Charlotte Elizabeth Dresser papers, 1907-1928
56 items (0.5 linear feet)
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.