Skip to main content

Frances E. Willard (1839-1898) Journal Transcriptions

 Collection
Identifier: 55/43

  • Staff Only
  • No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

The series consists of a photocopy of approximately 2000 pages of typed transcriptions of journals kept by Frances E. Willard between 1855 and 1896 (the original hand-written journal totals over 8,000 pages). Willard kept journals continuously from the age of 16 to 31, and then from age 54 to 57. The journals are an invaluable resource for understanding the life and thought of one of the most important American women of the nineteenth century.

The journals (many of which had previously been microfilmed, but never transcribed) had been considered lost, but were rediscovered in the Willard Memorial Library and Archives in 1982. Carolyn DeSwarte Gifford began transcribing the journals, deciphering Willard's often difficult handwriting, in 1986. In 1995, Gifford published Writing Out My Heart: Selections from the Journal of Frances E. Willard, 1855-1896. A complete description of Gifford's process of transcribing the entire journal, as well as her decisions about the selection process for the edited book, is found in the introductory chapter entitled “Editorial Method” in Writing Out My Heart.

The transcriptions are organized by journal year. Each journal is contained in one folder. The journals are numbered, and the folder numbers correspond to the journal number (thus there is a folder 17A to reflect the number of the journal it holds). There are four exceptions to this numbering. Folder 50 contains a transcription of a brief volume that Willard had labeled “Notes and Memos,” dating between 1875 and 1889. Folder 51 holds transcriptions of pages from the journal of Anna Gordon, Willard's secretary, relating to Willard's death; and Folder 52 holds transcriptions of pages from the journal of Willard's sister Mary, who died in 1862. Throughout, there may be some annotations and notes handwritten by the transcriber.

Especially useful to the researcher are the summaries (mostly 1-2 typewritten pages) that Gifford prepared for each journal, which are contained in Folder 53. Also included in Folder 53 are photocopies of several pages, annotated by Gifford and relating to the microfilmed diaries, from the Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Temperance and Prohibition Papers (edited by Randall C. Jimerson, Francis X. Blouin, Charles A. Isetts; Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, c1977).

Dates

  • 1855 - 1986

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is stored off-site and requires two business days advance notice for retrieval. Please contact the McCormick Library at specialcollections@northwestern.edu or 847-491-3635 for more information or to schedule an appointment to view the collection.

Extent

3.00 Boxes

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The series consists of a photocopy of approximately 2000 pages of typed transcriptions of journals kept by Frances E. Willard between 1855 and 1896 (the original hand-written journal totals over 8,000 pages). Willard kept journals continuously from the age of 16 to 31, and then from age 54 to 57. The journals are an invaluable resource for understanding the life and thought of one of the most important American women of the nineteenth century.

Arrangement

The transcriptions are organized by journal year. Each journal is contained in one folder. The journals are numbered, and the folder numbers correspond to the journal number (thus there is a folder 17A to reflect the number of the journal it holds).

Method of Acquisition

The transcriptions of Frances Willard's journals were donated to the University Archives by the transcriber, Carolyn DeSwarte Gifford (author of Writing Out My Heart: Selections from the Journal of Frances E. Willard, 1855-1896), on January 14, 1998, as Accession # 98-7.

Separated Materials

Post-it notes placed by Carolyn Gifford to mark pages she referred to while working on her edited volume of the Frances Willard journals were removed.

Processing Information

Janet C. Olson, Spring 2005.

Title
Guide to the Frances E. Willard (1839-1898) Journal Transcriptions
Author
Janet C. Olson
Date
01/04/2005
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
eng

Library Details

Part of the Northwestern University Archives Repository

Contact:
Deering Library, Level 3
1970 Campus Dr.
Evanston IL 60208-2300 US
847-491-3635