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Carrie M. Walkup Diaries

 Collection
Identifier: 31/6/85

  • Staff Only
  • No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

Each of the three items in this collection is a separate bound book. The items are fragile, with loose or absent covers.

Volume I consists of a commercially-produced "Album of Love" that Walkup used to record inscriptions from friends and family members. There are a number of sentimental illustrations reminiscent of those found in nineteenth-century ladies’ books. On several pages throughout, Walkup drew rectangular "calling cards" wherein her friends signed their names. Walkup has made notes so as to remind herself of the signers’ identity at various points. Each entry is from a different person, but generally they are legible and easily read. The entries are not in chronological order, however, and not all are dated. One entry from 1883 is from Walkup’s ten year-old daughter, Mary. Another entry of note is a poem addressed to "Friend Carrie" from her future husband, Teeple, dated April 14, 1861. It is a farewell poem before Teeple departs for his army service. The latest dated entry is from 1922, but the majority of the inscriptions are from 1861-63. Several pages appear to have been cut out from the book.

Volume II contains the main diary itself, the bulk of which consists of copies of letters Walkup wrote to Teeple while he was away at war. The span of the diary covers her months at the Northwestern Female College, from March 1864 and ends in 1865, although the entries after November 5, 1864 are written in shorthand. The diary is also paginated. The entries take the form of letters to her sweetheart, A.V. Teeple, a Union soldier.

This volume gives a good view into daily life at the College. Topics covered include an instance of thievery, which Walkup chalks up to the girls’ lower-class upbringing (entry for March 27, 1864, pages 14-15). Walkup notes with amusement how the school cook eloped with a handy man, leaving the women in want of their breakfast (June 10, 1864, pages 79-80). She also writes of how some girls skirt the College’s strict rules about leaving campus and having gentlemen visitors (May 28, 1864, pages 69-70). At another time, girls are suspended for writing notes to gentlemen on Sunday, an activity Walkup participates in regularly but apparently to no ill end (June 21, 1864, pages 89).

Walkup’s diary also lends insight into life on the northern home front for a woman during the Civil War. Walkup speaks of the other women at the College with beaux away at war, including one unfortunate girl who receives news of her lover’s death (May 1, 1864, page 43). Walkup also becomes friends with another girl whose fiancé is in the same regiment as Teeple, and although Walkup does not care for the girl’s pretensions, she maintains a close friendship with her because of their special bond (April 10, 1864, pages 27-29). She notes how male students at Northwestern enlisted in the Union war effort (May 5, 1864, page 47). Walkup also provides detailed commentary on a Copperhead convention near her downstate home (September 1864, pages 142-3), thoughts on the effects of emancipation on "lazy Southerners" (September 30, 1864, pages 136-7), and the Presidential election that fall (November 5, 1864, page 156).

Volume III is the journal of A.V. Teeple documenting the major events of his life after the Civil War, including his marriage to Walkup, his real estate businesses, some war-time reminiscences, and the birth of their first child in July 1871. The journal covers the period 1866-1871.

Dates

  • 1861-1922

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on use of the materials in the department for research; all patrons must comply with federal copyright regulations.

Extent

3.00 Volumes

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

This series consists of an album and diary kept by Carrie M. Walkup, a student at Northwestern Female College in the 1860s, and a journal kept by her husband, A.V. Teeple. Her journals provide insight into student life and rules during the Amerivcan Civil War, the Copperhead convention, and the Presidential election of 1864.

Method of Acquisition

These diaries were transferred to the University Archives by Russell Maylone, Curator of the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, as Accession 05-4, on January 18, 2005.

Related Materials

For more on the Northwestern Female College, see also: Records of the Northwestern Female College, 1855-1976 (Series 36/2); William P. Jones (1831-1886) Papers, 1857-1932 (Series 36/1); Records of the Evanston College for Ladies, 1869-1933 (Series 39/1); Records of the Woman’s College of Northwestern University, 1872-1893 (Series 40/1)

Separated Materials

None.

Processing Information

Carole Emberton, May 2005

Title
Guide to the Carrie M. Walkup Diaries
Author
Carole Emberton
Date
12/05/2004
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