Letter from Mrs. Paul Harries [Harris] to Hattie Gould, July 21, 1894

Date

July 21, 1894

Description

A letter from Mrs. Paul Harries (Harris) to Harriet Elmendorf "Hattie" Gould. Mrs. Harris wrote that Clara had moved in with her and her family. Hattie sent the letter to Catherine Bogart "Kittie" Rankin. 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. 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. This item was added as part of the Diversity and Collaborative Knowledge Program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Type

Written Document

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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