Letter from Harriet Elmendorf Gould to Catherine Bogart Putman Rankin, July 24, 1894

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Date

July 24, 1894

Description

A letter from Harriet Elmendorf “Hattie” Gould to Catherine Bogart Putnam “Kittie” Rankin written on July 21, 1894. In the same envelope, Hattie sent Catherine a letter she had received from Mrs. Paul Harries (Harris) about Clara Patterson. Clara had moved into Mrs Harris's house after running away. Mrs. Harris was worried about Clara and her reputation, because Clara was staying out late every night. In Hattie's letter to Catherine, she suggested that Clara should be sent to the "House of Correction." Because Clara was 16 years old, she was just old enough to be sent to a correctional facility. These institutions were like a prison, but they were for people who were labeled "indigent"-- people who could not take care of themselves, or who did not follow rules for behavior and morality. Catherine Rankin was responsible for Clara while she lived at Cherry Hill. Clara was a ward and domestic worker at Cherry Hill from 1884 until 1894. Clara was brought to Cherry Hill when she was 6 years old, after her mother died from tuberculosis. Clara took care of the Rankin children, and did chores like sweeping the porch. When she was 12, Clara asked to learn how to live on her own, without being a lifelong worker in someone else’s house. She was sent to work for a friend of the family, Mrs. Ward, in 1894. Shortly after, Clara left to make her own life, and found a new home with a different family. During the Victorian Era, people communicated by writing letters to one another. People thought that a person who wrote well probably had good manners. For example, a person might feel disrespected if someone wrote a letter to them using slang instead of formal English. They might feel disrespected if someone replied late, or not at all. This item was added as part of the Diversity and Collaborative Knowledge Program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Region

Capital District

Era

Industrialization

Topic

Communication

Repository

Historic Cherry Hill

Identifier

5_1_July_21_1894_HEG_to_CBPR

Source

Historic Cherry Hill

Rights

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