Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

Before quoting, please get permission from the copyright holder and the Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary.

Preferred Citation

Pease Family Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary

Acquisition Information

The materials were acquired by Special Collections Research Center on 05/22/2008.

Biographical Note

Information about this individual or organization may be available in the Special Collections Research Center Wiki: <a href="http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/wiki/index.php/Annie Pease">http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/wiki/index.php/Annie Pease</a>.

Scope and Contents

This collection comprises letters sent primarily to and from Annie and Nellie Pease.  They are from local friends and schoolmates as well as members of the Pease family who are situated for the most part in Bangor and Cornish, Maine.  The letters deal with the personal lives of a close social network of young girls and their families who stay in touch after their graduation from school.  The subjects of the letters range from classes, teachers and vacation plans to what is going on in the local community concerning deaths, weddings, and travel. A detailed examination of these letters reveals information concerning the school life and education of young, nineteenth-century women as well as their own experiences of teaching.  Moreover, there are details as to what books were popular, from Caesar to Cicero and Dickens to Emerson, as well as to what subjects were being taught and how the girls responded to them; botany, natural history, and flower collecting are frequently mentioned.  In addition, these letters reveal the details of nineteenth-century social life: relationships and work in the home, the importance of travel, the spread of local gossip, the discussion of fashion, sewing, and fabric, and the attendance of concerts, lectures, and prayer meetings for entertainment and edification.  Personal views and opinions regarding religion are prominent and a basic understanding of the religious milieu of these young women and their families can be ascertained.  Yet another prominent theme is the omnipresence of sickness and death; these letters afford insight into how death was dealt with as well as how it affected people in terms of remarriage and mixed families.

Arrangement of Materials

Chronological.

Index Terms

Genre/Form of Material:

• Correspondence

Geographic Name:

• Maine--Social life and customs--19th century.

Topical Term:

• Education--Maine.
• Maine--History--19th century.
• United States--Women--History
• Women--Education--Maine.
• Women--Maine--Social life and customs.
• Women--United States--History--19th century.

Additional Information