The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Hedrick, Ellen A.       

Title:               Letters

Dates:             1889-1892

Call No.:         Col. 1011

Acc. No.:        2019x32

Quantity:        10 items

Location:        34 J 6

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Ellen Annabella Hedrick was a student at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, at the time that she wrote and received the letters in this collection.  She was born September 6, 1869, in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Mary Ellen Thompson (1829-1905) and Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick (1827-1886).  Mr. Hedrick worked in the patent office.  Ellen graduated from Smith College in 1892 and returned to Washington, D.C., where she continued to live with her family at 3321 N St., N.W.  She was a librarian, although the 1930 census record listed her as a cataloger in a museum.   She never married.

 

  Her older brothers and sisters were John Thompson, Charles Joseph, Alice, Jennie, William Adam, and Henry Benjamin, most of whom were mentioned in her letters.  Her younger sister was Mary Elizabeth, nicknamed Mamie.  Jennie, to whom many of the letters were written, never married and became a teacher of the deaf.  Mary Elizabeth also never married and was also a teacher.  Ellen lived with Jennie and Mary Elizabeth, and also with their brother Charles (1855-1922), who was a patent attorney.

 

Sister Alice married Wareham Harry Olcott in 1884, and they had several children.  The baby mentioned in the letter of March 22, 1891, was Alice Griswold Olcott, born in June 1890.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Letters to and from Smith College student Ellen (“Nellie”) Hedrick, whose family lived in Washington, D.C.  Her sister and mother sent her news of the family and their friends.  Nellie sent news of college life.  Halloween celebrations (with fortune telling and ghost stories), baseball teams, college chapel services, Mountain Day, Illumination Night, visiting college friends, attending lectures, and boarding expenses are all important events in Nellie’s letters.  Very rarely did she mention classes.  Apparently in an attempt to save boarding costs, Nellie convinced Professor Pillsbury to let her have a small oven from the lab, which she intended to use for some cooking.  She sketched this in her letter of March 22, 1891.

 

A recurring theme in the letters was clothing, with sketches of dresses and basques found as part of several letters.  Nellie sought some advice about trimming her dresses, but was also capable of making up her own mind about what she wanted.  She mentioned having drawers reseated, an indication of the care she took of her clothing.  (Although the Hedricks may not have been poor, some economy was necessary.)  The Hedrick women often made their own dresses, although sometimes a professional seamstress was employed.  Shopping for fabric and trim was a part of their lives, even for a busy college student. 

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

Letters are in chronological order.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Purchased from Eclectibles.

 

 

RELATED MATERIALS

 

A book by Ellen A. Hedrick, List of References to Publications Relating to Irrigation and Land Drainage (Government Printing Office, 1902) was prepared under the auspices of the library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  (No copy in Winterthur Library.)

 

Special collections in the libraries of both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and of Duke University hold papers of Ellen Hedrick’s father Benjamin Sherwood Hedrick.  UNC-CH specifies that its collection includes letters from his children to their mother Mary Ellen Thompson Hedrick.  However, the description of that collection is not specific enough to indicate whether it includes letters from Ellen A. Hedrick.  The collection at Duke does hold some family letters, but letters from the children are not specifically mentioned.

           

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

            People:

                        Hedrick family.

 

Topics:

            Smith College - Student housing.

            Smith College - Students.

            Amusements.

            Clothing and dress - 19th century.

College students - Clothing.

            Dresses.

            Family life.

            Fortune-telling.

            Halloween.

            Underwear.

            Women college students.

            Women’s clothing – 19th century.

Sketches.

Letters.

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 34 J 6

 

 

All accession numbers begin with 2019x32

 

 

Folder 1 of 1:

 

 

.1a-d    Ellen to Jennie, postmark Nov. [unclear day], 1889:

did not go to church because lost the pair of gloves she wears on rainy days; asks about the new cook; Alice will have to have a house warming after fixing up her house; it would be nice if Harry came to visit; describes what the different dormitories did for Halloween (one staged a wedding, the residents of another dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland) and describes fortune telling games and someone telling ghost stories; has joined the new baseball team at Smith (“Why shouldn’t girls play base-ball as well as tennis, I would like to know.”)  but doesn’t think the teams will last long; will begin a sewing class for small children; going for a walk;

 

 

.2a-e    Nellie, 4 Wallace House, to Mamma, March 4, 1890:

“What a time you are having with servants!”  weather is warmer, but snow not melted; girls want to wear caps and gowns, but faculty opposed; something about searching for a Jennesse Miller waist [a style of corset] for Martha, whose corsets are worn out; [passage about the J.M. line being a fraud]; ordered some corset waists and tried them on – liked the Equipoise but not the Ferris; can get gowns here [in Northampton] just as well as in Boston, but not the kind of drawers she wears; encloses a sketch of a way to make her new brown dress, but “make it though any way you want to and I shall be satisfied.”

            On separate sheet (.2e): sketches of front and back of a dress, numbered 7028, with a tongue-in-check description of the dress, calling it “in the Jennesse Miller style”

 

 

.3a-e    Nellie to Jennie, May 27, 1890:

Jennie has not written a long letter in some time; Miss Anderson will not be able to visit in June; Miss Anderson recently had a story published; have you heard rumor of Miss Bessie Earle’s marriage?  Heard Sir Percival Chubb on “Socialism” and found it interesting; haven’t decided whether to stay for commencement; “Tell Mamma not to have a fussy dress.  Something simple and sweet is what she ought to have.”  Something about a dress for Jennie to wear to a reception

 

 

.4a-e    Nellie to Jennie, first page apparently missing, but envelope postmarked June 4, 1890: [note that the pages were not found in order and possibly have not been put into the original order, except for the last page]:

                        Off-and-on rain caused their plans for a outdoor dance to be a disappointment: decorations were put up and then had to be taken down again; decided to have refreshments in the gym because the grass was wet; eventually moved the dance to the gym as well, but it was too small for everyone; there is to be a through train from Northampton to Washington; sketches a dress with shirring at neck, waist, and bottom of sleeves;

 

 

.5a-c    [Ellen] to Mother, October 28, 1890:

                        [this corners of this letter have been chewed by a rodent, and a few words are missing]:

                        “the great [illegible] came off this morning” – describes ceremony in the Assembly Hall [drew a sketch of it, and indicated where the classes sat]; gives the order of the chapel service; we now leave books and wraps downstairs and the order of leaving is organized; feared sophomore reception might be postponed because President Seelye’s son is ill, but president doesn’t want it to be; Dr. Blodgett to give a concert on Thursday; Halloween party planned on Friday; only had half-day off for Mountain Day [a Smith College tradition], so expect to get another half-day sometime; sewed lace on mull dress; has so little time that plans to have town dressmaker sew her skirt and basque together; has earned some money by washing gauze shirts, handkerchiefs, and collars; sent a box of witch hazel and ferns, but fears they will shrivel in transit; received a paper from Charlie; love to all

                       

                         

.6a-c    Ellen to Jennie, March 22, 1891:

received the letter with the pieces [of fabric]; especially likes the one from W. & L. [Woodward & Lothrop, Washington, D.C. department store] but fears it will be too warm for late spring; pussy willows are out but not quite spring yet; congratulates Jennie on having a finished pair of chemilettes; discusses style of dress; glad Jennie can spend time with Alice and baby; inquired about a train ticket to Washington; have been making inquiries about boarding; Professor Pillsbury let her take the little laboratory bake oven [includes sketch of it] - she didn’t tell him it was to use for cooking; recently had maple syrup [i.e. sap] fresh from the tree – it had no maple taste; something about a sophomore class activity; would like to see Helen in New York; has climbed the peak that Elair[?] used to wander over; gymnasium is almost finished; needs to go see Martha

 

 

.7a-b    Nellie to Jennie, April 19, 1891:

                        Received letter from Mamma; has been sleeping through breakfast and arriving in chapel just on time; campus is pretty with arrival of spring; girls are wearing their “giddy spring gowns”; went to Mrs. Noble’s for [illegible]; walked back and was drenched in a thunderstorm; will enclose some pussy willow blooms; studying ferns in biology and have planted fern spores in hopes to see them grow; describes how Martha fixed up a dress [includes sketch]; visited Mrs. Dun in the hospital; didn’t her [i.e. Jennie’s] birthday ice cream taste good?  Mr. Moulton from England lectured on Friday on [topic is illegible]; love to all

            [no envelope; this letter was in the envelope, .8, postmarked May 18, 1891]

 

 

.8         envelope addressed to Mrs. Hedrick, postmarked May 18, 1891; the letter of April 19 was found in this envelope; no letter written on or just before May 18, 1891 is included with this collection

 

 

.9a-d    Jennie to Nellie, Nov. 7, 1891:

                        “Charlie went down to dinner today for the first time” – he is not well, but is improving; maybe one of Nellie’s cheerful letters will do him good; finished Mamma’s dress and is starting Mamie’s [includes sketch]; after Mamie’s, will do my own dress; Mamie is getting her room fixed [mentions carpet, bureau, cost of wicker washstand; corner sofa, maple curtain rod and rings, pitcher, bowl, soap dish, mug, and silk for cushions]; Jennie is waiting for radiators in her room to be gilded; if Mamma gets new parlor curtains, old ones will be put into another room; hope to have all the improvements done by Christmas; Harry reports that former servant Ida stole some items from Alice’s trunk; Henry has gone to farm; Jennie, Mamie, and Eulah went to Observatory and were taken through the buildings; Mr. Williams brought his new bride to church on Sunday; went to cemetery after church; needs a nap so will close; Mamma’s hand is improving

 

 

.10a-d  Nellie to Mamma, in envelope postmarked March 24, 1892:

                        Letters received; I’m glad you think I may got to Boston because I want to very much; Grace says she can stand my being in the way, and Martha plans to get her sewing out of the way before my arrival; because of chemistry class, she will be unable to travel with Grace and Martha, but will travel with Marion and May; when gets to Boston, Grace will meet her and take her to Cambridge, where Oscar will show them around; describes trim for a basque [and sketches it]; more about other dresses; discusses expenses (board, washing, train ticket, etc.); more about clothing [mentions chemilette]; Carters are having a hard time; hopes the children do not catch the fever; girl in her house stayed up too late working on a paper and is now “done in”; winter almost over and haven’t been able to have a sleigh ride; Marion has a new baby cousin

 

 

.11a-d  Jennie to Nellie, May 29, 1892:

                        Bought a new spring dress for Mamie on Wednesday; Mamie went to a party at Miss Shipman’s; they played a game of observation, testing senses of taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing; Mamie won the booby prize for coming in last place; she met a Mr. Keene who knows Miss Jennet who knows Nellie; finished the new dress for Mamie and she wore it today [Sunday]; Mamie thinks the train is too long; Mrs. Joyce had to postpone her party because of rain; [sketch of basque of Mamie’s dress]; hopes the drawers arrived; “isn’t Mamma splendid?”  Going to Carline’s, Henry might take them in buggy; Mamma’s carpet taken up, and have moved furniture around; discussions of sleeping arrangements; Charlie is being careful; Henry may go to Northampton by way of water to New York; Will went to farm; Mr. Holmes jubilant about his wedding and is seeking a position at Hampton–Sydney College; can’t spend week with Alice; Olcotts were expected to move yesterday; Mrs. Leetch[?] has a son; dinner bell has rung;

                                    [Enclosed with letter is a sketch of two dresses, but as both are made from velvet, it seems unlikely that either is the new spring dress for Mamie.  Perhaps this sketch is a stray from another letter.]