Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th Century: Papers and Diaries, Series E, Holdings of Louisiana State University

Beyond the popular myths of spirited young women and iron-willed matrons of the 19th century South were women of substance and diversity. Many were prolific diarists, letter writers, and record keepers of deep insight and keen observation. In this important microfilm publication from UPA, fascinating collections of their writings shed light on the world they knew. Courtship, slavery, education, child rearing, marriage, and religion are common threads running through the thoughts of many disparate women documented in the series. The breadth and diversity of documentation in Series E allows comparative study of family life and women's roles in the Anglo and French cultures of the Mississippi Valley. Researchers can chart family and social life through such collections as the Annie Jeter Carmouche Papers, 1853-1964, chronicling one woman's antebellum childhood in Virginia and New Orleans, her experience of the Civil War, and her postwar life in St. Landry and Bossier parishes; and the Emily Caroline Douglas Papers, 1855-1913, contrasting impressions of the South gained during her New England childhood with the South she came to know during the turbulence of the Civil War and its aftermath.