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The Letters, Documents, and Other Manuscripts of the Duane Norman Diedrich Collection is a selection of individual items compiled by manuscript collector Duane Norman Diedrich (1935-2018) and the William L. Clements Library. The content of these materials reflect the life and interests of D. N. Diedrich, most prominently subjects pertinent to intellectual, artistic, and social history, education, speech and elocution, the securing of speakers for events, advice from elders to younger persons, and many others.

The Letters, Documents, and Other Manuscripts of the Duane Norman Diedrich Collection is a selection of individual items compiled by manuscript collector Duane Norman Diedrich (1935-2018) and the William L. Clements Library. The content of these materials reflect the life and interests of D. N. Diedrich, most prominently subjects pertinent to intellectual, artistic, and social history, education, speech and elocution, the securing of speakers for events, advice from elders to younger persons, and many others.

For an item-level description of the collection, with information about each manuscript, please see the box and folder listing below.

The Hastings papers offer an insight into the mind of Ruth Newcomb Hastings, a young woman experiencing southern society for the first time. The letters reveal a young teacher's insecurities about her social and professional status, her reactions to slavery and plantation life, her adjustments to teaching, and her responses to life in a new family and new culture.

The Hastings collection offers an unusually rich insight into the mind of Ruth Newcomb Hastings, a young teacher from the Troy Female Seminary experiencing southern society for the first time. Written during a twelve month span in 1852-1853, these letters reveal the young teacher's insecurities about her social and professional status, her reactions to slavery and plantation life, her adjustments to teaching, and her responses to life in a new family and new culture. Typical "women's" topics, such as dress, food, and family, dominate many of the letters.

As well educated and articulate as she was insecure, Ruth's letters delineate her fragile emotional and mental state as she embarked on a new career in a new culture. Particularly in the first six months on the job, Ruth wrote long, descriptive letters, discussing her new responsibilities and unfamiliar surroundings in admirable detail. Addressed to her sister, Mary, and parents -- who were struggling with their own finances and careers -- Ruth's letters are intensely personal, consumed with concerns over her reception in the Williams' family, and her expectations, frustrations, and failings. The complex interplay of personal, professional, and psychological factors, and of education, plantation life, religion, and family, creates a well rounded portrait of the teacher and her pupils and their respective cultures.

Among the highlights of the collection are an extraordinary account of a hunt for fugitive slaves in June 1852, discussions of southern reactions to Uncle Tom's Cabin, and of the effect of slavery upon the attitudes and behavior of white southerners. Ruth was simultaneously aware of the desensitization that overtook slave holders and prone to it herself. For obvious reasons, her opportunities for opposing slavery were greatly limited, but her sympathies upon reading and discussing Uncle Tom's Cabin seem almost evenly divided between the mistreated slave and the misrepresented southerner.

Although Ruth divulges few specifics about her choice of curriculum, the broad outlines of her course of instruction can be discerned, and the more general philosophical commitments to teaching and women's education are readily evident. The collection is especially useful for analyzing the peculiar position of a resident tutor on a southern plantation, and its value is enhanced by the fact that the tutor is both a disciple of Emma Willard, the most important antebellum women's educator, and an instructor in the home of one of South Carolina's largest slave holders and most flamboyant politicians. The personal negotiations between Ruth and the Williams girls, and the seething conflict she waged with their mother, Sarah Witherspoon Williams, are also worthy of note for depicting a rather unusual, intercultural world of women's relationships, mapped onto the uneven power dynamics of sectional differences, class differences, home and classroom.

At another level, the varying expectations of women -- as women -- in southern and northern society weave throughout the collection. As mother, daughter, sister, friend, teacher, and pupil, the issues surrounding gender expectations produced an endless series of conflicts within Ruth's mind and heart, and as much as gender formed a connection with other women, conflict over gender roles produced barriers as well. An impression also emerges through Ruth's varying experiences with the Williams' daughters and their near relatives, of women's social and intellectual life in South Carolina. Drawn into parties and balls during the holiday season, and enjoying more standard rounds of visits and church-going throughout the year, Ruth found herself alternately in the position of participant and observer, insider and outsider. Ultimately, this instability in position is what makes the collection such a valuable resource.

The Williamson family collection is made up of 9 bound volumes pertaining to Clara Gurley Williamson, her daughters Ruth and Mary, and other members of the Williamson family of New Brunswick, New Jersey. The items include diaries, financial records, a newspaper clipping scrapbook, and a photograph album.

The Williamson family collection is made up of 9 bound volumes pertaining to Clara Gurley Williamson, her daughters Ruth and Mary, and other members of the Williamson family.

The D. Abeel Williamson Diary, composed in a pre-printed pocket diary, contains David Abeel Williamson's daily entries about his life in New Brunswick, New Jersey, from January 1, 1862-May 25, 1862, and about his experiences with the 7th New York Militia Regiment from May 26, 1862-August 27, 1862. His early entries mainly record the weather and his social activities; he mentioned his admission to the bar in his entries of May 21, 1862, and May 22, 1862. A newspaper clipping about the surrender of Fort Donelson is pasted into the entries for February 16, 1862, and February 17, 1862. During his time in the army, Williamson noted the hot weather near Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, and mentioned other aspects of military service, such as guard duty, marching, and reviews. A commuter's ticket for the "New Jersey Rail Road" is laid into the volume's pocket.

The Hattie S. Williamson Memorandum Book contains financial records of collections that the Second Reformed Dutch Church Sunday School of New Brunswick, New Jersey, received from November 26, 1865-June 16, 1867. The amount of each donation is recorded next to the donor's name. Other records pertain to the Sunday school's accounts with the Novelty Rubber Company and the church's efforts to raise money for an organ.

The Clara Gurley Account Book, kept from July 9, [1875]-April 16, 1880, contains accounts for Gurley's purchases of items such as books, ribbon, fabrics, and buttons. A piece of fabric is pinned onto the book's final page.

The first Clara Gurley Williamson Diary, written in a pre-printed Excelsior volume, covers the year 1905. Williamson began writing in Dresden, Germany, where she had lived with her children since late 1903, and recounted her daily activities and news of acquaintances. In April, she and her children took an extended tour of Europe, including Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Holland, where Williamson remarked on visits to museums and other points of interest. The entries from August concern the family's return to the United States on the Holland-American Line steamer Ryndam and their first months back in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Indianapolis, Indiana. Williamson kept a record of letters written and received and acquaintances' addresses in the volume's memoranda section. She laid newspaper clippings, a letter, calling cards, small photographs, stamps, and other items in the volume. The final page of the diary contains a newspaper clipping about the Williamsons' return to the United States and intention to relocate to Indianapolis.

The Mary Williamson Diary recounts the author's travels through Europe from April 10, 1905-August 11, 1905. Williamson described her daily activities and sightseeing in cities such as Prague, Munich, Venice, Rome, and Paris, as she visited museums and places of historical importance with her mother and sister. The diary includes a list of books Williamson read from 1907-1908 and a list of addresses of European hotels.

The Ruth A. Williamson Diary pertains to the author's experiences and travels in England from June 7, 1909-September 3, 1909. She spent most of her time in London; some later entries mention travels around southern England and to Edinburgh, Scotland. Williamson most frequently wrote about sightseeing and visiting famous landmarks, but also commented on other activities, such as shopping. Ruth A. Williamson's calling card is laid into the volume.

The second Clara Gurley Williamson Diary, also in a pre-printed Excelsior volume, contains daily entries about Williamson's life in Indianapolis, Indiana, from January 1, 1918-April 2, 1918. Williamson commented on her social activities, her health, and news of her friends and family members, especially her children. She occasionally mentioned news of the war, such as the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (February 22, 1918). Financial records and instructions for knitting a "Kitchener sock" are written in the back of the volume. Items laid in include a calling card for Charles G. Williamson containing his military address, a cloth United States flag mounted on a small wooden dowel, and clippings about the deaths of Henry Janeway Hardenburgh and Douw D. Williamson. A postcard with a painting of Waikite Geyser in New Zealand, addressed to A. Parsons in London, England, is also laid into the diary.

The Scrapbook (1860s-1880s) is comprised of newspaper clippings about numerous topics, including biographies of William Gurley and biographical notices about other members of the Gurley family, such as Clara Gurley Williamson and Esther Gurley Cook. Some clippings feature prominent individuals such as Ulysses S. Grant, Charles Dickens, and Louisa May Alcott. Items report national news, news from Troy, New York, and stories about Emma Willard and the Troy Female Seminary. Additional topics include poetry, international travel, and stamp collecting.

A Photograph Album contains 42 carte-de-visite photographs, 2 lithographs, and 1 tintype print. Most of the photographs are studio portraits of men, women, and children, including many members of the Gurley family and related families. Most of the pictures are dated 1866-1880, though the album includes a 1902 photograph of Charles G. Williamson in a military uniform.