HIST 288 Assignment (Professor Gough)

Part I : Interpretation of a manuscript collection

Hastings, Lucy A.  Family correspondence, 1838, 1855-1874 [Transcriptions], Eau Claire SC 35, Eau Claire Area Research Center, McIntyre Library, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.

Lucy Hastings moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin with her husband David Smead Hastings in 1857.  She wrote a series of letters to various members of her family which were saved and are now owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society and housed at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Special Collections & Archives.  Her letters provide a glimpse into what frontier life was like for early white settlers and reveal a great deal about her personal life. 

Please read her letters and answer the following questions:

1. Lucy and her husband Smead traveled from the east to settle in Wisconsin.  Is the reason they moved apparent in their letters?  How do they support themselves?  Do you think Smead and Lucy found a better life?
   
   
2. Lucy seemed to struggle with her health.  Do we know what she suffered from?  What other diseases or illnesses does she mention in her letters? 
   
   
3. What are Lucy’s impressions of the Indians?  How and why do they change throughout the course of her correspondence? 
   
   
4. What was the role of religion in Lucy’s life?  How was her faith evident in her letters? 
   
   
5. At times Lucy seems to enjoy life in the west and even insists that she is not homesick.  Do her letters support her claim or not?
   
   
6. In several letters Lucy asks the recipient to destroy her letters.  Why would she want her letters destroyed? Do you think it is unethical that her letters are available to the public to read today?
   
   
7. Lucy’s husband Smead wrote parts or some of the letters included.  Do Smead and Lucy talk about different things in their letters?
   
   
8. How do Lucy and Smead feel about the Civil War?
    
9. What did you find most surprising or interesting about their correspondence?

Extra Credit!!
Go to the archives and look at the original letters written by Lucy Hastings.  Is the experience of reading the originals different from reading the digital transcripts of the letters online?  Please reflect on why you feel this way.

Part II : Finding archival and manuscript materials on your own

Using ArCat, Wisconsin Historical Society's archival catalog, find two manuscript collections that relate to the Lucy Hastings Family correspondence.

• Remember that manuscript collections are created by by people, families, organizations, or businesses.
  
  
• You may choose records that document mid-19th century Eau Claire, pioneer experiences in Wisconsin, women on the Wisconsin frontier, Indian-white relations in mid-19th century Wisconsin, the Wisconsin home front in the Civil War, or any other relevant and roughly contemporary topic of your choosing.
  
  
• Be sure to record the following information for both manuscripts you locate:
  • Author
  • Title
  • Date span
  • Call number & location (at WHS or an ARC)
  • How it pertains to the Lucy Hastings Family correspondence

Search strategies:

1. Go with what you know
• Search in ArCat for Hastings, Lucy as author
• Examine the subject headings assigned to the collection:
  • Indians of North America -- Wisconsin
  • Wisconsin -- Pioneers -- Eau Claire
  • Wisconsin -- Pioneers -- Oxford
• Click on a hyperlinked subject heading to perform a subject heading search
• Browse the list of subject headings for other interesting and related subjects
• Click on a subject heading to view the records for manuscript collections given that heading
  
  
2. Be a "pioneer"
   • Search in ArCat using keywords. You might try:
     • women AND pioneer
     • Civil War AND correspondence
     • Indians AND Eau Claire

Important Tip:
Always look at the date span of the collection to make sure its from the correct time period!