300 items), and from her father-in-law Otis Russell Freeman (around 60 items) between 1860 and 1865. An abundance of the letters were written to Sarah while she attended the Allen Female Seminary in Rochester, New York, and afterward when she lived at Honeoye Falls, New York. They include letters from her parents, cousins, friends, and siblings. A sampling suggests that the bulk are letters by young women attempting to eke out a life for themselves through seminary education, teaching, and domestic labor. Among much else, they include content on Elmira Female Seminary, New York state travel, and female friendship and support.

The Otis Russell Freeman letters date between 1862 and 1865, while he served as a surgeon in the 10th and 14th Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers. He wrote about the everyday camp life with a focus on the health and sickness of the soldiers. His letters include content on the defenses of Washington, D.C., fighting at Cold Harbor and outside Richmond, Virginia, the surrender of Robert E. Lee, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and Lincoln's body lying in state at Jersey City. Two carte-de-visite photographs of Otis Freeman are present.

A diary kept by Sarah J. Allen began on the day of her marriage, September 26, 1865, documents her honeymoon to Niagara Falls. It ends in November 1865. The remainder of the volume is filled with recipes for baked goods, pickles, and other foods. The printed items include ephemera from Sarah Jane Allen’s tenure at Elmira Female College five issues of the Callisophia Society’s newspaper The Callisophia (vol. 1, nos. 1, 3-6; March/April 1860-January/February 1861), as well as a Catalogue of Books in Callisophia Library, December 1862.

The Samuel Alden Freeman Family Papers include approximately 300 largely incoming letters to Presbyterian minister S. A. Freeman, plus printed materials, ephemera, photographs, and bound volumes, dating in the 1810s and from the 1860s to 1880s. Correspondence of his second wife Olive dates from the 1810s in central New York. The collection includes letters to S. A. Freeman from his first wife Sarah, daughter Abigail Alden Freeman (1873-1925), and Sara Harriet Freeman (1879-1946). These materials include courtship correspondence of Sarah Jane Allen and S. A. Freeman. A considerable portion relates to Presbyterianism and at least one temperance society pledge sheet is present. Approximately 50 photographs, about half of them identified, are largely of Samuel A. Freeman and the Freeman daughters Marilla and Abigail. Among the printed ephemeral items are advertisements for programming at Corinthian Hall (probably Rochester, New York), items related to a Sunday School Association (including a printed broadside catalog of books at a N.J. Sunday School), and pamphlets on Presbyterianism. A medicinal recipe book from the mid-19th century and a commonplace book of poetry are examples of the S. A. Freeman family bound volumes.

The collection concludes with letters, photographs, ephemera, and printed items comprising the Marilla Waite Freeman Papers. Around 600 letters are largely incoming to public librarian M. W. Freeman from female educators and librarians. They discussed their profession, books, reading, and intellectual topics. A small clutch of letters, about three dozen manuscript and typed poems, and a dozen or more newspaper clippings, 1900s-1910s, comprise poet Floyd Dell’s contributions to the collection. Marilla also corresponded with poets and writers Margaret Todd Ritter, Robert Frost and Mrs. Frost, and Marie Bullock about public and private recitations and lectures. Examples of subjects covered by the printed materials include orations, educational/school/college items, library-related items, newspapers and clippings, fliers, women's clubs, New York City theater, the American Library Association, Poetry Society of America, poems by various authors, such as Ina Robert and John Belknap, visiting and business cards, and travel.

Laura Stebbins of Longwood, Massachusetts, maintained this diary between 1826 and 1827. Written during the Second Great Awakening, she recorded regular details about religious services and prayer meetings she attended, including the names of preachers, their sermons, and selections of scripture, providing a picture of the religious context of her community. Stebbins noted daily tasks, like washing and ironing, making candles and soap, sewing, tending to children, and making social visits. Stebbins' and her family's health are also documented.

Laura Stebbins of Longwood, Massachusetts, maintained this diary between 1826 and 1827. Written during the Second Great Awakening, she recorded regular details about religious services and prayer meetings she attended, including the names of preachers, their sermons, and selections of scripture, providing a picture of the religious context of her community. Many entries refer to Reverend Dickinson, likely Baxter Dickinson (1795-1875), a Congregational minister who began preaching in Longmeadow in 1823. Following the birth of her son, she copied a scriptural passage about parents and children, suggesting some of the religious writings were personal.

Laura Stebbins noted daily tasks, such as washing and ironing, making candles and soap, sewing, tending to children, and making social visits. Stebbins' and her family's health are also documented. She gave birth to a son on January 21, 1827, and gaps in her diary-keeping or attendance of religious services hint at potential pregnancy-related health disruptions to her routines. She also wrote several instances of her daughter Lucy experiencing "fits." On the heels of one such incident on September 14, 1827, she noted reflections on God's influence over the condition and hoped God would "Rebuke her disease if it be consistent with thy holy will . . . oh do not spoil her reason in the morning of her days[.] may she live and be very useful in the world."

Laura, another daughter, experienced a protracted and life-threatening illness in May and June 1827. The diary shifts from religious notation to a focus on the progression of illness. Her entry for Thanksgiving 1827 focuses on her children, offering her thanks to God "who has preserved us until this time and all our little ones that are near and dear us oh may they be a blessing may they be guided and g[u]arded through this life."

Local events were occasionally documented, such as deaths and burials, a house fire, baptisms, and communion.

The Blandina Diedrich Collection is a selection of manuscript items compiled by her son Duane Norman Diedrich and dedicated to her memory. The content of these letters, sermons, documents, and other materials reflect the life and interests of Blandina Diedrich (1903-1996), most prominently subjects pertinent to Christianity, home, and the family.

The Blandina Diedrich Collection is a selection of manuscript items compiled by her son Duane Norman Diedrich and dedicated to her memory. The manuscripts reflect the life and interests of Blandina Diedrich, most prominently Christianity, home, and the family. Items include sermons from prominent ministers or preachers of different Protestant denominations, documents related to church operations and discipline, letters by prominent and everyday persons respecting their faith and beliefs, correspondence of missionaries, and reflections on religion's role in all manner of human endeavor.

The collection is comprised of over 260 letters, manuscript sermons and hymns, documents, and other items. For a comprehensive inventory and details about each item in the collection, please see the box and folder listing below.

Maria M. Churchill's daily entries in her journal provide insights into the emotional and intellectual life of a middle-class woman in the mid-1800s.

Maria Churchill wrote faithfully, nearly daily, in her diary throughout the three years represented, 1845 to 1848. Literate, intelligent, and capable, Maria retained an avid interest in the intellectual and social world beyond her small Vermont town. She was an avid reader of a wide array of books, periodicals, and newspapers, and was active in her community, attending lectures, meetings, and gala events, and discussing current events. Churchill's diary provides an interesting insight into a woman's view of the bonds of affection between husband and wife and parent and child. She considered herself lucky to have a husband who showed such strong interest in his wife and child, and the pleasure she took in assisting her husband in running their store is evident throughout. As important in Churchill's emotional life as her husband and child, however, were her connections with other women, friends as well as family members, and these bonds seem to have increased during her marriage, rather than decreased, maintained through constant visits and letters.

The diary covers a period of high drama in Churchill's life, beginning less than a year after her marriage, and including the birth of her daughter, Elizabeth, the protracted illness and death of her husband, and her entry into self-sustaining widowhood. She provides only the outlines of her daily activities -- few entries in themselves are of sufficient length to reveal much about her thoughts and motives -- however her habit of writing daily provides a density of coverage that makes the diary valuable for understanding the basic lineaments of her emotional and intellectual life, as well as her daily routine. Before the birth of her daughter, Churchill seems to have been careful to record her reading, her visits with friends and neighbors, her reactions to major political events (elections, the declaration of the War with Mexico, slavery), and the presence of lectures and classes in town. Beyond this, her adjustments to marriage, birth, illness, and death and her growing relationships with husband, child, and the community of women creates a complex view of the life of a middle class woman living in small town Vermont early in the Victorian era.

For the most part, diary entries become much briefer and more similar in content after about December, 1846 -- three months after her husband's death. Maria was occupied with running her business and caring for Elizabeth, and may have had somewhat less time for socializing outside of the singing school and church.

The diary is only selectively indexed, with no notice of the numerous entries that concern daily domestic tasks or social activities (visits, etc.).

The collection documents the organizational history and activities of the MCSA and consists of White House Conference materials, correspondence, reports, programs, syllabi, scrapbooks, newsletters, directories, histories, maps, booklets, photographs, and other materials.

The collection documents all aspects of the history and activities of MCSA, both at the state and local level, from 1920 through 2003. Correspondence, reports, programs, syllabi, scrapbooks, materials of disbanded clubs, newsletters, directories, histories, maps, booklets, and materials of conference, convention, and planning program meetings, as well as White House Conference materials, and miscellaneous items compose the collection. A few earlier items, 1913 and 1917, from MCSA’s parent organization, the Child Conservation League of America, are also included.

Materials are organized alphabetically by type or title and then chronologically within each series. Materials of the Child Conservation League and the MI Federation Child Conservation League precede that of the MCSA.

The larger series within the collection include: Correspondence; Materials of Disbanded Clubs; Executive Committee Materials; History Materials; Programs of Local MCSA Clubs, and Scrapbooks.

Various types of Correspondence, approximately.5 cubic foot, are found in the collection. General correspondence, which was distributed to members and club presidents, 1920-1938, 1952-1992, and 1997; Correspondence before and after the Nov. 1983 Spring Planning Meeting, 1983 (Examples); Correspondence with an Executive Board Members, 1964-1969 (Example); and Correspondence of MCSA Presidents, 1967-1968, 1973-1980, 1982-1989 complete this series.

Materials of Disbanded Clubs, approximately .5 cubic foot, consists mainly of initial letters of inquiry and application to join MCSA, constitutions, lists of charter members, official club charters, and correspondence noting that the club disbanded.

The materials of the Executive Committee, approximately one cubic foot, include meeting agendas, minutes, and reports by officers, including the President, 1st-4th vice presidents, treasurer, secretary, historian, program chairs, etc., 1949-1951 and 1953-1998.

History Materials, approximately .5 cubic foot, include volumes documenting the early history of the MCSA in notes and meeting minutes, with attached programs, clippings, reports, a constitution, and some newsletters, 1928-1962. Two printed anniversary histories of the MCSA, 1920-1970 and 1920-1990, are also included in this series.

The Programs of Local MCSA Clubs is the largest series in the collection, approximately 2 cubic feet, which documents the histories and activities of the local clubs, 1944-1979 and 1986-2003. Prizes were awarded for the most unique and beautiful programs. Some of the programs are quite lovely and unique.

Scrapbooks, 1970-1998, 1.25 cubic feet, include photographs, clippings, notes, publications, and miscellaneous items. Most of the scrapbooks are letter-sized, except for one oversized volume, 1990-1991.

The Syllabi, once a main component of MCSA as both as a work project and educational resource, were used to educate mothers about children and various issues involved with child rearing, education, and development. Different themes or topics were selected for each year’s new syllabus. Clubs and individuals researched and wrote different parts, or units, of each syllabus. Copies of the completed syllabus were mailed to each club. Syllabi in the collection, approximately .5 cubic foot, date from 1945 through 1998.

Two other particularly interesting, although small, series are found in the collection. One of these series documents MCSA’s predecessor organizations. The Child Conservation League of America is documented by its constitution, 1913, two annual programs, 1922 and 1924, and two publications, 1913 and undated. The MI Federation Child Conservation League is documented by Bulletins, 1923-1924; a program, 1922; and two historical volumes of annual convention reports and lists of delegates, 1924-1929; and the Executive Council Meeting Minutes, Reports, Programs, and Clippings, 1921/1922-1928.

The other series of note consists mostly of published materials documenting MCSA’s interests and participation in the White House Conference on Children and Youth. Mrs. Lyle Price of MCSA was officially invited to attend the 1950 conference and created a scrapbook documenting her experience. Related publications, 1950-1951, 1960, and undated, are also included.

Processing Notes: During processing approximately 10 cubic feet of materials was withdrawn from the collection. The majority of these materials were duplicates, particularly of newsletters, officer and annual reports, and Executive Board or other meeting minutes, and massive amounts of generic correspondence, miscellaneous notes, cancelled checks, receipts, and FYI and reading materials from other organizations. A large number of brochures of Michigan hotels and resorts were added to the MI vertical file collection. Also, a 10 volume set of books, Foundation stones of success, was cataloged separately from the collection.

An unnamed parent or caregiver kept notes about children in a partially used Teachers' Institute Note Book, 1886. The volume was printed in Chicago and Maquoketa, Iowa, by Donohue & Henneberry and W. M. Welch, respectively, and includes advertisements on the inside covers for educational texts and forms. Two pages of manuscript notes define musical intervals. An additional nine pages of text sporadically document the words and actions of at least two children, Harry and Inez, between the ages of 1.5 and 5.5 years old. The writer notes the ages at which children were singing, the type of art they created, the humorous questions, observations, and comments they made, and religious thoughts they vocalized.

An unnamed parent or caregiver kept notes about children in a partially used Teachers' Institute Note Book, 1886. The volume was printed in Chicago and Maquoketa, Iowa, by Donohue & Henneberry and W. M. Welch, respectively, and includes advertisements on the inside covers for educational texts and forms. Two pages of manuscript notes define musical intervals. An additional nine pages of text sporadically document the words and actions of at least two children, Harry and Inez, between the ages of 1.5 and 5.5 years old. The writer notes the ages at which children were singing, the type of art they created, the humorous questions, observations, and comments they made, and religious thoughts they vocalized.

The childhood observations about death, spirits, and God reflect a religious upbringing and household, including one entry about how Harry "was drawing a picture of a deathbed scene where angels were coming to carry the man's spirit to God in accordance with what he had been told on the subject. He said 'Mama I guess one angel holds the man's mouth open while the other takes his spirit out of him.' " Comments about dogs, toys, and imaginative games speak to youthful entertainment and play, and others are more suggestive about the conditions in the children's environment that caught their attention. Questions like "what color is the moon on the other side," or observations that a dead mouse "is kind of wilted isn't it," provide insights into what the children were seeing and wondering about.

One entry at the back of the volume reads, "J. D. McAuliff (Heals by rubbing) St. Louis, Mo."

This collection consists of eight letters written by Rebecca M. Bradford between 1853 and 1857 while living and working in Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C., and New York and Brooklyn, New York. They document her laboring as a domestic servant, residing in boarding houses while pregnant and caring for a young infant, and travelling with a baby.

This collection consists of eight letters written by Rebecca M. Bradford between 1853 and 1857 while living and working in Boston, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C., and New York and Brooklyn, New York. They document her laboring as a domestic servant, residing in boarding houses while pregnant and caring for a young infant, and travelling with a baby. She references miscarriage and the death of one of her young siblings, symptoms of pregnancy, and boarding house owners and workers helping to assist with infant care, including at least one enslaved woman in Washington, D.C. (see April 3, 1857).