Intern, Historical Society of PennsylvaniaĬollection numbers and links updated December 2012Īshhurst, Mary Hazlehurst. In cases where the collection name is different, the italicized headings are the manuscript collection titles where these documents can be found. The name of the women authors or the title of the organization heads each description. For information regarding soldiers' experiences in the war, including letters home, and further resources pertaining to the Civil War housed at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, see the Guide to Civil War Manuscripts and Newspaper Collections ( available here) by Daniel Rolph, Ph.D.Īll the manuscripts listed in this guide are available for public use. There are a few letters of men written to women incorporated, but not a great number, as they focus on their personal experiences in the war. Many women whose lives did not seem to change as a result of the war or those who wrote little or nothing about the topic were not included. When writing this guide, the focus was on women's writings pertaining to the war effort in some way, either through their personal efforts or their notes on local news and gossip. Unfortunately, biographical information about these women was at times difficult to find, so this is supplemented with information about husbands and male correspondents. All quotes are annotated with dates, page numbers, and other necessary information. Where possible, background information is provided with each summary. This list was accumulated using both the Guide to the Manuscript Collections of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1991) and the card catalog at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The beliefs and routines each engaged in on a daily basis are often mentioned in great detail and include Christianity, spirituality, visits with friends, weather, children, and gardening. With that caveat, the majority of women probably did make at least a passing reference to the military service of their friends or relations if that was part of their experience of the war.īeyond the war effort, these letters and diaries provide an excellent study of the daily lives of women during the 1860s. There are undoubtedly some exceptions to this rule: a woman may have deemed her letters or her journal an inappropriate place for that type of personal information or may have been so deeply concerned for her loved one that she could not write about it. These conclusions are based on the assumption that if a woman knew a man involved in the war she would mention him in her letters or diaries. Those who did not mention the war service of a family member, however, had less of a tendency to do something for the war effort, and if they wrote of the war at all it often consisted of war news culled from local newspapers and gossip about their local areas. The women who wrote of a husband, brother, or son participating in some way were more likely to feel the need to contribute themselves, even if that meant simply sewing garments and sending them to soldiers they knew. It became clear there was typically a distinction between women who had a loved one fighting or working for the government in Washington and those who did not. These younger women, often under the age of 30 and unmarried, were capable of being more active because they were mobile, often childless, and unencumbered with family or social constraints imposed upon many married women. Younger women interested in helping the Union cause seemed more willing to do something a distance from their homes, such as traveling to Washington or the battlefields with such organizations as the United States Christian and United States Sanitary Commissions. For the most part, older women were more likely to participate through local organizations such as their churches or nearby hospitals by donating needed items or volunteering their personal time. Those women who did help with the Union cause appear to fit into a general pattern, with few exceptions.
Some Philadelphians, who did not believe the war was fought for the right reasons, demonstrated in their writings that all northern women were not in support of the war. Jones Taylor, and Mary Clendenin Payne) provide a stark reminder of the Confederate perspectives on the war. Women from the states of Virginia and Georgia (see the letters of Augusta Chaucey Twiggs, Margaretta H. While the vast majority of the papers reviewed here were written by ardent union women committed to the war effort, a few southern women are represented as well as some northern women who were not particularly interested in the war.
0 kommentar(er)
