Laura Sutterfield Diaries

The collection consists of three diaries that belonged to housewife Laura Sutterfield of Sikeston, Missouri. In the three hardback volumes, Laura described the daily lives of herself and her family: husband Jeff, son Rodney, and daughter Ruth through the years 1938, 1945, and 1946. From the tail end of the Great Depression to the final stages of World War II and the beginning of peacetime, Laura documents the weather, daily plans, weekly church attendance, and personal reflections.

Events preserved include deaths of family, friends, and public figures; Jeff’s absences for work; updates on the War and Rodney’s return home from military service, and Ruth’s high school graduation. Over a span of nine years, the three volumes collectively depict the evolution of an individual’s personality through her writing. Descriptions for the individual diaries are available by clicking on each diary entry on the right or below.

Sutterfield also references world events of the time including England preparing to defend Hong Kong, the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler’s death, American prisoners liberated in the Philippines, the invasion of Iwo Jima, and the dropping of the atomic bombs by the U.S. on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She mentions well-known figures of WWII including President Franklin Roosevelt, General George S. Patton, General Douglas MacArthur, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Benito Mussolini.

Further description is available by clicking on each diary.