The Archives, Common Wisconsin Women, and Me
I’m usually not given to public displays of emotion, particularly not in quiet reading rooms. What I hadn’t counted on was that while reading in the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives, I would cry—pulling my head back so my tears wouldn’t fall on the fragile writing from the 1890s. “If this imperfect sketch meets the eyes of my Dear ones after I have gone to my long home remember Mother tryd to do the best she could though erd many times. You must write the faults in the sand by the sea shore and let the incoming tide wash them away and only remember the good.” (Harriet Darling, letter of September 5, 1896.) These were the last lines of Harriet Darling’s reminiscences of her life as a settler in Washington County, Wisconsin.
Later another writer, a young schoolteacher writing to her friend Hellen in the mid-1800s, would make me laugh out loud: “I saw the celebrated Viola Wort the other Thursday. I was expecting something wonderful but found she was nothing but a beanpole with a dress on, she is awful homely, and looks like a vinegar jug.” (Ella Wheeler, letter of June 12, 1866).
While not famous women, their words were so vibrant. I was, at the time, relatively new to archival research and had a detached view of what I would find in the way of letters and diaries from 1800s women from Wisconsin. I thought I would find “interesting” material but such words as compelling and even humbling had not entered my vocabulary. I was expecting “dry.”
It did not take long for me to shift my view about what I was doing—a good cry and a good laugh have that effect. I was not just reading words from old writings but glimpsing into women’s lives. And what a variety of women they were—if I had a stereotype of a mid-1800s woman, I soon lost it. They were witty; they were dull. They were educated; they were nearly illiterate. They put their best foot forward; they complained. They carried on under almost insurmountable odds; they sickened and died.
My expectation was that I would find something to publish or present at a conference, a rather arrogant approach that I would bring something to light. I did develop presentations, but it became my privilege to quote women’s words and use old photographs as backdrops. I have found that their words enlighten and sometimes entertain.
These women talked across the years, and they had plenty to say. They spoke from their era of Wisconsin describing how they traveled across the Atlantic and through the Great Lakes by steamer or overland by wagon. “All, of us, including the sailors thought that this was the end, for we could feel the ship sinking lower and lower…The yelling, the noise, and the panic was terrible.” (Emilie Schramm Crusius, memoir of 1854 trans-Atlantic crossing.)
Many became wives and mothers. “I expect to have a home of my own in a short time and shall be happy to have you share it with me. About a year since, I became acquainted with a Mr. Bass…I think it more than probable you will not like him, but if I do, no matter for your opinion.” (Racheline Wood, letter to her sister, March 10, 1840.)
Some became teachers and seemed to have adapted well. “Last week school did not go off quite as well as I could wish and I sometimes got almost discouraged, but today school has gone off first rate and I like teaching better. I tell you I have got some real good little scholars.” (Mary Felch, letter of May 19, 1862). Others found teaching less suitable. “I find it difficult to stop whispering. I believe if all teachers knew to what wickedness and depravity of heart it lead, to indulge scholars in bad habits, they would put down and enforce stricter rules. It should be done.” (Adelia Bartholf, diary entry of June 16, 1858.)
While some revealed themselves to be women of great courage, others were more timid. “All of us, including the sailors thought that this was the end, for we could feel the ship sinking lower and lower …Everyone was terrified; mother prayed fervently and I—I went to get something to eat. I recalled the story of Robinson Crusoe who was shipwrecked on a deserted island and learned to fend for himself without the help of the barest necessities. Of course, mother scolded me for thinking of food at a time like this when we stood so close to eternity.” (Emilie Schramm Crusius, memoir of 1854 trans-Atlantic crossing.)
The themes of loneliness and the urging family and friends to come were often repeated. “It is one year today since I left home…I have shed many a tear to think of pleasures and friends that are fled from my embrace.” (Sarah Pratt, diary entry of September 3, 1845.)
Women’s writings—and quoting their own words—have become the backbone of my work and presentations. I present as I do, using the women’s words, because of my respect for these women, and the conviction that their experiences are noteworthy and their actual words are worth hearing.
Women’s diaries, letters, and memoirs have given direction to my research efforts for the past decade and offer almost unlimited opportunities for the future. That first visit to the Archives compelled me to consider this: that the common woman had left writings that, while seemingly narrow and trivial, would broaden our views of Wisconsin in the 1800s. And they would provide us lessons in perseverance, hard work, and sometimes humor.
—Cathleen Palmini
Cathleen Palmini is associate professor and Wisconsin documents/reference librarian at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Her research involves the unpublished writings of lesser-known nineteenth-century women of Wisconsin. She has published in the Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters and Inland Seas, and presented at library and history conferences.